Kate Neville
Well-Known Member
I think I also automatically mis-read Gloin’s words ’when will the day come of our revenge’, but hearing it read aright brought to mind two moments from the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. The first is when Fingon hears the trumpets of Turgon [Gondolin had come at last], and he cries out ‘‘Utúlie’n aurë! … The day has come!” The second is Hurin’s echo as he stands alone at the end: ‘Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’ There is something mythic about Gloin’s word order, stressing as it does the day, rather than the revenge. If the dwarves could take revenge on Sauron, then day would come again.
Perhaps that thought was also why another First Age story came to mind when thinking about Elrond’s musing on the sorrow of the Elves. When Luthien sings before Mandos, she weaves a song “most fair that ever in words was woven, and the song most sorrowful that ever the world shall hear,” singing of both “the sorrow of the Eldar and the grief of Men.” I think those who mentioned ’Arda Marred’ were right to do so, as it seems to me that the fates of the two kin were not originally meant to be a burden. It may be that Celebrimbor was hoping the rings would ‘cure’ the sorrow and the grief, but Mandos could have told him that only Eru can change the fate of his Children.
Perhaps that thought was also why another First Age story came to mind when thinking about Elrond’s musing on the sorrow of the Elves. When Luthien sings before Mandos, she weaves a song “most fair that ever in words was woven, and the song most sorrowful that ever the world shall hear,” singing of both “the sorrow of the Eldar and the grief of Men.” I think those who mentioned ’Arda Marred’ were right to do so, as it seems to me that the fates of the two kin were not originally meant to be a burden. It may be that Celebrimbor was hoping the rings would ‘cure’ the sorrow and the grief, but Mandos could have told him that only Eru can change the fate of his Children.