my Arda of love

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Tumbler ty huesos

[askmiddlearth]

Cross-Species Pregnancies

So, to be clear, Tolkien never touches this topic. The only examples we have of a woman pregnant with a “cross-species” baby is Mithrellas (who we know next to nothing about, so no help there), and Idril. We don’t have any information on Idril’s pregnancy with Earendil, so I have no idea if there was anything unusual about it. Luthien was already technically mortal when she was pregnant, so she’s no help in this either. And there are no recorded instances of any other type of cross-species couple, kids or no kids. So there really isn’t anything in the texts to answer these questions.

But we can actually use a little “real world” experience to shed some light on the subject. 

So, as for the different gestation periods of elves and mortals - it’s true that elves are pregnant a full year, while humans are only pregnant for 9-10 months. I’m not sure how this would work out. I did a little research, and science really isn’t my thing, guys, but apparently if you’re pregnant too long the placenta starts to become ineffective, and there are all sorts of risks for the baby. It might be that, for elvish mothers giving birth to half-mortal babies, there’s no problem - their bodies are prepared to be pregnant 12 months, and if the baby’s ready sooner than that, it’s probably okay. But for mortal mothers giving birth to half-elven babies (if there ever were any), this might be more problematic.

And as for size-related complications, I think that we could compare this to real-world little people (LPs for short.) Today average-sized women can give birth to LPs, and LPs can give birth to average-sized babies with minimal risk. Of course, a lot of that is due to modern medical advances (and apparently it’s very common for LPs to have cesarean sections, as opposed to “natural” vaginal births.) So, when looking at the possibility of a couple that is half dwarf or hobbit and half elf or man, there is a risk of a complicated pregnancy, or possibly a dangerous birth. But the risk would be lowered, I’d think, if ever elves were involved (given their legendary healing abilities.)

Sorry there wasn’t something more concrete to go on, but I hope that this helped!

SOURCES: The Silmarillion, LOTR Appendices, various random medical google searches

[askmiddlearth]

Sauron's Body in the Third Age

The matter of Sauron’s physical form in the Third Age has been debated a bit by fans (especially after the Peter Jackson movies were released, in which Sauron is portrayed as a the glowing eye, with no apparent corresponding body.) But, while Sauron is often referred to as “the eye” or “the red eye”, there is also a fair amount of evidence that suggests that this eye was, in fact, attached to a body.

Several times, Sauron is mentioned in relation to going places (for example, “the prisoner is to be kept safe and intact … until He [Sauron] sends or comes Himself.” or “He [Sauron] will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won.” Unless we’re to imagine the red eye floating about the place without a body, quotes like these definitely imply that Sauron has a corporeal form. Also, Gollum once mentions that Sauron only has four fingers on his hand (having not managed, apparently, to re-grow the finger that Isildur cut off.) Again, strongly implying that Sauron has a hand in the first place.

Beyond the books themselves, there are a few notes in Tolkien’s letters that reference Sauron’s body. Tolkien mentions that the year 1000 TA was when “the shadow of Sauron began first to grow again to new shape.” But the real proof is in this description of Third Age Sauron: “Sauron should be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.”

It seems that all the mentions of the eye were meant to be more symbolic, or an extended metaphor, than a literal description. And there’s precedence for Sauron re-growing physical forms: after the drowning of Numenor, Sauron’s body was destroyed. Interestingly, his physical form before Numenor’s destruction had been fair and beautiful. But afterwards, it’s said that he could never pretend to be anything but ugly. And, to be fair, after his defeat in the Battle of the Last Alliance, Sauron wasn’t able to take physical form for many years, but when he started regaining power around 1000, a new physical form was probably one of the first things he worked on.

(If interested, here’s a related post about Sauron’s appearance.)

SOURCES: LOTR, Tolkien’s letters #144 and #246

[askmiddlearth]

The Eagles: Deus Ex Machina or Machina Ex Deo?

Alrighty, so first of all here’s a link to the discussion in question. The original post is basically about the common complaint from readers that Tolkien uses the eagles to “rescue” characters whenever he doesn’t know how else to resolve the conflict - essentially, that the eagles are just deus ex machina. Gibbelins (the author) addresses this and concludes that the eagles “are a sign of divine grace”, which I’m going to expand on below. But the discussion is a short read, and well thought-out, so I’d highly recommend that you go read it.

