Posted: December 03, 1999 at 08:22:42: by Goodgulf
: : : how was it that the Elves of the Second Age werent able to
: : : guess who Annatar really was?, Didn't they have a list of all
: : : the exiled Noldorin high lords and princes? Or a list of Elves
: : : with great power? I know that Sauron at that time still had the
: : : power to assume a fair form, but still the Elves should have
: : : cross-checked his background...why was it that only Gil-galad
: : : and Elrond thought suspicious of Annatar?: : Good questions. : : The only answers I know of are whatever people can imagine in reply. Tolkien doesn't seem to have addressed the issue. : In post War of Wrath there seem to have been a fair number of Ainur-type beings kicking about at various times. The five Istari, Tom Bombadil, Goldberry (?) and probably others - if Goldberrry was a follower of Ulmo then others of her kind may have been around. So it may not have been obvious what the origins of Annatar were. Plus he was giving the people of Celebrimbor what they most desired - knowledge, and the means of creating tools for accomplishing what they thought the Eldar in ME needed. Celebrimbor and his people, in this situation, may have seen only what they wanted to see in relation to Annatar. A parallel with the USA's use of ex-Nazi rocket scientists in the post-war period suggests itself. The US authorities were willing to overlook, or indeed not examine too closely, the past actions of these people precisely because they were offering the expertise they desperately wanted. I tend to agree. While we view the Elves as being wise, they did have their weaknesses. They weren't necessary "gullible" but if they suspected Annatar's true identity they may have continued their flirtation in the hope of outwitting him. In essense they may have thought they could get what they wanted while avoiding the darker consequences. As we all know things got out of hand, and only with the help of Eru and long years of struggle were things more or less set right.
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