Some useful theories of Middle Earth

[badgerbag]

The Two Trees are sort of like magic radioactive fuel sources. The Light is energy. If you have a bit of it you sort of mutate - you become stronger and prettier and better & etc. It is a power source that can fuel a whole civilization. The Rings and other magic objects work in much the same way (perhaps related.) So, being exposed to the Light or even a reflection of a reflection of that light mutates you permanently.

Okay, so let's talk about the Silmarils. They're a burden. They can hurt you. They are best kept in a special metal housing - perhaps a mechanical and magical one. (Morgoth's crown, or the Nauglamir.) Having them makes your city or kingdom power up & develop industry.

What if the Silmaril that was thrown into the abyss ended up in Moria? What if mithril is a sort of combination of Silmaril-light and metal?

The Light can be controlled, can be channeled or made to flare up. The flares embiggen anyone "good" and actively hurt evil creatures who by definition avoid the light as much as they can (Orcs, giant spiders, Trolls.) It's probably what powers glowing swords like Sting.

So, it is interesting to consider how the Light works for good or evil. We see that Melkor/Morgoth is able to harness it, though not without cost to himself and not without special magical/mechanical encasements. Did the light of his crown burn his followers? It certainly didn't make them healthier. Maybe when it's around Orcs, it twists them up worse and makes them nastier - its mutational effects are harmful for them. Anyway, in Nargothrond, the Silmarils powered a large industrial base, the creation of an enormous city or castle, and of course, several volcanoes.

Light + geothermal energy seems to go along with evil influences (unless you're Celebrimbor - how does that work?!) , while Light + plants/Sunlight-Power is Elfy and Good. This might relate back to Yavanna and her earth goddess growing-things powers. (A question: In Middle Earth, is the Sun a star?)

Anyway, the Silmaril hidden or guarded in the depths of Moria explain why mithril is found there, and why there's all that hammering in the depths and a whole weird civilization down there - it's because they've got a magic nuclear reactor down there.

There is plenty of room for an undersea civilization in Middle Earth, with that other Silmaril that was cast into the Sea. Or, it could be rediscovered or wash up on the shore.

There are other elements or substances that cause mutation or growth - as when the Ent draught makes Merry and Pippin grow taller (I believe they pass their mutant characteristics on to their descendents.) In fact when Treebeard activates the Ent draught, he makes it glow - but I don't think it was particularly with starlight power. (Must look up the scene - was it evening or night?)

The other magical objects in Middle Earth sometimes are jewels or made of metal and wood combined, and may not have influence from the Silmarils, but they contain magic... Is it all the same thing? Consider the Lamps of Feanor and the Arkenstone. They might be reflections of reflections of the Light just as Galadriel's Phial is.

I just re-read the bit where Beren and Luthien are in Nargothrond. I totally forgot they turned into a giant werewolf and a horrible bat-creatures. (Wolf-hame, and winged hame, with the wings described as leathery and loathsome.) Dudes. Luthien is a *vampire*.

Why am I thinking of all this at 9 in the morning? Rook has a game where Galadriel takes the Ring from Frodo and I'm having a fine old time lately making up bits of background. (I'm not playing in the game.)

It would be glorious to tie all this in with my thoughts on water rights and underground aquifers and Mordor's lack of water. Consider the East. There are people from there, but you get the feeling not a lot of them. Might it be that Mordor has so much of its attention turned Westward because, the further you get from Valinor the less water there is? Is the entire continent (if it is one) a desert? A final thought: I don't think there's plate tectonics on Middle Earth.

Comments

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Very interesting and so appropriate considering how the U.S. nuclear industry is salivating at the idea of building "45 new nuclear power plants."

Of course, they want to build the same nuclear plants that have already aged out of safety and production, because those are the kinds they know how to build.

All the advances in the manufacture of the parts and in the technology and the education of the scientists, architects, construction, technologists have been in Europe and Asia, as well as the actual manufacturing companies. Our techs are aging out as well, retiring soon.

What a waste of our money. But the time they actually built one of these things and got it online, it would already be out of date, staggeringly cost-overrun (because both things are always true about building nuclear power plants) -- and if we'd put all that money into a distribution network for solar and wind power to hit our power grids, we'd have them actually working, and would already be able to have significantly phased out a great deal of petro need.

Nor would we need to deal with waste or the actual danger of nuclear -- particularly in this age of global warming. Two plants had to shut down this summer, one in Alabama and one in France, because river water is essential to their coolant system, and the water was too warm.

That's my opinion, anyway.

Love, C.

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

That description of the Simarils had me thinking of Sim MiddleEarth where you got one and Minas Tirth popped up cute little smokestacks and zeppelins over it.

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'd doubt that Tolkien would had considered plate tectonics, since it was not widely recognized and understood until the 1970's. Though I'm sure Middle Earth has fossils.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

I think the East was like the Indian subcontinent (with oliphaunts!) and had a whole lot of people, but it was very far away. Also, I doubt that Sauron really controlled the whole rest of M.E., rather he had agents and alliances with some of the nations, and that he was capable of the logistics required to bring armies so far.

Having lived in the intermountain West, I don't think Mordor has a great lack of water, or that it would be a big deal. It's surrounded by mountains, which catch precipitation. The combination of rich volcanic soils and snow-fed irrigation would make Mordor a garden, except for the western end which has all the toxic industrial development. Maybe Mordor was so aggressive militarily because their magic-industrial complex was crashing their ecosystem. Alternatively, maybe their ecosystem was in such great shape their population was booming and they needed lebensraum.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

The Haradrim come from the southeast--Far Harad. I think some o the forces also came from Umbar and Khand. Rhun extends further east and north. Elves originally came from further east, I believe,--much north and east of Mordor--can't remmber if it is further east and north of Rhun--the place began with a Cu- is all I can remember without consulting books and maps and google. Beleriand is sunk under the sea to the east of the Grey Havens. (Thinking about it--maybe I'm wrong and the Elf emergence place is west and under the sea in Beleriand?)

Feanor also made lamps that weren't Silmaril powered.

Luthien was so kick ass cool--and yes she and Beren were a vampire and werewolf team.

Verlyn Fliegar wrote a book called Splintered Light, studying the meanings of light in Middle-earth.

Alternate interpretations of Tolkien

[(Anonymous)]

If power isn't inherently good or evil, but gets twisted by its users, you could think of LotR as the story of how a battered ring of power, sickened by its fallen state, used some hobbits and a wizard to commit suicide.

Then Galadriel would be thwarting the wishes of the ring as much as Sauron....

Russell