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b2memB2MeM Challenge: N-43 – Maglor in History – Galileo and heliocentrism
Format: Fictlet
Genre: Drama
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Maglor, Copernicus, Galileo
Pairings: None
Summary: Maglor is given a great gift by Copernicus. Who will he pass it on to?
Passing it On
An ungainly figure quickly turned the corner of the stone building, almost crashing into a merchant hurrying to the marketplace. “My apologies,” a lyrical voice gasped out before continuing on through the town square at a breakneck pace. Maglor was late for a meeting, and it would not do to be late with Professor Doktor Copernicus.
He had worked for the Doktor since the young man had been promoted to the position of Canon of Frauenburg Cathedral in 1512, two years before. It was Maglor's responsibility to make sure that everything was stocked, clean, and ready for the mass, that music was written and appropriate to the liturgy, and that Copernicus himself was fed and reminded to dress for the mass because he tended to lose track of time when thinking about the variety of subjects that so fascinated him. Today Maglor had forgotten his musical scripts in his loft room, and had run back to get them so that the organist knew what to play. Thus, the near collision as he turned the corner to the Cathedral.
He had been invited to join the Doktor for dinner after the service. Although several important people would be staying (and Maglor would play dinner music while they were meeting), Copernicus had hinted that he wanted an after-dinner conversation with the musician.
He slowed up when entering the Cathedral door. Doktor Copernicus would not be happy to see him running through ‘sacred’ space. He walked through the central ave and through one of the side rooms. Climbing up the stairs at the back, he left the music on the organ bench, then walked back down to make sure that the Doktor was ready for the service. After mass he sat playing his harp softly in the corner while the Doktor conversed gaily with the scholars that had been invited for that evening’s meal.
Maglor was confused. He thought he had been doing a good job for Copernicus, yet the Doktor had requested that he stay after dinner for a conversation. Perhaps the funds had been depleted and he would lose his job? It wouldn't be the end of things for him, he had worked at thousands of jobs over the many Ages since throwing the Silmaril into the sea. But, he was comfortable here and enjoyed both his work and the intellectual discussions he had with the Doktor. Later that night, as everyone left the Cathedral, Copernicus held onto his sleeve lightly, indicating once more that he should linger behind the others. When the door finally closed, the Doktor turned towards him.
“Come,my friend. Let's have a glass of wine and talk,” and Copernicus led the way back to his chambers. He poured two glasses of dark red wine and settled back in his leather chair. “You are troubled, are you not?” he asked the elf. “I want to assure you that I find no faults with your job performance, in fact, you perform much above my expectations.”
Maglor breathed a sigh of relief.
“I have noticed that you are not like other men,” the Doktor continued. Maglor immediately was on guard. He had not lived this long to have the Inquisition come and torture him to death for being a demon.
“No, friend, I do not wish to cause you any anxiety or fear. But I feel that you know more about this world than you speak of, and I also feel that you may be the correct person to pass on some knowledge.”
“What knowledge might that be, Herr Doktor?” Maglor asked cautiously.
“I have written a manuscript. For many years now I have been observing natural phenomena and, after working through the mathematics, I have come to the conclusion that our viewpoint of the earth in the heavens is incorrect. I have written something that I call the Commentariolus. It is my first mathematical formulation of a revolutionary new sun-centered astronomical theory which I have been working out. This system, the result of much observation and mathematics, postulates that the earth rotates on an axis and revolves around the sun.”
Maglor nodded. The world had changed a great deal since the Trees had been killed and perhaps the Valar had arranged for this new configuration. He certainly could not say for sure. “Why are you telling me about this, sir?”
“I wish to give you my manuscript. This document could mean torture or even death for me if it got into the wrong hands. I am certain that my computations are correct. But I dare not release these until I am much, much older.”
The Doktor rose from his chair and walked to his large desk. Sitting down, he maneuvered a hidden panel, revealing a shelf upon which was a hand-written manuscript. Copernicus removed the manuscript and walked to Maglor, handing it to the tall elf.
“For some reason, I feel I can trust you,” the scientist said. “Take this, and if in the future you meet someone who can take my work and push it to the next level, or even just confirm it, please, pass this on to them. In the meantime, however, you must be cautious. Having this in your possession could mean your death from the Inquisition.”
