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Re: on lying

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  Posted by Michael Martinez on March 11, 2000 at 13:31:19
In Reply to: Re: on lying posted by macadamia on March 11, 2000 at 02:52:50:



: : If you have a copy of UNFINISHED TALES, I suggest you look at : : Tolkien's description of what Denethor might have seen when : ; he looked through a Palantir toward Rohan.

: I do have a copy, though a page number would be helpful next : time.

I don't give out page numbers due to inconsistencies between the various editions.

: I flipped through the chapter on the Palantiri and : couldn't find anything helpful on my own. In the process, : though, I remembered a relevant tidbit I then looked up (RK p. : 154, "The Last Debate"):

: (Gandalf): "The Stones of Seeing do not lie, and not even the : Lord of Barad-dur can make them do so." So I think it's hard to : maintain that Aragorn used the palantir to lie.

The stones would not manufacture images, but it would still be possible for Aragorn to show Sauron something other than the current truth. The section to look at in the Palantiri essay is the very end, starting with the paragraph that begins with "A viewer could by his will cause the vision of the Stone to concentrate on some point..."

In the next paragraph, Tolkien illustrates his point by suggesting Denethor could have seen Gandalf leaving Theoden's army in Rohan.

Aragorn clearly stated he revealed himself in some guise other than that in which he was then travelling. He was being deceptive. And Aragorn's purpose was to give Sauron the impression that he, Aragorn, had the Ring and no one else. Sauron was led to look for the wrong guy.

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