Xandercles
New Member
Okay, I know this is super asynchronous, but I'm just listening to the podcast in 2019, and just listened to ep.5, where you covered Gandalf and Frodo's conversation wherein Gandalf revealed how long he knew (or, well, guessed) that Bilbo's ring was indeed the One. Gandalf's reluctance to broach the subject, due to Saruman's growing pride, and the various emotional sort of vulnerabilities (guilt, shame, indecision, etc.) made me start to wonder if by incarnating in flesh, did the Maiar assume some sort of frailties inherent to physical beings? I never read (well very much of) the Silmarillion, so I don't even know if Maiar are purely spiritual beings or not to begin with, but I wonder if Tolkien meant the assumption of emotional responses over time when incarnated reflected his own (Catholic?) beliefs that WE are in fact spiritual beings as well, and when we cash in our "gift of man" we will likewise shed these? Thanks.