“I thank you for your faith in me,” Maglor replied. “I will do as you request and pass this on to someone worthy of it.” He took the manuscript and secreted it in a pocket in his cloak. Bowing, he left the Doktor behind him and leaving the Cathedral, went back to his small, drafty room.
-0-0-0-0-
Many years later he had left Poland and Copernicus far behind him. Maglor was enjoying the warmer lands of Italy, drinking in the countryside and the beauty of the wine country. He had made friends with a talented but troubled painter named Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio and had been keeping him company during his life of ups, downs - spurts of painting genius followed by volatile arguments. In 1608 and 1609, he had helped defend Caravaggio from two attempts on his life. They had left two corpses behind them and a price had been placed on his friend’s head. He had been accompanying Caravaggio to Rome to receive a promised pardon, when the artist had come down with a fever and died in Porto Ercole, Tuscany.
Maglor was temporarily at loose ends and decided to wander the Tuscan countryside for a while before deciding what to do next. There was always a room and a meal to be had for a bard, and his harp was still his constant companion, although he also had a fine lute that his artistic friend had purchased for him with the funds from a commission.
Word had come to him, as he was painting with Caravaggio, of a scientist in Tuscany named Galileo Galilei. Going through his small pack of goods one night, shortly after his friend had been buried, he came across Copernicus’ manuscript. He had heard that a final copy of ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ had been published the year before the Canon’s death in 1543, but he had been carrying the original manuscript with him since that after-dinner conversation so many years before. Maybe it was time to pass it on. He decided to see this Galileo Galilei and determine whether he might merit a gift of this magnitude.
It took Maglor a bit longer than a year to track down Galileo, but finally he found him in a small house, teaching at the University of Padua. When the musician first found him, the professor was working on fixing the lenses into a fixed-length telescope. Maglor sat down and watched the master at work, taking note of how single-minded the professor was with the task at hand. When Galileo took a break, the elf engaged him in conversation, talking about the galaxy that the telescope could observe and focal lengths, lens finishing techniques, and brass forging. By the end of the day, Galileo was beginning to be comfortable with the lanky stranger who had settled so easily into his workshop.
Over the next weeks their friendship strengthened until finally, after they had been working together for almost a year, Maglor decided to broach a new subject with the scientist.
“Maestro, have you ever heard of the Copernican theory of the sun?”
“You mean the theory that the sun is the center point and the earth moves around it? Yes, I’ve heard about it. I was told about a book by Copernicus and I’ve been wanting to read it, but I haven’t been able to find a copy.”
“What would you say if I told you I have something even better than that?”
“What do you mean, Maglor? What could possibly be better than the book?”
“Maestro, I have a handwritten copy of the original manuscript by Copernicus that he gave to my own father who passed it down to me. I would like you to have it. It is written in Latin, so you would have no trouble reading it. Would you be interested in having this?”
Galileo almost jumped up in excitement. “Maglor, you are joking with me, yes? You know how much I want this thing, and you are playing with my feelings.”
“No, my friend, I would not do that to you. I have the manuscript and have carried it with me for many years looking for the right person to give it to. I think that you could do much with it, that you are the correct person to have it.”
Galileo came to the tall elf and hugged him tightly. “Gratzi, my friend. I can never thank you enough for such an amazing offer.”
The next day saw Maglor once more at the studio of Galileo. This time he was dressed as if for a journey, his harp and lute on his back, a small pack with his belongings at his waist.
“Are you leaving? You are dressed as if you will journey far. Must you go?”
“It is time for me to move on. But before I leave, here is the manuscript I promised you. Guard it and use it well. I am sure that no other could benefit more from this gift.” Maglor reached into his cloak and pulled out the weathered pages that Copernicus had pressed into his hands almost a century before.
“Thank you for your kindness in allowing me to share your studio and your friendship over these past months. This is but a small gift in appreciation, as well as fulfilling one of my father's fondest wishes.” Maglor handed the manuscript over to Galileo and left Tuscany, heading for cooler climates.
In later years he heard that the scientist had been placed under house arrest for publishing his work based on the manuscript. And when he later found out that the book had been interdicted, he was upset with the shallow reasoning of the Second-born. But his patience was rewarded when, in the mid-1800's, Galileo's heliocentric tome was finally released to the public by the Vatican, and his theories were finally embraced as correct by a more illuminated and scientific age.
