[davem]

Fea & hroa may be totally integrated in Elves, but that doesn't imply 'equality'. In all cases, even the'animal originated' orcs, the hroa is a vehicle for the animating 'force' & cannot think or act for itself - either the fea directs it, or some external force does. An hroa without a fea or directing will would just stay where it was. The 'corruption' of Morgoth which runs through matter would set 'limits' on the way it could function, & may influence the fea in choices it makes, may even, as it would have some degree of 'negative' effect on the functioning of senses & brain function, affect thinking, but Fea proceeds from Eru, & has some kind of innate sense of (to put it crudely) 'right' & wrong', so the individual would still be either attempting to actualise Eru's themes or Morgoth's - even if they made mistakes, they would be trying to bring one or the other into being.

As to sub creation, In the Fairy Stories essay Tolkien seems to be saying that the 'highest' form of sub creation is the creation of 'secondary worlds' in emulation of our creator - He creates, we 'sub create'. He gives life to sentient beings in this primary world, we give a 'secondary' form of life to creaures in 'secondary' worlds of our creation.

We find a complete lack of any mention of Elvish novelists & storytellers in ME, but why would Tolkien not have at least one stroryteller, at least one great Elvish epic. Elves don't create mythologies, & for someone with such a love of mythology as Tolkien, why is this? Yes, they have poems, but these are recountings of historical events, not new ones. They sing & compose, but to what extent is this merely recounting in 'sound' of what they have experienced? Feanor creates the Silmarils, but not jet engines -ie he produces artifical jewels, which are simply the result of taking the idea of naturally existing jewels to the ultimate extreme. The Elves do that, attempt to perfect what exists, not bring into being wholly new things. They are attempting to manifest, make real, the themes of the Music which run through the creation. Men, in their 'true' subcreation, bring into being things which never did exist & were not laid down in the Music, even in potential.

Architecture & other arts are intended to 'perfect' this world, & not bring wholly new secondary worlds into being, & perfection of this world, in accordance with their understanding of the Music is what drives Elves' every action. I wonder to what extent his statements in fairy stories about Elvish dramatic skill can be applied to the Elves of ME, as in the essay the fairies he is talking about seem much more like the Elves of folklore - but I take your point on board & will think about it.

At the same time, when the Fellowship enter Lorien, they aren't sure whether they're in their own world or have been transported back to the Elder Days: but the Elves there have not made a totally 'new' thing in Lorien, they have simply attempted to recreate the way (they believe) the world once was. So, again, we're not dealing with them 'sub creating' a 'secondary world' but reiterating what was, or what they think 'should' have been, actualising the Music in the world.

So, this 'Elvish Drama' they find themselves participating in, & which they find absolutely convincing ,is in many ways a 'fantasy', woven by the magic of the Elven Ring, & so not 'real' or 'natural' it is nature turned into 'Art' & embalmed by magic. But that does not make it a 'lie' on the Elves part, as they aren't attempting to 'deceive' the Fellowship - well, no more than they are attempting to deceive themselves. It's a kind of subcreation, but dependent on magic to be convincing, whereas men's sub creation is a product of pure imaginataion, & is passed from mind to mind through story, with both storyteller & hearer 'co-creating' the secondary world - the storyteller supplies the story, but the imagery is supplied by the listener or reader from their own experience - hence the 'secondary world'is made up from the 'leaf mould' of the hearer's mind. So, not only is the 'secondary' world is made to seem more 'real' & convincing because of the 'primary' world elements the hearer has used to build it up in their imagination, but the 'primary' world is also made more 'magical' as a consequence of elements of it being used to form the 'secondary' world. Elvish 'enchantment' doesn't seem to work in the same way, as the person entering into the Elves' world is not a co-creator in the same way, & loses a lot of their 'freedom' in the process.



The problem with taking the later writings as being the products of different hands, is that so often they completely contradict other writings - this is fine, when one set of writings is, say, by Men & another by Elves. But when two contradictory writings are both by Elves, a problem arises. The Sun, for instance - did it pre-exist the earth, or was it produced from the last fruit of Laurelin? Elvish accounts say both, & one must be wrong. To step outside ME for a moment, its clear that this kind of contradiction was the reason Tolkien never finished the Silmarillion, & got sidetracked into philosophical & metaphysical debate - however insightful & beautiful some of that dabate may be.