The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - The Balrog as the Loathly Lady from medieval literature.

Huinesoron · 08-06-2020, 08:25 AM

Prediction 8 & Prediction 6

Once again, I was correct in stating that one of Tolkien's sets of seven would be about rivers. In fact, I was more than correct: both of the remaining sevens are sets of rivers!

Ossiriand has seven named rivers, of which the most significant for this discussion is the southernmost: Adurant, meaning 'doubled course'. Adurant contains the famous island of Tol Galen - a clear reference to the name 'Shimada', meaning 'rice island'. Note that this is only one of the names of Kambei Shimada - a Doubled Course indeed!

Note that Tol Galen is the later home of Beren and Luthien, the most significant couple in Arda's history - and Kambei Shimada was the leader of the Seven Samurai, ie, the most significant.

The Seven Rivers of Gondor are very interesting, because Tolkien provided two conflicting lists of them. This reflects the Seven Samurai's theme regarding who can be considered a true samurai.

The 'Gondorian Samurai' is clearly Gorōbei Katayama; this could have been (but wasn't) predicted from his status as second-in-command of the Seven, just as Gondor becomes the second most important battlefield of the Third Age. His name means 'Five white guardian / Piece of Mountain', and check this out:

The Seven Rivers arise from the White Mountains - two different parts of Katayama's name!
Five of the seven rivers empty into Anduin. Note the 'five' in Katayama's name. Note also that one of the rivers, Lefnui, is literally named 'Five'!
If Katayama is Gondor's samurai, then Lefnui is Katayama's river: it marks the western border of Gondor, thus standing as a guardian. (It also appears on both lists of seven, so don't think I'm trying to cheat here.)

Wow, only Predictions 1-4 to go! I think I'm building a really strong case here. I see you've ignored these in your response - when are you going to see the truth about Tolkien's Method, which is that he just really loved those Seven Samurai?

EDIT:

Prediction 1

The Dwarves. Now, there are no obvious references in the names of the Seven Houses of the Dwarves, other than 'stone > mountain'. So what do we do when our prediction is shown to be wrong? Do we give up? NEVER! Let's dig through etymology!

Aha: beard, appearing in the names of the Longbeards, Firebeards, and Stiffbeards, has another meaning: to openly defy or defeat someone. Tolkien, as a philologist, would know this. The term I've rendered 'guardian' in the names of the Samurai is actually two characters - 'guard soldier'. And what do guards and soldiers do? They defy - they defeat - they beard their enemies! The missing 'third beard' among the Samurai is Katsushirō Okamoto, whose name includes 'victory'.

Prediction 2

The Sons of Feanor! This one had me worried; I got all the way through the list before finding anything, but I should have had more faith! Tolkien buried the reference in the seventh of Feanor's sons, Amras, whose Father-name was 'Last Finwe'. Why is this significant? Because of the obvious connection to the Samurai Shichirōji, whose name includes seven (for this seventh son), and... next. Yes, Shichirōji indicated that there would be more after him, but Tolkien flipped that on its head to show how the house of Feanor was utterly doomed - Telufinwe (Amras) is the LAST - there is no NEXT.

Prediction 3

Ah, the Palantiri. An easy one - Orthanc is a tower namd 'the Cunning Mind', which has a clear symbolic connection to Okamoto, 'book hill'. Okamoto's other name is Katsushirō, and Tolkien made use of this as a pun: 'four white victory' became for white victory - that is, the Palantir was part of the plan for Saruman the White's victory!

Prediction 4

The Beacon-Hills of Gondor. We'll let Okamoto rest for a while rather than using 'hill' again. Instead, lets look at the hill Calenhad, whose name means 'green place'. Is this a reference to 'rice-field island', or to 'rice-field forest'? I'd have to look deeper into the Japanese to figure out which, but it's clearly one of them.

As a bonus: Halifirien, the seventh hill, is named 'Holy Mountain'. Holiness... peace. 'Piece of mountain' is the translation of Katayama - and as I proved just now in Prediction 3, Tolkien made use of puns in his referencing! 'Piece of mountain' becomes 'peace mountain'... perfect.

That concludes the demonstration. It's taken me, what, a day to reach a tenth of your oft-quoted number of predictions? If this was something I actually believed, you can bet I'd be able to surpass it within a month. Because this is numerology, and pareidolia, and if you let it take hold of you it will let you prove anything you want.

