Thread by @gilestelscanvas

It’s been a year since Alloy, the season finale of @lotronprime aired, and millenniums since story of Adam and Eve; and I decided to share a take relating to both.

This is a thread about the original suggestions of Rings of Power,Tolkien Lore and Abrahamic Myth;

1/23

An analysis I write as I go, full of writing mistakes (English is my 2nd language) claiming no theological method/religious virtue or artistic objectivity - just a pop-culture discussion

I'll use some terms interchangeably though experts would never. 2/23

Most important disclaimer: I'll use the term Paradise (جَنّة, cennet, heaven etc.) interchangeably with Heaven and Garden of Eden, which are and can be complete DIFFERENT THINGS.

This is done for the sake of the core argument, so please try to ignore: Let's dive in

3/23

The story of Adam and Eve is omnipresent across the 3 main (and-sub) branches of the Abrahamic myth: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Each version is somewhat different & subject to countless interpretations - but a basic, simple concept key to this story is temptation

4/23

In all, Adam & Eve are first humans in a paradise-like world & are expelled after a Serpent tempts (note temptation here) them to eat the forbidden fruits of 1 tree

Disclaimer: Lucifer, Satan and Serpent are (or can be) different things* but used synonymously as *LSS* here

5/23

Per 1 Christian tradition, through Eve's influence Adam commits to the original sin, eating from Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God forbid, thus gaining an ability to conjure shame and evil with the risk of them also eating from the other tree (great pic right?)

6/23

In Judaism, Islam and other traditions of Christianity, the morale and the sex factor vary. The 1st sin of eating the fruit exists, but in some with no order in sex, it's forgiven quickly (though with consequences) and in ofc in some it makes humanity inherit an original sin
7/23

Note that I'll use *first sin* for the event of eating the fruit & I won't use it synonymous with the concept of *ORIGINAL SIN* in Christianity:

In all three religions, this first sin lays a foundation of God-human relationship and results in exile

Let’s move onto Tolkien. 8/23

Tolkien whose Catholic faith influenced his works deals with the concept of temptation quite often

Melkor is tempted to fill the void on his own, Fëanor to defy Valar, Sauron to dominate, Ar-Pharazôn for immortality, Galadriel to rule: The Ring itself is a temptation

9/23

I’m gonna skip all the parallels between LSS and Melkor/Sauron and instead now look at the triangle of Fëanor, Galadriel and Sauron per Tolkien himself.

In a way Fëanor & Galadriel (OF COURSE not a romantic couple but a family duo of uncle and nephew) are Adam & Eve
10/23

Living in the undying world of a Paradise (Valinor) Fëanor captures the fruit (the light) of Two Trees of Valinor (very lossely parallel to Trees in Garden of Eden) and like LSS, Melkor stirs the pot by stealing Silmarils, leading to Fëanor's rebellion and ensuing exile

11/23

Galadriel, Fëanor’s female equivalent (his only equivalent per Tolkien), is the only female leader in the rebellion, providing an Eve, is carrying the same shadow (temptation) in her heart as Fëanor, who also as a result receives a near-personal ban from re-entering Valinor
12/23

Ofc Galadriel & Fëanor are NOT an (incest) allegory ever for Adam & Eve and ofc they can be associated with many other Abrahamic characters but in a way they are the prominent male and female figures expelled by the Divine as a result of temptation - caused by LSS (Melkor)
13/23

Per my take, interesting enough, unlike conservative or some traditional readings of Adam and Eve, Tolkien chooses a later, contemporary, or his own (or combined) take that this sin was not initiated by the woman. Fëanor was tempted first - Galadriel did not start this.
14/23

And Galadriel survives to redeem her path back to Valinor: again, proving a higher wisdom than Adam (Fëanor in this case). It’s not very surprising: Tolkien doesn’t have many female villains and women often represent wisdom and stamina. Then there's the subject of Sauron
15/23

Sauron, the first male (in-form) spirit that was tempted by Melkor, the first male (in-form) sub-God, so somewhat *another* LSS; tries to tempt our female (Eve) figure Galadriel, several times; like Genesis but Tolkien avoids that allegory: Galadriel refuses Sauron. 16/23

Here in this analogy I propose, we observe Tolkien's total refusal of Eve being the enabler of the first sin but actually being a secondary sinner and the premier redeemer: A twist to Adam & Eve. Then Rings of Power and its own 1st sin story (of 2nd age) happens:
Buckle up
17/23

@lotronprime does something interesting: Now Sauron, the LSS, is Galadriel's Adam: maybe like Lucifer in shape of Serpent, here LSS presents himself as Adam (Halbrand) Not only Adam is altered to be the first tempted but also refused by his Eve, who tries to kill him
18/23

He does so in the garden of Eregion, where many beauties are created like it is in Paradise, under *trees*. They then even transport under a tree in their own Garden of Eden, Valinor. In both places, Galadriel (Eve) refuses Halbrand (Adam) and the fruit of domination
19/23

Show takes Tolkien’s Eve-redemption much further: Adam is not only the first tempted and enabler of the first sin but in fact he is actually the conceiver, LSS himself. Galadriel (Eve) tries to kill him - a bit like Tolkien said Galadriel hated and swore to thwart Fëanor
20/23

So, Tolkien and TROP redeem their own Eve, Galadriel, (per my take) by still keeping her somewhat involved in the first sin (Galadriel leaving Valinor despite hating Fëanor or Galadriel befriending Halbrand despite later refusing him); TROP double-twists her
21/23

Surely there's the subject of Mary but that's not gonna be discussed here.

Galadriel both in TROP and per Tolkien constitute a challenge against *the woman* of *the legend*, participating and putting faith in the myth but indirectly altering its interpretation:
22/23

The Woman of The Story: She who is premier in wisdom and not in mistake.

She who follows but survives and outlives the premier *he* who is mistaken: she who creates the story herself of life that you die proud in delusion or live through darkness and *touch* the light.

23/23