“Now, her childish wonder has grown into a quiet steady faith and his has curdled into fear and resentment. Oh yes, Pharazon believes in the power of the Valar alright, and he hates them for it.” Oo, I liked that. That was a cool concept of them playing together and how the faith of their childhood diverged, for it to grow in Míriel, and I love how you use the word “curdle” for what happened to Pharazon’s faith in the Valar.
Thank you! Really glad you liked it. I find the whole concept of faith in Numenor so interesting in the books, because it's basically the only time we see organised religion anywhere in Tolkien's world, which is kind of fascinating for an author who was a devout Catholic and wrote a world where God canonically exists. I'm not sure how much TROP Pharazon is meant to believe in signs from the Valar vs just trying to use others' belief in them for his own advantage, but I think we can assume he does at least believe they are real. And I think that him being a believer who resents the power of the Valar is more interesting than him being a non-believer.
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Concetta20 on Chapter 1 Thu 24 Oct 2024 06:03AM UTC
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quietly_obsessed on Chapter 1 Sun 27 Oct 2024 07:26PM UTC
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