A Token of Wisdom from the Silmarillion

       I am back after a long continuous voyage through the Histories of Middle Earth and a couple of writing courses.  I've had some insights I would love to share with all of you over the next few months including a very lengthy analysis of Feanor (let's pretend the accent's there) and a short essay on whether Elves are funny. But before we begin, here's some words of wisdom I copied up a couple of months back from the Tale of the Fall of Gondolin (let's also pretend the spoiler in the title doesn't exist here).

 

 “Love not too well the work of thy hands and the

devices of thy heart."

 

       This quote comes from Ulmo the Ainu (god) of all water. Don't worry, you're not the only one thinking of Poseidon: more on that in a post to come. He is warning of impending doom—the fall of Gondolin—that is inevitable if the city isn't abandoned. 

       Yet, despite this excellent piece of advice from a very reliable source he probably should have listened to, Turgon, the king of Gondolin, didn't listen because he was really infatuated with the idea of strength and unparalleled beauty in Gondolin. Needless to say for those of you who know the legendarium, this ended in disaster and his failure is really a reminder to everyone to not love their work too well. 

        In life, I tend to consider myself relatively talented in my own area of expertise, and it's little reminders like these that help bring me back to reality. Here's a reminder to me to not love too well this blog: and to remember to update it regularly!

 

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