‘A land was made for the Edain to dwell in, neither part of Middle-earth nor of Valinor, for it was sundered from either by a wide sea; yet it was nearer to Valinor … And they called that land Elenna, which is Starwards; but also Anadûnë, which is Westernesse, Númenórë in the High Eldarin tongue.’ So bright was the dream — so bitter the waking.
AKALLABÊTH. The very name sends chills through the heart of men and elves. The Island kingdom of Númenor was intended to be a blessing and a gift for the Children of Men. From their first king Elros sprang the line of great Kings, the Dúnedain, Lords of the West. But evil and corruption eventually infested the island like a plague.
What went wrong? Was this similar to the Valar bringing the Elves to Valinor? Were the Valar foolish or innocent to bring Men so close to what they most desired, but couldn’t have? Were they negligent in allowing Sauron, servant of Morgoth, to have free rein? Was Sauron alone responsible for the downfall of the Dúnedain?
What was Tolkien trying to say through this tragic story? What ancient myths and legends might have inspired him? If you are the least curious of the origins of such heroes as Elendil, Isildur and Aragorn or interested in the history of Gondor, you will want to join us this week in #thehalloffire as we discuss ‘The Downfall of Númenor’.
See you this weekend!
===
Upcoming topics:
10/2/04, 10/3/04: The Hobbit: Chapter 15: The Gathering of the Clouds
10/9/04, 10/10/04: Tom Bombadil
10/16/04, 10/17/04: The Hobbit: Chapter 16: A Thief in the Night
10/23/04, 10/24/04: Political Systems in Middle Earth
10/30/04, 10/31/04: The Nazgul/Ringwraiths
11/6/04m 11/7/04: The Hobbit: Chapter 17: The Clouds Burst
===
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net IRC server. Need instructions? Go here:
http://www.theonering.net/barlimans/instructions.html
===
Chat Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm EST (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday morning AEST]
Sunday Chat:
8:00 pm (20:00) CET
[also 2:00pm (14:00) EST and 4:00am Monday morning AEST]
EST = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AEST = Australian East Coast
___________________________________________
Hof-announce mailing list
Hof-announce@theonering.net http://www.theonering.net/mailman/listinfo/hof-announce
