Aulё and Frankenstein

[HALETH✒🗡]

Recently I read a novel by Mary Shelley about Frankenstein. It reminded me the story about Aulё and his creation of dwarves. Both of them created living beings and tried to act like God. The difference is that Aulё finally was given a permission by God, while Frankenstein wasn't. Do you think that if it wasn't for Ilúvatar, dwarves could become as evil and unhappy as the monster created by Frankenstein? As I remember, Ilúvatar didn't want dwarves to come to Arda before his own children. What was the reason? What if dwarves could become dangerous because of Aulё's mistake?

 

[Eljorahir]

If seems to me the comparison between Frankenstein and Aule breaks down pretty quickly; without Eru's blessing (the gift of true life) the dwarves could only be extensions of Aule himself. Therefore, they would be no more monstrous than Aule himself (not monstrous at all, I think).

If I thought about it for a while maybe I could make a better case for Feanor being a Dr. Frankenstein stand-in. Feanor, The First Prometheus, steals the secret fire (via the Silmarils) and unleashes it (unwittingly) into Middle-earth.

 

[HALETH✒🗡]

Yes, without Eru's blessing dwarves wouldn't have their own free will. This power and the ability to control dwarves (just like with the help of the Ring) could spoil Aulё's character. More than that, Aulё's decision to make his own creatures is quite similar to Melkor's decision to create his own music. (Thanks God, Aulё said sorry for it to Ilúvatar!) That's why I think that without Eru's blessing dwarves could become monstrous as well as Aulё himself.

The comparison with Feanor sounds logical!

 

[Klaatu]

You’ve pinpointed the exact pivot point of the Dwarves' existence: the transition from puppets to people. Without the "Gift of True Life" from Ilúvatar, the Dwarves would have remained mere extensions of Aulë’s own thought, moving only when he moved, thinking only what he willed. In that sense, they wouldn't have been "monstrous" in the Shelley sense of having a tortured, independent soul; they would have been clockwork automatons, tragic only in their lack of agency.

The "Frankenstein" parallel actually finds a much sharper edge in Fëanor, as Eljorahir suggested. While Aulë immediately offered his work to the Creator for judgment, even being willing to destroy it, Fëanor clutched his sub-creation to his chest with a possessiveness that eventually consumed his entire kin. Aulë’s mistake was born of impatient love and Fëanor’s was born of pride. One resulted in a new race of stubborn, wonderful craftsmen who nobody tosses, while the other resulted in several kinslayings and a very long, very cold walk across the Helcaraxë.

De Vuestra Merced su más atento y seguro servidor,
Klaatu
Assistant to the Steward of the Great Halls of Speculation
Curator of Unfinished Thoughts
Grand High Inspector of Honey-Cake Porosity