Re: Aule the deity of conlanging

Peter Bleackley wrote:

> Staving Benct Philip Jonsson:
>
>> I hereby propose to elect Aule the Smith, one of Tolkien's
>> Valar, as the deity of conlanging.  Not only is he part of
>> a myth created or discovered by a great conlanger, but also
>> a conlanger himself, as can be seen from the following
>> excerpt:
>
>
> <Snip the origin of the Dwarves>
>
> Good, except that we should really consider Aule to be a Guardian Angel
> rather than a deity. Although the Ainur "have often been called gods", it
> is clear that Tolkien identified them rather with the angels (Maiar) and
> archangels (Valar) than with pagan gods, and that the name of "God" belongs
> to Eru Illuvatar alone - the Numenoreans, in the days of their wisdom,
> worshipped only Eru.
>
> Pete
OK I was thinking like a Buddhist here.  For me *all* "deities",
are in a sense "angels", while the Absolute is, well Absolute,
although we regard it as ineffable and don't refer to it in personal
terms.  There is certainly a difference between _bodhisattvas_ (Beings
of Enlightenment) and devas, which is usually translated as "gods",
but it is not a hard one, since a bodhisattva may incarnate as a deva.

NB, I wouldn't stretch the comparison between Tolkien's angelic beings
and the Buddhist ones, but the comparison between Valar and devas, or
Greek or Hindu or Egyptian gods is a valid one for me.  I can also
easily imagine that some of these beings qualify as bodhisattvas,
e.g. Gandalf, Baldr.  Clearly our POVs are different, and we have to
accept that rather than debate it.

Jeffrey:
> Hmm... Tolkien clearly patterned the Valar after the Norse
> gods,
Certainly not exclusively the Norse gods.  IMHO there is a
larger portion of original mythopoeia in there.

> yet Aule is not a god but an "angelic power" in
> Tolkien's phrase. So I see why you chose the word "deity".
Yep.  For the long explanation from the POV of my own
beliefs see above! :)

--

/BP 8^)
--
B.Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

         Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant!
                                             (Tacitus)

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