Tibalt

[kFoyauextlH]

Tibalt: Sauron: Hypnotic Oneiric

Temple Of Sauron (TO Saur): Camazotz

Sauron, the shapeshifting cat, religious reformer

Some quotes:

" The vast majority of the information we have about the worship of Morgoth comes from the Silmarillion. When Sauron convinces Ar-Pharazon and the Numenoreans to start worshipping Morgoth, this is what he said:

‘Darkness alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him, so that the increase of their power shall find no end.’And Ar-Pharazon said: 'Who is the Lord of the Darkness?’Then behind locked doors Sauron spoke to the King, and he lied, saying: 'It is he whose name is not now spoken; for the Valar have deceived you concerning him, putting forward the name of Eru, a phantom devised in the folly of their hearts, seeking to enchain Men in servitude to themselves. For they are the oracle of this Eru, which speaks only what they will. But he that is their master shall yet prevail, and he will deliver you from this phantom; and his name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedom, and he shall make you stronger than they.’

So, the basic teaching or philosophy of Melkorism is basically that Melkor and Darkness are supreme in the world, and that the Valar invented Eru Iluvatar to be a false god that they use to control men and keep them from reaching their full potential. It also seems that the Numenoreans believed that Morgoth would “release them from Death”, and give them the immortality that Iluvatar and the Valar denied them.Tolkien didn’t write much about the specifics of Melkorism, for all that - by the end of the Third Age - it’s likely that a majority of the men of Arda were Morgoth worshippers (though how sincere they were in their beliefs is unclear, as they were basically controlled by Sauron.) What we do know is this:

• In Numenor a great temple was built, a circular building with a great dome on top. The center of the dome was left open, and from this opening the smoke of the temple’s altar rose into the sky. The first offering in this temple was Nimloth, a tree from Valinor given to the Numenoreans by the elves. Afterwards, though, humans were sacrificed in the temple (usually those who were faithful to the Valar.) It’s possible that human sacrifice remained part of Melkorism in later ages and other places.
• In the Second Age, Sauron presented himself as a representative of Morgoth. In this situation, Sauron rises to power as a high priest. However, by the end of the Third Age, Sauron had changed his story, and now claimed to be Morgoth himself, meaning that the people would be worshipping him directly.
• Necromancy isn’t mentioned in direct relation to Melkorism, but as it was generally considered a dark and evil act, it wouldn’t surprise me (more about contact with ghosts in this post, if interested.)

I should mention that Sauron made all this up, obviously, and didn’t even believe it himself. Tolkien mentions in “Myths Transformed” that Sauron basically created this dark religion as a way to turn the Numenoreans from the Valar, and to make them easier to control (ironic, since that’s what he claimed the Valar were doing.) And, since it was so successful, Sauron continued using this tactic in the lands to the east and south of Middle Earth, strengthening his control over the men of these regions. "

" As for Sauron's motives, Tolkien noted that "it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall ...) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction". Thus "it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him". "

" Melkor came back at last, as Morgoth the Black Enemy".[sup][24][/sup]Shortly after the return of Morgoth, theNoldorin Elves also left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West, against the counsel of the Valar, to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank, such asGothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Known asGorthaur the Cruel, Sauron was at that time a master of illusions and shapeshifting;werewolves and vampires were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Father of Werewolves, and his vampire heraldThuringwethil.When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly discovered Men, Sauron directed the war against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish island of Tol Sirion and its watchtowerMinas Tirith, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king ofNargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, came there with Beren and ten Elves, disguised as Orcs. However Sauron had them brought before him. Finrod battled Sauron using sorcery but was defeated (in part because of the curse of Fëanor). All 12 were thrown into Sauron's dungeons and the 10 Elves were devoured by wolves. Finrod died fighting a wolf to save Beren.Soon afterwards Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound arrived, hoping to rescue Beren. Sauron sent werewolves against them, including their sire Draugluin, but Huan slew them all. Aware of a prophecy to the effect that Huan would be killed by the greatest wolf ever, Sauron himself assumed a monstrous wolf-like form and attacked him. But the prophecy actually applied to the still-unbornCarcharoth, and Sauron could not prevail against Huan, despite transforming into a serpent and his own form.Eventually, Huan had Sauron by the throat. Lúthien gave Sauron two options: either surrender to her the magical control he had established over Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or have his body destroyed so that his naked ghost would have to endure the scorn of Morgoth. Sauron yielded, and Huan let him go. Lúthien destroyed the tower and rescued Beren from the dungeons.Sauron fled in the form of a huge vampiric bat, and spent some time as a vampire in the woods of Taur-nu-Fuin. Nothing is told of his subsequent activities in the First Age until the end.Following the voyage of Eärendil to the Blessed Realm, the Valar finally moved against Morgoth. In the resulting War of Wrath, the Dark Lord was defeated and cast into the Outer Void beyond the world. But "Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped".[sup][25][/sup]Chastened, Sauron assumed his most beautiful form and approached Eönwë, emissary of the Valar, who nevertheless could not pardon a Maia like himself. Through Eönwë, Manwë as Lord of the Valar "commanded Sauron to come before him for judgement, but [he] had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation".[sup][26][/sup]Although Sauron's repentance before Eönwë was genuine, if out of fear, he was ashamed to return to Valinor and receive a judgement or sentence due to his long service to Melkor. Furthermore, the influence of his former master was still strong, so he escaped and hid in Middle-earth.Second AgeEditAbout 500 years into the Second Age, Sauron reappeared. "Bereft of his lord...[he] fell into the folly of imitating him".[sup][22][/sup] "Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganizing and rehabilitation of Middle-earth, 'neglected by the gods,' he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power", eventually rising to become "master and god of Men".[sup][20][/sup]As for Sauron's "fair motives", Tolkien emphasized that at this time he "was not indeed wholly evil, not unless all 'reformers' who want to hurry up with 'reconstruction' and 'reorganization' are wholly evil, even before pride and the lust to exert their will eat them up".[sup][27][/sup]"Though the only real good in, or rational motive for, all this ordering and planning and organization was the good of all inhabitants of Arda (even admitting Sauron's right to be their supreme lord), his 'plans', the idea coming from his own isolated mind, became the sole object of his will, and an end, the End, in itself. ... [H]is capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for 'order' had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his 'subjects'."

" Sauron, realizing he could not defeat the Númenóreans with military strength, surrendered. Clad in a beautiful incarnation, he came to Ar-Pharazôn's camp to swear fealty to the king, and allowed himself to be taken as a prisoner to Númenor. This was part of his plan to corrupt Númenórean civilization from inside. "Sauron's personal 'surrender' was voluntary and cunning: he got free transport to Númenor."[sup][32][/sup] When Ar-Pharazôn in his arrogance took Sauron hostage, he failed to realise with whom he was dealing: Sauron "was of course a 'divine' person ... and thus far too powerful to be controlled in this way. He steadily got Arpharazôn's [sic] mind under his own control, and in the event corrupted many of the Númenóreans."[sup][8][/sup] The Akallabêth, the account of the history of Númenor, does not specifically mention the One Ring much, and it has been suggested that Sauron left it at Barad-dûr before he became a hostage of Ar-Pharazôn. In his letters, however, Tolkien noted that Sauron "naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans".[sup][32][/sup] Through the power of the Ring, Sauron soon became an advisor of the king, and he used his influence to undermine the religion of Númenor. He represented Eru as an invention of the Valar that they used to justify their decrees, and substituted the worship of Melkor, with himself as high priest, for that of Eru.[sup][8][/sup] The worship of Melkor, withhuman sacrifice, became mandatory in Númenor. But there was seen the effect of Melkor upon Sauron: he spoke of Melkor in Melkor's own terms, as a god, or even as God. This may have been the residue of a state which was in a sense a shadow of good: the ability once in Sauron at least to admire or admit the superiority of a being other than himself. ... But it may be doubted whether even such a shadow of good was still sincerely operative in Sauron by that time. His cunning motive is probably best expressed thus. To wean one of the God-fearing from their allegiance it is best to propound another unseenobject of allegiance and another hope of benefits; propound to him a Lord who will sanction what he desires and not forbid it. Sauron, apparently a defeated rival for world-power, now a mere hostage, can hardly propound himself; but as the former servant and disciple of Melkor, the worship of Melkor will raise him from hostage to high priest.[sup][33][/sup] Besides introducing the worship of Melkor, Sauron also helped the people to design greater engines and amass more wealth, and soon the Númenóreans returned to Middle-earth where they cruelly hunted and enslaved the Men there for eventual sacrifice. While Sauron ruled behind the scenes, Ar-Pharazôn became the mightiest tyrant in the world since Melkor-Morgoth himself. Ar-Pharazôn, despite his power, eventually became fearful of his approaching death. Sauron convinced the king that he now had the status to take what was rightfully his, and suggested that the Númenóreans send a great armada upon Aman in order to seize immortality by force from the Valar.[sup][8][/sup] While he led the King to believe that it was actually possible to conquer the Blessed Realm, Sauron knew well that the godlike Valar would utterly defeat any mortal army. Sauron did expect the Valar to respond by destroying Ar-Pharazôn and his naval might, thus removing Sauron's greatest obstacle to dominance of Middle-earth. But the Valar had no direct dominance over the Children of Eru, so in the face of this challenge they laid down their guardianship of the world and appealed to Erufor a solution.[sup][34][/sup] Eru's divine intervention did indeed bury the king's armies and drown the armada; but Númenor itself was swallowed by the sea, and the Blessed Realm was removed from the physical world. Sauron had not foreseen this, and his body was destroyed in the destruction. Having expended much effort in the corruption of Númenor, he was diminished,[sup][35][/sup] particularly as he forever lost the ability to take a fair form. Yet his spirit rose out of the abyss, and he was able to carry with him the one thing that mattered most. Wrote Tolkien, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended."[sup][35][/sup] In "Akallabêth", Tolkien wrote that Sauron "took up" the Ring after his spirit returned to Middle-earth. According to "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", Sauron then realized that Gil-galad's power had grown great during his absence and now spread across the Misty Mountains and Greenwood the Great, drawing nigh to places that Sauron initially thought secure before leaving for Númenór. "

