tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post2378690797328073724..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: Translation and Faith in Prayer"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-33733931128190753002014-06-07T18:58:23.547-07:002014-06-07T18:58:23.547-07:00~y-w-y~y-w-y"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-46198569531099138172014-06-07T08:26:15.363-07:002014-06-07T08:26:15.363-07:00To learn more about Christianity is part of the re...To learn more about Christianity is part of the reason for why I registered in this class, so my understanding may be greatly erred and please correct me if you spot any absurdity. It is interesting that prayers to Virgin Mary sound quite foreign and inapplicable to me, yet the songs and calls to Elbereth do not. I think it is because tributes to Elbereth are not explicitly identified as prayers. From my limited understanding I don't think praise and prayers are said for their own sake; they are reminders of the humbleness of human existence and assistance to peace of mind, away from the danger of insatiable hunger for "more." <br />I completely agree with your claim that "comprehension is not necessarily required for the words to have power, the power comes from faith." The words are not uttered for the sake of praying since Sam does not understand them if the first place. They are rather a result of the innate Virtue (also Power!) of Sam. Just like holders of gem stones are believed to be virtuous not because they are automatically sanctified by holding gem stones, but because their virtues qualifies them to be the holders. At the moment Sam is like a gem stone shining an inner light. So the dragons are not virtuous regardless of how many gem stones they hoard, and utterance of sounds resembling prayers does not make one faithful. The Faithful does not necessarily sing the prayer all the time if their faith is strong enough; their action shows everything (so we see the action of Elendil and his sons). But if you ask them question of the kinds their answer would be in the words of the prayers. <br />So I don't think the fact that Tolkien finds comfort in repeating prayers weakens your argument but rather strengthens it, for he is looking for the power of faith in these word. Words are light but not the source of light; one can follow its trace and guidance to the source in the struggle against pain and sorrow and imperfection of the human world..."Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-61592542938594726432014-06-05T07:56:55.656-07:002014-06-05T07:56:55.656-07:00Perhaps the solution is to decouple translation fr...Perhaps the solution is to decouple translation from the need for understanding: a translator by definition understands both languages, but also senses deeply how they differ. Some things simply can't be translated from one language to another without losing something of the meaning. RLFB"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.com