The Shadow of the Maker

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

I'm not so sure about "Knowledge. Rule. Order" - that seems more like a scientist's dream than an artist's to me. "Creative chaos" is a trope for a reason.

That's true. In Professor Tolkien's work, though, I feel like there's something of a parallel, and that the line between artistry and science is blurred into a more general sort of "artisanship". It reminds me of the statement he makes in Letter 154 about the intended effect of the Elven Rings upon Eregion (and Middle-earth in general) in the minds of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, that they:

tried to stop its change and history, stop its growth, keep it as a pleasaunce, even largely a desert, where they could be 'artists'

Thus I feel that an artist in Middle-earth could also desire control.