" The Eye of Sauron, as his attention and force of will was perceived, became a symbol of oppression and fear. "

" In some of Tolkien's notes, it is said that Sauron's original name was Mairon or "the admirable", "but this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. But he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-Mairon "King Excellent", until after the downfall of Númenor."[sup][17][/sup] The name Sauron (from an earlier formThauron)[sup][47][/sup] originates from the adjectivesaura "foul, putrid" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya, and can be translated as "the Abhorred" or "the Abomination". InSindarin (another Elf-language created by Tolkien) he is called Gorthaur, "the Abhorred Dread" or "the Dread Abomination". He is also called the Nameless Enemy. The Dúnedain(the descendants of the Númenóreans) call him "Sauron the Deceiver" due to his role in the Downfall of Númenor and the forging of the Rings of Power. In the Númenórean (Adûnaic) tongue he was also known as Zigûr, The Wizard. His two most common titles, the "Dark Lord of Mordor" and the "Lord of the Rings", appear only a few times in The Lord of the Rings. His other titles or variants thereof include "Base Master of Treachery", the "Dark Lord", the "Dark Power", "Lord of Barad-dûr", the "Red Eye", the "Ring-maker" and the "Sorcerer". In the First Age (as detailed in The Silmarillion) he was called the "Lord of Werewolves" of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the Second Age he assumed the name Annatar, which means "Lord of Gifts", and Aulendil, meaning "Friend of Aulë", as well as Artano, meaning "High-Smith", with which he assumed a new identity and tricked the Elves into working with him to create the Rings. In the Third Age he was known for a time as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur because his true identity was still unknown.
AppearanceEdit
Nowhere does Tolkien provide a detailed description of Sauron's appearance during any of his incarnations. According to The Silmarillion, Sauron was initially able to change his appearance at will. In the beginning he assumed a beautiful form, but after switching his allegiance to Morgoth, he took a sinister shape. In the First Age,Gorlim was at one point brought into "the dreadful presence of Sauron", but the only concrete hint about his appearance is a reference to his daunting eyes.[sup][48][/sup] As part of a plan to destroy Huan, Sauron took the form of the greatest werewolf in Middle-earth's history. When the plan backfired, he assumed a serpent-like form, and finally changed back "from monster to his own accustomed form".[sup][49][/sup] The implication is that his "accustomed form" was not, at least, overtly monstrous. It is understood to have been humanoid. Sauron took a beautiful appearance once again at the end of the First Age in an effort to charm Eönwë, near the beginning of the Second Age when appearing as Annatar to the Elves, and again near the end of the Second Age when corrupting the men of Númenor. One version of the story describes, in general terms, the impression Sauron made on the Númenóreans. He appeared "as a man, or one in man's shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature... And it seemed to men that Sauron was great, though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil."[sup][50][/sup] Like Morgoth, Sauron eventually lost the ability to change his physical form (his hröa). After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron was unable to take a pleasing appearance or veil his power again. Thereafter, at the end of the Second Age and again in the Third, he always took the shape of a terrible dark lord. His first incarnation after the Downfall of Númenor was extremely hideous, "an image of malice and hatred made visible".[sup][51][/sup] Isildur recorded that Sauron's hand "was black, and yet burned like fire...". Gil-galad perished from Sauron's heat. In one of his letters Tolkien states that Sauron had a physical form in the Third Age: ...in a tale which allows the incarnation of great spirits in a physical and destructible form their power must be far greater when actually physically present. ... Sauron should be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.[sup][52] "

" [/sup]Throughout The Lord of the Rings, "the Eye" (the Red Eye, the Evil Eye, the Lidless Eye, the Great Eye) is the image most often associated with Sauron. Sauron's Orcs bore the symbol of the Eye on their helmets and shields, and referred to him as the "Eye" because he did not allow his name to be written or spoken, according to Aragorn[sup][54][/sup] (a notable exception to this rule was his emissary, the Mouth of Sauron). Also, the Lord of the Nazgûlthreatened Éowyn with torture before the "Lidless Eye"[sup][55][/sup] at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Frodo had a vision of the Eye in the Mirror ofGaladriel: The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.[sup][56][/sup] Later, Tolkien writes as if Frodo and Sam really glimpse the Eye directly. The mists surrounding Barad-dûr are briefly withdrawn, and: one moment only it stared out...as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye... The Eye was not turned on them, it was gazing north...but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.[sup][57][/sup] This raises the question of whether an "Eye" was Sauron's actual manifestation, or whether he had a body beyond the Eye. Gollum (who was tortured by Sauron in person) tells Frodo that Sauron has, at least, a "Black Hand" with four fingers.[sup][58][/sup] The missing finger was cut off when Isildur took the Ring, and the finger was still missing when Sauron reappeared centuries later. Tolkien writes in The Silmarillion that "the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure" evenbefore his body was lost in the War of the Last Alliance.[sup][59][/sup] In the draft text of the climactic moments ofThe Lord of the Rings, "the Eye" stands for Sauron's very person, with emotions and thoughts: The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo], the Eye piercing all shadows... Its wrath blazed like a sudden flame and its fear was like a great black smoke, for it knew its deadly peril, the thread upon which hung its doom... ts thought was now bent with all its overwhelming force upon the Mountain..."[sup][60][/sup] Christopher Tolkien comments: "The passage is notable in showing the degree to which my father had come to identify the Eye of Barad-dûr with the mind and will of Sauron, so that he could speak of 'its wrath, its fear, its thought'. In the second text...he shifted from 'its' to 'his' as he wrote out the passage anew."[sup][60] "

" [/sup]In Shakespeare’s England, Thibault/Tybalt was a common name for cats. This name has found its way into modern English as the cat name Tibs or Tibby. The play Reynard the Fox had a cat character called Tibert or Tybalt, and this may be the source of the cat name in England. It’s also possible that Mercutio was making an insulting play on words, in calling Tybalt prince of cats, because the Italian word cazzo means ‘penis.’ "

" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_the_Cats "

" http://www.thegreatcat.org/history-of-t ... es-part-8/ "

" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_S%C3%ACth "

" http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Tevildo "

" 1) BAEL.--The First Principal Spirit is a King ruling in the East, called Bael. He maketh thee to go Invisible. He ruleth over 66 Legions of Infernal Spirits. He appeareth in divers shapes, sometimes like a Cat, sometimes like a Toad, and sometimes like a Man, and sometimes all these forms at once. He speaketh hoarsely. This is his character which is used to be worn as a Lamen before him who calleth him forth, or else he will not do thee homage. B.C.M. I. BAAL, a king ruling in the East, who imparts invisibility and wisdom. He appears with a human head, or with that of a toad or cat,* but sometimes with all at once. He speaks with a hoarse voice.*

*The cat is the traditional domestic favourite, not only of those who diabolise, but of the diabolical world itself, which shews that after all there is a strong link with humanity in the cohorts of Lucifer. The reader will remember that the cat falls on its feet, not by natural good luck, but by the special dispensation of Mohammed, and that the favourite of the Prophet is in Paradise, no doubt on the best terms with the dog of the Seven Sleepers. "
 http://www.enochian.org/daemons.php?page=Bael

