#Tbh I suspect a lot of the elves of ME see the Valar like I see the democratic party (us politics) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shrikeseams · 2 years

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Thinking about some of the meta I've seen about the flight of the Noldor (and I'm not vagueing anyone, I've seen this kinda thing a few times and from folks I don't follow, so they've already trickled out of my head, sorry, bit it's not personal)--ANYWAY. The thing is that there's an underlying assumption that the noldor should have trusted the valar, because the Valar told them that the Oath couldn't be fulfilled and that they couldn't win against Morgoth, and that was ultimately proven correct.

But like. The thing is. The Valar had just proven to be incredibly fallible.

The wonderful Light that drew the elves on to Valinor? That they built their lives around? That's gone. And it's gone because the valar just very publicly screwed up. It's gone because the Valar released Melkor, and fucking told the elves that he was trustworthy, and they were extremely wrong. The Trees are dead because they couldn't bring Melkor back into custody in a timely manner. None of this inspires confidence in their ability to deal with Melkor in the future.

Finwe is dead because the Valar were wrong.

Valinor has been proven to be unsafe because the valar were wrong.

(Arguably the kinslaying at Alqualonde is further proof that the Valar can't keep Aman safe against elves, let alone one of their own number.)

Feanor called it on Melkor. Feanor was proven right to build fortifications, even in Aman. Feanor was proven right to make back-ups of the Light, even if it was stolen. (Just because he wasn't going to hand them over for Yavanna to crack like eggs doesn't mean they wouldn't have been put to good use.) Feanor has been trying to leave Aman for a long time, and right at that crisis point he looks like a great bet. It would have looked like he'd seen it all coming, and that the Valar had invited disaster into their own home.

Hindsight is 20/20, and during the Darkening Feanor looks like a damn oracle. Why would they believe the Valar at that moment? The Valar have just lost an INCREDIBLE amount of face and authority. Trust is very easy to break and very difficult to rebuild.

#Tolkien #Continuing the tradition of talking out of my ass #But tbh I stand by this one #It's not countertextual. It's just recognition of human nature #Or elven nature in this case #But the choices made in the Silm typically feel very human to me #Tbh I think the Valar never really *regain* that authority #Maybe with the Vanyar #But between Alqualonde and the drowning of beleriand? The failure to take sauron into custody? Numenor?#I don't think they get much public back-talk (they've proven too dangerous for that)#But it's hard to trust a political OR religious body that fucks up so enormously and publicly and whose failure invokes such violence #Especially for anyone who didn't make the Journey or who wasn't raised in Aman itself #Tbh I suspect a lot of the elves of ME see the Valar like I see the democratic party (us politics)#There's no doubt to me that they are *better than the alternative *#And sometimes they'll do something very helpful! But they do not actually have my best interests at heart #They are useful. They are better than the alternative. And they are not worthy of true unfaltering trust.#San shoots the breeze

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