There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea, and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off and went upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea.And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God (Moses 7:14-15).
When I read this as a child, I remember thinking it was probably where the legend of Atlantis came from. It was an odd connection to make, though. Why would an island rising up out of the sea give rise to legends about the opposite? At the time I knew Atlantis only from Plato, whose works I read at a comically young age, and there is no hint there of Atlantis having risen up from the sea. Nor is there any account in Joseph Smith of the new island later sinking.
Though I read parts of The Silmarillion in my early teens, I never finished it and never read the Akallabeth portion, which is Tolkien’s version of the Atlantis story. I’m reading it now. Tolkien, it turns out, agrees with my childhood intuition that Atlantis originally rose up out of the sea:
To the Fathers of Men of the three faithful houses rich reward also was given. Eonwë came among them and taught them; and they were given wisdom and power and life more enduring than any others of mortal race have possessed. A land was made for the Edain to dwell in, neither part of Middle-earth nor of Valinor, for it was sundered from either by a wide sea; yet it was nearer to Valinor. It was raised by Ossë out of the depths of the Great Water, and it was established by Aulë and enriched by Yavanna; and the Eldar brought thither flowers and fountains out of Tol Eressea.
This new land is Númenor, Tolkien’s Atlantis. In Tolkien, it was raised by an angelic being as a gift to faithful Men. In
Smith, it was apparently raised by Enoch as a place to which his enemies could flee. Still, the parallel is interesting.
In my teens I would write my own story about land being raised up from the sea. The manuscript appears to have been lost, but I remember the general concept. In the center of a large sea, halfway between two continents, was the island of Rundrow, inhabited by the Motens, a people mighty in magic. In an event known as the Pathraising, the Motens, by means of artificially induced volcanic activity, raised up from the sea floor a number of Paths, which were extremely long (hundreds of miles), perfectly straight tracks of dry land cutting right through the ocean and connecting Rundrow to several different points on the two continents. This massive geographical transformation changed the ocean currents, created whole new types of ecosystem, and made Rundrow the center of the world, ushering in what was known as the Path Age
The Path Age gave way to the Grass Age, when the Paths were taken over by magically altered Grass and rendered impassable, cutting off Rundrow from the rest of the world and leading to a widespread decline into barbarism and lawlessness. This was eventually rectified, and a Second Path Age begun, with the development of Pathkine, a breed of heavy-duty cattle (something like elands, but much larger and more robust, with rather baroque horns) specially designed to keep the Grass at bay.
Possibly relevant to recent syncs in which Atlantis is “Cowtown.”
12 comments:
While an anagram for Rundrow is "Wondurr", it's easy to read it as "run drow", the Drow being the (literally) dark elves of D&D, driven to live in the underworld. The Chimer of the Elder Scrolls were a branch of dissident high elves, led by a prophet to Morrowind in the east, later becoming the Dunmer. And of course, Tolkien's Noldor were exiled from Aman after the Kinslaying, journeying east back to Middle-earth.
William
You wrote( I added asterisks ) :
"In an event known as the Pathraising,
the Motens, by means of artificially induced volcanic activity,
raised up from the sea floor a number of
*** Paths, which were extremely long (hundreds of miles),
perfectly straight tracks of dry land cutting right
through the ocean and connecting Rundrow
to several different points on the two continents.****
This massive geographical transformation
changed the ocean currents, created whole new types
of ecosystem, and made Rundrow the center of the world,
ushering in what was known as the **Path Age."
~~~~~
My response : Your 'Path Age ' caught my eye
because I believe it mirrors my perspective
regarding the significance
of the Ley Lines ( coordinates)
and Alfred Watkin's work: The Old Straight Track ( link below)
Recall I commented many times that I believe the El's
followed the 40th parallel north all around the world
and built their most important structures on
the 40th.
There are those who believe ( including me ) the
Old World Theory.
There are some 'Old World'ers'
who believe that the earth is flat, however
I'm not one of them.
I believe the Earth more likely than not
is shaped in a oblate spheroid.
I believe that there were many previous Great Resets
including Noah's Flood and Atlantis
(maybe one and the same? )
I believe that the ancient builders were extremely
more intelligent than we are today.