" In the Testament of Solomon, Beelzebul (not Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Αφροδíτη) as evening star). Seemingly, Beelzebul here is simply Lucifer. Beelzebul claims to cause destruction through tyrants, to cause demons to be worshipped among men, to excite priests to lust, to cause jealousies in cities and murders, and to bring on war. TheTestament of Solomon is an Old Testamentpseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon, in which Solomon mostly describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help build the temple, with substantial Christian interpolations.[sup][13][/sup][sup][14] "

" [/sup]The source for the name Beelzebub is in2 Kings 1:2-3, 6, 16. Ba‘al Zəbûb is variously understood to mean "lord of the flies"[sup][3][/sup][sup][4][/sup][sup][5][/sup][sup][6][/sup]or "lord of the (heavenly) dwelling".[sup][7][/sup][sup][8][/sup][sup][9][/sup]Originally the name of a Philistine god,[sup][10][/sup]Ba'al, meaning "Lord" in Ugaritic, was used in conjunction with a descriptive name of a specific god. The Septuagint renders the name as Baalzebub (βααλζεβούβ) and asBaal muian (βααλ μυιαν, "Baal of flies"), butSymmachus the Ebionite may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul.[sup][11][/sup] In regard to the god of Ekron, the belief thatzebub may be the original affix to Baal and that it is a substitute for an original zbl which, after the discoveries of Ras Shamra, has been connected with the title of "prince", frequently attributed to Baal in mythological texts. Ba'al Zebub was used in Hebrew as a pun with Ba'al Zebul, where Zebul meant "of the manor," and in a derogatory manner Ba'al Zebub was used to offend the enemies of the Israelites.[1] In addition to this last position, which is not supported by the versions, is the fact that it was long ago suggested that there was a relationship between the Philistine god, and cults of flies - referring to a view of them as pests, feasting on excrement - appearing in the Hellenic world, such as Zeus Apomyios or Myiagros. [2] It is exactly this last connection which is confirmed by the Ugaritic text when we examine how Baal affects the expulsion of the flies which are the patient's sickness.[3] According to Francesco Saracino (1982) this series of elements may be inconclusive as evidence, but the fact that in relationship to Baal Zebub, the two constituent terms are here linked, joined by a function (ndy) that is typical of some divinities attested in the Mediterranean world, is a strong argument in favor of the authenticity of the name of the god of Ekron, and of his possible therapeutic activities, which are implicit in 2 Kings 1:2-3, etc.[sup][12] "

" [/sup]In Irish mythology, Balor (modern spelling:Balar) was king of named Fomorians, a group of supernatural beings. He is often described as a giant with a large eye in his forehead that wreaks destruction when opened. He has been interpreted as a god or personification of drought and blight.

NameEdit
It is suggested that Balor comes fromCommon Celtic *Baleros, meaning "the deadly one", cognate with Old Irish at-baill (dies) and Welsh ball (death, plague).[sup][1][/sup] He is also referred to as Balor Béimnech(Balor the smiter), Balor Balcbéimnech (Balor the strong smiter) and Balor Birugderc (Balor of the piercing eye).[sup][1][/sup] The latter has led to the English name Balor of the Evil Eye.
In mythologyEdit
Balor is said to be the son of Buarainech and husband of Cethlenn. Balor is described as a giant with an eye in the middle of his forehead. This eye wreaks destruction when opened. The Cath Maige Tuired calls it a "destructive" and "poisonous" eye that no army can withstand, and says that it takes four men to lift the eyelid. In later folklore it is described as follows: "It was always covered with seven cloaks to keep it cool. He took the cloaks off one by one. At the first, ferns began to wither. At the second, grass began to redden. At the third, wood and trees began to heat up. At the fourth, smoke came out of wood and trees. At the fifth, everything got red hot. At the sixth...... At the seventh, the whole land caught fire".[sup][1] "[/sup]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub
[hr]
" There are seven different hieroglyphs used to represent the eye, most commonly "ir.t" in Egyptian, which also has the meaning "to make or do" or "one who does".[sup][5][/sup] In Egyptian myth the eye was not the passive organ of sight but more an agent of action, protection or wrath. "

To make Manifest.

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa Reccomended to connect the information in this article with others I have written on this forum including mention of Shin.

 https://www.questia.com/library/journal ... ddle-earth
[hr]
Said of the Templars " During their trial, almost all Templars mentioned having worshipped Baphomet. This idol they described as having a scary human head, a long beard and frightening, shining eyes. "

They also were said to have idols of cats.

The head being that of Muhammed, having shining eyes mentioned of Sauron the Prophet of Morgoth who seduced the South and East.

Known as Lord of Cats, the story of Muhammad's association with cats had apparently reached the people, as seen in the article for Bael on enochian.org
[hr]
The evil seduced in Tolkien were described as having Plaited Hair, a feature which may have led writers in the past to equate the Arabs with dog headed men due to the look of having dog like ears due to their plaited hair.
[hr]
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/73 ... d58d4b.jpg
[hr]
" In addition to the seven traditional planets, it was believed that there was an eighth, invisible planet, named in Arabic al-tinnin (“the dragon”), or Jawzahr. Depicted as a figure flanked by snakes with dragon heads, Jawzahr appears on objects alone and with the signs of the Zodiac (91.1.527a,b
).Marika Sardar
Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art "

​​​​The White Hand, or hand symbol, the Eye, sometimes called the Eye of Allah, and the Serpent or Dragon Al-Tannin or Jawzahr were all popular symbols used for talismanic power by association in the Islamic World and also popular among tourists and orientalists besides medieval writers.

The notion of the All Seeing Eye and the White hand also appear in the Qur'an in the name Al-Basir The Seeing or All-Seeing and the Eye symbol was sometimes called the Eye of Allah by people. The White Hand and Serpent were both symbols used in the Qur'an in the story of Musa as signs of Allah and symbols of Allah's power and control over experience or information, both representing an ability to freely change things. This may not have been on Tolkien's mind at all, and he may have been more likely influenced by the Hamsa symbol for the hand and eye, besides the term Eye of Allah and Hand of Allah circulating around.

C.S. Lewis, after being impressed with Tolkien seems to have also picked up some of this hostility which may have appeared in the themes related to the Calormene, who were a very obvious pastiche of the East. Even the evil Witch Queen of Narnia was described to have come from a strange world of domes and was at least half Jinn.

Lovecraft, a noted anglo-phile, also had picked up apparently on this same sort of attraction to the mysterious East, with Azathoth as Allah the Termagant like Daemonic Sultan of Nuclear Chaos surrounded by strange many armed angels. The word used for the hand in the Musa story was the same word used to translate wings, the word being hand and Islamic angels thus being said to have many hands though this idea is not generally known to people.

The author of the book of Prime Book of Strange Evil was the Mad Arab, a name by which the Jews and others disparaged Muhammed.

[kFoyauextlH]

http://www.medievalists.net/2013/10/why-cats-were-hated-in-medieval-europe/
[hr]
http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/cats-islamic-culture

[kFoyauextlH]

I'm really impressed that I wrote about Sauron so many years ago and that around the time this forum came back, I had been formulating writing on Sauron again, and then was looking for what thread to turn into the Sauron topic, but it was already here!

The Sauron topic, including more from the Silmarillion, from Marvel comics, from Elden Rings, from Terry Brooks' The Sword Of Shannara series:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91b ... Mwebp_.jpg

It is really overwhelming, and tying in themes of change and hypnosis and vampirism and economic things that seem to be brought up with these ideas as well, the whole project can be a little bit slow to organize, especially as more keeps pouring in and has been pouring in recently quite often, so there hasn't been a nice point of "here is a nice, complete, chunk" to get started with.

I have roughly 4 Dark Lords, if not more, circulating right now, all of them "fictional", one from Tolkien and the rest from the heavily Tolkien inspired Dungeons & Dragons and their further offshoot The Forgotten Realms:

Sauron (Lord Of The Rings/Lord Of Bats/Cats/Rats/@s)

Bane (Similar to Sauron initially, Lord Of Darkness, Dominance)

Bhaal (Lord Of Murder, Blood, also Mohg's title in Elden Ring)

Myrkul (Lord Of Bones, The Dead)

Bane's Domination appears in Molag Bal in The Elder Scrolls, Molag Bal's Bat and Vampire connection appears with Sauron in the Silmarillion.

Mohg is called Lord Of Blood.

