Post by artanaro on Nov 22, 2005 6:45:23 GMT -5
from Peoples of Middle Earth Last Writings
GLORFINDEL
"In the summer of 1938, when my father was pondering The Council of Elrond in the Lord of the Rings, he wrote : 'Glorfindel tells of his ancestry in Gondolin'(VI.214). More than thirty years later he took up the question of whether Glorfindel of Gondolin and Glorfindel of Rivendell were indeed one and the same, and this issued in two discussions, together with other brief or fragmentary writings closely associated with them. I will refer to these as 'Glorfindel I' and 'Glorfindel II'. The first page of 'Glorfindel I is missing and the second page begins with the words 'as guards or assisstants'. Then follows :
An Elf who had once known Middle Earth and had fought in the long wars against Melkor would be an eminently suitable companion for Gandalf. We could then reasonably suppose that Glorfindel (possibly as one a small party, [1] more probably as a sole companion) landed with Gandalf-Olorin about Third Age 1000. This supposition would indeed explain the air of special power and sanctity that surrounds Glorfindel - note how the Witch - King flies from him, although all others (such as King Earnur) however brave could not induce their horses to face him (Appendix A(I,iv),RK p.331). For according to accounts (quite independent of this case) elsewhere given of Elvish nature, and their relations to the Valar, when Glorfindel was slain his spirit would then go to Mandos and be judged, and then would remain in the Halls of Waiting until Manwe granted him release. The Elves were destined to be by nature "immortal", within the unknown limits of life of the Earth as a habitable realm, and their disembodiment was a grievous thing. It was the duty, therefore, of the Valar to restore them, if they were slain, to incarnate life, if they desired it- unless for some grave (and rare) reason : such as deeds of great evil, or any works of malice of whcih they remained obdurately unrepentent. When they were re-embodied they could remain in Valinor, or return to Middle Earth if their home had been there. We can therefore reasonably suppose that Glorfindel, after the purging or forgiveness of his part in the rebellion of the Noldor, was released from Mandos and became himself again, but remained in the Blessed Realm - for Gondolin was destroyed and all or most of his kin had perished. We can thus understand why he seems so powerful a figure and almost "angelic". For he had returned to the primitive innocence of the First-born, and had then lived among those Elves who had never rebelled, and in the companionship of the Maiar [2] for ages : from the last years of the First Age, through the Second Age, to the end of the first millenium of the Third Age : before he returned to Middle Earth. [3] It is indeed probable that he had in Valinore already become a friend and follower of Olorin. Even in the brief glimpses of him given in The Lord of the Rings he appears as specially concerned for Gandalf, and was one (the most powerful it would seem) of those sent out from Rivendell when the disquieting news reached Elrond that Gandalf had never re-appeared to guide or protect the Ring-bearer.
The second essay, Glorfindel II, is a text of five manuscript pages which undoubtedly followed the first at no long interval; but a slip of paper on which my father hastily set down some thoughts on the matter presumably came between them, since he said here that while Glorfindel might have come with Gandalf, 'it seems far more likely that he was sent in the crisis of the Second Age, when Sauron incaded Eriador, to assist Elrond, and that though not (yet ) mentioned in the annals recording Sauron's defeat he played a notable and heroic part in the war'. At the end of this note he wrote the words ' Numenorean ship' presumably indicating how Glorfindel might have crossed the GReat Sea.
This name is in fact derived form the earliest work of the mythology: The Fall of Gondolin , composed in 1926-17, in which the Elvish language that ultimately became that of the type called Sindarin was in a primitive and unorganized form, and its relation with the High-elven type (itself very primitive) was still haphazard. It was intended to mean 'Golden - tressed', [4] and was the name given to the heroic 'Gnome'(Noldo), a chieftain of Gondolin, who in the pass of Cristhorn ('EAgle-cleft) fought with a Balrog, whom he slew at the cost of his own life.
Its use in LOTR is one of the cases of the somewhat random use of names found in the older legends, now referred to as The Silmarillion, which escaped recosideration in the final published form of LOTR. This is unfortunate, since the name is now difficult to fit into Sindarin, and cannot possibly be Quenyarin. Also in the now organized mythology, difficulty is presented by the things recorded of Glorfindel in LOTR, if Glorfindel of Gondolin is supposed to be the same person as Glorfindel of Rivendell.
