Morgoth's Ring (46 page)

'It is right, therefore, that this just Statute should be proclaimed, and those that use it shall be blameless, whatsoever followeth after. Thus shall the Tale of the Eldar, within the Tale of Arda, be fashioned.

'Hearken now, O Valar! To me foretelling * is granted no less (* By which was meant prophecy concerning things which neither reason upon evidence, nor (for the Valar) knowledge of the Great.) than doom, and I will proclaim now to you things both near and far. Behold! Indis the fair shall be made glad and fruitful, who might else have been solitary. For not in death only hath the Shadow entered into Aman with the coming of the Children destined to suffer; there are other sorrows, even if they be less.

Long she hath loved Finwe, in patience and without bitterness.

Aule nameth Feanor the greatest of the Eldar, and in potency that is true. But I say unto you that the children of Indis shall also be great, and the Tale of Arda more glorious because of their coming. And from them shall spring things so fair that no tears shall dim their beauty; in whose being the Valar, and the Kindreds both of Elves and of Men that are to come shall all have part, and in whose deeds they shall rejoice. So that, long hence when all that here is, and seemeth yet fair and impregnable, shall nonetheless have faded and passed away, the Light of Aman shall not wholly cease among the free peoples of Arda until the End.

'When he that shall be called Earendil setteth foot upon the shores of Aman, ye shall remember my words. In that hour ye will not say that the Statute of Justice hath borne fruit only in death; and the griefs that shall come ye shall weigh in the balance, and they shall not seem too heavy compared with the rising of the light when Valinor groweth dim.'

'So be it!' said Manwe.(15)

Therefore the Statute was proclaimed, and the meeting of Indis and Finwe took place, as has been told.

But after a while Nienna came to Manwe, and she said: 'Lord of Aman, it is now made clear that the death of Miriel was an evil of Arda Marred, for with the coming hither of the Eldar the Shadow hath found an entrance even into Aman. Nonetheless Aman remaineth the Realm of the Valar, wherein thy will is paramount. Though the death of severance may find out the Eldar in thy realm, yet one thing cometh not to it, and shall not:* and that is deforming and decay. Behold then! The body of Miriel lieth unmarred, even as a fair house that awaiteth its mistress, who hath gone upon a journey. In this at least, Theme, could discover or swiftly perceive. Only rarely and in great matters was Mandos moved to prophecy.

(* Yet after the slaying of the Trees it did so while Melkor remained there; and the body of Finwe, slain by Melkor, was withered and passed into dust, even as the Trees themselves had withered.) therefore, her death differeth from death in Middle-earth: that for the houseless fea a fair body is still ready, and rebirth is not the only gate by which it may return to life, if thou wilt grant her leave and give her thy blessing. Moreover the body has lain long now in repose in the peace of Lorien; and must not the rulers of Arda have respect even to bodies and all fair forms?

Why should it lie idle and untenanted, when doubtless it would not now afflict the fea with weariness, but rejoice it with hope of doing? '

But this Mandos forbade. 'Nay,' said he, 'if Miriel were rehoused, she would be again among the Living, and Finwe would have two spouses alive in Aman. Thus would the Statute be contravened, and my Doom set at naught. And injury would be done also to Indis, who used the liberty of the Statute, but would now by its breach be deprived, for Finwe would desire to return to his former spouse.'

But Nienna said to Mandos: 'Nay! Let Miriel have the joy of her body and of the use of its skills in which she delighted, and dwell not for ever remembering only her brief life before, and its ending in weariness! Can she not be removed from the Halls of Waiting, and taken into the service of Vaire? If she cometh never thence, nor seeketh to walk among the Living, why shouldst thou hold the Doom set at naught, or fear for griefs that might arise? Pity must have a part in Justice.'

