It is told among the Elves that after Eärendil had departed, seeking Elwing his wife, Mandos spoke concerning his fate; and he said: ‘Shall mortal Man step living upon the undying lands, and yet live?’ But Ulmo said: ‘For this he was born into the world. And say unto me: whether is he Eärendil Tuor’s son of the line of Hador, or the son of Idril, Turgon’s daughter, of the Elven-house of Finwë?’ And Mandos answered: ‘Equally the Noldor, who went wilfully into exile, may not return hither.’ But when all was spoken, Manwë gave judgement, and he said: ‘In…
4 CommentsTag: History of Middle-earth
This is a relatively minor observation, but I’ve been fascinated for some time by Aragorn’s surprisingly clear self-delineation between “himself” and “Strider”. It is a relatively simple thing to see “Strider” as being but another alias for the Ranger, and it’s often treated as such by commenters on the story. Yet a close reading of how Aragorn himself speaks of Strider creates a strong impression (to me, at least) that Aragorn sees Strider as being a character…at least initially. Arguably, the most memorable indication of this separation comes during Aragorn’s rebuke to Boromir at the Council of Elrond, in which…
Leave a Comment
Having dealt with Tolkien’s Lesser Tales over the last month, there was really only one piece of Tolkien’s fiction that we could possibly turn to as a postscript to this series – what may very well be the Least Tale of Tolkien, as it were. Mention ‘Goblin Feet’ to a Tolkien lover, and you’ll get one of two reactions. The first (and much more common) is likely bafflement, a “huh?” and subsequent inquiry as to whether this is some sort of evidence about the origin of Orcs? The rarer, and desired, reaction, is a wry chuckle and a raise of…
Leave a Comment
I was flicking through the Appendices of LOTR the other day, on an unrelated mission, when something really curious caught my eye in the Dwarvish genealogy tree. It’s a really small detail, almost insignificant – but the more I thought about it, the more it intrigued me, and the more intrigued I became, the more I realised that it’s actually a whole lot of details all packaged up in a single detail. Namely, Durin VII. When was he born? When did he reign? And, perhaps most pressingly, how did he obtain that epithet? From the perspective of Tolkien as author,…
Leave a Comment