On the July page of the 1978 Silmarillion Calendar there are three Numenorean objects. The title is 'Numenorean tile & textiles'. One of the 'textiles' is reproduced in Artist & Illustrator, & described as a 'Numenorean Carpet'.
I suppose Vaire
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Vairë the Weaver..., who weaves all things that have ever been in Time into her storied webs, and the halls of Mandos that ever widen as the ages pass are clothed with them."
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may have had her source in the Norns:
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the Norse Fates. Like the Fates of Greek religion and mythology,
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the Norns spun and wove the web of life
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. Belief in the Norns was of great importance in Germanic religion and life. It was said that no one, not even the gods, could escape their fate. The Norns were usually three in number—Urth or Wyrd (the past), Verthandi (the present), and Skuld (the future). The three weird sisters of destiny in Shakespeare's Macbeth are probably Scottish equivalents of the Norns.
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What the connection between weaving & fate in Me is, exactly, is something I'm not sure has been explored, but it does seem that the creations of various weavers either depicts or gives a helping hand to 'fate'. (see:
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Dumm...bcat-ARTS.html But...
In 'Laws & Customs' its stated that 'The
nissi, Elven women
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are more often skilled in the tending of fields & gardens, in playing upon instruments of music , & in the spinning, weaving, fashioning & adornment of all threads & cloths;
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While the
neri, Elven males, are
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more skilled as smiths & wrights, as carvers of wood & stone, & as jewellers. It is they for the most part who compose musics & make the instruments, or devise new ones.
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This seems very similar to the situation with Ents & Entwives