Also, I’m not going to go into too much detail about the history and origins of the eagles, or their relationship with the Valar. It’s very relevant to this post, though, so if you haven’t, read this post (bonus points for reading this one, and this one too.)

Deus Ex Machina

Now, the complaint/accusation that the eagles in Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) are nothing more than deus ex machina is certainly not a new or uncommon opinion. The problem is that, while Tolkien had a thorough backstory/explanation for the eagles and their behavior, that explanation cannot be found in either of the two stories mentioned. So people who claim the eagles are deus ex machina aren’t really all that wrong - because, based on the information given in LotR and The Hobbit, they really kind of are.

For those who don’t know, “deus ex machina” is Latin for “god from the machine”, and is a plot device wherein a conflict is suddenly solved by the unexpected (and often unexplained) arrival of a new event, character, etc. Historically, it comes from ancient Greek theater, where actors playing gods would be transported “magically” onto the stage by a machine. In literature, deus ex machina is generally criticized, as it’s seen as the sign of a lazy author. But, in Tolkien’s case, he very intentionally designed the eagles for this purpose - to carry out the wishes of the Valar, to literally carry out acts of gods. So they are deus ex machina. Or, more accurately, they’re machina ex deo - the machine from god.

Machina Ex Deo

Again, I don’t want this post to get too off-track, so I won’t go into much detail, but in The Silmarillion it’s explained that the eagles are essentially the servants of Manwe, lord of the Valar. How exactly they serve him depends a bit on the time period (usually as messengers, spies, etc.), but the main point is that they act in Middle Earth in Manwe’s place. They are, pretty literally, the machines that the gods use to do things in Middle Earth. For various reasons, the Valar don’t get directly involved in Middle Earth’s affairs. But, sometimes they decide to lend a helping hand. For Manwe, that helping hand is the eagles. 

The first time we really see the eagles play their “machina ex deo” role is in The Silmarillion. When Fingon goes to rescue Maedhros, and realizes that he cannot save him, Maedhros begs Fingon to kill him instead. In despair, Fingon prays to Manwe for strength and help in giving his cousin a painless death. Then, Thorondor (king of the eagles) suddenly appears, and helps Fingon rescue Maedhros safely.

While the eagles pull similar stunts all throughout the Silmarillion, this first instance is especially important, because Tolkien takes the time to point out the all-important connection between the eagle’s aid and Manwe. The Valar heard Fingon’s prayer, and though they could not personally hop on over to Middle Earth and make everything better, they could send an eagle to at least help a little. And while the prayer portion of the ritual isn’t made as clear in subsequent rescues (although Peter Jackson sort of brought it back with the moths that Gandalf keeps talking to), the precedent that Fingon sets holds true - the eagles act in large part to do in Middle Earth what Manwe and the Valar cannot.

Deus ex machina is an instance of a machine (in literature this being the author) sending a “god” into the story in order to fix whatever conflict the characters are stuck in. The miraculous, and generally unexplained, rescues that the eagles make in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit certainly seem to fall into this category. But, by looking at Tolkien’s other works (especially The Silmarillion), we learn that it’s the other way around. The eagles act on behalf of the Valar, carrying out their wishes (and aiding those that the Valar think deserve it) in Middle Earth. It’s not a machine delivering a god, but a god delivering a machine.

SOURCES: LOTR, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, “Why yes, the Eagles are "the god from the machine” by Gibbelins

((The incredibly talented Ted Nasmith has drawn just a few of the many eagle-rescues in Middle Earth. The top left shows the eagles rescuing the dwarves in The Hobbit. The bottom left is the eagles flying Beren and Luthien to safety. To the right is Thorondor helping Fingon rescue Maedhros. And the far right shows Gwaihir rescuing Gandalf from Isengard.))