As for the former : he was slain in the Fall of Gondolin at the end of the First Age, and if a chieftain of that city must have been a Noldo, one of the Elf lords in the host of King Turukano (Turgon); at any rate when The Fall of Gondolin was written he was certainly thought to be so. But the Noldor in Beleriand were exiles from Valinor, having rebelled against the authority of Manwe supreme head of the Valar, and Turgon was one of the most determined and unrepentant supporters of Feanors rebellion. [5] There is no escape from this. Gondolin is in the Silmarillion said to have been built and occupied by a people of almost entirely Noldorin origin. [6] It might be possible, though inconsistent, to suppose that Glorfindel was a prince of Sindarin origin who had joined the host of Turgon, but this would entirely contradict what is said of Glorfindel in LOTR, p. 235 , where he is said to have been one of the 'lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas... who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm.' The Sindar had never left Middle Earth.
This difficulty, far more serious than the linguistic one, may be considered first. At any rate what at first sight may seem to simplest solution must be abandoned : ac. that we have merely a reduplication of names, and that Glorfindel of Gondolin and Glorfindel of Rivendell were different persons. This repetition of so striking a name, though possible, would not be credible. [7] No other major character in the Elvish legends as reported in The Silmarillion and LOTR has a name borne by another Elvish person of importance. Also it may be found that acceptance of the identity of Glorfindel of old and of the Third Age will actually explain what is said of him and improve the story.
When Glorfindel of Gondolin was slain his spirit would according to the laws established by the One be obliged at once to return to the land of the Valar. Then he would go to Mandos and be judged, and would then remain in the 'Halls of Waiting' until Manwe granted him release. Elves were destined to be 'immortal', that is not to dies within the unknown limits decreed by the One, which at the most could be until the end of the life of the Earth as a habitable realm. Their death - by any injury to their bodies so severe that it could not be healed - and the disembodiment of their spirits was an 'unnatural' and grievous matter. It was therefore the duty of the Valar, by command of the One, to restore them to incarnate life, if they desired it. But this 'restoration' could be delayed [8] by Manwe , if the fea while alive had done evil deeds and refused to repent of them, or still harboured any malice against any other person among the living.
Now Glorfindel of Gondolin was one of the exiled Noldor, rebels against the authority of Manwe, and they were all under a ban imposed by him : they could not return in bodily form to the Blessed Realm. Manwe, however, was not bound by his own ordinances, and being still the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Arda, could set them aside, when he saw fit. From what is said of Glorfindel in The Silmarillion and LOTR its is evident that he was an Elda of high and noble spirit: and it can be assumed that , though he left Valinor in the host of Turgon, and so incurred the ban, he did so reluctantly because of kinship with Turgon and allegiance to him, and had no part in the kinslaying of Alqualonde.
More important : Glorfindel had sacrificed his life in defending the fugitives from the wreck of Gondolin against a Demon our of Thangorodrim,[10], and so enabling Tuor and Idril daughter of Turgon and their child Earendil to escape, and seek refuge at the Mouths of Sirion. Though he cannot have known the importance of this (and would have defended them even had they been fugitives of any rank), this deed was of vital importance to the designs of the Valar.[11] It is therefore entirely in keeping with the general design of the Silmarillion to describe the subsequent history of Glorfindel thus. After his purging of any guilt that he had incurred in the rebellion, he was released from Mandos, and Manwe restored him.[12]. He then became again a living incarnate person, but was permitted to dwell in the Blessed Realm; for he had regained the primitive innocence and grace of the Eldar. For long years he remained in Valinor, in reunion with the Eldar who had not rebelled, and in the companionship of the Maiar. To these he had now become almost an equal, for though he was an incarnate ( to whom a bodily form not made or chosed by himself was necessary) his spiritual power had been greatly enhanced by his self-sacrifice. At some time, probably early in his sojourn in Valinor, he became a follower, and a friend, of Olorin(Gandalf), who as is said in the silmarillion had an especial love and concern for the Children of Eru. [14] That Olorin as was possible for one of the Maiar, had already visited Middle Earth and had become acquainted not only with the Sindarin elves and other deeper in Middle earth, but also with Men, is likely, but nothing is[>has yet been] said of this.