Format: Fictlet
Genre: Drama
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Maglor, Copernicus, Galileo
Pairings: None
Summary: Maglor is given a great gift by Copernicus. Who will he pass it on to?
Passing it On
An ungainly figure quickly turned the corner of the stone building, almost crashing into a merchant hurrying to the marketplace. “My apologies,” a lyrical voice gasped out before continuing on through the town square at a breakneck pace. Maglor was late for a meeting, and it would not do to be late with Professor Doktor Copernicus.
He had worked for the Doktor since the young man had been promoted to the position of Canon of Frauenburg Cathedral in 1512, two years before. It was Maglor's responsibility to make sure that everything was stocked, clean, and ready for the mass, that music was written and appropriate to the liturgy, and that Copernicus himself was fed and reminded to dress for the mass because he tended to lose track of time when thinking about the variety of subjects that so fascinated him. Today Maglor had forgotten his musical scripts in his loft room, and had run back to get them so that the organist knew what to play. Thus, the near collision as he turned the corner to the Cathedral.
He had been invited to join the Doktor for dinner after the service. Although several important people would be staying (and Maglor would play dinner music while they were meeting), Copernicus had hinted that he wanted an after-dinner conversation with the musician.
He slowed up when entering the Cathedral door. Doktor Copernicus would not be happy to see him running through ‘sacred’ space. He walked through the central ave and through one of the side rooms. Climbing up the stairs at the back, he left the music on the organ bench, then walked back down to make sure that the Doktor was ready for the service. After mass he sat playing his harp softly in the corner while the Doktor conversed gaily with the scholars that had been invited for that evening’s meal.
Maglor was confused. He thought he had been doing a good job for Copernicus, yet the Doktor had requested that he stay after dinner for a conversation. Perhaps the funds had been depleted and he would lose his job? It wouldn't be the end of things for him, he had worked at thousands of jobs over the many Ages since throwing the Silmaril into the sea. But, he was comfortable here and enjoyed both his work and the intellectual discussions he had with the Doktor. Later that night, as everyone left the Cathedral, Copernicus held onto his sleeve lightly, indicating once more that he should linger behind the others. When the door finally closed, the Doktor turned towards him.
“Come,my friend. Let's have a glass of wine and talk,” and Copernicus led the way back to his chambers. He poured two glasses of dark red wine and settled back in his leather chair. “You are troubled, are you not?” he asked the elf. “I want to assure you that I find no faults with your job performance, in fact, you perform much above my expectations.”
Maglor breathed a sigh of relief.
“I have noticed that you are not like other men,” the Doktor continued. Maglor immediately was on guard. He had not lived this long to have the Inquisition come and torture him to death for being a demon.
“No, friend, I do not wish to cause you any anxiety or fear. But I feel that you know more about this world than you speak of, and I also feel that you may be the correct person to pass on some knowledge.”
“What knowledge might that be, Herr Doktor?” Maglor asked cautiously.
“I have written a manuscript. For many years now I have been observing natural phenomena and, after working through the mathematics, I have come to the conclusion that our viewpoint of the earth in the heavens is incorrect. I have written something that I call the Commentariolus. It is my first mathematical formulation of a revolutionary new sun-centered astronomical theory which I have been working out. This system, the result of much observation and mathematics, postulates that the earth rotates on an axis and revolves around the sun.”
Maglor nodded. The world had changed a great deal since the Trees had been killed and perhaps the Valar had arranged for this new configuration. He certainly could not say for sure. “Why are you telling me about this, sir?”
“I wish to give you my manuscript. This document could mean torture or even death for me if it got into the wrong hands. I am certain that my computations are correct. But I dare not release these until I am much, much older.”
The Doktor rose from his chair and walked to his large desk. Sitting down, he maneuvered a hidden panel, revealing a shelf upon which was a hand-written manuscript. Copernicus removed the manuscript and walked to Maglor, handing it to the tall elf.
“For some reason, I feel I can trust you,” the scientist said. “Take this, and if in the future you meet someone who can take my work and push it to the next level, or even just confirm it, please, pass this on to them. In the meantime, however, you must be cautious. Having this in your possession could mean your death from the Inquisition.”