I think they were masters (and manipulators)
of the the Sacred Science
Knowledge and many of their buildings
and structures were left behind and are still
standing today, albeit repurposed by the current
gatekeepers.
You mentioned in your post about the Motens being
a people mighty in magic which of course would certainly
apply to the Shinning Ones ( El's ).
Recall I recently emailed you a link to an intriguing video
about the Great Reset and Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City is on the 40th parallel north.
The 40th parallel north is a very powerful ley line.
So is the 33 degree parallel ( where sacrifices
are performed, which is why , and I believe,
that in Colonial America
chattel slavery was performed
and allowed south of the Mason-Dixon Line )
Which would explain why DFW ( on the 33 degree parallel)
was chosen for JFK's assassination.
The sacrifice of Atlantis would also be interesting
if indeed it was determined that the location of Atlantis
was near the Caribbean and south of the 33.
It would also be interesting if indeed John Dee
and Bacon was correct about The New Atlantis
being on the 77th Meridian West, which of course
would make sense why Philadelphia, NYC and DC
are all on the 77 as well as the 40.
Some believe that the Roswell 'aliens' were following
the coordinates and perhaps were pursued and forced
to crash on the 33 lat and the 104 Meriden.
When found taken to Wright Patt, Dayton Ohio
on the 40th parallel north ( actual lat 39 but
allow for the law of three)
The 77th Meridian West and the 104 Meridian west
are two other very powerful ley lines.
https://www.woolhopeclub.org.uk/system/files/documents/other/old-straight-track-alfred-watkins.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circles_of_latitude_between_the_35th_parallel_north_and_the_40th_parallel_north
John Dee 77th Meridian West
https://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/gods_longitude.htm
WG, the Chi-mer, you say? Do they play flutes by any chance?
Oh, hah! There isn't much cultural info on them but I won't rule it out, particularly as they domesticated the kwama (insectoids) and there's mention of flutes made from kwama limbs. It's also worth noting that though "Chimer" is best translated as "changed ones", it's also been written as "people of the north". As the linked map shows, Morrowind is north (and far east) of Summerset Isle, the Aldmeri/High Elf home.
en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Instruments
en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Chimer
images.uesp.net/6/6b/MER-art-Arena_Anthology_Game_Map.jpg
I suppose we could stretch the reading a little and say the "they" who fled to the island refers to the people of God rather than their enemies. That helps it fit the Numenor tale obviously. Or we could say Smith's PoGP tales are a tad garbled.
In the prior verse, lions roar in the wilderness.
Leo, yes, "the fear of X" is ambiguous. It could be the fear felt by X, or the feeling of being afraid of X. I don't think the latter reading really works in context, though, since v. 13 makes it clear that everyone was afraid of Enoch, not that Enoch's people were afraid of their enemies. It is also implied by the repeated "stood afar off" that the giants were among those to flee to the new island, and the only other time giants are mentioned in the PoGP, in Moses 8:18, it's clear that they're bad guys.
Yes but remember that normal men feared the Numenoreans who were very tall (like giants) and seemed like gods to them. And that later in Numenor's history the Numenoreans abused and dominated the normal men of Middle Earth.
But you're right that contextually it's hard to read this as saying the people of God went to the island that was raised up. Probably easier to argue that it's a garbled tale recorded long after the real events took place.
The Numenoreans were noted for their great height. Elendil (Tolkien's Noachic figure) was 8' tall, for example, and the Men of Middle-earth called the Numenoreans the "Tall Men of the Sea" when they landed on their shores. Giants.
And they did become the bad guys, obviously, and thus probably one source of the garbled tale in Joseph's imagination. By the end of Numenor, Enoch's people would be more associated with Men born on Middle-earth who were enslaved and oppressed by the Numenoreans, whereas at the beginning, the Numenoreans would have established an order that would have been named after Enoch himself (The Order of the Son). The Good Guys in the beginning became the Bad Guys in the end.
Other interesting parallels to the Numenorean story and Moses 7 are the War of Wrath prior to the appearance of that island in Tolkien's writings. In that War, there was massive upheaval to the Earth and everything changed. In Smith, Enoch's enemies came to fight against his people, and his voice caused massive upheaval to the Earth, described in similar manner to the War of Wrath. In both cases, the island was raised after the war and upheaval.