The fifth appearing is a Spider symbol one connected to Lolth from Dungeons & Dragons and Mephala from The Elder Scrolls.

There is also likely a Lord Of Flame(s) appearing a lot throughout, but which appears in relation to imagery of Sauron forging and the industrialization of the Orcs working underground, and with Bhaal granting flame powers to various individuals as a "gift", and images from the Fantastic Four.

Also appearing are Zaltec, the Lord Of Hunger, which might just be Bhaal again.

The elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire have been repeating. Without even looking into any if these things specifically, they and many seemingly related symbols have been popping up in numerous ways.

Besides these there has also been a theme of Luck, so The Lord Of Luck and Good Fortune, Renald from Warhammer Fantasy, his name seemingly inspired by Renard the Fox, who has close associations with Tybalt the Prince Of Cats:

"
Draper (1939)[11] points out the parallels between the Elizabethan belief in the four humours and the main characters of the play; Tybalt is choleric: Violent, vengeful, short-tempered, ambitious.[12] Interpreting the text in the light of humours reduces the amount of plot attributed to chance by modern audiences.[11](pp16–34)
"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism#Four_humors



https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Tybalt

https://curiositydamsel.wordpress.com/2 ... e-of-cats/

"
One of my favourite medieval fables is that of Reynard the Fox.

Found in manuscripts throughout the Middle Ages, Reynard, the trickster, was an anthropomorphised fox who caused trouble for other animals and sometimes came up against Isengrim, the Wolf, or Tybalt, the Prince of Cats.

renard2

Reynard in battle, from ‘Roman de Renart’ (f.73v) in National Library of France

It is an allegorical piece originating in Dutch, German and English folklore. These were often used as parodies of the popular courtly love and heroic epics of the Medieval Age, with sprinklings of political and social satire as well.

The first appearance of the trickster fox seems to be in the latin mock-epic poem Ysengrimus, written around the 1150s. Although it is likely he was a pre-existing folklore character before this and multiple authors have moulded and shaped his curious tale.

He stars in the manuscript Roman de Renart, written in the 14th Century. It is held the National Library of France and can be viewed online here. It has some fantastic and unusual illustrations which are well worth a flick through.

renalt2

An image of Reynard chasing Tybalt, Prince of Cats, who escapes of horseback, from ‘Roman de Renart’ (f.63v) in National Library of France

Tybalt, Prince of Cats, is a secondary character in the tales. He is often mocked and tricked by Reynard but equally he gets up to some bizarre adventures.

The allegorical tales have left their mark. ‘Father of English Literature’, the medieval poet Chaucer, uses some of the characters in his Nun’s Priests’ Tale. It is even famously referenced in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet when they refer to Tybalt mockingly as the Prince of Cats.

It is heartening to think that our own affection and enjoyment of anthropomorphised animal characters in books and cartoon is not a modern foible. We are part of a long, proud and mocking tradition.
"

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b ... ge.langEN0

They all have in common being "fictional" and considered fictional from start to finish. They were not even considered as true or "true-ish" as myths have been sometimes considered related to truth in some way more directly than completely fictional characters and stories.

An interesting thing is that having the assumption that something relates to the truth can allow for more freedom with wackier claims within the stories since they are already accepted and authorized in some ways, while having something that is completely fictional can lead some storytellers to try harder to make the things more plausible and so related to well established understandings of what could, would, or should occur in this or that scenario presented, based on how one can calculate things from other experiences or witnessing things. So sometimes the myths can be collecting very obscure things without efforts to make valid or believable or sensible what it is saying in order to collect references, but fictional stories can be working to try to make things more true sounding and fitting, palatable and acceptable to the people so that they will accept it and are satisfied and will continue to transmit it to others for the purpose of spreading pleasure and satisfaction among those who hear it, so it will likely contain themes of justice and good conclusions of "just deserts".

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/just_deserts#English

"
just deserts pl (plural only)

(idiomatic) A punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved.
It may appear that they're getting ahead by cheating, but they'll get their just deserts in the end.
"

There are three collections of writings that are the three most influential right now:

The Bible,
The Qur'an, and
The Puranas

The Qur'an seems to function most like these fictional stories, and so contains the most clear cut justice.

The Bible is said to present a History but presents a Mythology, it collects things in a way similar to mythology and doesn't appear to be all that just or to provide explanations for what it is depicting as occurring. It lacks morality and moral clarity and ethics and ethical teachings in a way that a narrative story or collection of stories might.

The Puranas are very much more clearly mythological in style, and though they collect clues to things from more remote times, they were influenced by the stylistic preferences of a later time. They scarcely explain the things that it tries to collect, and very few of the explanations seem to be well justified or even sensible, much more like a collection of symbols loosely tied together by stories placing the components in a way that they interact or at least appear somewhere in the story or context.

All three of these books also seem to contain polemics and propaganda and defamation, most likely against rival groups or ideologies, perhaps even entirely fabricated oppositions or imagined threats, that most likely represented other outcomes or similar enough groups being referred to, that people could imagine in any other context too, though that flexibility was probably not deliberate.

The Lord Of The Rings and The Silmarillion were most likely influenced by Tolkien's work with the Bible and Medieval Literature, and most likely some modern concerns as well, from around the time aof his growing up and writing what he wrote. One of the writers he seemed to like, who didn't appear to like him back, was the author of The Worm Ouroboros, E. R. Eddison, a style of their name similar to "J. R. R. Tolkien" and then "J. K. Rowling", and the George R. R. Martin of Game Of Thrones as well.

The Worm Ouroboros is completely different from Tolkien or the "spirit" of his work, and perhaps E. R. Eddison could somehow sense that there was a difference between the way that Tolkien was seemingly approaching his text and him that meant there was not a proper understanding involved, they were from fundamentally different spiritual camps and schools of thought.

https://www.warr.org/Eddison.shtml

"
Eddison was unquestionably an imperialistic, sexist, racist he-man, with none of Tolkien's common touch - he was practically a proto-Nazi, and it's no coincidence the humanistic Tolkien knew but despised the man. But if you're going to go anywhere back before Tolkien, I think this is the place to start, as I did. (JA)
"

"
no doubt, and Eddison's bloodlust may be hard to stomach, but if you can hang in with it, the book's rewards are incomparable. (DBW)
"

"
Every time I read Ouroboros, I say to myself, "This time I'm going to get through Mistress, and then on to A Fish Dinner In Memison!" I even bought the book a second time in paperback so I wouldn't have to carry around the huge Zimiamvia volume that contains those books plus the unfinished The Mezentian Gate. But it's so unbelievably talky and dull I just can't read the damned thing. (DBW)
"



"
Based on all the letters and quotes that come up, it seems that Tolkien was a very bitter and spite-filled man, is this true? were there any works that weren't his own that he actually liked?
all I ever seem to see is "he didn't like Dune" and "he gave absolutely no quarter against Narnia" and "he had zero respect for Walt Disney" and "He thought Shakespear is overrated" all this "Tokien hate X" and "if he saw Y he'd hate it" etc, etc. Is there any reason for this? was Tolkien really so narrow-minded in his tastes? Was he so eager to reject anything based on the tiniest of flaws that he was unable to enjoy anything in life but his own works? Or is this a reflection of certain points in his life or quotes taken out of context than anything else?
"



http://newboards.theonering.net/forum/g ... =252346006

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.5413031

https://glreview.org/article/the-fellow ... -tea-club/

This stolen transit thing is a bit weird coming up since I lost one if my bus passes that I was using, which has kept me from going out these days that I've also been a bit up and down with various health things suddenly.

