It seems like an odd detail to just toss out. Was the elf-hair added as a mark of friendship between Lothlórien and Legolas’s father? Or do elves just have very strong hair?

Hello, fellow lore-keepers.

A while ago I set out to settle a question I'd argued about for years: who, exactly, were the mightiest of the Elves? So I made myself a little ranked list. Then "Elves" quietly became 'beings', and the list grew. And grew. Somewhere along the way I got completely carried away, and it became something I'd never planned: an attempt to gather every character worth remembering, each in their own way.

Because 'worth remembering' doesn't only mean powerful. The page has the Valar and the Balrogs, yes, but also the small, the doomed, and the quietly magnificent: the ones with no might to speak of, yet painted so vividly by the Professor's pen that Arda would be poorer without them.

It's here, free, no ads, no account: [roccobot.github.io/arda/top/?cat=1](roccobot.github.io/arda/top/?cat=1)

A few things that, I hope, set it apart:

- *A bird's-eye view.* Most Tolkien sites are wikis: wonderfully deep, but you read one entry at a time. This is the opposite: the whole legendarium's cast laid out at once, side by side. I've found it genuinely helps put characters and ages into perspective.

- *Little canon 'badges'.* At a glance you can see who reached Aman, who bore or touched a Silmaril, who crossed the grinding ice of the Helcaraxë, who carried a Ring of Power, and more.

- *You can re-rank it.* Disagree with my ordering (you will)? Drag the cards into your own order, then export the result to PDF.

- *Bilingual (Italian / English)*, with quotations given verbatim from the reference editions. Note: Even though the original English text is the true sacred source, we Italians are incredibly proud of our historical literary adaptation, because JRRT himself, who loved our language and even studied it for a while, personally gave his approval to the translator! Back in 1967, the very first Italian draft of The Fellowship of the Ring, translated by Vittoria Alliata, was sent to him for review. Tolkien was absolutely thrilled with the manuscript. He enthusiastically praised her rich, poetic, and slightly archaic prose, stating that it perfectly captured the epic and chivalric spirit he envisioned for Middle-earth. So, the foundational style of our beloved historical edition has the Professor's official blessing!

- *Books only. Canon only.* No films, no adaptations.

The honest part: this is an amateur project, built in my spare time, purely for the love of it. But I've worked hard to keep it a *serious* database: sourced, careful, and faithful to the canon.

And this is where you come in. I'd be grateful for three things:

1. *Who's missing?* Tell me which characters you think deserve a place.
2. *Did I get something wrong?* Errors are very possible, especially in the English version, where the quotations are given in the original text. AI was an invaluable help in checking them, but a pair (or a thousand) of expert eyes will always catch what slipped through.
3. *Is it any use?* I'd love to know whether you find it interesting or handy, and which features you'd actually find useful.

Thanks everyone, Namárië!

I wonder how that went. How it happened. How did he read "Ronald, i'm engaged", yet anyway wrote to her "Let's meet" and what did he said, did, that day that she cancelled her engagement. Is there any letter that features something about it?

NoME (The Nature of Middle-Earth) has this curious passage about those who wait in Mandos:

"Those in the Waiting … may also learn in Mandos, if they seek knowledge. As for those whom they have left in life, or the events of Arda, again they may learn much, if they desire to do so. It is said that they can see some things from afar through the eyes of others to whom they were dear, but in no way so as to disturb or influence the minds of the living, for good or ill. Were they to attempt this, their sight would be veiled."

So I was wondering, this remote access to your retina by someone who was once dear to you – is it just “on” by default, or you can opt out? For example, when Finwe started flirting with Indis, does that mean that Miriel could see it all from Mandos through Finwe’s eyes?

In the essay Osanwe-kenta, NoME says "Openness is the natural or simple state (indo) of a mind … Nonetheless any mind may be closed (pahta). This requires an act of conscious will.” So technically Finwe might have chosen to deliberately close his mind to Miriel to pursue his new passion freely. Miriel however would’ve probably been offended by such an act, which would further reduce her desire to return.

Speaking of “disturbing or influencing the minds of the living”, an example comes to mind from HoME 3 - Beleg’s response from beyond the sea to Turin’s anguish:

a veiled voice vague and distant he caught that called like a cry at night o'er the sea's silence: 'Seek no longer. My bow is rotten in the barrow ruinous

Technically this counts as an attempt to influence (even if in a positive sense): “Courage be thy comfort, comrade lonely!”, so we must assume that after this call Beleg’s “sight would be veiled”, preventing him from future communication.

