It is possible that Tar-Palantir would have wished to amend some of those injustices as well, but he cannot have made much headway, if he did--not considering what we are told of the early exploits of Pharazon.
Bingo. Doesn't really matter what *he* wants, he's up against something much larger than what the king as a person may desire.
Gihayan's religious position here reminds me just a bit of the work of Gadira (Dracoena), although I have not in fact read very much of it. But I believe she, too, writes of the established Melkorite religion (or some of its priests) recoiling from the version introduced by Sauron in Numenor--only in her 'verse they are Numenoreans.
I've not read Gadira's work, but that does sound interesting. I was thinking of involving more Numenorean perspectives (to meet the "House of Beor" part of your request more fully), but decided to stick with Gihayan for the reason that: (1) She can talk with much more facility about what happened to Haradrim under late Numenorean rule, and (2) on some level, I think it would've been the easy way out for me to show Numenorean priests as recoiling. We already know there's a Numenorean resistance, while Haradrim are conspicuous for being totally assimilated to the worship of Sauron, as if there is no possibility, within their context, of critiquing Numenor's human sacrifice cult. So having a Haradric perspective on why Numenor's rulers are in the wrong I think is more tricky to write, but also forces us to consider that it's not "the west" alone (or elements within it) that has a monopoly on criticism of an abhorrent practice. Doesn't mean the Haradrim don't have their own horrific practices, but colonialism isn't pretty either and it kills and maims more people than self-selected ritual suicide for religious reasons.
Haradric religion is a true human religion, growing as it were from the inside and developing in very human ways almost despite its god, however Sauron manages to make use of it for his purposes--even before the time of the a-lehani.
Yep, it is! Sauron is not fully in control of the people who worship him - it is a relationship, after all, and he hasn't been among them for the entirety of it. He has to work with what they provide him as much as they have to deal with what he presents to them. And of course the Haradrim don't go around thinking, "Oh, I want to be subjected to an evil Dark Lord," they have their own motives and see different sides of Sauron and Melkor that they exploit religiously.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-03-19 08:26 pm (UTC)Bingo. Doesn't really matter what *he* wants, he's up against something much larger than what the king as a person may desire.
Gihayan's religious position here reminds me just a bit of the work of Gadira (Dracoena), although I have not in fact read very much of it. But I believe she, too, writes of the established Melkorite religion (or some of its priests) recoiling from the version introduced by Sauron in Numenor--only in her 'verse they are Numenoreans.
I've not read Gadira's work, but that does sound interesting. I was thinking of involving more Numenorean perspectives (to meet the "House of Beor" part of your request more fully), but decided to stick with Gihayan for the reason that: (1) She can talk with much more facility about what happened to Haradrim under late Numenorean rule, and (2) on some level, I think it would've been the easy way out for me to show Numenorean priests as recoiling. We already know there's a Numenorean resistance, while Haradrim are conspicuous for being totally assimilated to the worship of Sauron, as if there is no possibility, within their context, of critiquing Numenor's human sacrifice cult. So having a Haradric perspective on why Numenor's rulers are in the wrong I think is more tricky to write, but also forces us to consider that it's not "the west" alone (or elements within it) that has a monopoly on criticism of an abhorrent practice. Doesn't mean the Haradrim don't have their own horrific practices, but colonialism isn't pretty either and it kills and maims more people than self-selected ritual suicide for religious reasons.
Haradric religion is a true human religion, growing as it were from the inside and developing in very human ways almost despite its god, however Sauron manages to make use of it for his purposes--even before the time of the a-lehani.
Yep, it is! Sauron is not fully in control of the people who worship him - it is a relationship, after all, and he hasn't been among them for the entirety of it. He has to work with what they provide him as much as they have to deal with what he presents to them. And of course the Haradrim don't go around thinking, "Oh, I want to be subjected to an evil Dark Lord," they have their own motives and see different sides of Sauron and Melkor that they exploit religiously.
Glad you enjoyed this, Himring!