Tea at Trianon: The Fall of Númenor

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, March 25, 2022

The Fall of Númenor

From Tolkien Gateway:

The first narrative of the Fall of Númenor is found right after The Lost Road manuscript is interrupted, and Christopher is quite sure that it was written in the same time.^[1] Although it follows the outline, it is also full of corrections made at the time of composition and others for the second version.
The narrative begins telling the afterwards of the Great Battle: the Elves were called to Valinor and the Men who fought against Morgoth were given a great land in the middle of Belegaer, raised by Ossë, established by Aulë and enriched by Yavanna. The island was called Númenor (Westernesse), Andúnië (the Sunsetland), and later Atalantë (the Ruin); and its main city was Númar or Númenos. However, an early correction of the passage concerning the names explains that the Valar named it Andor (the Land of Gift), while the population called it Vinya (the Young) among them, and Númenor among the Men of Middle-earth, Andúnië being the chief city.^[2]^:19
There are no details about the history of Númenor til its Downfall, except describing how the Númenóreans were the greatest mariners, and that they explored all the seas, being so powerful that they were even confused for gods by the peoples of Middle-earth. They could navigate so far that they glimpsed the Gates of Morning in the East. Unlike the mature version, here it is told that they did visit Tol Eressëa, and even the kings could go beyond before their coronation. But the Gods forbade them to sail beyond the Isle, and although their lives were longer thanks to the closeness to Valinor, they murmured against this decree and tried to prolong their lives, and even sent spies to Valinor to know these secrets.
During the reign of Angor and his wife Istar, Sûr (called Thû by the Gnomes) came to Númenor in the likeness of a great bird and preached about the second coming of Morgoth. This coming did happen, but only in spirit, as a shadow upon the mind and heart, for Morgoth was expelled out of the World. The monarchs and most of the people believed Sûr, and a temple was built in the midst of the land, where Sûr dwelt. When Angor felt the oncoming of age, Sûr convinced him that the only way to obtain undying life was mastering the West. Therefore great fleets were made that sailed West without wind, surpassed Tol Eressëa and began the attack against Taniquetil.
After Manwë's prayer, Ilúvatar gave power to the Gods, who changed the shape of the World: Valinor was sundered from the earth and the Middle-earth was bent back and made into a globe. The whole fleet fell into the abyss, and the mortal warriors would lie in the Forgotten Caves until the Last Battle, but the king and the queen fell like stars into the darkness. Christopher notices that the rift that sinks the fleet, separating Valinor, seems to destroy Tol Eressëa, of which is said that "remained only as a shape of the past", but this is quite improbable.^[2]^:21
Númenor was destroyed, but a remnant of Númenóreans escaped the ruin, including those who still revered the Lords of the West and did not believe Sûr. In Middle-earth they became lords and kings, some were evil and others of good will, but all of them became obsessed with death, building better houses for the dead than for the living. Therefore the Old World became a place of tombs, and later Men began to bury their dead in ships and set them in pomp to the western seas, hoping their spirits could find the land of the Gods. However, the survivors kept trying to find the West, exploring all the seas and new lands, but they realised that the world was now round indeed. But knowing about the Straight Road, some built ships that could sail through the air, but even those failed and they tried to forget any legends about the Gods.
Nevertheless, some Númenóreans remained faithful and the old knowledge was preserved, knowing that the Fate of Men was beyond the roundness of the World and the Straight Path. And they always fought against the shadow and Thû, destroying his temples. The lands inhabited by those Númenóreans and the Elves were still called Beleriand, and their king was Amroth, who allied with Elrond and fought Thû. Amroth died fighting against him, but Thû was defeated and hid himself in a dark forest. But this war hastened the fading of the Eldar and their place in the world came to an end. (Read more.)