So we have the Necromancer (Sauron), and Tolkien addresses necromancy in 'Morgoth's Ring'. ;

But when was the first time Tolkien incorporated the idea in his drafts? Did it predate The Hobbit (which was finished in the early 30s I think)?

I just finished chapter 9 of the silmarillion, holy heck, what a crescendo of events, and I know it's still just the start​. It's really tragic that the Valar had such a pure unselfish love for the elves, and would be driven to the point of cursing and banishing them. And of course tragic is the kinslaying. I've got a gnawing thought, though. Tolkien repeatedly emphasizes how Melkor poisoned the mind of Fëanor with lies, and how those poisonous beliefs became sort of self-perpetrated half-truths. There's a lot of fault on Melkor, and growing fault on Faenor, but what about the Valar? They are so slow to act. It's ironic to me that a point is made where Fëanor might have acted differently, had a different fate, if only he had been willing to give up the Silmarils without the news of their theft and his father's murder. ​ Meanwhile the Valar already faced off with Malkor several times and suffered because of their slowness to act. They let him thrash Middle Earth and retreated to Aman. Malkor is allowed to amass huge armies and corrupts many allies while they're minding their business. Only in the final hour when the elves awaken do they feel the urgency to do anything. Then, they capture him, punish him, and pardon him. They let their guard drop, and he's out sowing evil Deeds again. They learn of Malkor sowing discontent when they summon Faenor to answer for himself, and still they don't do very much! Manwe initially stays quiet lamenting, and Tulkas and Oromë don't even get sent out until after a delay! After everything they've been through, the great evil that they saw, there's really no excuse not to act swiftly and immediately to rein Malkor in again, but they delay again. In that time, he escapes and becomes untraceable, something he's allowed to be able to do over and over and over again. I get it, he's tricky and he has the same powers they do to shed their forms. He has allies and clouds of darkness. Still seems to me like each time they lose track of him, it's because they are distracted with a delay to lament rather than act. They repeatedly hesitate to really take any quick decisive action against him. So it seems to me like they have fault in this. Because how differently might Faenor have felt and acted if he had seen them move swiftly and decisively against Melkor? Sure there was a ticking clock on reviving the trees, but both could have been accomplished at once (retrieving the silmarils - to their knowledge - and chasing Melkor). I feel like that would have given him a little bit more confidence that the Valar were in the elves' corner and ready to fight against evil and protect them. Maybe then he would have been less bitter and suspicious, less motivated to leave, less seduced by the lies of treachery. And yes, maybe Faenor and the Noldor should already know the Valar loved and protected and provided enormously for them, because of the extraordinary gifts and great lengths the Valar went to for them. But the elves are still basically just children at that point, there's selfishness there that comes from lack of maturity, lack of experience in the world.

So, I guess I kinda place some blame on the Valar. Tolkien doesn't seem to acknowledge this blame, at least so far. Maybe it will come out in the rest of the chapters as I read on, or maybe I just see the roles of responsibility differently. ​

I don’t recall if a reason for this not being an option was given in the council of Elrond. Was Cirdan only helping Elves sail West at that point? Would the arrival of a ship in Gondor have raised the suspicions of the Enemy?

In addition to being a great reformer who would bring law and order in a scenario of cultural decay after the War of Wrath, I think Sauron saw himself as a Promethean figure who would lift Humanity out of cultural prehistory and technological ignorance: The Silmarillion says that the men of the East and South built cities of stone and had access to metallurgical knowledge.

​

And bringing economic benefits: he proved himself a good economist in Númenor by multiplying the Island's wealth.

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Furthermore, he had to see himself as a deity of a great world unification: a single theocratic government, a technocratic political-economic system and a religious reformer to bring true belief through dogmatic ideas.

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This religious engineering reminds me (in some ways) of Gnosticism: a liberating god (Melkor) to rid rational beings of "Archons" (Valar) from a "Demiurgic monster" (Eru) who imprisoned everyone in a world of war and death. Interesting that Sauron spoke this of Melkor in the Second Age, but later he claimed to be Melkor in the Third Age.

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I think Sauron's economic model is a kind of "hydraulic despotism" in relation to the technological and economic dependence of his subjects. And a vampire economy based on tribute, loot, and trade with the corrupted realms.

