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Old 03-18-2012, 02:26 PM   #50
Legate of Amon Lanc
A Voice That Gainsayeth
 
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Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sardy View Post
This calls to mind a related question - that of the idea of Faith vs. Knowledge in the elves. Perhaps if there is sufficient discussion, this should be given it's own thread...

Particularly of the elves born in Middle-earth (though possibly of the older elves, whereas memory of Mandos and Valinor might have faded to a dreamlike remembrance over the passage of millenia), is their eventual appearance in Mandos or journey to Valinor upon being slain or leaving Middle-earth forgone knowledge that they could count upon in their every day actions and decisions, or is it more akin to a strong conviction or faith, hoping for and believing in an "afterlife" upon leaving Middle-earth...?
Well obviously they have no way of verifying it "physically" - they have never seen it with their own eyes. So it is rather, as you say, a strong conviction or faith. They have to believe what their ancestors and friends who claim to have spoken to Valar themselves etc., and to believe to the legends that go among the Elves since the beginning... but in fact, to be precise, even the Elves who had e.g. met Valar face-to-face don't have any absolute knowledge. If I am not mistaken, nobody of the living has been in Mandos to actually verify that the Elves are sitting there, no? The only exception would be Glorfindel (if he indeed is the same one), so he is the closest you can get to as "eyewitness". Apart from that? You have to believe the claims of the Elves around you, or even the Valar - it is still just believing their words, not anything else.

(But of course, as a note, the fact that it is not "knowledge" but "only" faith does not mean that they could not count on it in their every day actions and decisions. What good would it be for them if they didn't? That's no faith to speak of, obviously.)
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