Talk:Fana: Difference between revisions

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Latest comment: 28 June 2017 by Protospace
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This point, however, is minor compared to the other issues with the article. I'll try and do some clean up and check up on the sources I mentioned.[[User:Corsair Caruso|Corsair Caruso]]
This point, however, is minor compared to the other issues with the article. I'll try and do some clean up and check up on the sources I mentioned.[[User:Corsair Caruso|Corsair Caruso]]
:I believe this concept is discussed in Parma Eldalamberon 17. I don't have a copy of it, but this website quotes from its discussion of fána: http://tolkiendiscussion.blogspot.com/2010/12/fana-body-of-maiaainu-reading-material.html?m=1 [[User:Protospace|Protospace]] 08:17, 28 June 2017 (UTC)
:I believe this concept is discussed in Parma Eldalamberon 17. I don't have a copy of it, but this website quotes from its discussion of fána: http://tolkiendiscussion.blogspot.com/2010/12/fana-body-of-maiaainu-reading-material.html?m=1 [[User:Protospace|Protospace]] 08:17, 28 June 2017 (UTC)
Well, it turns out I was mistaken. Tolkien used the term ''hröa'' at least once in "Osanwe-kenta" to describe the physical forms that the Ainur wore as "raiment." I guess I'll have to chalk that up to a personal objection to the term and mistaken recollection. As for "The Road Goes Ever On," Tolkien describes ''fana'' thus:
"In Quenya, however, the simple word ''fana'' acquired a special sense. Owing to the close association of the High-Elves with the ''Valar'', it was applied to the "veils" or "raiment" in which the ''Valar'' presented themselves to physical eyes. These were the bodies in which they were self-incarnated. [...] In these ''fanar'' they later presented themselves to the Elves, and appeared as persons of majestic (but not gigantic) stature, vested in robes expressing their individual natures and functions. The High-Elves said that these forms were always in some degree radiant, as if suffused with a light from within. In Quenya, ''fana'' thus came to signify the radiant and majestic figure of one of the great ''Valar''." ("The Road Goes Ever On, 2nd ed., 74)
I'll do some more research and see if I can find anything that specifically discusses the relationship between ''Mirroanwi/Eruhini'' and their ''hröar'' and ''fëar'', and the ''ëalar'' and their ''fanar''. [[User:Corsair Caruso|Corsair Caruso]]

Revision as of 19:45, 28 June 2017

I think this article can be saved, and I know that mention of Varda's fana occurs in the "Notes and Translations" section of "The Road Goes Ever On," by Tolkien and Donald Swann. I also believe discussion of this occurs in the article "Osanwe-kenta." There is one minor point I disagree with in this article: ti the best of my knowledge, the Ainur do not have fëar, per se, because their entire being is spiritual. They are known as ëalar, or "beings," which indicates an entity whose entire being is of a spiritual nature. They don't have "souls" simply because they are analogous to a soul that doesn't need a body to be complete, and in the cosmology of Tolkien's Legendarium, that constitutes a separare class of being. This point, however, is minor compared to the other issues with the article. I'll try and do some clean up and check up on the sources I mentioned.Corsair Caruso

I believe this concept is discussed in Parma Eldalamberon 17. I don't have a copy of it, but this website quotes from its discussion of fána: http://tolkiendiscussion.blogspot.com/2010/12/fana-body-of-maiaainu-reading-material.html?m=1 Protospace 08:17, 28 June 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Well, it turns out I was mistaken. Tolkien used the term hröa at least once in "Osanwe-kenta" to describe the physical forms that the Ainur wore as "raiment." I guess I'll have to chalk that up to a personal objection to the term and mistaken recollection. As for "The Road Goes Ever On," Tolkien describes fana thus:

"In Quenya, however, the simple word fana acquired a special sense. Owing to the close association of the High-Elves with the Valar, it was applied to the "veils" or "raiment" in which the Valar presented themselves to physical eyes. These were the bodies in which they were self-incarnated. [...] In these fanar they later presented themselves to the Elves, and appeared as persons of majestic (but not gigantic) stature, vested in robes expressing their individual natures and functions. The High-Elves said that these forms were always in some degree radiant, as if suffused with a light from within. In Quenya, fana thus came to signify the radiant and majestic figure of one of the great Valar." ("The Road Goes Ever On, 2nd ed., 74)

I'll do some more research and see if I can find anything that specifically discusses the relationship between Mirroanwi/Eruhini and their hröar and fëar, and the ëalar and their fanar. Corsair Caruso