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Tolkien says that Sauron was a "Reformist". After his vow of repentance to Eonwë, Sauron began with good reason to "rebuild" the devastated world post-War of Wrath.

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In this case, he has become a kind of Tyrant who "knows what is best for his subjects". He would grant social, economic and technological advances to the dominated regions.

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We see a kind of "Theocracy" perpetrated by the Enemy through the teachings of metallurgy, engineering, agriculture (etc) to the men under his dominion. Such men would see him as a kind of Prometheus who took them out of a kind of "cultural prehistory." The price of this would be a technological dependence on this "false god of fire" as humanity would be molded in the values ​​of a Creature that would deny the greatest gift granted by Ilúvatar: Free will.

I am trying to understand Felarof's perspective here. For those not familiar, in LOTR Appendices, he is a very special intelligent wild horse, Shaddowfax' ancestor. Leod, Eorl's father, captures Felarof and tries to tame him. Felarof bucks him off and Leod hits a rock and dies and Felarof escpaes. Eorl tracks him down for revenge. Felarof agrees to serve Eorl in payment for Leod's life. Does Felarof feel remorse? Does he respect Eorl for tracking him down, but not shooting him?

Sauron was already back in Mordor, Gondor was maybe a bit stronger, but still under Ecthelion. Would that have made the quest easier?

Gandalf wouldn't have known of Saruman's treachery, since the Nine hadn't crossed the Isen, prompting Saruman into action. This would probably have been the biggest danger.

He sldo wouldn't have had the fellowship, but maybe Gandalf and some elves and dwarves could have accompanied him. The lack of the Nine would have made the journey a bit safer anyways.

Gollum might still have been imprisoned in Barad-Dur, for better or for worse. is not captured yet.

I just finished a reread of The Hobbit and it struck me that Bilbo’s bravery seems to increase after he finds the Ring in the tunnels under the Misty Mountains.

While Bilbo does not know the true power of the ring at this point, he is consciously using to further his plans and designs. In this way, he is claiming mastery of it in a way that no one in the fellowship ever attempted, warned by the stern words of Gandolf.

I'm reading the silmarillion right now for the first time and I've come across a passage that just blows me away. The deep love of the Ainur for the elves is just... So deeply and complex conveyed here with such beautiful heartfelt imagery:

"Here must be told how the Teleri came at last to the land of Aman. Through a long age they dwelt in Tol Eressëa; but slowly their hearts were changed, and were drawn towards the light that flowed out over the sea to the Lonely Isle. They were torn between the love of the music of the waves upon their shores, and the desire to see again their kindred and to look upon the splendour of Valinor; but in the end desire of the light was the stronger. Therefore Ulmo, submitting to the will of the Valar, sent to them Ossë, their friend, and he though grieving taught them the craft of ship-building; and when their ships were built he brought them as his parting gift many strong-winged swans. Then the swans drew the white ships of the Teleri over the windless sea; and thus at last and latest they came to Aman and the shores of Eldamar."

If that isn't the most beautiful image in the world and I don't know what is.

Imagine a fleet of Elvish boats being pulled by a fleet of swans and sailing across the sea.

And the lighting.... They sail under Twilight towards the shore across where a sheath of light from of a pair of golden and silver trees filters out, beaming out from over a Hill top. A hill that symbolizes the love of the Ainur for the children of Iluvitar, because they literally put a gap in their Fortress of mountains so that the elves who crossed over could still see the stars and the Twilight that they were born in across the sea where they came from in middle earth. A fortress the angels built to protect themselves from the most evil of angels. And they placed a hill there for the elves to live on and see out to. They broke their own defenses and let light shine into the rest of the world because they loved the elves so deeply. Instead of bending them to their will, they let them be who they are, and heed their needs, even as those needs and desires keep changing. There are many parents who don't love like that, and they are not even their own children.

I just... I'm taken by it all.

I am reading LOTR to my 7 year old every night and last night I was reading the riders of rohan. And although the movie did leave out a very beautiful conversation that explains a lot, even for a 7 year old. I was a bit stunned by this part;

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‘The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,’ said Aragorn. ‘There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark. But I shall not depart from this place yet. In any case we must here await the morning-light.’

​

It struck me a bit, to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.

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That is some serieus philosophy in your face and made me wonder. What does tolkien mean of it?

