Timeline for What is 'light' in Tolkien's lore, exactly?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 12, 2022 at 13:35 | vote | accept | hamstar | ||
| Nov 11, 2022 at 17:30 | comment | added | V2Blast | For some context, this is a footnote connected to this portion of the letter, talking about the Fall of the Elves and the plot/title of The Silmarillion: "By the making of gems the sub-creative function of the Elves is chiefly symbolized, but the Silmarilli were more than just beautiful things as such. There was Light. There was the Light of Valinor made visible in the Two Trees of Silver and Gold.*" | |
| Nov 11, 2022 at 13:15 | comment | added | kutschkem | @hamstar No, I mean more like "understanding" a thing, seeing what it really is. | |
| Nov 11, 2022 at 13:10 | comment | added | hamstar | @kutschkem After the trees were destroyed, their light was destroyed (with possible exception for the Silmarils). Though you'd think a fruit from those trees could make a new tree, instead of simply make the sun. That said, is the sun merely only a 'physical illumination'? Many earth cultures think otherwise, so maybe Tolkien does as well. Also, would the idea of 'seeing spiritually' have something to do with the unseen realm? | |
| Nov 11, 2022 at 12:37 | history | edited | ibid | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 11, 2022 at 9:30 | comment | added | kutschkem | I can try to interpret here as I understand it: The Light of Valinor does not just allow one to physically see something, it is the light that allows to "see" both physically and spiritually. To understand and see the beauty of things. After it is sullied with Evil, the light can only illuminate physically. Also he says light as a symbol is so omnipresent in the history of mankind, trying to really analyze it is kind of futile. There is also a biblical aspect here - he seems to allude to the light that was there before the fall, which was there when the creator said the creation was good. | |
| Nov 11, 2022 at 6:17 | comment | added | hamstar | So my takeaway is he says it is symbolic/allegorical, but as it's a 'primeval' concept, I guess it gets to be a somehow-intuitive concept who's nature is not meant to be spelled out, or may even vary per circumstance by implicit interpretation. My point, however, is this doesn't seem to actually be the case, as 'light' is all too often represented as a substance, albeit lacking a clear identity. I think the best concept Tolkien provides to infer a possible identity is the Flame Imperishable, due to its properties and rarity. | |
| Nov 11, 2022 at 0:29 | comment | added | ibid | @hamstar - I quoted it because it's Tolkien's exact words. If I were to try rewriting it it would just be me speaking about the significance of the theme in Tolkien's work, which is the type of openended thing that I think doesn't really fit the nature of this website. (Literature SE might be a better fit. ) But my main takeaway from the quote is that Tolkien is acknowledging there is some allegorical significance to his usage of light. | |
| Nov 10, 2022 at 23:35 | history | edited | ibid | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 10, 2022 at 15:28 | history | answered | ibid | CC BY-SA 4.0 |