Drake 53 Posted December 29, 2003 This is a thread for the discussion of all things Middle-Earth. Tolkien's works about this world are: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales. Ask any questions you may have and I or someone else M-E savvy will answer it. Resources: The Encyclopedia of Arda The Land of Shadow Feel free to add more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ender 8 Posted December 29, 2003 What was the name of Legolas' father? I always forget those Elvish names... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pandora 77 Posted December 29, 2003 Thrandul... assuming I speeled it right. and I doubt it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted December 29, 2003 Thranduil...missed the i. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MsSolo 1 Posted December 29, 2003 There are some other Middle Earth books as well. Hang on a sec... Farmer Giles of Ham The Adventures of Tom Bombadil I've got the second book of the unfinished tales, but I've never finished it. It's aprt of a seris of about thirteen (?) books Chritopher Tolkien wrote under his father's name. Hands up who's read the Silmarillion? Read and finished, I might add ^_^ I'll be the first to admit I had too much time on my hands, though to be honest it's a book that needs reading at least twice, with a notepad nearby to keep track of names. it's not so much the style as the fact it's very very long and meant to be treated like a mythology, i.e. people should know some bits off by heart anyway. No one does, not really, but it's written with that in mind, meant to be told as lots of seperate stories. Since the movies I've been identifying myself as a Tolkien fan, not a LotR fan, and fighting to defend the clim that Legolas was my favourite character before I or anyone else had heard of Orlando Bloom. Hey, i have a poster of Tolkien himself, which is always useful in defence against the squealing fanpoodles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted December 30, 2003 I still need to read it. I've read a lot of the E. of Arda Speaking of Tom Bombadil...that was who I was about to start a discussion on. Alright...who or what is Tom Bombadil? If you don't know who he is (for the non-book fans), Tom lives in the Old Forest just outside of the Shire. He is slightly taller than a Hobbit yet shorter than a man but not a dwarf. He has incredible powers in his environment. The greatest power of his is that the One Ring holds no sway over him. When he put it on, he neither disappeared nor did he desire to keep it. He merely smiled and tossed it back to Frodo. He also tends to sing nonsensical songs...a lot. According to Tom, he was around before the Elves awoke, before the world began and before the enemy came. The enemy could either be Melkor or Sauron since both came from outside of the world. There are several possible ideas about who Tom Bombadil is. 1. The most commonly used idea is that he is one of the Maiar. The Maiar are the same race which the wizards, Sauron and the balrogs belonged to. 2. He is one of the 14 Valar, or Powers of the World, dwelling incognito in M-E. 3. He is a spirit...possibly the 'spirit of nature' or an embodiment of it. 4. The most mindblowing idea and the one which I hold to is that Tom is, in fact, Il?vatar himself or an aspect of The One. He was the being who created all and is essentially God. The facts that point to this include Tom being called "Master" and "Eldest" and when his wife, Goldberry, was asked about him, she replied "He is." Tom also sung to use his powers...the same as Il?vatar who used music to create the world. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chozen 1 Posted December 30, 2003 Oh yes.. I remember that guy. (twas a while ago i read it.. about when I was ten-ish) He was the one that frodo use to steal vegetables from.. or am I thinking of someone else? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheUnknown 39 Posted December 30, 2003 He was an uber-annoying character that danced and sang entirely too much, and not the guy Frodo stole mushrooms from. Thank God he wasn't in the movies. And speaking of him, I got the feeling he and Goldberry were elves or related to elves, maybe even the forebearers of the elves. And going in a different direction, has anyone else noticed that Galandriel has quite a nasty reputation. I wonder what she did to get it. Too bad Tolkein died before he could start his last novel Galandriel: The Wild Years. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chozen 1 Posted December 30, 2003 ....... I was joking about the vegetable thing.. The thought of Bombadil chasing Frodo.. lol We're talking about Orald, here? So.... Goldberry? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CorSec 5 Posted December 31, 2003 Speaking of Tom Bombadil...that was who I was about to start a discussion on. Alright...who or what is Tom Bombadil? I read the discussion in the notes in his databse entry in that Encyclopedia of Arda. Lots of stuff there. You can also consider the possibility that Tolkien simply created him to "be". Without real "purpose" or origin. Simply an enigma, to keep all the fanatic fans second quessing until they die quietly in their sleep after wasting hours of their waking time trying to uncover a mystery without an answer. You get what I mean. But, that possibilty is just really annoying, and somewhat unbelievable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roethlisberger 0 Posted January 4, 2004 Thranduil...missed the i. Thiranduil. Missed the other "i" :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CorSec 5 Posted January 4, 2004 pwned Anyway...reading the Hobbit. The Wood Elves king they encounter in Mirkwood is Thiranduil? Just confirming...Not very friendly folk for elves...and none of them are ever named in teh book... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted January 4, 2004 *holds up the index at the end of RotK and points to the name* THRANDUIL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted January 4, 2004 The Wood Elves king they encounter in Mirkwood is Thiranduil? Just confirming...Not very friendly folk for elves...and none of them are ever named in teh book... Yeah that's him. They're probably not very friendly because the majority of the group is made up of Dwarves...and we all know how much Elves and Dwarves like eachother (not including the Legolas-Gimli friendship). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chozen 1 Posted January 8, 2004 *holds up the index at the end of RotK and points to the name* THRANDUIL. Come on.. You know that different versions of Lord of the Rings spell things diffferent.. It's those damn American printers.. They made corrections to the names.. So spellings may differ... Like instead of elvish it was elfish and dwarves dwarfs... Oh and it's Thranduil: i.e. March 28 Meeting of Celeborn and Thranduil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CorSec 5 Posted January 8, 2004 Yeah...thanks Drake...finished the Hobbit...checking out Chapters for osme more Tolkien tomorrow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ender 8 Posted January 9, 2004 I just re-read The Silmarillion... havent read it in a long time. Good read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsl 7 Posted January 9, 2004 Come on.. You know that different versions of Lord of the Rings spell things diffferent.. It's those damn American printers.. They made corrections to the names.. So spellings may differ... Like instead of elvish it was elfish and dwarves dwarfs... Oh and it's Thranduil: i.e. March 28 Meeting of Celeborn and Thranduil Actually the "damn American printers" have printed all editions since the first as they were meant to be, with English spellings and all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted January 10, 2004 Silly Chozen and your silly anti-Americanism. Anyways...I was reading through the EofA (Encyclopedia of Arda) and found out a neat little piece of information. In Tolkien's letters, he said that Shadowfax went with Gandalf and the gang on the White Ship to the West. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chozen 1 Posted January 10, 2004 Actually the "damn American printers" have printed all editions since the first as they were meant to be, with English spellings and all. Actually... If I have to quote extracts from the text: "he first volume, The Felowship of the Ring, was published in Great Britain by the London firm George Allen & Unwin on 29 July 1954; an American edition followed on 21 October of the same year, published by Houghton Miffin Cmpany of Boston. In the production of this first volume, Tolkein experienced what became for him a continual problem: printer's errors and compositors mistakes, including well-intentioned correction's" They may have added 'english spellings' but they added their own. That is what I meant, merry dol. Anyways...I was reading through the EofA (Encyclopedia of Arda) and found out a neat little piece of information. In Tolkien's letters, he said that Shadowfax went with Gandalf and the gang on the White Ship to the West. Good.. I liked that horse.. Anyway... Death to hobbits! Pippin, Merry and Sam shouldn't have gone with frodo.. They should have chosen elves.. Elves and Tom.. They should have dragged Tom with them.. And stuck the ring on his finger, for him to hold. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy 60 Posted January 11, 2004 Hey, Chozen, it also says that they correct more of the spellings every edition. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsl 7 Posted January 11, 2004 Lol! If it's all still speeled wrong, then why is it Gandalf the Grey in my books. And why is it speeled with all those funky extra u's all over the place, huh? huh? Oh, and why is it Elves and Dwarves rather then elfs and dwarfs? Pwned. :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radioactive Isotope 29 Posted January 11, 2004 well, technically speaking, the plural of a word that ends with f changes to a ves ending, so that speeling is correct. however, color, honor, and other such words have no extra u's :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chozen 1 Posted January 11, 2004 Hey, Chozen, it also says that they correct more of the spellings every edition. Hey, Beeurd, it also says there's a long more way to go to absolute completion. And why is it speeled with all those funky extra u's all over the place, huh? huh? Oh, and why is it Elves and Dwarves rather then elfs and dwarfs? Because Tolkein had to change it because the American publisher screwed up... I wasn't on about the American/English spellings. I was talking about the mistakes of publisher who changed words like dwarf into dwarves... pwned, pwned... and oh wait... pwned again! :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