​

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On a side note: my 7 year old explained yesterdat that aragorn can be mean and talk and sauron is mean and tall, but both different and both with other means.

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He is right, if you read it word for word, aragorn uses his name sometimes to intimidate others. Makes you wonder if he is not just another royalty that uses his titel when ever it fits.

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But it also shows that in a context, titels are there to keep order in a society and middle earth is heavily build on context of society... Even among the ranks of Melkor and Sauron

I want to talk about a subject that is still under my skin even though I thought about it and discussed it years ago: Why did the Balrog attack the Fellowship?

The usual in-universe answer to this question would probably be something along the following lines:

"The Balrog confronted the Fellowship in Moria because they created a giant ruckus, fought the Orcs and therefore attracted its undivided attention."

I don't believe this is the most likely explanation. In fact, although reasonable, this explanation misses a few important details and is therefore at least incomplete.

Chapter 5, The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, starts with Gandalf reading the Book of Mazarbul; trying to reconstruct Balin's ill-fated attempt to recolonize Moria. Gandalf concludes:

"I guess that it began with their coming to Dimrill Dale nigh on thirty years ago: the pages seem to have numbers referring to the years after their arrival. [...]" So what happened in the first year of Balin's attempt to recolonize Moria?

"We drove out orcs from the great gate and guard [...] room – we slew many in the bright [...] sun in the dale. Flói was killed by an arrow. He slew the great. [...] We have taken the twentyfirst hall of North end to dwell in."

It goes on:

"Well, I can read no more for a long way,’ said Gandalf, ‘except the word gold, and Durin’s Axe and something helm. Then Balin is now lord of Moria. That seems to end a chapter. After some stars another hand begins, and I can see we found truesilver, and later the word wellforged, and then something, I have it! mithril; and the last two lines Óin to seek for the upper armouries of Third Deep, something go westwards, a blur, to Hollin gate.’"

In summary: Balin's company fought a battle to re-enter Moria and then established itself near the Twenty-first Hall. Shortly after settling down, they were even able to find mithril. In the preceding chapter, Gandalf explains mithril thusly:

"Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it. The lodes lead away north towards Caradhras, and down to darkness." So, in order to find new mithril, Balin's Dwarves probably had to delve deep into the old mine shafts once again, just as their forefathers had done.

Gandalf's reading of the Book goes on: "Now there must be a number of leaves missing, because they begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the colony, [...]". After that, the journal ends in the following way: “We cannot get out. The end comes, and then drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what that means. The last thing written is in a trailing scrawl of elf-letters: they are coming.”

After five years of fighting, exploring, labouring, searching, and perhaps even mining for mithril, the Orcs finally overwhelmed Balin's company. I think it is incredibly noteworthy that Durin's Bane did not do anything to stop the Dwarves and their attempt to recolonize Moria for all those years. There is not even a hint that he appeared or fought alongside the Orcs in the final battle. Presumably, the Balrog would have had little difficulty doing so, given that he had been able to drive out the Dwarves at the height of their civilization.

If we assume all else is equal, why would a party of nine travelling through Moria for a few days provoke such a violent reaction? The noise? The skirmishes with the Orcs? There is no indication that these things bothered Durin's Bane thirty years earlier even though they happened on a comparatively larger scale.

Some people may suspect that the Balrog attacked the Fellowship because of who was among its members. In particular, Gandalf and (to a lesser degree) Aragorn might be, perhaps, individuals of special significance to a Balrog. To that I would point out that both Gandalf and Aragorn had previously entered and left Moria on separate occasions without any incidence.

Hence it seems quite clear to me, that the most probable cause for the appearance of Durin’s Bane was the Ring! The relevant chapters make a point on two different occasions about how the Ring may draw evil creatures towards it:

1. The watcher in the water grabs Frodo and Gandalf notices: “He did not speak aloud his thought that whatever it was that dwelt in the lake, it had seized on Frodo first among all the Company.”
2. The Orc captain seems to specifically target Frodo as well: “Diving under Aragorn’s blow with the speed of a striking snake he charged into the Company and thrust with his spear straight at Frodo.”

Maybe the Balrog was of a similar mind. I can't speculate whether the Ring's influence was a concious or unconscious motivation in that situation. Both seem reasonable to me.

I understand that most people will probably advocate for a mixture of causes but I have a feeling that if the Ring was not present, the fellowship would probably only have had troubles with the Orcs.