"
Eddison is best known for the early romance The Worm Ouroboros (1922) and for three volumes set in the imaginary world Zimiamvia, known as the Zimiamvian Trilogy: Mistress of Mistresses (1935), A Fish Dinner in Memison (1941), and The Mezentian Gate (1958).[citation needed]

Eddison was an occasional member of the Inklings, an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford. His early works of high fantasy drew both praise and criticism from the Inkling J. R. R. Tolkien, who stated that he read Eddison "with great enjoyment for their sheer literary merit", but "disliked his characters" and found his "evil and indeed silly 'philosophy'" tending to "arrogance and cruelty".[5] He was praised, too, by C. S. Lewis,[6] also an Inkling.[7] When Lewis had to go into a nursing home, he asked his secretary to bring him two books: The Worm Ouroboros and Virgil's Aeneid.[8] Later, Eddison's early works were praised by Ursula K. Le Guin.[9] Tolkien generally approved of Eddison's literary style, but found the underlying philosophy unpleasant and unattractive; while Eddison in turn thought Tolkien's views "soft".[5] Other admirers of Eddison's work included James Stephens, who wrote the introduction to the 1922 edition; James Branch Cabell, who provided a foreword for the 1926 American edition; Robert Silverberg, who described The Worm Ouroboros as "the greatest high fantasy of them all";[10] and Clive Barker.[11]

Eddison's books are written in a meticulously recreated Jacobean prose style, seeded throughout with fragments, often acknowledged but often directly copied from his favorite authors and genres: Homer and Sappho, Shakespeare and Webster, Norse sagas and French medieval lyric poems. Critic Andy Sawyer has noted that such fragments seem to arise naturally from the "barbarically sophisticated" worlds Eddison has created.[12] The books exhibit a thoroughly aristocratic sensibility; heroes and villains alike maintain an Olympian indifference to convention. Fellow fantasy author Michael Moorcock wrote that Eddison's characters, particularly his villains, are more vivid than Tolkien's.[13] Others have observed that while it is historically accurate to depict the great of the world trampling on the lower classes, Eddison's characters often treat their subjects with arrogance and insolence, and this is depicted as part of their greatness.[14] Indeed, at the end of The Worm Ouroboros, the heroes, finding peace dull, pray for – and get – the revival of their enemies, so that they may go and fight them again.[15] The historian of fantasy Brian Attebery notes that "Eddison's fantasies uphold a code that is unabashedly Nietzschean; had he written after World War II, his enthusiasm for supermen and heroic conflict might perhaps have been tempered".[16]

The Zimiamvia books were conceived not as a trilogy but as part of a larger work left incomplete at Eddison's death. The Mezentian Gate itself is unfinished, though Eddison provided summaries of the missing chapters shortly before his death. C. S. Lewis wrote a blurb for the cover of The Mezentian Gate when it was published calling Eddison's works "first and foremost, of art."[17]

Eddison wrote three other books: Poems, Letters, and Memories of Philip Sidney Nairn (1916), Styrbiorn the Strong (1926) and Egil's Saga (1930). The first was his tribute to a Trinity College friend, a poet, who, according to this source, died May 18, 1914, age 30, in Malaya, where he was a colonial administrator. According to another, possibly less reliable source, he is said to have died in his youth during World War I.[12] The other two relate to Scandinavian saga literature; the first is a historical novel which retells Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa (alluded to in Eyrbyggja Saga and Heimskringla).[16] The second is a direct translation from Egil's saga, supplemented with extensive notes, some which explain Eddison's aesthetic and philosophical outlook.[16]
"

https://www.clarendonhousebooks.com/sin ... -r-eddison

https://zompist.wordpress.com/2011/09/3 ... goddesses/

"
The prose does contribute to the atmosphere, which is a strange and unapologetic mixture of philosophy, romantic adventure, and sensuality. Moorcock and Miéville had trouble with Tolkien; they’d be gobsmacked by Eddison, who’s the most aristophilic writer I’ve ever read. It’s not that he wants to oppress the commoners; he doesn’t even glance at the commoners. Occasionally a rural worker appears, purely as decoration, but he has even less interest in economies and cities and statecraft than Tolkien.

Rather, he’s interested in noble characters. The man are brawny, proud, and bearded, and their business is intrigue and war— though poetry, painting, and philosophy are also approved. The women are more than their equals, invariably beautiful, imperious, independent, aloof, and passionate. They inspire worship, and woe to the man who trusts merely to his position or good looks to woo an Eddison heroine. He must suffer rejection first, show respect, and above all never bore her.

The world these characters move in is full of splendors, both natural and man-made, lovingly described— though it’s clear that to him, mountains and beasts and gold and silks never quite do justice to the beauty of his women.

If that weren’t enough, the book is an exposition, both directly and in allegory, of Eddison’s own metaphysics, which apparently starts from Spinoza but reminds me much more of Romanticism. He simplifies the values of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty into one supreme value— Beauty. This then informs a cosmic dualism, masculine Love and feminine Beauty:

Infinite and Omnipotent Love creates, preserves, and delights in, Infinite and Perfect Beauty. Love and Beauty are, in this duality, coequal and coeternal; and, by a violent antinomy, Love, owing his mere being to this strengthless perfection which he holds at his mercy, adores and is enslaved by her, while Beauty (by a like antinomy) queens it over the very omnipotence which both created her and is her only safeguard.

The sensuality, the delight in the endless variety of nature, of human affairs, and of eros, are thus not accidental; they are the very purpose of the universe. The male characters are to some extent avatars of God/Love; the female characters are, even more, avatars of the Goddess/Beauty.

Structurally, as I said, the book is a mess. For one thing, Eddison has insisted on intermingling sections set in his fantasy realm, Zimiamvia, with sections on Earth, chronicling the love affair and lives of two English aristos, Lessingham and Mary. The latter bits make for a weak early-20C romance, which despite its brevity takes the time to cover an entire cricket game and reproduce a story written by the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, plus repulsive bits of politics:

And your unhaired woman (they’ll be as common as the cartway soon) and your unmasculated man, are part of the engine, worker ants, worker termites, neuters: worthless lives to themselves, which only exist to run the engine…

He goes on to explain that the big mistake of WWI was giving an armistice, rather than carrying the war “to destruction clean through Germany”. Well, he was writing during WWII when it was easy enough to feel that the Prussians hadn’t been sufficiently beat down the first time.

A bit later he clarifies that his ideal is a Greek city-state, with a population in the tens of thousands. The aspect of modern life that gave Tolkien the horrors was evidently industrialization; what bothered Eddison was not even the fall of aristocracy but population. You can only have a termite society because people are as numerous as insects. It makes sense in terms of his ideal: bold lusty men and women, powerful and individual. Strong as they are, they get lost in a crowd.

The 20C sections are largely a failure largely because he makes his central couple as heroic as he can. Lessingham is a brilliant painter, an indispensable diplomat, a fabled soldier, and a canny businessman. Oh, and he worships his wife. It’s just silly.

The Zimiamvian parts are much better— the larger-than-life characters work better in a larger-than-life world. There’s an attempt at danger— a plot against the King— which is resolved in an unusual and interesting way… only this happens a third of the way through the book! Then the story concentrates on the romance between the King’s illegitimate son Barganax and the Lady Fiorinda. The major obstacle is that Fiorinda is already married, but we’re among Olympians here, and conventional morality need not apply; it’s explicitly stated that the man is not worthy of her.

(Fiorinda appears on Earth a couple of times, bridging the two narratives, though this is never explained, beyond the strong hints that she’s a particularly clear avatar of the Goddess.)

As conworlding, it’s kind of inexplicable. There’s a handsome map provided, and Eddison obviously relished creating geographical names, as well as the intrigues of the nobles. Fiorinda has a couple of handmaidens who are dryads and change shape at will. But the world hardly exists as a world; it’s more like the Arcadian backdrop of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a stage for the players to strut upon, without the distractions that would arise setting it in an actual historical reality.

There actually is a fish dinner, which turns into a symposium on Eddison’s cosmology, with a subtext of Barganax’s seduction of Fiorinda. (He already succeeded once, but she’s made it clear that she is not to be taken for granted and must be won anew each time.)
"

[kFoyauextlH]

The written portion:

https://beatsperminute.com/caroline-pol ... -billions/

"
“The earthly cord
was cut /
and we are orphans
of the universe /

Thunder
is no longer
the voice of God /

Lightning
is no longer
a moralizing missile /

Knowledge
is no longer
shaped like a snake /

What’s left
of the alphabet
is deep underground /

in places
without
faces /

Everything
we want
will require
unfathomable
violence /

but contradictions
are nothing
new /

the youness
is
the newness.”
"

"
As scientific understanding has grown,
so our world has become dehumanized.

Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos,
because he is no longer involved in nature
and has lost his emotional “unconscious identity”
with natural phenomena.

These have slowly lost their symbolic implications.

Thunder is no longer the voice of an angry god,
nor is lightning his avenging missile.

No river contains a spirit,
no tree is the life principle of a man,
no snake the embodiment of wisdom,
no mountain cave the home of a great demon.

No voices now speak to man
from stones,
plants,
and animals,

nor does he speak to them
believing they can hear.

His contact with nature has gone,
and with it has gone
the profound emotional energy
that this symbolic connection
supplied.

C.G. Jung, Man and His Symbols
"

"
Polachek says of the song:
“The overabundance of this world
overwhelms me.
Sometimes it seems like
an ultimate tragedy,

the earth
being pillaged
and destroyed
for it.

Sometimes it seems
pre-human,
beyond
morality,

sublime.

I don’t pick sides,
I just live here,
with you.

