"Then Fingon looked towards Thangorodrim, and there was a dark cloud about it, and a black smoke went up; and he knew that the wrath of Morgoth was aroused, and that their challenge was accepted. A shadow of doubt fell upon Fingon's heart; and he looked eastwards, seeking if he might see with elven-sight the dust... rising beneath the hosts of [his distant allies]. [...]
"But now a cry went up, passing up the wind from the south from vale to vale, and Elves and Men lifted their voices in wonder and joy. For unsummoned and un-looked for Turgon had opened the leaguer of Gondolin, and was come with an army ten thousand strong, with bright mail and long swords and spears like a forest. Then when Fingon heard afar the great trumpet of Turgon his brother, the shadow passed and his heart was uplifted, and he shouted aloud: 'Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!' And all those who heard his great voice echo in the hills answered crying: 'Auta i lómë! The night is passing!'"
It's not quite the same situation (neither McCain nor even Bush is even remotely a Morgoth figure), but the sense of unexpected joy and hope in that cry resonated with me a lot yesterday. (Not that I was surprised by Obama's win in light of the polls before the election, but I last year at this time it seemed like an almost impossible dream.)
This morning, though, that joy is tempered somewhat by the success of Proposition 8, which has now enshrined discrimination against homosexuals in the California constitution. Argh. Still, for the nation as a whole this is a great day.
auta i lómë - the night is passing utúlie'n aurë - the day has come aiya eldalië ar atanatári - behold, people of the eldar and fathers of men
These phrases appear in the Quenta Silmarillion. They were spoken by Fingon, son of Fingolfin, when his brother Turgon's army came out of the hidden city of Gondolin. Turgon's 10,000 soldiers were a great aid to the Elves in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, but the additional forces were woefully insufficient to turn the tide of the battle without the participation of King Thingol's army of Doriath (~40,000 soldiers) and the army of Nargothrond (~20,000). Blame bad coordination and petty bickering among the Elven leaders for this. In the end, the battle was Morgoth's greatest victory, and led to a consolidation and extension of his power and influence over the vast majority of Beleriand. During the Elves' retreat, a key prophecy was made regarding Eärendil's birth, who 70-odd years later played a crucial role in convincing the Valar to get it over with and come smack Morgoth out of the world.
So, if I am to interpret Steuard's choice of quotation, his prophecy is that Obama's election will lead to an astounding backlash, the greatest consolidation of power yet among the wingnuts in America, and they will reach the height of their influence after the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress in the 2010 election. Somehow, this wingnut backlash will beget a great non-wingnut leader (who will nonetheless be very religious). This leader will pray to God for help, and He will respond by zapping the wingnuts into oblivion once and for all.
But I might be reading too much into this. :)
(Apparently utúlie'n is the tallest mountain in Valinor, where Manwë plants his butt so he can see everything.)
I was hoping that nobody would think too hard about what happened in the story after my quote. :) Though in fact, the Elves and Men nearly carried the day even without the help of Doriath and Nargothrond: if it hadn't been for a group of unexpected traitors within their own ranks they might well have been victorious. Either way, I'll choose to interpret all that as a warning about things to watch out for rather than as a prophecy of certain doom. (And if everything does somehow collapse into ruin, at least we can join Hurin in crying "Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!" as we make our lone stands against the dark.)
As for "utúlië", this is the third person perfect tense of the Quenya verb "tul-", "to come". It has nothing to do with the mountain Taniquetil, as far as I know. (The Quenya name for the mountain is Oiolossë, not Utúlie'n.)
So, if I am to interpret Steuard's choice of quotation, his prophecy is that Obama's election will lead to an astounding backlash, the greatest consolidation of power yet among the wingnuts in America, and they will reach the height of their influence after the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress in the 2010 election. Somehow, this wingnut backlash will beget a great non-wingnut leader (who will nonetheless be very religious). This leader will pray to God for help, and He will respond by zapping the wingnuts into oblivion once and for all.
Oh dear. Looking back at this a couple of years later, it sounds disturbingly prophetic. I just hope that the eventual annihilation of the ascendant right wing hordes doesn't cause California to sink into the sea like Beleriand!
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It's not quite the same situation (neither McCain nor even Bush is even remotely a Morgoth figure), but the sense of unexpected joy and hope in that cry resonated with me a lot yesterday. (Not that I was surprised by Obama's win in light of the polls before the election, but I last year at this time it seemed like an almost impossible dream.)
This morning, though, that joy is tempered somewhat by the success of Proposition 8, which has now enshrined discrimination against homosexuals in the California constitution. Argh. Still, for the nation as a whole this is a great day.
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utúlie'n aurë - the day has come
aiya eldalië ar atanatári - behold, people of the eldar and fathers of men
These phrases appear in the Quenta Silmarillion. They were spoken by Fingon, son of Fingolfin, when his brother Turgon's army came out of the hidden city of Gondolin. Turgon's 10,000 soldiers were a great aid to the Elves in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, but the additional forces were woefully insufficient to turn the tide of the battle without the participation of King Thingol's army of Doriath (~40,000 soldiers) and the army of Nargothrond (~20,000). Blame bad coordination and petty bickering among the Elven leaders for this. In the end, the battle was Morgoth's greatest victory, and led to a consolidation and extension of his power and influence over the vast majority of Beleriand. During the Elves' retreat, a key prophecy was made regarding Eärendil's birth, who 70-odd years later played a crucial role in convincing the Valar to get it over with and come smack Morgoth out of the world.
So, if I am to interpret Steuard's choice of quotation, his prophecy is that Obama's election will lead to an astounding backlash, the greatest consolidation of power yet among the wingnuts in America, and they will reach the height of their influence after the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress in the 2010 election. Somehow, this wingnut backlash will beget a great non-wingnut leader (who will nonetheless be very religious). This leader will pray to God for help, and He will respond by zapping the wingnuts into oblivion once and for all.
But I might be reading too much into this. :)
(Apparently utúlie'n is the tallest mountain in Valinor, where Manwë plants his butt so he can see everything.)
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I was hoping that nobody would think too hard about what happened in the story after my quote. :) Though in fact, the Elves and Men nearly carried the day even without the help of Doriath and Nargothrond: if it hadn't been for a group of unexpected traitors within their own ranks they might well have been victorious. Either way, I'll choose to interpret all that as a warning about things to watch out for rather than as a prophecy of certain doom. (And if everything does somehow collapse into ruin, at least we can join Hurin in crying "Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!" as we make our lone stands against the dark.)
As for "utúlië", this is the third person perfect tense of the Quenya verb "tul-", "to come". It has nothing to do with the mountain Taniquetil, as far as I know. (The Quenya name for the mountain is Oiolossë, not Utúlie'n.)
utúlie = it has come, from the root tul = to come
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Oh dear. Looking back at this a couple of years later, it sounds disturbingly prophetic. I just hope that the eventual annihilation of the ascendant right wing hordes doesn't cause California to sink into the sea like Beleriand!
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