Post by Móreadhiel on Jan 16, 2007 14:34:04 GMT -5
Malbeth the Seer
Seer of Arthedain. Malbeth made at least two accurate prophecies concerning the future of the line of Isildur.
In 1864, Malbeth advised Araphant to name his newborn son Arvedui, meaning "last king":
"Arvedui you shall call him, for he will be the last in Arthedain. Though a choice will come to the Dunedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then your son will change his name and become king of a great realm. If not, then much sorrow and many lives of men shall pass, until the Dunedain arise and are united again."
Appendix A: "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion," p. 330
Malbeth's prophecy came to pass in 1975. King Arvedui was driven into the far north by the Witch-king of Angmar and was stranded in the land of the Snowmen by the harsh winter. A ship came to rescue him, but the Snowmen advised him to wait for the thaw. Arvedui did not heed their advice, and he was killed in a shipwreck. The North-kingdom ended and the line of Isildur was continued by the Chieftains of the Dunedain for many generations.
A second prophecy, made by Malbeth sometime during the reign of Arvedui (1964-1975), spoke of a future Heir of Isildur:
"Over the land there lies a long shadow,
westward reaching wings of darkness.
The Tower trembles; to the tombs of kings
doom approaches. The Dead awaken;
for the hour is come for the oathbreakers;
at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again
and hear there a horn in the hills ringing.
Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them
from the grey twilight, the forgotten people?
The heir of him to whom the oath they swore.
From the North shall he come, need shall drive him:
he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead."
The Return of the King: "The Passing of the Grey Company," p. 54
During the War of the Ring in 3019, Elrond sent word to Aragorn, the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dunedain, to remember Malbeth's prophecy about the Paths of the Dead if he was in need of haste. When Aragorn looked into the palantir and learned that Gondor was threatened from the South by Corsairs, he realized that only by taking the Paths of the Dead would he get there in time.
Aragorn was followed through the Paths of the Dead by an Army of the Dead who had broken their oath to Isildur to fight Sauron. At the Stone of Erech, Aragorn told the Oathbreakers that he was Isildur's heir. The Dead fulfilled their oath by defeating the Corsairs, and with the threat from the South removed, Aragorn sailed to the aid of Minas Tirith. Thus the second prophecy of Malbeth came to pass.
Etymology:
Malbeth means "golden word." The element mal means "gold." The element beth is a lenited form of peth which means "word."
Sources:
The Return of the King: "The Passing of the Grey Company," p. 48, 54, and passim.
Appendix A of LotR: "The North-kingdom and the Dunedain," p. 321-23; "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion," p. 330
The Silmarillion: "Appendix - Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names," entry for mal
The History of Middle-earth, vol. V, The Lost Road and Other Writings: "The Etymologies," entry for KWET- (and PET-)
Seer of Arthedain. Malbeth made at least two accurate prophecies concerning the future of the line of Isildur.
In 1864, Malbeth advised Araphant to name his newborn son Arvedui, meaning "last king":
"Arvedui you shall call him, for he will be the last in Arthedain. Though a choice will come to the Dunedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then your son will change his name and become king of a great realm. If not, then much sorrow and many lives of men shall pass, until the Dunedain arise and are united again."
Appendix A: "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion," p. 330
Malbeth's prophecy came to pass in 1975. King Arvedui was driven into the far north by the Witch-king of Angmar and was stranded in the land of the Snowmen by the harsh winter. A ship came to rescue him, but the Snowmen advised him to wait for the thaw. Arvedui did not heed their advice, and he was killed in a shipwreck. The North-kingdom ended and the line of Isildur was continued by the Chieftains of the Dunedain for many generations.
A second prophecy, made by Malbeth sometime during the reign of Arvedui (1964-1975), spoke of a future Heir of Isildur:
"Over the land there lies a long shadow,
westward reaching wings of darkness.
The Tower trembles; to the tombs of kings
doom approaches. The Dead awaken;
for the hour is come for the oathbreakers;
at the Stone of Erech they shall stand again
and hear there a horn in the hills ringing.
Whose shall the horn be? Who shall call them
from the grey twilight, the forgotten people?
The heir of him to whom the oath they swore.
From the North shall he come, need shall drive him:
he shall pass the Door to the Paths of the Dead."
The Return of the King: "The Passing of the Grey Company," p. 54
During the War of the Ring in 3019, Elrond sent word to Aragorn, the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dunedain, to remember Malbeth's prophecy about the Paths of the Dead if he was in need of haste. When Aragorn looked into the palantir and learned that Gondor was threatened from the South by Corsairs, he realized that only by taking the Paths of the Dead would he get there in time.
Aragorn was followed through the Paths of the Dead by an Army of the Dead who had broken their oath to Isildur to fight Sauron. At the Stone of Erech, Aragorn told the Oathbreakers that he was Isildur's heir. The Dead fulfilled their oath by defeating the Corsairs, and with the threat from the South removed, Aragorn sailed to the aid of Minas Tirith. Thus the second prophecy of Malbeth came to pass.
Etymology:
Malbeth means "golden word." The element mal means "gold." The element beth is a lenited form of peth which means "word."
Sources:
The Return of the King: "The Passing of the Grey Company," p. 48, 54, and passim.
Appendix A of LotR: "The North-kingdom and the Dunedain," p. 321-23; "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion," p. 330
The Silmarillion: "Appendix - Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names," entry for mal
The History of Middle-earth, vol. V, The Lost Road and Other Writings: "The Etymologies," entry for KWET- (and PET-)
