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01-20-2003, 06:05 PM | #1 |
Animated Skeleton
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This is the end, beautiful friends...
Since my reading in Tolkien is still limited to the Holy Trinity (Hobbit, LOTR, Sil), I would request that the more erudite amongst us kindly elucidate the following topic for me...
Could someone please explain Arda's parousia, or end times, to me? I'm thinking mainly of Morgoth's release, any final battles, and of course, the Second Music of the Ainur. How does all of this go down? What prophecies (if any) did the good Professor record and/or explain? Any help in this area is greatly appreciated. If another thread has adequately covered this, simply point the way (with a link, please). [ January 20, 2003: Message edited by: Greyhame ]
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01-20-2003, 07:40 PM | #2 | ||||||
A Northern Soul
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Valinor
Posts: 1,847
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Unfinished Tales:
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The Peoples of Middle-Earth Quote:
There are various other versions and comments on the Dagor Dagorath (the prophesied Last Battle), but the account from The Lost Road is the most complete written conception of that battle. Tolkien was never completely sure of this end. Especially after he decided that Arda eventually became the earth we live on, it was unclear whether or not this last battle would take place...undecided on whether the earth ends peacefully or that this battle will still take place at the end of our time. [ January 20, 2003: Message edited by: Legalos ]
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01-21-2003, 08:36 AM | #3 |
Spirit of Mist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Tol Eressea
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Legalos does a fine job of addressing the source materials of this legend. As he comments, the concept of Dagor Dagorath is very unsettled. Some argue that Tolkien rejected the idea ultimately due to his linking of his mythos to the real world.
Others suggest that he modified it and intended the version quoted from Peoples of Middle Earth to be an amendment of the battle at the end of the first age in which Morgoth was overthrown. Advocates of this position suggest that the reference to the great dragon means Ancalagon the Black. Some also point out that the latest conceptions of the Battle of Wrath suggest that Morgoth was not exiled to the void but was instead executed so that there could be no final battle. The reappearence of Turin goes back to earlier conceptions of the final battle and is not consonant with other parts of the legendarium which provide that Men depart from the world after they die. The concept of Morgoth being slain can also be cast in doubt as the killing of an Ainu would likely fall afoul of Eru's "rules" discussed in Osanwe Kenta.
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