How does it feel,
being so
rich?”
"



"
@JamesBond-gx5fn
5 years ago
When you call your Roblox girlfriend
and your uncle's phone rings
"



Added in 36 minutes 17 seconds:
"
And, indeed, this is the odd thing that is continually happening: there are continually turning up in life moral and rational persons, sages and lovers of humanity who make it their object to live all their lives as morally and rationally as possible, to be, so to speak, a light to their neighbours simply in order to show them that it is possible to live morally and rationally in this world.

And yet we all know that those very people sooner or later have been false to themselves, playing some queer trick, often a most unseemly one.

Now I ask you: what can be expected of man since he is a being endowed with strange qualities?

Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity,

such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species,

and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick.

He would even risk his cakes and would deliberately desire the most fatal rubbish, the most uneconomical absurdity, simply to introduce into all this positive good sense his fatal fantastic element.

It is just his fantastic dreams, his vulgar folly that he will desire to retain, simply in order to prove to himself--as though that were so necessary--

that men still are men and not the keys of a piano, which the laws of nature threaten to control so completely that soon one will be able to desire nothing but by the calendar.

And that is not all: even if man really were nothing but a piano-key,

even if this were proved to him by natural science and mathematics, even then he would not become reasonable,

but would purposely do something perverse out of simple ingratitude, simply to gain his point.

And if he does not find means he will contrive destruction and chaos, will contrive sufferings of all sorts, only to gain his point!


Fydor Dostoyevsky
Tags: notes-from-underground
"

https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/up ... riends.pdf

"
This quote comes from one of Dostoevesky's letters. You can find it on page 82 (82 in PDF file, 68 in book) of this document: Letters of Fyodor Dostoevsky to his family and friends.

“There were moments when I hated everybody I came across, innocent or guilty, and looked at them as thieves who were robbing me of my life with impunity. The most unbearable misfortune is when you yourself become unjust, malignant, vile; you realize it, you even reproach yourself - but you just can't help it.”
"

"
Violence in the developing world is like grief in the developed world—it’s everywhere, but we just don’t see it.
Gary A. Haugen, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence
"

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2 ... ust-effect

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/B1p ... Y1000_.png

That is being sold on Amazon!

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Darkness

https://anunexpectedjournal.com/beauty- ... tastrophe/

https://lamentationsjeremiah.wordpress. ... ostoevsky/

https://stephencwinter.com/tag/dostoevsky/

https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DS4B ... ure=shared

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/715097 ... -murder-is

"
I believe that to execute a man for murder is to punish him immeasurably more dreadfully than is equivalent to his crime. A murder by sentence is far more dreadful than a murder committed by a criminal.

The man who is attacked by robbers at night, in a dark wood, or anywhere, undoubtedly hopes and hopes that he may yet escape until the very moment of his death.

There are plenty of instances of a man running away, or imploring for mercy—at all events hoping on in some degree—even after his throat was cut. But in the case of an execution, that last hope—having which it is so immeasurably less dreadful to die,—is taken away from the wretch and certainty substituted in its place!

There is his sentence, and with it that terrible certainty that he cannot possibly escape death—which, I consider, must be the most dreadful anguish in the world. You may place a soldier before a cannon’s mouth in battle, and fire upon him—and he will still hope.

But read to that same soldier his death-sentence, and he will either go mad or burst into tears. Who dares to say that any man can suffer this without going mad? No, no! it is an abuse, a shame, it is unnecessary—why should such a thing exist?

Doubtless there may be men who have been sentenced, who have suffered this mental anguish for a while and then have been reprieved; perhaps such men may have been able to relate their feelings afterwards.

Our Lord Christ spoke of this anguish and dread. No! no! no! No man should be treated so, no man, no man!

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot
"

[kFoyauextlH]

[kFoyauextlH]

Added in 5 days 13 hours 5 minutes 15 seconds:
https://aoc.fandom.com/wiki/Bel

https://hyboria.xoth.net/gods/bel.htm

Added in 18 hours 51 minutes 42 seconds:
"
The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the Winkie Country. Her castle is described as beautiful instead of being the sinister fortress shown in the 1939 film. In all versions, she is aquaphobic. The Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, the Wicked Witch of the South, and the Wicked Witch of the North to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it amongst themselves, as recounted in L. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. She shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch and all she cares about is obtaining the Silver Shoes which will increase her power. W. W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eyepatch. Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eyepatch; however, some illustrations show her with two eyes.

Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls. She has a pack of 40 great wolves, a flock of 40 crows, a swarm of black bees, and an army of Winkies.[1] She possesses the enchanted Golden Cap, which compels the winged monkeys to obey her on three occasions. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western part of the Land of Oz. Second, she made the winged monkeys drive the Wizard of Oz's army out of the Winkie Country, when he attempted to overthrow her.

When Dorothy Gale and her companions Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion were sent by the Wizard to destroy her, the Witch attacked them with her various creatures. Each of these attempts was thwarted with the Tin Woodman killing the 40 great wolves, Scarecrow killing the 40 crows, the black bees dying upon trying to sting the Tin Woodman, and the armed Winkie slaves being scared off by the Cowardly Lion. The protagonists are eventually subdued by the Witch's third and final permitted use of the winged monkeys. Nevertheless, the old witch cannot kill Dorothy because the girl is protected by the Good Witch of the North's kiss. She settles for enslaving Dorothy and tries to force the Cowardly Lion into submission by starving him, though Dorothy sneaks him food. Upon seeing the Silver Shoes on the girl's feet, the Wicked Witch decides to steal them, and thereby acquire even more power.

When she succeeds in acquiring one silver shoe by making Dorothy trip over an invisible bar, the little girl angrily throws a bucket of water onto the Wicked Witch. This causes the old witch to melt away. The Wicked Witch's dryness was enumerated in some clues before this. Furthermore, when Toto had bitten her, she had not bled; her wickedness had dried her up long ago. L. Frank Baum did not explain precisely why water had this effect on her, nor did he ever imply that all evil witches could be likewise destroyed. However, the wicked witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in The Lost King of Oz and the wicked witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate in the early chapters of The Wicked Witch of Oz.
"

Added in 16 seconds:
That is Sauron.

Added in 14 minutes 22 seconds:
"
These are the magic words she spoke to call and bring the Monkeys to her:

EP-PE,
PEP-PE,
KAK-KE,

HI-LO-
HOL-LO
HEL-LO,

ZUZ-ZY
ZUZ-ZY
ZIK!!!
"

https://super-villain.fandom.com/wiki/T ... f_The_West

Added in 4 minutes 26 seconds:
"
Later, after Dorothys' departure, the Tin Woodman became the new ruler of the Winkies, taking the Wicked Witchs place. The Winkies loved their new Tin ruler so much that they built him a handsome Tin Palace to live in as Emperor of the West.
"

Woodman, Ranger, Aragorn.

Added in 2 days 18 hours 25 minutes 50 seconds:

[kFoyauextlH]

https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Norgorber#Four_Aspects

"
Thieves revere the Gray Master, as do extortionists, kidnappers, street thugs, and all who benefit at the expense of others.414546 They are the most likely of the Four Aspects to form organized cults who seek to acquire all they can without any regard for the law or morality.46 Followers of the Gray Master vary from violent gangs to nearly legitimate organizations, and conceal themselves with pieces of gray or black cloth that hide their faces below their eyes.4145
Spies, politicians, archivists, and researchers worship Norgorber as the Reaper of Reputation, and consider him the deity of secret knowledge and manipulation. They often leverage secrets for their own gain, whether by rigging economies, corrupting governments, or subverting other power structures.412946 Followers of the Reaper vary from relatively benign manipulators of politics whose social maneuvering benefits others as well as themselves to groups such as the Ustalavic organization called the Anaphexia, which hoards esoteric knowledge and kills anyone else who would possess these secrets. Worshippers of the reaper typically wear domino or masquerade masks or black spirals that cover their mouths.4129
"

Added in 2 days 6 hours 45 minutes 8 seconds:
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Norgorber

[kFoyauextlH]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Middle-earth

"
With his "Southrons" from Harad, Tolkien had—in the view of John Magoun, writing in the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia—constructed a "fully expressed moral geography",[11] from the hobbits' home in the Northwest, evil in the East, and "imperial sophistication and decadence" in the South. Magoun explains that Gondor is both virtuous, being West, and has problems, being South; Mordor in the Southeast is hellish, while Harad in the extreme South "regresses into hot savagery".[11] Steve Walker similarly speaks of "Tolkien's moral geography", naming the North "barbaric", South "the region of decadence", East "danger" but also the "locale of adventure", West "safety" (and uttermost West "ultimate safety"), North-West "specifically English insularity" where hobbits of the Shire live "in provincial satisfaction".[24]
Imagemap with clickable links of Tolkien's moral geography of Middle-earth, according to John Magoun[11]

