Hearing and sight

[The Lady of Ithilien]

In "The Valaquenta," it is said:Their (Manwë and Varda) halls are above the everlasting snow, upon Oiolossë, the uttermost tower of Taniquetil, tallest of all the mountains upon Earth. When Manwë there ascends his throne and looks forth, if Varda is beside him, he sees further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. And if Manwë is with her, Varda hears more clearly than all other ears the sound of voices that cry from east to west, from the hills and the valleys, and from the dark places that Melkor has made upon Earth.This reminds me of the Numenoreans' Hills of Hearing and Sight, Amon Lhaw and Amon Hen, respectively, in Gondor. Is there any mention in JRRT's writing and interviews or in Christopher Tolkien's publications and (if any) interviews of a connection between this part of The Silmarillion and that part of The Lord of the Rings?

[Imladrien]

I tried to find a connection in the HoMe series. Some of the rejected passages that relate to Amon Hen include things like this statement "the power of Amon Hen was upon him." This type of thing did not survive into LotR. Tolkien does not explicitly state in Letters that Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw are symbolic of Manwe's and Varda's seats, either. But, it looks to me that the Numenoreans were honoring Manwe and Varda by building these places. --Imladrien

[Artanis]

Lady of Ithilien, this is really one of my favourite passages from Valaquenta. :) But I read that quote different than you do. To me it seems that the senses of Manwë and Varda are enhanced because they are together, and not necessarily because they sit upon Taniquetil. They enhances each others abilities by being and working together, and perhaps by loving each other.

[Lizra]

That's the way I read it also! He is distracted till his wife is beside him, Sort of "not complete". When she is there (and vice versa) "all is right with the world", and he/she can concentrate on details. I am unfamiliar with the Numenoean bit. :)

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Originally posted by Artanis
Lady of Ithilien, this is really one of my favourite passages from Valaquenta. :) But I read that quote different than you do. To me it seems that the senses of Manwë and Varda are enhanced because they are together, and not necessarily because they sit upon Taniquetil. They enhances each others abilities by being and working together, and perhaps by loving each other. Well, that's what I was wondering, as it could be that this may have been also the Numenoreans' favorite passage ;) They loved Manwë and Varda, too, and having already done such "superhuman" things in Middle-earth as building Isengard, etc., perhaps they established those seats on the two hills as places to duplicate (on a mere mortal level, of course, which is to say, not very) and, more importantly, to honor the enhanced hearing and sight of Manwë and Varda.

Oh, it's just a thought. What I really wanted to know was whether this has been mentioned anywhere in the published works of father and son.

[Ithilwin]

Originally posted by Artanis
To me it seems that the senses of Manwë and Varda are enhanced because they are together, and not necessarily because they sit upon Taniquetil. They enhances each others abilities by being and working together, and perhaps by loving each other.

Yea,that's what I thought when I read that part.Their senses are enhanced because of that and perhaps because they are the 'King and Queen of all upon Arda',they complete each other