Faramir's (and Boromir's) Dream

[blantyr]

Originally Posted by FlimFlamSam

Remember, oils do not all mix.
Doing so leads to alchemical frustrations as the author (and myself) belatedly discovered.
Keep the ingredients pure.

Your oils metaphor is interesting, but I am pleased Tolkien dabbled in different genera. I see the Silmarillion and similar works to be pastiche, “an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.” These older works were often in the style of the old epics, while The Hobbit and LotRs were more modern novels. Silmarillion was close to a pagan theme, while The Hobbit had a strong tine of children’s work, while LotR leaned towards the Christian world view.

Tolkien grew as an author and a scholar. He did not retain the same perspective and values in his art over his entire life. As he grew, his highest priority was not to go back and rewrite his older stuff so that all his works are nitpick consistent. His newer works borrowed depth and flavor from the older, but fans expecting all the works to be entirely in agreement with one another are… Hmm. In the interests of keeping things friendly, I guess I’ll not say explicitly what they are.

If you are encountering ‘alchemical frustrations,’ I suspect the problem is with you rather than Tolkien. You are demanding of The Master more than he was interested in giving.

As for your elemental interpretation, it seems sort of plausible, but hardly the only possible view. I would, for example, associate Radagast with Beasts rather than Earth. I would call Saruman an Artificer, rather than associating him with Man. (And, yes, I am using Ambar Quenta’s perspective on Middle Earth again, but I reject an argument that AQ must be wrong because it was created for role playing. Radagast is a specialist in beasts, while Saruman works with machines and artifacts. In this case, AQ’s system of realms is just more comprehensive and true to Tolkien than an elemental approach.)

Is there any source for a claim that the blue wizards are associated with air and water?

I also just have a gut feeling that Middle Earth and the Arthur mythos are sort of like two different types of oil.