Jared Lobdell writes of the significance of North and West, and of their opposites. He describes "the dominant myth" of The Lord of the Rings as being "of the West", writing that if the West represents Heaven, then the East at least in part stands for Hell "though the symmetry is incomplete".[25] The asymmetry derives from the fact that the West encompasses both the drowned and vanished Númenor, and the Undying Lands of the Uttermost West, by the Third Age "beyond the circles of the World" and unreachable except by the Old Straight Road. Middle-earth is then in the middle, between this elaborate West and the ordinary East of the planet Arda.[25] Tolkien's conception of the West, Lobdell writes, is derived from Hy Breasail, the Isles of the Blest in Celtic mythology; on the drowned Lyonesse[25] which had, the legend runs, been part of England;[26] and on the Celtic Immram tales, the voyages to the West in that mythology. Númenor, in the shape of the Isle of Elenna, will be raised up again at the end of the world: it is not part of Middle-earth.[25] The North, Lobdell writes, then preserves the memory of the West, just as it preserves ancient Evil in the form of Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wights.[27]
Jared Lobdell's view of the asymmetric West and East in The Lord of the Rings[25]
West Middle East
Undying Lands
(inaccessible) Númenor
(drowned; will be raised up) Middle-earth The geographical East of Arda

Other scholars such as Walter Scheps and Isabel G. MacCaffrey have noted Middle-earth's "spatial cum moral dimensions",[28][29] though not identically with Magoun's interpretation. In their view, North and West are generally good, South and East evil. That places the Shire and the elves' Grey Havens in the Northwest as certainly good, and Mordor in the Southeast as certainly evil; Gondor in the Southwest is in their view morally ambivalent, matching the characters of both Boromir and Denethor. They observe further that the Shire's four quadrants or "Farthings" serve as a "microcosm" of the moral geography of Middle-earth as a whole: thus, the evil Black Riders appear first in the Eastfarthing, while the once good but corrupted Saruman's men arrive in the Southfarthing.[28] J. K. Newman compares the adventurous quest to Mordor to "the perpetual temptation felt in the West 'to hold the gorgeous East in fee'" (citing Wordsworth on Venice), in a tradition which he traces back to Herodotus and to the myth of the Golden Fleece.[30]
Origins
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Further information: Tolkien's influences
Influences on Middle-earth's geographyClassical, medieval, and recent influences on the geography of Middle-earth. All locations are approximate.[31]
Illustration of legendary medieval forestTolkien borrowed the Arthurian place-name Brocéliande for an early version of Beleriand.[32] 1868 illustration by Gustave Doré

Tolkien scholars including John Garth have traced many features of Middle-earth to literary sources or real-world places. Some places in Middle-earth can be more or less firmly associated with a single place in the real world, while other locations have had two or more real-world origins proposed for them. The sources are diverse, spanning classical, medieval, and modern elements.[31] Other elements relate to Old English poetry: several of the customs of Rohan in particular can be traced to Beowulf, on which Tolkien was an expert.[33]

Some Middle-earth placenames were based on the sound of places named in literature; thus, Beleriand was borrowed from the Broceliand of medieval romance.[32] Tolkien tried out many invented names in search of the right sound, in Beleriand's case including Golodhinand, Noldórinan ("valley of the Noldor"), Geleriand, Bladorinand, Belaurien, Arsiriand, Lassiriand, and Ossiriand (later used as a name for the easternmost part of Beleriand).[T 7] The Elves have been linked to Celtic mythology.[34] The Battle of the Pelennor Fields has parallels with the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields.[35] The Misty Mountains derive from the Poetic Edda, where the protagonist in the Skírnismál notes that his quest will involve misty mountains peopled with orcs and giants,[36] while the mountains' character was partly inspired by Tolkien's travels in the Swiss Alps in 1911.[T 8] Mirkwood is based on Myrkviðr, the romantic vision of the dark forests of the North.[37] Scholars have likened Gondor to Byzantium (medieval Istanbul),[38] while Tolkien connected it to Venice.[T 9] The Corsairs of Umbar have been linked to the Barbary corsairs of the late Middle Ages.[39] Númenor echoes the mythical Atlantis described by Plato.[T 10]

About the origins of his storytelling and the place of cartography within it, Tolkien stated in a letter:[36]

I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities, and in any case it is weary work to compose a map from a story.[T 11]

Writing in Mythlore, Jefferson P. Swycaffer suggested that the political and strategic situations of Gondor and Mordor in the Siege of Gondor were "analogous to Constantinople facing the boxshape of Asia Minor"; that "Dol Amroth makes a fine Venice"; that the Rohirrim and their grasslands are comparable to "Hungary of the Magyars, who were weak allies of Byzantine Constantinople"; and that the Corsairs of Umbar resembled the Barbary pirates who served Mehmed the Conqueror.[40]

The linguist David Salo writes that Gondor recalls "a kind of decaying Byzantium"; its piratical enemy Umbar like the seagoing Carthage; the Southrons (of Harad) "Arab-like"; and the Easterlings "suggesting Sarmatians, Huns and Avars".[41]
Geology
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Main article: Geology of Middle-earth

The geologists Margaret M. Howes in 1967,[42] Robert C. Reynolds in 1974,[43] and then William Sarjeant in 1992, used the information from the illustrations, maps, and text of J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction, especially The Lord of the Rings, to create a conjectural reconstruction of Middle-earth's geology. They proposed tectonic movements and glaciations to shape the described landscapes.[44]

The geologist Alex Acks, writing on Tor.com, outlines mismatches between Tolkien's maps and the processes of plate tectonics which shape the Earth's continents and mountain ranges. Acks comments that no natural process creates right-angle junctions in mountain ranges, such as are seen around Mordor and at both ends of the Misty Mountains on Tolkien's maps.[45] In addition, Tolkien's rivers fail to behave like natural rivers, forming regularly-branched streams in drainage basins demarcated by high ground.[46]
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http://martinemussies.nl/web/meoi-miog- ... n-miaulin/

Added in 1 day 2 hours 38 minutes 24 seconds:
https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/23 ... and-islam/

"
While there is no question that J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, was an extremely devout Roman Catholic, some of the theological and linguistic themes of his Middle-earth eerily parallel that of Islam.

First of all, his world is a monotheistic one: there is only One, True God called Eru Ilúvatar. The Silmarillion described that there was initially nothing except Eru; then Eru 'made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of His thought, and they were with Him before aught else was made.' The Ainur clearly parallel angels and Jinn (even though Tolkien went with the erroneous Christian conception of 'Fallen Angels', hence the grouping together in the same species but for here let's say that it's a general term for both angels and Jinn combined).

Ilúvatar commanded the Ainur to compose a theme to which Melkor (Iblis/Satan) became so proud that he distorted it. He also sought to claim the Flame Imperishable: the power to create life out of nothing. But he can't harness the Flame for it is only from and used by Eru Himself; showing that only God possessed such a power. And to some extent, the Flame kind of brings in mind the Nur of the Prophet (S), even though the Nur is not a source of creative power.

Thus, Melkor can only corrupt and not create: it is a Middle-earth idea that affirms Tawhid and the exclusivity of true creation to God. Eru countered the corruption of Melkor by creating a new theme altogether, which finally silenced him. Eru reveals that Melkor's deviation only serves to contribute to God's greater plan. This parallels the Qur'anic account of how Iblis, who was allowed to be in the company of angels, refused to bow to Adam (عليه السلام) only for Allah to rebuke him and condemn him to be part of a greater plan; Satan greatly underestimated Allah Himself.

Tolkien talked about how Eru and His Ainur dwelt in the Timeless Halls (Firdows), and Eru was above a Throne. After Melkor's humiliation, Eru lead the Ainur into the Void outside the Timeless Halls and told them: ‘Behold your Music!’ And they were shown a vision of the Earth. They saw that 'this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew.' Calling back to when Allah showed the angels, who sing His praise like the Ainur as mentioned before, a vision of the Earth and the angels were initially sceptical about humanity but Allah assured them that He knows what they know not. Similarly Eru saith: ‘Behold your Music! This is your minstrelsy; and each of you shall find contained herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself devised or added. And thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt perceive that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory.’ I will continue in a later comment.

