Tolkien and Psychedelics

[Ardent]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

...And I doubt that Rúmil of Tirion had much thought of making any sort of records for the benefit of Men and Dwarves. Later generations of Elves I could see being more on his mind.

Which goes with my point that awareness of Eru among the Eldar was not a constant. There was a need for telling and hearing the tales of old: in poetry, song, tapestry, writing...

Originally Posted by Inziladun

...I've always thought the Hobbits' resistance to the call of power and dominance was more responsible. The Rings of Power called most loudly to those who had ambitions and the desire for power beyond their native abilities to accomplish them. Hobbits as a race seem to have had a greater sense of contentment with their lot than other denizens or Middle-earth, hence their lack of fighting. either among themselves or with other races.

I think Bandobras Took might put that rule to the test, but we seem to be saying the same thing: addiction is the result of losing one's contentment.
The proverb "contentment is wealth" is, like the Golden Rule, endemic to all systems of wisdom. One could say that the Hobbits represent 'every-man' and The Ring 'anything that threatens to become an addiction'.

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

...Richard Dawkins would probably beat me with one of his polemic books for that, but I have seen Prof Brian Cox so I beg to differ with him



Hmmm, I like where this is going I think...What about how this would affect an Elf? How would it be different to how it might affect a Man or Hobbit?...

Well we have some notion of how the Ring would effect Galadriel: we would all be worshipping beauty and trembling in anticipation of the next Miss World contest. Aweful!
If Treebeard or Radagast got it they'd cover all the world with trees, the Green Party would be the only voting option and we'd be forced to live in eyries under the eye of the Eagles.
If a sheep farmer got it we'd have a new Enclosures Act and if a heroine addict got it we'd literally have opium for the masses. As for Mr Dawkins, I think we'd see another round of Social-Darwinism, only instead of the Ubermensch dictum "survival of the fittest" we'd have "survival of the most selfish" manifesting in consumer driven economies, self regulating banks...


As to the effect of the Ring on different races;
A human or other mortal using the Ring would consume their allotted 'life'. This would, logically, lead to the exhaustion of either the Fëa, Hröa or, what seems to me a better fit, the link between them. To extend the analogy of the lamp, their 'wick' would burn out.

Eldar and Maiar like Sauron would not have this limitation. Elrond had human, Eldar and Maiar blood but had chosen the fate (immortality) of the Eldar, so presumably he would have gone on like Sauron.

The resilience of the Dwarves may have been in part due to their long life span (relative to humans) and in part due to some aspect of their culture, perhaps their love of precious things which took precedence over love of power. They were, after all, the bankers of ME; not great dragon slayers but all to quick to lay claim to unguarded hoards.

The Hobbit resilience is similar to the Dwarves except they have more of a love of simple pleasures. This might be characterised (by the likes of Boromir) as stubbornness or lack of ambition. Like a lamp which refuses to shine too bright they have a cultural resistance to posessing things. I am thinking of the custom of mathomry, which Bilbo exhibits in giving away the Necklace of Girion as well as the Ring itself.

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