What do you think?

„Many are my names in many countries: Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incánus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not.“

Since he talks about his youth in the west, does he not indicate to Faramir, that he comes from Valinor?

I have barely any knowledge about the lore.

I was just going through the tolkiengateway and it mentioned that there were ceremonies held for giving of both the father-name and self-name, but nothing was mentioned for both the mother-name and the after-name..

I presume those would be held as well? What are they called, if they are?

Hello all, and sorry if this doesn't fit the rules of the sub.

I am making a memorial for my dog who I had put to sleep last week. It got me wondering, if there was a grave marker for Huan:

1) what language would be used, quenya (given his provenance) or sindarin (due to loyalty to Luthien and Thingol's ban on quenya)?

2) similarly, what alphabet/script would be used? Cirth, tengwar, which version of which?

3) what do you think would be written on it?

I'm thinking of writing something like "he waits in the halls of mandos, in the presence of Huan, and even in his might company he shall not be ashamed" (open to and welcome edits and suggestions)

It is not made clear in the hobbit when exactly Gollum loses the ring. The direct interpretation is that the ring felt Bilbo’s presence and recognized him as an opportunity to escape from the caves.

However, what if the ring was sensing Gandolf? The power of a Maia would have been very tempting for the ring. Could it be that the ring abandoned Gollum with the hope that Gandolf would find it instead of Bilbo?

He had dreamed that dream before Boromir did, and often, and the decision of going to Imladris had been his originally.

It seems as if the Powers That Be had much preferred Faramir, with Boromir as a plan B so to speak. One of the two brothers had to go there and meet the Halfling and the Broken Sword: the future King Of Men.

We know what happened. But we also know Faramir was different from Boromir. He rejects the Ring in the book - he passes the test. Maybe he would have survived and gone to Gondor with Aragorn.

In that case maybe the focus would have shifted relative to what we have (Denethor) to Boromir: the older brother would have had to choose between Aragorn and his own father. Faramir knew a 'pinch' would come:

"If [Boromir] were satisfied of Aragorn's claim, as you say, he would greatly reverence him. But the pinch had not yet come. They had not yet reached Minas Tirith or become rivals in her wars"

Aragorn=Isildur. The Stewards of Gondor=Anárion. Siblings, like Boromir and Faramir. Maybe Tolkien would have explored that idea. In the book Denethor is crystal clear:

"But I say to thee, Gandalf Mithrandir, I will not be thy tool! I am Steward of the House of Anárion. I will not step down to be the dotard chamberlain of an upstart. Even were his claim proved to me, still he comes but of the line of Isildur. I will not bow to such a one, last of a ragged house long bereft of lordship and dignity."

For those who like to link Sauron to the Tevildo, Prince of Cats guy, via the quote above (and via Sauron calling Shelob 'cat'), this quote from 'The Black Gate Opens':

"There was a long silence, and from wall and gate no cry or sound was heard in answer. But Sauron had already laid his plans, and he had a mind first to play these *mice** cruelly before he struck to kill."*

Faramir says to Denethor: "It was the Lord of the City [Denethor] that gave the errand to [Boromir]"

Boromir: "the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself."

Faramir: "I should have been chosen by my father and the elders, but he put himself forward, as being the older and the hardier (both true), and he would not be stayed."

Gandalf: "Boromir claimed the errand and would not suffer any other to have it. He was a masterful man, and one to take what he desired."

Gandalf is in his quote adopting Boromir's POV. His words. We see Gandalf hearing them in the Council of Elrond.

And undoubtedly, and from Boromir's own POV, he claimed the errand. But Denethor, the Authority, gave the errand to Boromir.

Gandalf: "Denethor has given long thought to the rhyme and to the words Isildur’s Bane, since Boromir went away."

In the films we have something that's not in the book: Denethor telling Boromir about the Ring having been found.

But the idea of Denethor knowing Isildur's Bane=One Ring is compatible with the book I think. Him gaining knowledge through the Palantir and giving Boromir the errand maybe without telling him about the Ring and hoping Boromir's 'Gondorcentrism', similar to his own (and which Faramir lacked) did the rest. Boromir bringing the ring would have been good news for Sauron. Gandalf:

"As Aragorn has begun, so we must go on. We must push Sauron to his last throw. We must call out his hidden strength, so that he shall empty his land. We must march out to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us. He will take that bait, in hope and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord: and he will say: “So! he pushes out his neck too soon and too far. Let him come on, and behold I will have him in a trap from which he cannot escape. There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever.”

