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Old 09-30-2022, 08:59 AM   #12
Huinesoron
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arvegil145 View Post
I really don't want to sound rude or anything, but can we get back to the original topic?
Sure. I've spent chunks of today roughing together a timeline of Tolkien's post-LotR texts. Not done yet, but I'm wondering if it could guide it towards some other texts that might shed some light on the addition of Beren to the Dagorath.

One obvious place is the Athrabeth. The main text of Finrod's talk with Andreth seems to post-date the Quenta revisions, so does the lady herself have anything to say about her prophecies?

Well... possibly. Finrod certainly touches on the same area. He talks of his vision, of Men as "deliverers" of the Eldar. Then, when Andreth brings up the Old Hope, he says that surely the only power that can destroy Melkor is Eru Himself. It almost seems like Andreth's vision is an answer to Finrod's philosophy - perhaps Men could defeat Melkor themselves, and not need the Old Hope which she rejects.

It also occurs to me that all of the Men named in the prophecy - Turin, Beren, and Earendil - are her own close kin: they're all descended from her brother Bregor. Maybe rather than a grand prophecy - "the wrath of the Morgoth shall be upon the earth, yet the One-Handed shall return at that hour" - we should be thinking something closer to Huor's death-vision: "from you and from me a new star will arise."

In fact, could it literally be Andreth's death-vision? The Athrabeth notably doesn't say she had the gift of foresight, talking instead of learning and wisdom; but she survived the Bragollach, into the time when Dorthonion was under attack from Sauron. That means she knew Beren, Morwen, and Rian; and perhaps on her deathbed she called them to her and said something like:

"The world is dark now, and I hear the ring of swords in my ears. But in you children I see the Light, and the Sword that will drive the dark to its end; and when the Nameless is at last defeated utterly, though it take many ages of the World, I know that it will be your hand that brings him low, your sword that strikes the final blow, your light that shows all the world his fall."

Hand -- sword -- light works well for Beren -- Turin -- Earendil, and fits neatly into the "new star will arise" idiom of mortal prophecy.

hS
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