Or maybe Tolkien was a really big fan of a Kurosawa movie that hadn't yet come out. Who can say?

hS

08-06-2020, 08:25 AM	#20
Huinesoron Overshadowed Eagle Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea Posts: 3,785	Prediction 8 & Prediction 6 Once again, I was correct in stating that one of Tolkien's sets of seven would be about rivers. In fact, I was more than correct: both of the remaining sevens are sets of rivers! Ossiriand has seven named rivers, of which the most significant for this discussion is the southernmost: Adurant, meaning 'doubled course'. Adurant contains the famous island of Tol Galen - a clear reference to the name 'Shimada', meaning 'rice island'. Note that this is only one of the names of Kambei Shimada - a Doubled Course indeed! Note that Tol Galen is the later home of Beren and Luthien, the most significant couple in Arda's history - and Kambei Shimada was the leader of the Seven Samurai, ie, the most significant. The Seven Rivers of Gondor are very interesting, because Tolkien provided two conflicting lists of them. This reflects the Seven Samurai's theme regarding who can be considered a true samurai. The 'Gondorian Samurai' is clearly Gorōbei Katayama; this could have been (but wasn't) predicted from his status as second-in-command of the Seven, just as Gondor becomes the second most important battlefield of the Third Age. His name means 'Five white guardian / Piece of Mountain', and check this out: The Seven Rivers arise from the White Mountains - two different parts of Katayama's name! Five of the seven rivers empty into Anduin. Note the 'five' in Katayama's name. Note also that one of the rivers, Lefnui, is literally named 'Five'! If Katayama is Gondor's samurai, then Lefnui is Katayama's river: it marks the western border of Gondor, thus standing as a guardian. (It also appears on both lists of seven, so don't think I'm trying to cheat here.) Wow, only Predictions 1-4 to go! I think I'm building a really strong case here. I see you've ignored these in your response - when are you going to see the truth about Tolkien's Method, which is that he just really loved those Seven Samurai? EDIT: Prediction 1 The Dwarves. Now, there are no obvious references in the names of the Seven Houses of the Dwarves, other than 'stone > mountain'. So what do we do when our prediction is shown to be wrong? Do we give up? NEVER! Let's dig through etymology! Aha: beard, appearing in the names of the Longbeards, Firebeards, and Stiffbeards, has another meaning: to openly defy or defeat someone. Tolkien, as a philologist, would know this. The term I've rendered 'guardian' in the names of the Samurai is actually two characters - 'guard soldier'. And what do guards and soldiers do? They defy - they defeat - they beard their enemies! The missing 'third beard' among the Samurai is Katsushirō Okamoto, whose name includes 'victory'. Prediction 2 The Sons of Feanor! This one had me worried; I got all the way through the list before finding anything, but I should have had more faith! Tolkien buried the reference in the seventh of Feanor's sons, Amras, whose Father-name was 'Last Finwe'. Why is this significant? Because of the obvious connection to the Samurai Shichirōji, whose name includes seven (for this seventh son), and... next. Yes, Shichirōji indicated that there would be more after him, but Tolkien flipped that on its head to show how the house of Feanor was utterly doomed - Telufinwe (Amras) is the LAST - there is no NEXT. Prediction 3 Ah, the Palantiri. An easy one - Orthanc is a tower namd 'the Cunning Mind', which has a clear symbolic connection to Okamoto, 'book hill'. Okamoto's other name is Katsushirō, and Tolkien made use of this as a pun: 'four white victory' became for white victory - that is, the Palantir was part of the plan for Saruman the White's victory! Prediction 4 The Beacon-Hills of Gondor. We'll let Okamoto rest for a while rather than using 'hill' again. Instead, lets look at the hill Calenhad, whose name means 'green place'. Is this a reference to 'rice-field island', or to 'rice-field forest'? I'd have to look deeper into the Japanese to figure out which, but it's clearly one of them. As a bonus: Halifirien, the seventh hill, is named 'Holy Mountain'. Holiness... peace. 'Piece of mountain' is the translation of Katayama - and as I proved just now in Prediction 3, Tolkien made use of puns in his referencing! 'Piece of mountain' becomes 'peace mountain'... perfect. That concludes the demonstration. It's taken me, what, a day to reach a tenth of your oft-quoted number of predictions? If this was something I actually believed, you can bet I'd be able to surpass it within a month. Because this is numerology, and pareidolia, and if you let it take hold of you it will let you prove anything you want. Or maybe Tolkien was a really big fan of a Kurosawa movie that hadn't yet come out. Who can say? hS Last edited by Huinesoron; 08-06-2020 at 08:56 AM. Reason: Finishing my predictions.