[askmiddlearth]

Elvish Hair Colors in the Movie Adaptations

Oh, I do not like this. The quote itself is frustratingly misleading, since it’s both true and completely false. And, while I want to be irritated at the break from canon, I also understand why Peter Jackson and company have used hair color this way. Anyway, let’s start by looking at the quote in full:

Some elves may be dark-haired and grey-eyed, like Elrond, the Master of Rivendell. Others may be silver of hair, but most, including the elves of the Greenwood and Lothlorien, who have never passed west of the Misty Mountains, are golden-haired. Some among the Silvan elves may tend towards a more russet coloring, in keeping with their surroundings.

Now, the quote is correct in some ways. While these are all possible elvish hair colors, the “rules” about hair colors are totally off. Yes, Elrond has dark hair. And, yes, technically, almost all the elves that we meet east of the Misty Mountains have blonde hair (Haldir, Galadriel, Thranduil, possibly Legolas.) So technically, that part is true. But it’s a weak technicality.

I’ve talked about elvish hair color enough times on this blog that I’m considering creating a new tag for it. And while we do actually meet quite a few blonde elves (all the ones listed above, as well as Glorfindel), Tolkien attributed blonde hair to the Vanyarin elves, of which there are none left in Middle Earth. So, despite Thranduil and Haldir, it should be pretty rare. And, more importantly, it was not the dominant hair color of the Teleri elves, which is the ancestral group that both the Sindar and the Nandor/Silvan elves originate from. The Teleri were known for having either dark or silver hair (like Celeborn.) So to imply that the majority of the elves east of the Misty Mountains - a region made up almost entirely by Sindarin and Silvan elves - is completely false.

And the bit about Silvan elves tending to have “russet” - red - hair is also tricky. While Tolkien never says “nobody has red hair”, he also only ever described four elves as having red hair. And none of them were even remotely related to the Silvan elves. 

As someone who spends a fair amount of time each day clearing up some of the more confusing bits of Middle Earth, things like this - that are pretty much guaranteed to confuse new fans - are frustrating. But, from a movie-maker’s point of view, I can see what Peter Jackson and company are doing. We saw in Lord of the Rings that hair color was used largely to help differentiate between the elves of Rivendell (almost all shown with dark hair) and Lorien (almost all shown with blonde hair.) So it makes sense to continue this trend by showing the Sindar of Mirkwood as blonde, and the Silvan as red-haired (I think that the red hair, in particular, is a largely artistic choice, since it seems that the set design for Mirkwood is emphasizing a lot of warm, fall colors.) I just kind of wish that they hadn’t made up an internal explanation for this…

For more posts about elvish hair color, here are some relevant options:

Elvish Hair Color

Elves: Blonde vs Red Hair

Red-Haired Elves

SOURCES: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Visual Companion (“Elves”)

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Мое первое изделие

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Вот интересные фото и рассказ о нашей старой священной архитектуре, #уходящеенавсегда

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В квантовом газе нашли следы магнитного монополя

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[matstegen]

Igor Akinfeev of Russia celebrates after his winning kick-save against Spain’s penalty during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia match between Spain and Russia at Luzhniki Stadium, on July 1, 2018 in Moscow, Russia.

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👍⚽️🇷🇺

[hematitehearts]

Fluorite

Locality: Schacht 78 Mine, Frohnau, Annaberg, Saxony, Germany

Size: 6.1 × 9.2 × 5.8 cm

[heartwurm]

succulents + crystals 🌿

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Sylvia's Christmas Song

Sylvian joululaulu San. Zachary Topelius (1818-1898) Säv. Karl Collan (1828-1871) Käännös M.Korpilahti Ja niin joulu joutui jo taas Pohjolaan joulu joutui jo rintoihinkin. Ja kuuset ne kirkkaasti luo loistoaan jo pirtteihin pienoisihin. Mut ylhäällä orressa vielä on vain se häkki mi sulkee mun sirkuttajain, ja vaiennut vaikerrus on vankilan; oi, murheita muistaa ken vois laulajan! Sä tähdistä kirkkain, nyt loisteesi luo sinne Suomeeni kaukaisehen! Ja sitten kun sammuu sun tuikkeesi tuo, sä siunaa se maa muistojen! Sen vertaista toista en mistään ma saa, on armain ja kallein mull' ain' Suomenmaa! Ja kiitosta sen laulu soi Sylvian ja soi aina lauluista sointuisimman.