Glorfindel remained in the Blessed Realm, no doubt at first by his own choice : Gondolin was destroyed, and all his kin had perished, and were still in the Halls of Waiting unapproachable by the living. But his long sojourn during the last years of the First Age, and at least far into the Second Age, no doubt was also in accord with the wishes and designs of Manwe.
When did Glorfindel return to Middle earth? This must probably have occured before the end of the Second Age, and the 'Change of the World' and the Drowning of Numenor, after which no living embodied creature, 'humane' or of lesser kinds, could return to the Blessed Realm which had been 'removed from the Circles of the World'. This was according to a general ordinance proceeding from Eru Himself; and though, until the end of the Third Age, when Eru decreed that the Dominion of Men must begin, Manwe could be supposed to have received the permission of Eru to amke an exception in his case, and to have devised some means for transportation of Glorfindel to Middle earth, this is improbable and would make Glorfindel of greater power and importance than seems fitting.
We may then best suppose that Glorfindel returned during the Second Age, before the 'shadow' fell on Numenor, and while the Numenoreans were welcomed by the Eldar as powerful allies. His return must have been for the purpose of strengthening Gil Galad and Elrond, when the growing evil of the intentions of Sauron were at last perceived by them. It might, therefore, have been as early as Second Age 1200, when Sauron came in person to Lindon, and attempted to deceive Gil galad, but was rejected and dismissed. [14] But it may have been, perhaps more probably , as late as c.1600, the Year of Dread, when Barad dur was completed and the One Ring forged, and Celebrimbor at last became aware of the trap into which he had fallen. For in 1200, though he was filled with anxiety, Gil-galad still felt strong and able to treat Sauron with contempt.[15] Also at that time his Numenorean allies were beginning to make strong permanent havens for their great ships, and also many of them had actually begun to dwell there permanently. In 1600 it became clear to all the leaders of Elves and Men (and Dwarves) that war was inevitable against Sauron, now unmasked as a new Dark Lord. They therefore began to prepare for his assault; and no doubt urgent messages and prayers asking for help were received in Numenor and in Valinor. [16]
GLORFINDEL
"In the summer of 1938, when my father was pondering The Council of Elrond in the Lord of the Rings, he wrote : 'Glorfindel tells of his ancestry in Gondolin'(VI.214). More than thirty years later he took up the question of whether Glorfindel of Gondolin and Glorfindel of Rivendell were indeed one and the same, and this issued in two discussions, together with other brief or fragmentary writings closely associated with them. I will refer to these as 'Glorfindel I' and 'Glorfindel II'. The first page of 'Glorfindel I is missing and the second page begins with the words 'as guards or assisstants'. Then follows :
An Elf who had once known Middle Earth and had fought in the long wars against Melkor would be an eminently suitable companion for Gandalf. We could then reasonably suppose that Glorfindel (possibly as one a small party, [1] more probably as a sole companion) landed with Gandalf-Olorin about Third Age 1000. This supposition would indeed explain the air of special power and sanctity that surrounds Glorfindel - note how the Witch - King flies from him, although all others (such as King Earnur) however brave could not induce their horses to face him (Appendix A(I,iv),RK p.331). For according to accounts (quite independent of this case) elsewhere given of Elvish nature, and their relations to the Valar, when Glorfindel was slain his spirit would then go to Mandos and be judged, and then would remain in the Halls of Waiting until Manwe granted him release. The Elves were destined to be by nature "immortal", within the unknown limits of life of the Earth as a habitable realm, and their disembodiment was a grievous thing. It was the duty, therefore, of the Valar to restore them, if they were slain, to incarnate life, if they desired it- unless for some grave (and rare) reason : such as deeds of great evil, or any works of malice of whcih they remained obdurately unrepentent. When they were re-embodied they could remain in Valinor, or return to Middle Earth if their home had been there. We can therefore reasonably suppose that Glorfindel, after the purging or forgiveness of his part in the rebellion of the Noldor, was released from Mandos and became himself again, but remained in the Blessed Realm - for Gondolin was destroyed and all or most of his kin had perished. We can thus understand why he seems so powerful a figure and almost "angelic". For he had returned to the primitive innocence of the First-born, and had then lived among those Elves who had never rebelled, and in the companionship of the Maiar [2] for ages : from the last years of the First Age, through the Second Age, to the end of the first millenium of the Third Age : before he returned to Middle Earth. [3] It is indeed probable that he had in Valinore already become a friend and follower of Olorin. Even in the brief glimpses of him given in The Lord of the Rings he appears as specially concerned for Gandalf, and was one (the most powerful it would seem) of those sent out from Rivendell when the disquieting news reached Elrond that Gandalf had never re-appeared to guide or protect the Ring-bearer.