But Mandos was unmoved. And the body of Miriel lay at rest in Lorien, until the escape of Melkor the Marrer and the Darkening of Valinor. In that evil time Finwe was slain by the Marrer himself, and his body was burned as by lightning stroke and was destroyed. Then Miriel and Finwe met again in Mandos, and lo! Miriel was glad of the meeting, and her sadness was lightened; and the will in which she had been set was released.

And when she learned of Finwe all that had befallen since her departure (for she had given no heed to it, nor asked tidings, until then) she was greatly moved; and she said to Finwe in her thought: 'I erred in leaving thee and our son, or at the least in not soon returning after brief repose; for had I done so he might have grown wiser. But the children of Indis shall redress his errors and therefore I am glad that they should have being, and Indis hath my love. How should I bear grudge against one who received what I rejected and cherished what I abandoned.

Would that I might set all the Tale of our people and of thee and thy children in a tapestry of many colours, as a memorial brighter than memory! For though I am cut off now from the world, and I accept that Doom as just, I would still watch and record all that befalls those dear to me, and their offspring also.

[Added: I feel again the call of my body and its skills.]'

And Finwe said to Vaire: 'Dost thou hear the prayer and desire of Miriel? Why will Mandos refuse this redress of her griefs, that her being may not be void and without avail?

Behold! I instead will abide with Mandos for ever, and so make amends. For surely, if I remain unhoused, and forgo life in Arda, then his Doom will be inviolate.'

'So thou may deem,' answered Vaire; 'yet Mandos is stern, and he will not readily permit a vow to be revoked. Also he will consider not only Miriel and thee, but Indis and thy children, whom thou seemest to forget, pitying now Miriel only.'

'Thou art unjust to me in thy thought,' said Finwe. 'It is unlawful to have two wives, but one may love two women, each differently, and without diminishing one love by another. Love of Indis did not drive out love of Miriel; so now pity for Miriel doth not lessen my heart's care for Indis. But Indis parted from me without death. I had not seen her for many years, and when the Marrer smote me I was alone. She hath dear children to comfort her, and her love, I deem, is now most for Ingoldo.(16) His father she may miss; but not the father of Feanaro! But above all her heart now yearns for the halls of Ingwe and the peace of the Vanyar, far from the strife of the Noldor. Little comfort should I bring her, if I returned; and the lordship of the Noldor hath passed to my sons.'(17)

But when Mandos was approached he said to Finwe: 'It is well that thou desirest not to return, for this I should have forbidden, until the present griefs are long passed. But it is better still that thou hast made this offer, to deprive thyself, of thy free will, and out of pity for another. This is a counsel of healing, out of which good may grow.'

Therefore when Nienna came to him and renewed her prayer for Miriel, he consented, accepting the abnegation of Finwe as her ransom. Then the fe'a of Miriel was released and came before Manwe and received his blessing; and she went then to Lorien and re-entered her body, and awoke again, as one that cometh out of a deep sleep; and she arose and her body was refreshed. But after she had stood in the twilight of Lorien a long while in thought, remembering her former life, and all the tidings that she had learned, her heart was still sad, and she had no desire to return to her own people. Therefore she went to the doors of the House of Vaire and prayed to be admitted; and this prayer was granted, although in that House none of the Living dwelt nor have others ever entered it in the body.(18) But Miriel was accepted by Vaire and became her chief handmaid; and all tidings of the Noldor down the years from their beginning were brought to her, and she wove them in webs historial, so fair and skilled that they seemed to live, imperishable, shining with a light of many hues fairer than are known in Middle-earth. This labour Finwe is at times permitted to look upon. And still she is at work, though her name has been changed. For now she is named Firiel,* which to the Eldar signifies 'She that died',(19) and also 'She that sighed'. As fair as the webs of Firiel is praise that is given seldom even to works of the Eldar.

