An essay both personal and professional by VDH. He makes an exception to the rule of not speaking ill of the dead in the case of Gore Vidal. Understandable.
I mentioned in my response to "The Mighty Whities" that I was going to elaborate on Tolkien's cosmology. I figured that a topic I had no opinion or relevant input on would be a good place to do that. It is an interesting tale that combines Christian, Gnostic, and Pagan elements. It's detailed in The Silmarillion, which is essentially the Middle-Earth version of the Jewish Scriptures. I don't know if you've read that one, but here goes.
In Tolkien's creation myth, there is Eru Illuvatar, the One Father of All, the supreme being who creates an abode for himself and peoples it with the Ainur, or the Holy Ones. Eru directs them to sing songs for him, and eventually commissions for them the greatest work of all. In the middle of this work, the Ainu Melkor, who desires the Secret Fire that grants the power to create, begins singing crude melodies of his own making, turning many from Eru's music and creating cacophony in the song until Eru stops the music. This is repeated twice until Eru stops the music for the last time on a monumental final chord, and reveals that the Ainur have song Ea, the universe, Arda, Earth, and sentient life.
The universe, Earth, and intelligent life is revealed to have been flawed by Melkor's work, but the imperfection only serves to further Eru's glory. Eru offers the Ainur the chance to enter Ea and turn their song into reality. Several Ainur including Melkor, called the Valar, agree and leave Eru's halls to forge the universe. The Valar toil to make the cosmos in accordance with the Song, and Melkor constantly spoils their work to try and attain his own twisted standard of perfection. In time, the Valar come to be worshipped as gods by the Peoples of Middle-Earth.
Eventually, war breaks out between the good Valar and Melkor, who creates monsters, including Orcs from some of the first Elves, and takes on the identity of Morgoth Bauglir, the Great Black Enemy. The war spans millions of years, into the time of Dwarves, Elves, and Men. Eventually the Valar and the good Peoples overthrow Morgoth, who is cast out of Ea into the Timeless Void, but his lies and corruption remains.
At the end of time, Morgoth will return from the Timeless Void, and all good and evil people will fight in the Battle of Battles, and Morgoth will be destroyed for good. Then all will be told their role in the Song, and then a new Song will be sung to create a Ea, which combines the best of the intended Ea and the flawed Ea.
For a fictional cosmology, it's compelling. It has elements of Christianity (one God, a rebellious figure whose actions mar the world), Gnosticism (the act of Creation itself was flawed by the actions of a foolish and prideful figure), and Paganism (for all intents and purposes, God's emissaries are our bosses, and the ones we make our intercessions to. I wonder what a religion that used it as its basis would look like.
1 comment:
I mentioned in my response to "The Mighty Whities" that I was going to elaborate on Tolkien's cosmology. I figured that a topic I had no opinion or relevant input on would be a good place to do that. It is an interesting tale that combines Christian, Gnostic, and Pagan elements. It's detailed in The Silmarillion, which is essentially the Middle-Earth version of the Jewish Scriptures. I don't know if you've read that one, but here goes.
In Tolkien's creation myth, there is Eru Illuvatar, the One Father of All, the supreme being who creates an abode for himself and peoples it with the Ainur, or the Holy Ones. Eru directs them to sing songs for him, and eventually commissions for them the greatest work of all. In the middle of this work, the Ainu Melkor, who desires the Secret Fire that grants the power to create, begins singing crude melodies of his own making, turning many from Eru's music and creating cacophony in the song until Eru stops the music. This is repeated twice until Eru stops the music for the last time on a monumental final chord, and reveals that the Ainur have song Ea, the universe, Arda, Earth, and sentient life.
The universe, Earth, and intelligent life is revealed to have been flawed by Melkor's work, but the imperfection only serves to further Eru's glory. Eru offers the Ainur the chance to enter Ea and turn their song into reality. Several Ainur including Melkor, called the Valar, agree and leave Eru's halls to forge the universe. The Valar toil to make the cosmos in accordance with the Song, and Melkor constantly spoils their work to try and attain his own twisted standard of perfection. In time, the Valar come to be worshipped as gods by the Peoples of Middle-Earth.
Eventually, war breaks out between the good Valar and Melkor, who creates monsters, including Orcs from some of the first Elves, and takes on the identity of Morgoth Bauglir, the Great Black Enemy. The war spans millions of years, into the time of Dwarves, Elves, and Men. Eventually the Valar and the good Peoples overthrow Morgoth, who is cast out of Ea into the Timeless Void, but his lies and corruption remains.
At the end of time, Morgoth will return from the Timeless Void, and all good and evil people will fight in the Battle of Battles, and Morgoth will be destroyed for good. Then all will be told their role in the Song, and then a new Song will be sung to create a Ea, which combines the best of the intended Ea and the flawed Ea.
For a fictional cosmology, it's compelling. It has elements of Christianity (one God, a rebellious figure whose actions mar the world), Gnosticism (the act of Creation itself was flawed by the actions of a foolish and prideful figure), and Paganism (for all intents and purposes, God's emissaries are our bosses, and the ones we make our intercessions to. I wonder what a religion that used it as its basis would look like.
-Sean
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