 |
|
The White CouncilRe: The Maiar of Middle EarthTolkien and Inklings Discussion |
|
|
The White CouncilRe: The Maiar of Middle EarthTolkien and Inklings Discussion |
|
Posted by Stephen Geard on July 10, 1998 at 04:28:24 In Reply to: The Maiar of Middle Earth posted by Padster on July 09, 1998 at 07:30:06:
Tu must remain a mystery as he does not reappear. We certainly can't call him a Maia as Tolkien had not invented that category at that stage! It seems most likely he is a precursor to Sauron (whom Tolkien first called Thu). Although in the Book of Lost Tales (HOME vols. 1 & 2) the role later played by Sauron (Beren's captor) is played by Tevildo, Prince of Cats. We might speculate that Thu arose as a combination of the name and description of Tu (a wizard) with the role of Tevildo. It is a pity that Tolkien did forget about Tu and his discovery of the Sleeping Men, as it could have got him out of a tight spot re the origin of the Orcs. In HOME vol. 10 we learn that Tolkien eventually abandoned the idea that the Orcs were bred from Elves and decided they were bred from Men. But that meant pushing the Awakening of Men well back, long before the Rising of the Sun, which doesn't really fit with the rest of the Silmarillion story. But, if we make Tu into Sauron, we can solve the problem. Sauron was chiefly responsible for breeding the Orcs, whilst Morgoth was in prison in Mandos (see HOME 10:416ff). So perhaps Sauron found the Sleeping Fathers of Men and awakended some of the prematurely, and from them bred the Orcs. This allows for the Orcs to be of Mannish descent, but still allows for the proper awakening of men to have occured at the Rising of the Sun. But unfortunately Tolkien forgot about Tu, so this very neat solution to his problem did not occur to him. P.S. Who say Tom and Goldberry were Maiar? Tom was Aule and Goldberry was Yavanna!
|
Tip: Earlier messages, if they are missing when you click on the links, may be in a lower-numbered archive. Edit the URL in your browser window to change the archive number. Ex. archive_02/ becomes archive_01/.
Tip: Click on the Tolkien and Inklings Forum link to followup to archived messages. You'll need to copy the text from this message and repost it in your new message.
The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an SF-FANDOM Web site.
SF-FANDOM is a part of the Xenite.Org network.
Xenite.Org is home to Lord of the Rings movie news. The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is the Web's oldest fan-run forum dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien.
Xenite.Org has been providing the most comprehensive Lord of the Rings movie news on the Web since February 1998.
Xenite.Org also brings you Xena Online Resources. Xena Online Resources is the Web's largest directory of Hercules and Xena-related content.
The Xenite.Org network is home to more than 100 science fiction and fantasy Web sites.
The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an independent, moderated forum provided as a courtesy to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, including C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, et. al., by Xenite.Org. Please be sure to review our Posting Policy before participating in our forums. This archive is provided as a courtesy of Xenite.Org and in no way implies or imparts any liability or obligation on our part to uphold or maintain the content provided herein. This message and other archived messages from Xenite.Org forums may contain content not necessarily endorsed, reviewed, or approved by Xenite.Org and/or its moderation staff. All opinions expressed in these archives are those of the original posters and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Xenite.Org, its owner or owners, moderators, administrators, and/or other volunteer staff or agents. All content is copyright the original poster unless otherwise noted. This page is copyright © 1997-2001 Michael L. Martinez. All rights reserved. No reproduction, electronic or otherwise, may be made without the express permission of the copyright holders, except as occurs in normal browser caching and search engine indexing. You may print one copy of this page for your personal use.