Why I am not an Elf

"Whereas to men he gave strange gifts..."

--The Silmarillion

If memory serves me right, there are two strange gifts of men: to determine their own destiny, and to die. The elves, of course, are blessed with intelligence, immortality, and the ability to both live in the world and transcend it while they live in it. They are like a stained-glass window: their very nature, by its very nature, lets the light of the supernatural enter and be seen.

But there is one thing the elves lack. It is not obvious. In fact, it took me half an hour of wandering past stained glass windows to figure out what it was.

Consider an elf who performs an act of valor. It could be a great act. It could be a difficult act. It could be a humanly impossible act. But it does not make the elf a hero. Ironically, any act of heroism on the part of the elf has, of all things, an excuse: "He's an elf. Of course he could do that!"

In the War of the Ring, one of the most crisis-filled moments in LOTR history, when the continued existence of the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth seemed most impossible, the elves responded by flight (such as the elves of Rivendell who fled to the Undying Lands) or hopeless resistance (Galadriel). Even after victory, the elves are unable to save themselves: they flee or vanish, inevitably submitting to the destruction of the preserved things of the Rings.

In the LOTR universe, however, the actions of the human characters stand in marked contrast to this. Heroes arise out of the nowheres of the world: men like Turin Turambar, Elendil, or Aragorn come out of backward tribes, decaying nations, or defeated bloodlines. Their success is not based on their history or their culture (the elves' success is) and thus, rather than a linear devolution, it is cyclical, with not only fading kingdoms, but rising kingdoms. Unlike the elves, whose success, in the final analysis, depends on the action of the gods, the men are partially free even from the decrees of the gods (aka Valar), with Luthien (who becomes a woman) directly defying the Vala Mandos himself.

The elves are noble, great, helpless and lost. Men are dirty, fallen, and weak, but they have something the elves do not have: freedom to choose their good and evil fortunes.

More of that Harry Potter-ish poem. Not in chronological order!

Its a subplot...anyway....

Here it is

To Add to the Harry Potter Confusion

ClickHere


It's my attempt to write a story with a plot line somewhat similar to the plot of HP and the sorcerer's stone (as I understand it, I haven't actually read it): a boy is taken from his home to be schooled in the ways of magic, learns the magic (with all the technichal details included in the book), and then uses it to battle evil. I have tried to go as close as possible to what makes HP attractive, while at the same time, make the good magic implicitly sacramental and the bad magic explicitly occultic. But I haven't gotten to the technichal details yet, so you can read just for fun...for now.

New Debate Topic

I thought of a debate topic that I think will be a long one:

Is Harry Potter Occultic?

Now, I know that some of you like Harry Potter, and some of you don't. Just remember, don't take anything personal. :-)

Finally! Pictures of Annuminas...I mean, Siena!

Debate is On!

Thanks to Jo March, here's a debate topic. It's simple, brief, understandable, and best of all, provocative. Ready?


rumble rumble rumbmle



Was Tolkien an Environmentalist? Peter Kreeft says yes.

The Death Crawl

Those of you who have seen Facing The Giants will know what I'm talking about. I'm sure you all of you agree that the death crawl scene is the most powerful scene in the movie.

But do you remember what Mrs. Taylor said about her husband's team philosophy? She said that it applies to all of life, and not just football. So lets look at it this way. Could you carry a hundred and sixty pounds on your back for a hundred yards; while crawling? Maybe. Maybe if you were motivated. But too many of us wither when trials come our way. It's hard to do that! So can we make it to Heaven with sin on our backs? It's a long, hard road, and those of us who don't like hardships will turn back. Christ said to take up your cross, and that means carrying it no matter how hard. Yes, it is hard, but when we do something, we are naturally rewarded. The harder the task, the greater the reward. How great is Heaven, and our Maker who lives there? That's how hard it will be. We can't get to Heaven without hardships. Yes, maybe we'll fall. Many times we'll fall. But we can all get back up and keep going. That's one difference between going to Heaven and the death crawl, and I think that's a good thing.

The Most Middle-Earthian Place on Earth

No, it's not Scandanavia, or Oxford, or even Nebraska, (although It might very well be Scandanavia, I haven't ever been there), It's.......Siena!

You may not know it but I am in Italy, which is why I haven't been posting anything and haven't been sending AAron several e-mails a day. (I have free internet today, because I'm at a hotel in Naples.) You will see pictures of Siena on Disciples of Diotima when I get back to the US. Anyway, there have been times when I have tried to picture myself in Middle earth and have succeeded. In Siena, it was different. I felt like I was in middle-earth without even trying!

Specifically, I felt I was in Annuminas. Annuminas was the capital of the North Kingdom of Men in the early Third Age. It was located in Eriador, a bit north of the Shire. The north kingdom fell about halfway through the third age, leaving only the rangers to guard the free and peacful peoples of Bree, Buckland, and the Shire. Annuminas was the capital of the kingdom that built the fortress on Weathertop, and was where the king resided that the Hobbits of Frodo's time paid posthumous respect to.

More Madness

I have attempted to get things going here one the Flame of Arnor by putting up a bunch of trivial polls. It's somewhat like the stimulus package. :-)

The Great Social Global Entity

Since the dream discussion doesn't seem to be going anywhere, I think I'll change the subject. This is a topic that I think we'll all be involved in. The subject is:



FACEBOOK



We all know this network of instant messaging, pictures, status updates and such. However, it has much controversy surrounding it. It seems to embody all of human nature and inclinations into one intertwining web. In fact, one could compare it to drinking and smoking. When one joins it, he may do great good, or great evil. He may improve his relationships, become more knowledgeable about people in general, and maybe even spread the faith.



However, one may do great damage to himself and those around him through this web. He may use it to slander others and gossip about them. He may also succeed in making his relations impersonal and distant: more like members of a corporation than friends. His actions - whether intentional or not - may also cause jealousy and envy. But do these things not already happen? This is just another means of transmitting them. I think that facebook, like drinking and smoking, is morally neutral. It can be good or bad depending on the person that uses them (although I think it should be said that facebook has more potential to do good than drinking or smoking).

So what is your opinion? Comment!!!!!