Posted: May 29, 1998 at 07:32:25: by Michael Martinez
: To add to Stephen's comment, don't you think if Mandos and the
: Valar sent Glorfindel back he would have at least been a member
: of the Nine Walkers who set out from Rivendell in the War of
: the Ring? This is not a critization of Tolkien but more of a
: question of why.: Comments appreciated, : Jon Well, the Glorfindel story is certainly concocted, but then, why would any of the Noldor WANT to return to Middle-earth at a time of war? Tolkien's dealings with the tradition are at best incomplete. He may have felt so "famous" a name should not be reused, but then he reused other Elven names (such as Rumil and Guilin). Elves did leave Valinor in the Second Age -- make no mistake about that. It's not like they were trapped there or something. They may have gone no further than Numenor, but Numenor was clearly not part of the Undying Lands. It's not much of a stretch to have Glorfindel pass from Valinor to Numenor to Lindon, IMO. There was quite a lengthy period of about 100 years or so in which the Numenoreans built up their forces in Middle-earth, so there was plenty of time for them to discuss the situation with the Elves who were visiting from Tol Eressea. The plausibility of Tolkien's "solution" to the Glorfindel problem is therefore reasonable. Maybe he would eventually have expanded on it. We'll never know. Michael
------------------
Parma Endorion: Essays On Middle-earth, Revised Edition
| 
