XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.fan.tolkien   
   From: Troels@ThisIsFake.invalid   
      
   In message    
   Paul S. Person  spoke these staves:   
   >   
   > On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:07:39 -0400, Steve Morrison   
   >  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>Paul S. Person wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> I've always thought of Makar and Makasse (I can only hope I   
   >>> spelled it correctly) as versions of Ares and Athena.   
   >>   
   >> And I had thought of them as simply resembling the Aesir, who were   
   >> a bloodthirsty crew even without Loki.   
      
   So are most of the other Valar in BoLT -- remember what they did to   
   Melko's ambassador and the discussions after the Gnomes had left   
   (where only Ulmo counselled leniency and Manwë cried . . .).   
      
   I never saw Makar and Meássë as resembling any Aesir, though I think   
   the comparison to Loki is apt -- the main characteristic of the   
   siblings is, IMO, their role as positioned between Melko and the rest   
   of the Valar -- formally allied with the Valar, but occasionally   
   siding with Melko (and always on the side of strife and confusion).   
      
   > I guess that my ignorance of non-Greek/Roman mythology is pretty   
   > clear at this point ... oh, well.   
      
   The description of 'Ainu' and 'Aini' as 'pagan god' and '- goddess'   
   respectively in the Quenya Lexicon (QL) obviously calls for this kind   
   of hunting similarities, but ultimately I don't think the Ainur in   
   BoLT matches any real-world pantheon well enough for this kind of   
   one-to-one-fitting to make sense, but they incorporate ideas and   
   motifs from at least the Greek, Roman, Celtic, Finnish and Norse   
   mythologies, and sometimes we can discuss single elements and   
   identify them -- for instance Manwë surveying all the world at the   
   top of Taniquetil reminds me of Odin surveying all the world from his   
   high seat, Hliðskjalf, and the Rainbow bridge from Valinor (in the QL   
   glossed as Asgard) of course reinforces the Norse connections.   
      
   --   
   Troels Forchhammer   
   Valid e-mail is    
   Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.   
      
       Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are   
       subtle and quick to anger.   
    - Gildor Inglorion, /The Lord of the Rings/ (J.R.R. Tolkien)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)