“I thank you for your faith in me,” Maglor replied. “I will do as you request and pass this on to someone worthy of it.” He took the manuscript and secreted it in a pocket in his cloak. Bowing, he left the Doktor behind him and leaving the Cathedral, went back to his small, drafty room.
-0-0-0-0-
Many years later he had left Poland and Copernicus far behind him. Maglor was enjoying the warmer lands of Italy, drinking in the countryside and the beauty of the wine country. He had made friends with a talented but troubled painter named Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio and had been keeping him company during his life of ups, downs - spurts of painting genius followed by volatile arguments. In 1608 and 1609, he had helped defend Caravaggio from two attempts on his life. They had left two corpses behind them and a price had been placed on his friend’s head. He had been accompanying Caravaggio to Rome to receive a promised pardon, when the artist had come down with a fever and died in Porto Ercole, Tuscany.
Maglor was temporarily at loose ends and decided to wander the Tuscan countryside for a while before deciding what to do next. There was always a room and a meal to be had for a bard, and his harp was still his constant companion, although he also had a fine lute that his artistic friend had purchased for him with the funds from a commission.
Word had come to him, as he was painting with Caravaggio, of a scientist in Tuscany named Galileo Galilei. Going through his small pack of goods one night, shortly after his friend had been buried, he came across Copernicus’ manuscript. He had heard that a final copy of ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ had been published the year before the Canon’s death in 1543, but he had been carrying the original manuscript with him since that after-dinner conversation so many years before. Maybe it was time to pass it on. He decided to see this Galileo Galilei and determine whether he might merit a gift of this magnitude.
It took Maglor a bit longer than a year to track down Galileo, but finally he found him in a small house, teaching at the University of Padua. When the musician first found him, the professor was working on fixing the lenses into a fixed-length telescope. Maglor sat down and watched the master at work, taking note of how single-minded the professor was with the task at hand. When Galileo took a break, the elf engaged him in conversation, talking about the galaxy that the telescope could observe and focal lengths, lens finishing techniques, and brass forging. By the end of the day, Galileo was beginning to be comfortable with the lanky stranger who had settled so easily into his workshop.
Over the next weeks their friendship strengthened until finally, after they had been working together for almost a year, Maglor decided to broach a new subject with the scientist.
“Maestro, have you ever heard of the Copernican theory of the sun?”
“You mean the theory that the sun is the center point and the earth moves around it? Yes, I’ve heard about it. I was told about a book by Copernicus and I’ve been wanting to read it, but I haven’t been able to find a copy.”
“What would you say if I told you I have something even better than that?”
“What do you mean, Maglor? What could possibly be better than the book?”
“Maestro, I have a handwritten copy of the original manuscript by Copernicus that he gave to my own father who passed it down to me. I would like you to have it. It is written in Latin, so you would have no trouble reading it. Would you be interested in having this?”
Galileo almost jumped up in excitement. “Maglor, you are joking with me, yes? You know how much I want this thing, and you are playing with my feelings.”
“No, my friend, I would not do that to you. I have the manuscript and have carried it with me for many years looking for the right person to give it to. I think that you could do much with it, that you are the correct person to have it.”
Galileo came to the tall elf and hugged him tightly. “Gratzi, my friend. I can never thank you enough for such an amazing offer.”
The next day saw Maglor once more at the studio of Galileo. This time he was dressed as if for a journey, his harp and lute on his back, a small pack with his belongings at his waist.
“Are you leaving? You are dressed as if you will journey far. Must you go?”
“It is time for me to move on. But before I leave, here is the manuscript I promised you. Guard it and use it well. I am sure that no other could benefit more from this gift.” Maglor reached into his cloak and pulled out the weathered pages that Copernicus had pressed into his hands almost a century before.
“Thank you for your kindness in allowing me to share your studio and your friendship over these past months. This is but a small gift in appreciation, as well as fulfilling one of my father's fondest wishes.” Maglor handed the manuscript over to Galileo and left Tuscany, heading for cooler climates.
In later years he heard that the scientist had been placed under house arrest for publishing his work based on the manuscript. And when he later found out that the book had been interdicted, he was upset with the shallow reasoning of the Second-born. But his patience was rewarded when, in the mid-1800's, Galileo's heliocentric tome was finally released to the public by the Vatican, and his theories were finally embraced as correct by a more illuminated and scientific age.
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Date: 2012-03-07 09:42 am (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)