Croaker
Member
I'm a few weeks behind, so apologies for this not being timely. In episode 76, you discuss the eyes of the Nazgul piercing Frodo, meaning the experience of receiving their gaze. You mention in the pre-modern era, the conception of eyes as windows revealing or casting something internally, rather than receiving something externally.
The medieval mindset is certainly closer to the biblical worldview than the modern one, and the discussion brought to mind a paper I read about Jesus discussing the evil eye on the Sermon on the Mount. The paper mentions "Recent scholarship has amply documented the belief, held by many in the ancient Mediterranean world, that some people have the power to harm others by a mere look."
I thought you'd enjoy the paper, and I've attached it.
If Tolkien adopts this idea in his writings, then it'll be interesting to see (get it?) how the look of certain powerful people in The Lord of the Rings helps or harms others. Galadrial comes to mind, but I reckon there are many cases throughout.
The medieval mindset is certainly closer to the biblical worldview than the modern one, and the discussion brought to mind a paper I read about Jesus discussing the evil eye on the Sermon on the Mount. The paper mentions "Recent scholarship has amply documented the belief, held by many in the ancient Mediterranean world, that some people have the power to harm others by a mere look."
I thought you'd enjoy the paper, and I've attached it.
If Tolkien adopts this idea in his writings, then it'll be interesting to see (get it?) how the look of certain powerful people in The Lord of the Rings helps or harms others. Galadrial comes to mind, but I reckon there are many cases throughout.
