What kind of magic are we discussing? Not the Harry Potter kind of
magic not the old pulling a rabbit out of a hat type magic. No we are
going to discuss Elven magic in Middle Earth. Yes Elves were magical
beings just because of their very nature. I mean immortality is quite
the magic trick even though they did not give it to themselves it is
still magical in nature, What we need is a good definition of magic.Her
I'll throw this at you .The art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature. There that should help. Now the Elfs had different kinds of magic they performed. They are as follows:
(1) MAGIC OF THE MIND. This is the simplest way to put it. We have several examples of this magic. Let us start with Galadriels mirror. With this mirror she helped the viewer see the future unaffected by present action. For example Sam sees the Shire destroyed and in flames which was a vision of what might be so the magic was involved with foresight. We also have Galadriel communicating with other Elves via long distance Telepathy and at the end of The Return Of The King it is said the Galadriel, Celeborn and Gandalf talked for long stretches about the olden days without ever speaking a word, all in the mind you see. When Galadriel first meets the fellowship in Lothlorien she communicates with them all telepathically and offers each a choice which some reveal and others don't and eventually she warns Frodo that Boromir will try to take the ring, she appears to have the gift of magical foresight, that is she can see the into the future.
(2) MAGIC OF CREATING, Well, what do i mean by that? The Elves were master craftsman, many were taught by the Valar ( Gods ) when they dwelled with them in the undying lands and they had many centuries to learn their craft. They were able to channel what we would call magic into their creations, we have several examples. The Palantir or the seeing stone so prominently mentioned in The Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) these were stones or crystal balls if you like that allowed the user to see far distances and if the mind and will was strong enough to communicate with others. Both Saruman and The Steward of Gondor used them with disastrous results for both. As you can see magic can be both a positive and a negative force. The Creator of the Palaniri was Feanor one of the mightiest Elves ever, it was he who also made the Silmarils using light from the two great trees of the Valar. Jewels that were so beautuful that they ignited the great war that ended the First age of Middle Earth. Also we know of the great rings of power crafted by the Elves with the aid of Sauron,these rings could delay the effects of time and turn the wearer invisible among other magical properties. We are told of great Elven blades that had magical power, Frodos balde Sting would glow blue whenever there were Orcs around and also remember Galadriels phial that offered light when all others had failed. We have Arwens banner that was black as night to us mortals but yet was viewed by the Oath Breakers at the paths of the dead that showed Aragorn to be the rightful heir of Isildur.
This is of course only my understanding of the magic of the Elves,
others have written better and longer on this subject, I suggest you do a
Google search on Elven magic and see what you can turn up.
(1) MAGIC OF THE MIND. This is the simplest way to put it. We have several examples of this magic. Let us start with Galadriels mirror. With this mirror she helped the viewer see the future unaffected by present action. For example Sam sees the Shire destroyed and in flames which was a vision of what might be so the magic was involved with foresight. We also have Galadriel communicating with other Elves via long distance Telepathy and at the end of The Return Of The King it is said the Galadriel, Celeborn and Gandalf talked for long stretches about the olden days without ever speaking a word, all in the mind you see. When Galadriel first meets the fellowship in Lothlorien she communicates with them all telepathically and offers each a choice which some reveal and others don't and eventually she warns Frodo that Boromir will try to take the ring, she appears to have the gift of magical foresight, that is she can see the into the future.
(2) MAGIC OF CREATING, Well, what do i mean by that? The Elves were master craftsman, many were taught by the Valar ( Gods ) when they dwelled with them in the undying lands and they had many centuries to learn their craft. They were able to channel what we would call magic into their creations, we have several examples. The Palantir or the seeing stone so prominently mentioned in The Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) these were stones or crystal balls if you like that allowed the user to see far distances and if the mind and will was strong enough to communicate with others. Both Saruman and The Steward of Gondor used them with disastrous results for both. As you can see magic can be both a positive and a negative force. The Creator of the Palaniri was Feanor one of the mightiest Elves ever, it was he who also made the Silmarils using light from the two great trees of the Valar. Jewels that were so beautuful that they ignited the great war that ended the First age of Middle Earth. Also we know of the great rings of power crafted by the Elves with the aid of Sauron,these rings could delay the effects of time and turn the wearer invisible among other magical properties. We are told of great Elven blades that had magical power, Frodos balde Sting would glow blue whenever there were Orcs around and also remember Galadriels phial that offered light when all others had failed. We have Arwens banner that was black as night to us mortals but yet was viewed by the Oath Breakers at the paths of the dead that showed Aragorn to be the rightful heir of Isildur.
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