"The Fire Tree"
Jan. 5th, 2019 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wallace_trustFrom the 'ending' of my fic-in-progress (if I ever get there!) ^^;
This scene looks strange and maybe frightening, but there's precedent and it has a good ending!
In the almost unimaginably gorgeous 'Tale of the Sun and Moon' (Book of Lost Tales part 1) the Ship of the Sun was created from the last fruit of the great Tree, Laurelin. Urwendi and her maidens (who had been caretakers of the Tree) bathed in its light, which had been collected in a great basin called the Bowl of Fire. Their action even frightened the gods, but when they returned from their bath their bodies had become 'glorious' and purified, so they could embark on their endless celestial journey as the crew of the Ship of the Sun.
Later, in the original tale of Turin Turambar, (Book of Lost Tales part 2) Turin and his poor sister Nienori are, at the very end, refused entry to the Halls of Mandos. Finding the Bowl of Fire, they bathe in it as Urwendi and her maidens did and become 'deified' (Christopher Tolkien's term.) The pair then took their place with the Valar until the end of days.
Thus, it is possible in Tolkien for mortals to attain immortal status by bathing in the Bowl of Fire. Logically, then, since Frodo and Sam (and Bilbo) did more for Middle-Earth than even Turin did, they should get to wade in it too-- especially since the 'purification' would probably help wash the very last dregs of the Ring's evil forces out of poor Frodo's mind, and maybe Bilbo's as well.
I put a lot of stock in the Professor's earliest drafts. I find them almost universally more satisfying than his later, 'polished' versions. I'm finding there's precedent for this, too. One of my many odd jobs is that of paid scientific guinea pig. In this role I am constantly being informed by researchers from all over the world that a person's first impression of something is usually the most accurate one. If this is correct, I would say that Tolkien's first drafts are indeed the ones closest to the 'truth.'
As to this illo, well, they may look a little godlike now, but I suspect even a bath in the Bowl of Fire won't affect those hardy little hobbits very much. Once the glow subsides a bit, they'll be right back to laughing, talking, and especially eating-- much to the amazement, and amusement, of the Valar! :D
This scene looks strange and maybe frightening, but there's precedent and it has a good ending!
In the almost unimaginably gorgeous 'Tale of the Sun and Moon' (Book of Lost Tales part 1) the Ship of the Sun was created from the last fruit of the great Tree, Laurelin. Urwendi and her maidens (who had been caretakers of the Tree) bathed in its light, which had been collected in a great basin called the Bowl of Fire. Their action even frightened the gods, but when they returned from their bath their bodies had become 'glorious' and purified, so they could embark on their endless celestial journey as the crew of the Ship of the Sun.
Later, in the original tale of Turin Turambar, (Book of Lost Tales part 2) Turin and his poor sister Nienori are, at the very end, refused entry to the Halls of Mandos. Finding the Bowl of Fire, they bathe in it as Urwendi and her maidens did and become 'deified' (Christopher Tolkien's term.) The pair then took their place with the Valar until the end of days.
Thus, it is possible in Tolkien for mortals to attain immortal status by bathing in the Bowl of Fire. Logically, then, since Frodo and Sam (and Bilbo) did more for Middle-Earth than even Turin did, they should get to wade in it too-- especially since the 'purification' would probably help wash the very last dregs of the Ring's evil forces out of poor Frodo's mind, and maybe Bilbo's as well.
I put a lot of stock in the Professor's earliest drafts. I find them almost universally more satisfying than his later, 'polished' versions. I'm finding there's precedent for this, too. One of my many odd jobs is that of paid scientific guinea pig. In this role I am constantly being informed by researchers from all over the world that a person's first impression of something is usually the most accurate one. If this is correct, I would say that Tolkien's first drafts are indeed the ones closest to the 'truth.'
As to this illo, well, they may look a little godlike now, but I suspect even a bath in the Bowl of Fire won't affect those hardy little hobbits very much. Once the glow subsides a bit, they'll be right back to laughing, talking, and especially eating-- much to the amazement, and amusement, of the Valar! :D
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Date: 2019-01-06 11:43 am (UTC)*beams*
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Date: 2019-01-08 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-07 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-08 05:53 am (UTC)I've been tempted more than once to try the original scene with Urwendi and her maidens. It's one of the most beautiful visual descriptions the Professor ever wrote and to really represent it adequately would take a mural. Possibly the biggest challenge would be to coax my salvaged computer to handle the necessary number of high-poly figures. OTOH, I've figured out the lighting, which is usually the most difficult part. :)