# Passage in the first chapter confuses me. Please aid me in comprehending.



## Michael Janes (Jun 29, 2017)

Greetings! I request aid in understanding some very poetic language of Tolkien's in the first chapter of the Silmarillion. The sentence is as follows:

"And this habitation might seem a little thing to those who consider only the majesty of the Ainur, and not their terrible sharpness; as who should take the whole field of Arda for the foundation of a pillar and so raise it until the cone of its summit were more bitter than a needle; or who consider only the immeasurable vastness of the World, which still the Ainur are shaping, and not the minute precision to which they shape all things therein."

It's very confusing to me.


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## Palantir (Mar 19, 2018)

I am truly glad to see that this particular passage has captured the curiosity of others as well. I will often sit and again read this chapter-and like many other passages- this passage causes me to toil in contemplation. There is so much to delve into with this passage..

First, let us consider a portion of the broader context of this passage:
_"Now the Children of Ilúvatar are Elves and Men, the Firstborn and the Followers. And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable Stars." _

Notice the capital W is chosen for the word "World". Is Arda being referenced? Or, is "World" in this context synonymous with what we perceive to be the "Universe"?

If we look at the meaning of Eä:
_(Quenya: [ea]) is the Quenya name for the universe as a realization of the vision of the Ainur. The word comes from the Quenya word for to be. Thus, Eä is the *World* that Is, as distinguished from the World that Is Not. It may thus be assumed that *everything outside Eä, including the Timeless Halls, has no material form*. The Ainur, angelic beings from the Timeless Halls beyond Eä, refer to it as "the Little Kingdom", because all creation that humans can perceive is tiny in comparison to the mind of Eru Ilúvatar (God). Eä was the word spoken by Eru Ilúvatar by which he brought the universe into actuality._

To me, the above passage presents such a glorious blank canvas for the mind to paint brilliant imagery. Amid all the splendours of the World.. Think of the vast chasmic voids beyond measure, stretching unimaginably long, lifelessly in between proto-nebulae. The most ancient seas of dust and particles, coalescing together, and slowly forming what we perceive as matter. Colossal tunnels of and labyrinths of matter, coiling and twisting this way and that, dynamically engaged in motion with themselves. The wheeling fires of unfathomable heat and energy, as the cores of stars ignite. Or even greater yet, the nexi of cosmic threads meeting and igniting each other. The light and color. Indeed the splendours of the World, are beautiful beyond comprehension. In the midst of these, and in the deeps of time, Illuvatar selected a place for the habitation of the Children.



Michael Janes said:


> And this habitation might seem a little thing to those who consider only the majesty of the Ainur, and not their terrible sharpness;



I have seen the term "sharpness" debated in this passage, and its dichotomy with "majesty". First let us look at the picture Tolkien paints of the first vision of Arda:
_"But when they were come into the Void, Ilúvatar said to them: 'Behold your Music!' And he showed to them a vision, giving to them sight where before was only hearing; and they saw a new World made visible before them, and it was globed amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it. And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew."
_
**Just a side not on the above passage: Its so amazing to imagine the early earth. Dynamic and violent, scarred with fire, and ever changing its surface. Imagine the motions of the earth; the rotating, the expanding, the growing, the freezing, the burning. Imagine all of the motions sped up, like a timelapse, covering the whole history of Earth. You can imagine a rapidly spinning orb of coalescing matter, slowly growing, and ever stretching, and contorting itself. As you speed up the timelapse, you can almost imaging the earth "breathing", or "pulsating" as its stages of evolution unfold, from a burning scarred wasteland, into a dynamic breathing, living entity with all of the diverse environments we see today.**