And the timing of the flood was after the island's appearance and the wickedness of Men in the time that followed.
The Book of Moses and the Silmarillion have their own interesting parallel in that neither set of writings were published during their authors' lifetimes, there are multiple versions and differences in the stories (more so in Tolkien's case, though), and it is unclear as to the authors' final intentions with respect to the story.
Joseph Smith is on record indicating that he had no intention for the Book of Moses to be published (1832 letter to WW Phelps), and it is today really the product of efforts by the LDS and RLDS church in relation to the two earliest manuscripts they have, as well as excerpts that were published or copied during Joseph's life, though unclear to me whether that was with his final blessing or not, given his earlier position.
With the Silmarillion, including the Akallabeth, that is more a product of Christopher Tolkien than JRR, as he tried to pull that together to publish after his death. Trying to establish it as one final, coherent story was likely a mistake, and he realized it and tried to correct it by publishing the 12 volume History of Middle-earth, which documents the multiple storylines, version, etc., and how it evolved and changed in Tolkien's mind. Definitely never one final, definitive picture, vision, or canon that the Silmarillion is published as.
I think just important to remember that when trying to map and compare them. And both men it seems had been left to their imagination in creating those stories. Joseph had given back his Key - the spectacles - before working on the Book of Moses.
Just saw Leo already covered the height and bad guy element of the Numenorean story already. . . and more concisely.
I had no idea JS was on record saying he would not publish those writings. Nice find. One thing that stood out to me from my deep dive into Tolkien's published letters is that he had every intention of publishing the Silmarillion. In fact, it was the only thing he truly wanted to publish. His letters indicate a manuscript given to his publishers. I am not an expert on everything that is in HOME but I am not aware of any published version of the Silmarillion that is the purported manuscript Tolkien had delivered to his publishers. Maybe it no longer exists, but I have often wondered why Christopher did what he did in compiling that book rather than trying to publish whatever his father had already put together. I actually have a theory that I have been noodling on for a bit but not sure if it has legs. Maybe I'll try to get a post up about it soon.
I think Christopher may have used that original manuscript as the skeleton for what he did with all of the various notes, revisions, documents, etc., but I could be wrong on that. Would be interested on anything you have come up with. I definitely haven't seen it or heard it referenced much.
Christopher was definitely forced in some instances to completely make up some things. The infamous "The Ruin of Doriath" is one example (which is Chapter 22 in the book... an interesting 22 callout). Christopher and Guy Kay basically had to write that on their own, and that was one where Christopher expressed significant regret in how he handled it. Such a critical chapter in the grand scheme of things, too, and we just don't know what the real story is.
Daymon/ Pengolodh have their own view, obviously, but my opinion has been that is fabricated and fairly self-serving. Along with the true account of the Numenorean story, what exactly happened at Doriath would also be good to have, and I think we will get it.
Christopher would suggest that other parts of the Silmarillion were less overhauled/ created than the Doriath story, which is probably true, but Kay suggested that his own involvement on the Silmarillion was far more creative (i.e., writing the story) than Christopher sometimes characterizes. This isn't a criticism of Christopher by the way, who did so much work in producing and protecting his father's work, but more just a clarification on what the published Silmarillion is and is not, and that we should be careful to remember what it isn't.
Here are the two Kay quotes from two separate interviews:
1:
"As much as anything else the invitation grew out of his perception that the editing would be essentially a ‘scholarly’ exercise and the model in his mind, I suspect, was that of the academic and his graduate student assistant. The actual process turned out to be radically otherwise, but that’s a long, other tale."
2:
"When his [Christopher's] father died in the winter of '73, he was named literary executor and had the responsibility for putting together The Silmarillion. He invited me to come over in the winter of '74/'75 to work with him on that. I think in the inception the model in his mind was that this would be academic work. The model was the classic senior academic working with the bright grad student who does a lot of the various kinds of legwork and research. The irony is that the Silmarillion editing ended up being at least as much if not significantly more a creative exercise than a scholarly one. The purely scholarly books are the ones that he's been producing subsequently. The difference between those two is a measure of the difference in the nature of what the editing was all about."
Anyway, all that said, it is one reason why HOME can be a pretty valuable resource, not just for the stories, but in terms of getting a view into how Tolkien was thinking about things.
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