The second essay, Glorfindel II, is a text of five manuscript pages which undoubtedly followed the first at no long interval; but a slip of paper on which my father hastily set down some thoughts on the matter presumably came between them, since he said here that while Glorfindel might have come with Gandalf, 'it seems far more likely that he was sent in the crisis of the Second Age, when Sauron incaded Eriador, to assist Elrond, and that though not (yet ) mentioned in the annals recording Sauron's defeat he played a notable and heroic part in the war'. At the end of this note he wrote the words ' Numenorean ship' presumably indicating how Glorfindel might have crossed the GReat Sea.
This name is in fact derived form the earliest work of the mythology: The Fall of Gondolin , composed in 1926-17, in which the Elvish language that ultimately became that of the type called Sindarin was in a primitive and unorganized form, and its relation with the High-elven type (itself very primitive) was still haphazard. It was intended to mean 'Golden - tressed', [4] and was the name given to the heroic 'Gnome'(Noldo), a chieftain of Gondolin, who in the pass of Cristhorn ('EAgle-cleft) fought with a Balrog, whom he slew at the cost of his own life.
Its use in LOTR is one of the cases of the somewhat random use of names found in the older legends, now referred to as The Silmarillion, which escaped recosideration in the final published form of LOTR. This is unfortunate, since the name is now difficult to fit into Sindarin, and cannot possibly be Quenyarin. Also in the now organized mythology, difficulty is presented by the things recorded of Glorfindel in LOTR, if Glorfindel of Gondolin is supposed to be the same person as Glorfindel of Rivendell.
As for the former : he was slain in the Fall of Gondolin at the end of the First Age, and if a chieftain of that city must have been a Noldo, one of the Elf lords in the host of King Turukano (Turgon); at any rate when The Fall of Gondolin was written he was certainly thought to be so. But the Noldor in Beleriand were exiles from Valinor, having rebelled against the authority of Manwe supreme head of the Valar, and Turgon was one of the most determined and unrepentant supporters of Feanors rebellion. [5] There is no escape from this. Gondolin is in the Silmarillion said to have been built and occupied by a people of almost entirely Noldorin origin. [6] It might be possible, though inconsistent, to suppose that Glorfindel was a prince of Sindarin origin who had joined the host of Turgon, but this would entirely contradict what is said of Glorfindel in LOTR, p. 235 , where he is said to have been one of the 'lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas... who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm.' The Sindar had never left Middle Earth.
This difficulty, far more serious than the linguistic one, may be considered first. At any rate what at first sight may seem to simplest solution must be abandoned : ac. that we have merely a reduplication of names, and that Glorfindel of Gondolin and Glorfindel of Rivendell were different persons. This repetition of so striking a name, though possible, would not be credible. [7] No other major character in the Elvish legends as reported in The Silmarillion and LOTR has a name borne by another Elvish person of importance. Also it may be found that acceptance of the identity of Glorfindel of old and of the Third Age will actually explain what is said of him and improve the story.
When Glorfindel of Gondolin was slain his spirit would according to the laws established by the One be obliged at once to return to the land of the Valar. Then he would go to Mandos and be judged, and would then remain in the 'Halls of Waiting' until Manwe granted him release. Elves were destined to be 'immortal', that is not to dies within the unknown limits decreed by the One, which at the most could be until the end of the life of the Earth as a habitable realm. Their death - by any injury to their bodies so severe that it could not be healed - and the disembodiment of their spirits was an 'unnatural' and grievous matter. It was therefore the duty of the Valar, by command of the One, to restore them to incarnate life, if they desired it. But this 'restoration' could be delayed [8] by Manwe , if the fea while alive had done evil deeds and refused to repent of them, or still harboured any malice against any other person among the living.
