I think, in the Silmarillion, in each case, it would seem very plausible that a defensible fortress was needed--there was after all a preceding attack and a threat. But building a fortress then seems to breed a fortress mentality--it draws lines and excludes others--makes their needs invisible to those in the fortress and somehow they begin to seem culpable for not being inside in the fortress in the first place, for no clear reason. (This, I suppose, would not go so much for the Lamps, if indeed that was the first case of hoarding the Light--they don't really seem to be part of any tactic of defense, I think?)
I think Tolkien also sees that angle--the moral danger of withdrawing and fencing oneself off--although it seems to be more a thing that he addresses in stray comments and hints than explicitly and consistently.
For the Light in the Silmarillion, there is a sort of happy-ish end, from that point of view, I suppose? The available light is reduced and much of it is lost, but what remains--the Sun, the Moon, the Evening Star--is available to everyone.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-03-16 08:33 am (UTC)(This, I suppose, would not go so much for the Lamps, if indeed that was the first case of hoarding the Light--they don't really seem to be part of any tactic of defense, I think?)
I think Tolkien also sees that angle--the moral danger of withdrawing and fencing oneself off--although it seems to be more a thing that he addresses in stray comments and hints than explicitly and consistently.
For the Light in the Silmarillion, there is a sort of happy-ish end, from that point of view, I suppose? The available light is reduced and much of it is lost, but what remains--the Sun, the Moon, the Evening Star--is available to everyone.
P.S. There are also, of course, Varda's stars.