* For before the passing of Miriel the Eldar of Valinor had no word for 'dying' in this manner, though they had words for being destroyed (in body) or being slain. But fire' meant to 'expire', as of one sighing or releasing a deep breath; and at the passing of Miriel she had sighed a great sigh, and then lay still; and those who stood by said firie, 'she hath breathed forth'. This word the Eldar afterwards used of the death of Men. But though this sigh they take to be a symbol of release, and the ceasing of the body's life, the Eldar do not confound the breath of the body with the spirit. This they call, as hath been seen, fea or faire', of which the ancient significance seems to be rather 'radiance'. For though the fea in itself is not visible to bodily eyes, it is in light that the Eldar find the most fitting symbol in bodily terms of the indwelling spirit, 'the light of the house' or coacalina as they also name it. And those in whom the fea is strong and untainted, they say, appear even to mortal eyes to shine at times translucent (albeit faintly), as though a lamp burned within.

At the end of the manuscript of Laws and Customs among the Eldar are several pages of roughly written 'Notes', and I append here a portion of this material.

(i)

This debate of the Valar not wholly feigned. For the Eldar were permitted to attend all conclaves, and many did so (especially those that so deeply concerned them, their fate, and their place in Arda, as did this matter). Reference is made to things that had not at that time happened (is it ..... prophecy?), but that is partly due to later commentators. For the 'Statute of Finwe and Miriel' was among the documents of lore most deeply studied and pondered. And as has been seen many questions and answers arising were appended.

[?Thus] questions were also asked concerning the fate and death of Men. All [?read Also] concerning other 'speaking', and therefore 'reasonable', kinds: Ents, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs -

and the speaking of beasts such as Huan, or the Great Eagles.

Later my father commented against the beginning of this note that the Eldar would not be present at this debate ('certainly not Finwe!'), and that the Yalar would have informed the loremasters of the Eldar concerning it.

(ii)

[The] 'Fate of Men' was also later discussed by the Eldar, when they had met Men and knew them. But they had little evidence, and therefore did not know or assert, but 'supposed' or

'guessed'. One such supposition was that Elves and Men will become one people. Another is that some Men, if they desire it, will be permitted to join the Elves in New Arda, or to visit them there - though it will not be the home of Men. The most widely held supposition is that the fate of Men is wholly different, and that they will not be concerned with Arda at all.

At the end of this note my father wrote subsequently: 'But see full treatment of this later in Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.' This work constitutes Part Four in this book.

(iii)

Fate of 'Immortal' Elves: ? to inhabit New Arda (or Arda Healed). Probably not, in a physical sense. Since what is meant by 'The Tale of Arda' seems to be this. The World and its Time appears to begin and end simply because it is bounded, neither infinite nor eternal. Its finite 'story' when complete will be, like a work of art, beautiful and good (as a whole), and from outside, sc. not in Time or its Time, it can be contemplated with wonder and delight - especially by those who have taken part in its

'Tale'. Only in that sense will Elves (or Men) inhabit Arda Complete. But New Arda' or Arda Unmarred (Healed) would imply a continuance, beyond the End (or Completion). Of that nothing can be surmised. Unless it be this. Since the Elves (and Men) were made for Arda, the satisfaction of their nature will require Arda (without the malice of the Marrer): therefore before the Ending the Marring will be wholly undone or healed (or absorbed into good, beauty, and joy). In that region of Time and Place the Elves will dwell as their home, but not be confined to it. But no blessed spirits from what is still to us the future can intrude into our own periods of Time. For to contemplate the Tale of Arda the Blessed must (in spirit or whole being) leave the Time of Arda. But others use another analogy, saying that there will indeed be a New Arda, rebuilt from the beginning without Malice, and that the Elves will take part in this from the beginning. It will be in Ea, say they - for they hold that all Creation of any sort must be in Ea, proceeding from Eru in the same way, and therefore being of the same Order. They do not believe in contemporaneous non-contiguous worlds except as an amusing fantasy of the mind. They are (say they) either altogether unknowable, even as to whether they are or are not, or else if there are any intersections (however rare) they are only provinces of one Ea.