Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (LotR), etc.

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[RoP] [...] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain (piefed.blahaj.zone)

submitted 1 week ago by akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/tolkien@lemmy.world

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I don't like how often and how seemingly lightly various characters in The Rings of Power use Morgoth's name in passing, as if they were talking about their neighbors. It demystifies him, takes away his power, makes him less abstract.

In the entirety of The Silmarillion, if I recall correctly, it is uttered in dialogue but a few times by legendary characters such as Fëanor, Húrin and Fingolfin.

I know this sounds like a minor detail, but words have power and I would like to recall that in some of our own legends and myths knowing the name of an adversary granted some power over them. I can't seem to recall exact examples, but perhaps King Arthur's tale? Help me out...

PS: I'm not a RoP hater. :)

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[–] EarMaster@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don't think that is something implied by Tolkien. Morgoth is a name given to the Valar Melkor to mark him forever. The name is not banned it is itself a form of ban.

Sauron is a similar name and he in fact forbids his servants to speak this name as he dislikes it for that reason.

[–] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I shouldn't have leaned this heavy into the comparison with our own mythologies. Regardless of the fact that it is a descriptive name given to him by Fëanor, RoP makes light use of it. There is not enough gravitas.

[–] EarMaster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

In the books Morgoth is gone for over a thousand years before any of the events leading to the forging of the rings even start to happen. In the TV series the timeline is compressed, but even the Elves think that Morgoth's reign of terror is a thing of the past.