Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth - Fire and breath

'What says the wisdom of Men concerning the nature of the Mirruanwa?' said Finrod. 'Or what do you hold, Andreth, who know also much of the teaching of the Eldar?' 

'Men say various things, be they Wise or no,' said Andreth. 'Many hold that there is but a single thing: the body, and that we are one of the beasts, though the latest come and the most cunning. But others hold that the body is not all, but contains some other thing. For often we speak of the body as a "house", or as "raiment", and that implies an indwelling, though of what we speak in uncertainty. Among my folk men speak mostly of the "breath" (or the "breath of life"), and they say that if it leaves the house, it may by seeing eyes be seen as a wraith, a shadowy image of the living thing that was.' 

'That is but a guess,' said Finrod, 'and long ago we said things similar, but we know now that the Indweller is not "breath" (which the hröa uses), and that seeing eyes cannot see one that is houseless, but that the living eyes may draw from the fëa within an image which the houseless conveys to the housed: the memory of itself.' 

'Maybe,' said Andreth. 'But among the people of Marach men speak rather of the "fire", or the "fire on the hearth", from whose burning the house is warmed, and from which arise the heats of the heart, or the smokes of wrath.' 

'That is another guess,' said Finrod, 'and holds also some truth, I believe.' 

'Doubtless,' said Andreth. 'But those who speak thus, of the "breath" or of the "fire", do not think of it as belonging to Men only, but as the life of all living things. As Men have their houses, but beasts also have their dwellings in holes or in nests, so both have a life within that may grow cold or go forth.' 

'Then in what way do Men differ from beasts in such lore?' said Finrod. 'How can they claim ever to have had a life indestructible?' 

'The Wise have considered this,' said Andreth. 'And among them are some that speak more after the manner of the Eldar. But they speak rather of three things: the earth and the fire and the Dweller. By which they intend the stuff of which the body is built, which of itself is inert and does not grow or move; and the life which grows and takes to itself increase; and the Indweller who dwells there, and is master both of house and of hearth — or once was.' 

'And wishes never to leave them- and once need never do so? It was then the Indweller who suffered the wound?' said Finrod. 

'Not so,' said Andreth. 'Clearly not so; but Man, the whole: house, life, and master.' 

'But the Master must have been the one that was wronged (as you say), or did wrong (as I guess); for the house might suffer for the folly of the Master, but hardly the Master for the misdeeds of the house! But let that be, for you do not desire to speak of it. Do you yourself hold this belief?' 

'It is not a belief,' said Andreth. 'For we do not know enough for any certainty concerning earth or growth or thought, and maybe never shall; for if they were designed by the One, then doubtless they will ever hold for us some mystery inscrutable, however much we learn. But it is a guess that is near, I hold.'