Melkor was renamed Morgoth just like how Iblis became Shaytan. And here's where it gets even more crazy: when initiating the actual creation of the world, Eru said: 'Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be!' Literally is 'Kun faya kun'! As a result the universe is called Eä. Just like how the Arabic word for universe is Kawn; of the same root as Kun. And even more coincidental is that the Elvish name for Earth is Arda. It sounds exactly like the Arabic Ard for the same thing!

More linguistic connections like the Sun being feminine whilst the Moon is masculine. Powerful beings who exist before humanity, and great wars that were made between literal angels (the good Ainur) and literal demons (Morgoth and his hellish hosts). Also, some of the Ainur chose to enter Arda whilst most stayed behind with Eru; and this is like how some Hadiths mentioned about delegations of angels descending on earth at one point in history.

Morgoth's belittling of humanity when they first appeared (long after the Elves and Dwarves and even Ents showed up). What's more, the right hand man of Morgoth, Sauron, took the mantle of Dark Lord after the Ainur banished his master into the Void. Sauron was a master manipulator, and he deceived people into essentially believing Morgoth to be a god and him as a prophet-figure. He managed to corrupt the King of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn (sounds suspiciously like Pharaoh, anyone?), into invading Valinor, which parallels the lower levels of Jannah as opposed to the Timeless Halls being the Empyrean, where God's Throne is.

At the time, Valinor was a part of Earth, until Ar-Pharazôn and his army raided its shores, so the Ainur called upon Eru to sent forth His judgement. Eru caused the earth to swallow up the King, just like Qarun (and like Pharaoh he is based on). The Atlantis-like island kingdom of Númenor sunk below the sea. Everyone died except Sauron (who escaped) and the Faithful (Mumineen): those who affirm their monotheistic faith in Eru (yes, Tolkien literally place that in). Eventually, the Faithful and their descendants went to create the kingdom of Gondor in mainland Middle-earth. Eru caused Valinor to be separated from the rest of existence, but it can only be accessed by those worthy to enter it: Elves and Ringbearers. The land of Valinor is described to have perpetual hymns and singing by the Ainur: praises to Eru.

The only thing that remained of Númenor was a temple dedicated to the worship of Eru, whilst the the evil temple built by Sauron to his mater Morgoth was wrecked in the sinking; clearly indicating the triumph of Tawhid over Shirk. Sauron is clearly a Dajjal figure: he's extremely charismatic, manipulative, kingdoms rally round him, opposing the actual saviours of the day, and (of course) his Eye. His realm of Mordor is clearly Hell compared to Valinor being Jannah.

Gandalf was one of the Ainur sent to assist the peoples of Middle-earth against the influence of Sauron, just like a Prophet or a literal angel. Finally, the prophecy of the Day of Judgement is described when Morgoth will one day return from exile and wreck havoc once more. So Eru will rally all His faithful hosts against Morgoth, one last time.

Even the prophecy of Morgoth being finally slain at the hands of a human parallels how the Dajjal will be killed by the Imam al-Mahdi. And then it describes all being welcomed into Paradise and the dead will be resurrected, and Eru will compose a new song greater than the one at the beginning of Time. Contrary to popular belief, Middle-earth is not actually meant to be a made-up world, but in fact a fictional mythology for the ancient times of this Earth: Tolkien merely presented how the story of God and His creations from a Hobbit's perspective.

Even though Tolkien stressed the Catholic nature of his works, they can be interpreted in a Twelver Shi'a Muslim context. The Holy Trinity is not really depicted: the Flame Imperishable was supposed to be the Holy Spirit, but it was treated more of a representation of the Omnipotence of Eru than the Third Person that comprises Him. Although Tolkien did brought up (in one of his lesser known works) of the Elvish prophecy about Eru descending into Creation to heal it from Morgoth's marring; and obvious reference to the Catholic view of Jesus. The figures of Galadriel and Varda (angel of the stars) were meant to call back to Sayyida Maryam (عليه السلام), but they could also parallel Sayyida Fatima (عليه السلام).

Oh, yes: while Aragorn's succession was based on Jesus's (عليه السلام) status of being the rightful heir to the Throne of David (عليه السلام), it also parallels how the Imam al-Mahdi (عليه السلام) comes from the the Ahl al-Bayt (s) and fight a one-eyed minion of Satan (la).
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https://bliis.org/essay/akhi-you-should ... marillion/

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No work of fiction engaged me as much as The Silmarillion. It was my most rewarding read in the fantasy genre. I constantly revisit it and Christopher Tolkien’s collected material about its background. I don’t think I am the only one who would appreciate Tolkien’s attempt to create a world that engages him spiritually and intellectually with the subjects of his study and object of his faith. If the Lord of the Rings means anything to you, and you love the challenge of classical texts, The Silmarillion is for you.
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https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Alchemy_in_Middle-earth

https://noalternative.org/2012/09/14/lo ... ientalism/

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What is more, film representations of both legends have striking similarities.

El Cid (1961)



Note the orientalised “Moor” at 1:11 and the “barbarous” skull-bedecked tower he stands in, the sounding of the giant gong at 1:16, the preponderance of black-cloaked “Moors”, and the barbarous-looking siege towers at 4:13.

For those who don’t want to sit through all of that, here is El Cid appearing, after death, haloed by white, and causing the “Moors” to flee in panic (6:11):

Here is Gandalf’s charge of the Orcs at Helm’s Deep, from the 2002 film:



The iconography of the “White Rider” has been embraced by European fascist groups; “White Rider” is also a 1987 album by Skrewdriver, the most prominent white power band in the world.
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[kFoyauextlH]

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11165651/

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Morality in the anthropocene: The perversion of compassion and punishment in the online world

Although much of human morality evolved in an environment of small group living, almost 6 billion people use the internet in the modern era. We argue that the technological transformation has created an entirely new ecosystem that is often mismatched with our evolved adaptations for social living. We discuss how evolved responses to moral transgressions, such as compassion for victims of transgressions and punishment of transgressors, are disrupted by two main features of the online context. First, the scale of the internet exposes us to an unnaturally large quantity of extreme moral content, causing compassion fatigue and increasing public shaming. Second, the physical and psychological distance between moral actors online can lead to ineffective collective action and virtue signaling. We discuss practical implications of these mismatches and suggest directions for future research on morality in the internet era.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene

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Anthropocene is a term that has been used to refer to the period of time during which humanity has become a planetary force of change. It appears in scientific and social discourse, especially with respect to accelerating geophysical and biochemical changes that characterize the 20th and 21st centuries on Earth. Originally a proposal for a new geological epoch following the Holocene, it was rejected as such in 2024 by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).[2][3][4]
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https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/t ... f-saruman/



https://valarguild.org/tolkien/encyc/pa ... heLotR.htm

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Palant%C3%ADri

https://forums.signumuniversity.org/ind ... ting.4220/

[kFoyauextlH]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pars_pro_toto

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Pars pro toto (Latin for 'a part (taken) for the whole'; /ˌpɑːrz proʊ ˈtoʊtoʊ/;[1] Latin: [ˈpars proː ˈtoːtoː]),[2] is a figure of speech where the name of a portion of an object, place, or concept is used or taken to represent its entirety. It is distinct from a merism, which is a reference to a whole by an enumeration of parts; and metonymy, where an object, place, or concept is called by something or some place associated with it. It is a form of synecdoche, which can refer both to pars pro toto and its inverse, totum pro parte (Latin for 'the whole for a part').

In the context of language, pars pro toto means that something is named after a part or subset of it or after a limited characteristic, which in itself is not necessarily representative of the whole. For example, "glasses" is a pars pro toto name for something that consists of more than just two pieces of glass (the frame, nose bridge, temples, etc. as well as the lenses). Pars pro toto usage is especially common in political geography, with examples including "Russia" or "Russians", referring to the political institution (both historically and contemporary) or its people; "Holland" for the Netherlands; and, particularly in languages other than English, using the translation of "England" in that language to refer to Great Britain or the United Kingdom.
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These are about a Sequel to Lord Of The Rings:





What is with me and disliking English spoken in certain accents?

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These channels are doing quite well for their content.



They each go over the same information, in their own ways, and I'll examine which I prefer. Really, so far I prefer the one that told it like a story rather than people telling me about the story, that first one felt more immersive.

These "woman (girl) holding mug" type videos are very common or were:



More of a similar nature regarding unfinished plots and re-emerging threats:



People unable to write more due to something they wrote before being measured with everything is total stupidity and that would be a terrible curse, almost as bad as my version which is never doing anything at all in the first place.

I have a similar library of a lot to explore:





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Straying a bit with some of these, but mainly about alternate stories, endings, extra portions:









There is a lot about this "sub-creation" idea:



This is about the "end":









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https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Precious







The Gollum thing is real? Look at that guy.