Now Glorfindel of Gondolin was one of the exiled Noldor, rebels against the authority of Manwe, and they were all under a ban imposed by him : they could not return in bodily form to the Blessed Realm. Manwe, however, was not bound by his own ordinances, and being still the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Arda, could set them aside, when he saw fit. From what is said of Glorfindel in The Silmarillion and LOTR its is evident that he was an Elda of high and noble spirit: and it can be assumed that , though he left Valinor in the host of Turgon, and so incurred the ban, he did so reluctantly because of kinship with Turgon and allegiance to him, and had no part in the kinslaying of Alqualonde.
More important : Glorfindel had sacrificed his life in defending the fugitives from the wreck of Gondolin against a Demon our of Thangorodrim,[10], and so enabling Tuor and Idril daughter of Turgon and their child Earendil to escape, and seek refuge at the Mouths of Sirion. Though he cannot have known the importance of this (and would have defended them even had they been fugitives of any rank), this deed was of vital importance to the designs of the Valar.[11] It is therefore entirely in keeping with the general design of the Silmarillion to describe the subsequent history of Glorfindel thus. After his purging of any guilt that he had incurred in the rebellion, he was released from Mandos, and Manwe restored him.[12]. He then became again a living incarnate person, but was permitted to dwell in the Blessed Realm; for he had regained the primitive innocence and grace of the Eldar. For long years he remained in Valinor, in reunion with the Eldar who had not rebelled, and in the companionship of the Maiar. To these he had now become almost an equal, for though he was an incarnate ( to whom a bodily form not made or chosed by himself was necessary) his spiritual power had been greatly enhanced by his self-sacrifice. At some time, probably early in his sojourn in Valinor, he became a follower, and a friend, of Olorin(Gandalf), who as is said in the silmarillion had an especial love and concern for the Children of Eru. [14] That Olorin as was possible for one of the Maiar, had already visited Middle Earth and had become acquainted not only with the Sindarin elves and other deeper in Middle earth, but also with Men, is likely, but nothing is[>has yet been] said of this.
Glorfindel remained in the Blessed Realm, no doubt at first by his own choice : Gondolin was destroyed, and all his kin had perished, and were still in the Halls of Waiting unapproachable by the living. But his long sojourn during the last years of the First Age, and at least far into the Second Age, no doubt was also in accord with the wishes and designs of Manwe.
When did Glorfindel return to Middle earth? This must probably have occured before the end of the Second Age, and the 'Change of the World' and the Drowning of Numenor, after which no living embodied creature, 'humane' or of lesser kinds, could return to the Blessed Realm which had been 'removed from the Circles of the World'. This was according to a general ordinance proceeding from Eru Himself; and though, until the end of the Third Age, when Eru decreed that the Dominion of Men must begin, Manwe could be supposed to have received the permission of Eru to amke an exception in his case, and to have devised some means for transportation of Glorfindel to Middle earth, this is improbable and would make Glorfindel of greater power and importance than seems fitting.
We may then best suppose that Glorfindel returned during the Second Age, before the 'shadow' fell on Numenor, and while the Numenoreans were welcomed by the Eldar as powerful allies. His return must have been for the purpose of strengthening Gil Galad and Elrond, when the growing evil of the intentions of Sauron were at last perceived by them. It might, therefore, have been as early as Second Age 1200, when Sauron came in person to Lindon, and attempted to deceive Gil galad, but was rejected and dismissed. [14] But it may have been, perhaps more probably , as late as c.1600, the Year of Dread, when Barad dur was completed and the One Ring forged, and Celebrimbor at last became aware of the trap into which he had fallen. For in 1200, though he was filled with anxiety, Gil-galad still felt strong and able to treat Sauron with contempt.[15] Also at that time his Numenorean allies were beginning to make strong permanent havens for their great ships, and also many of them had actually begun to dwell there permanently. In 1600 it became clear to all the leaders of Elves and Men (and Dwarves) that war was inevitable against Sauron, now unmasked as a new Dark Lord. They therefore began to prepare for his assault; and no doubt urgent messages and prayers asking for help were received in Numenor and in Valinor. [16]