_*terrible (adj.)*_
_late 14c., "causing terror, *awe*, or dread; frightful," from Old French terrible_
_*majesty (n.)*_
_c. 1300, "greatness, glory," from Old French majeste "grandeur, nobility" (12c.), from Latin maiestatem (nominative maiestas) "greatness, dignity, elevation, honor, excellence," from stem of maior (neuter maius), comparative of magnus "great, large, big" (of size), "abundant" (of quantity), "great, considerable" (of value), "strong, powerful" (of force)_
_*sharp (adj.)*_
_Old English scearp "having a cutting edge; pointed; *intellectually acute*,* active*, shrewd; *keen* (of senses); *severe*; biting, bitter (of tastes)_
_The figurative meaning "acute or penetrating in intellect or perception" was in Old English; hence "keenly alive to one's own interests, quick to take advantage" (1690s). Meaning "*distinct in contour*" is from 1670s. The adverbial meaning "abruptly" is from 1836; that of "promptly" is first attested 1840._


Think of a master carpenter. In the end, the grandeur and majesty of the temple





may be overshadowing the meticulous acuity with which each piece of wood was cut, or each tool was carefully maintained, or each measurement was precisely calculated, in order to fashion the building.





The Ainu are beings of vast immeasurable power. From their sound and will, whole worlds and realms were created. They have power over the elements and substances and forces, of the World. When one considers the vastness of their power, and not the minute acuity which which their works are shaped, the habitation set aside for the Children may be viewed as a "little thing". The lands and valleys and hills and mountains that may have been shaped by Aule, are subject to the nature of a single grain of sand. The geometry of the crystalline structure of the mineral, and the chemical bonds between particles , dictate the way the grain is eroded from the rock. These minute details eventually are amplified into the greater processes, and only in union between the vast and the minute, can the beauty of the world manifest. The waters of Arda, which Ulmo has given most thought have miraculous properties. Single molecules of H20 and the dynamics with which they coalesce, eventually allow for the formation of vast Oceans and Seas, connecting the life force of Arda, as the blood in the vein. This passage is so brilliant to me because it shines the light on how the macrocosm & microcosm connects. As above, so Below. One with eyes as the heart of galaxies may see Arda as a tiny insignificant place. However, when considering the fractal nature of the World, it is breathtaking.




Michael Janes said:


> as who should take the whole field of Arda for the foundation of a pillar and so raise it until the cone of its summit were more bitter than a needle;



This particular passage is such a mind boggling visual. Lets just first appreciate, visually & physically, what Tolkien has illustrated here...
Take for example a dime... Raise its face so that the cone of its summit were more bitter than a needle.. How far do you think you would have to go for the angle of the converging lines to be more bitter than a needle? For a dime's diameter, we are talking a cone literally hundreds of thousands of miles high... For a DIME..





Now contemplate the vastness of the astronomical illustration Tolkien has created. The whole "field of Arda", and raise its whole face?!?!
We are talking a cone billions and billions and billions of light years tall..... Even as a standalone passage this sentence is literally brilliant just from what it gets the mind to contemplate. But, when we view it in context, it is even so much more awesome.



Michael Janes said:


> or who consider only the immeasurable vastness of the World, which still the Ainur are shaping, and not the minute precision to which they shape all things therein."


Indeed the minute precision. The Grain of sand, the drop of water, the molecule of gas, the packets of light, the bonds therein, the subtle connections and minute forces. For were these "small" things to not have perfect form, then indeed the immeasurable vastness of the World would not be possible.


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## Galadriel Lady Of Light (Mar 22, 2018)

Michael Janes said:


> Greetings! I request aid in understanding some very poetic language of Tolkien's in the first chapter of the Silmarillion. The sentence is as follows:
> 
> "And this habitation might seem a little thing to those who consider only the majesty of the Ainur, and not their terrible sharpness; as who should take the whole field of Arda for the foundation of a pillar and so raise it until the cone of its summit were more bitter than a needle; or who consider only the immeasurable vastness of the World, which still the Ainur are shaping, and not the minute precision to which they shape all things therein."
> 
> It's very confusing to me.


I love this passage! To explain it simply, it means that compared to the greatness of all creation, this place, in all its worth, is very, very, small.


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