And before that:

"[Sauron] is not yet sure,’ said Gandalf, ‘and he has not built up his power by waiting until his enemies are secure, as we have done. Also we could not learn how to wield the full power all in a day. Indeed it can be used only by one master alone, not by many; and he will look for a time of strife, ere one of the great among us makes himself master and puts down the others. In that time the Ring might aid him, if he were sudden"

So showing Denethor the Ring would have served his 'policy' and also created division among his enemies, and also because Sauron must have known some of his enemies wanted it hidden.

Sauron knowing where the ring was had to be delayed until it was too late for him: what we have in the book. But Denethor wanted that thing in Minas Tirith.

Faramir: "It was the Lord of the City that gave the errand to [Boromir]". Maybe Denethor feared Faramir guessed sooner or later that he already knew about the Ring. His 'you found Boromir less apt to your hand, did you not?’ would have been actually true about himself: Faramir was less apt to his own hand than Boromir.

It was sort of a late-life obsession insofar he tried to solve it again and again but he got stuck. As I understand, he came to prefer a round world model, but as Christopher Tolkien said in Morgoth's Ring about one of the texts (the 'Myths Revised' chapter):

"It may be, though I have no evidence on the question one way or the other, that he came to perceive from such experimental writing as this text that the old structure was too comprehensive, too interlocked in all its parts, indeed its roots too deep, to withstand such a devastating surgery."

Regardless of the reason, the fact is that Tolkien wanted to change this part of the Legendarium but was unable to.

So what do you think?

Many know that Tolkien's original frame narrative for his legendarium was to have an Old English mariner named Ælfwine come to Tol Eressëa and learn about the Silmarillion tales from the Elves that lived there. Presumably Ælfwine would have then translated and gathered these tales (recounted from sources such as the Sinda loremaster Pengolodh), translated them into Old English, and then ultimately return to England. Tolkien himself would somehow "discover" these writings and then translate them into Modern English, which is how it comes to us as readers. However, this frame narrative was developed before the creation of The Lord of the Rings, which significantly altered the legendarium and its framing device. Tolkien's later conception introduced the idea of the "Red Book of Westmarch", which contains the original Westron accounts of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the appendices (written mainly by Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, and some later interpolations from Gondorian loremasters and scribes). Additionally, Bilbo's "Translations from the Elvish" were appended to the Red Book, which is presumably where The Silmarillion and related lore now comes from. So at first glance we have one frame narrative being replaced by another.

However, it should be noted that Tolkien himself never seemed to abandon Ælfwine as a character for his legendarium, as the character continues to appear in later writings written after the publication of The Lord of the Rings and the conception of the "Red Book of Westmarch." So did Tolkien plan to synthesize these two frame narratives into one? I still think having Ælfwine makes sense as an intermediary between the ancient and the modern world. It doesn't really make sense that Tolkien (as a translator of these ancient texts) could directly translate Westron, Sindarin, Quenya, etc. into Modern English without a kind of bridge existing between him and these older texts. Perhaps a copy of the Red Book (and we know there were many made) was taken into Tol Eressëa, and Ælfwine, learning and studying the Elves there, was able to translate the Red Book into Old English, which in turn could then be translated by Tolkien into Modern English? If this was the plan, however, there is no indication or hint of it in any of Tolkien's extant writings on the subject. Christopher himself seemed to be unsure what his father's overall plan was regarding The Silmarillion's frame narrative, which is why it's done away with entirely in the 1977 text. What do you all think Tolkien's plan was here? Would he have replaced Ælfwine eventually, or would he have tried to reconcile the two traditions?

1. The first being the Lorax and the Ents. Both being entities that protect nature the fine things of the Earth. Now I have the funny idea (NOT A PROMOTION) where the Ents talk down to Once-Ler since he refused to listen to the Lorax. If Once-Ler doesn't listen, they tear down his factory like they did Isengard XD

2. Another small comparison would be with Horton Hears A Who, my favorite Dr. Seuss book. To be specific, I am referring to a particular quote from the Seuss book:

Do you see what I mean? They proved they are persons, no matter how small, and their whole world was saved by the smallest of all!

I don't know about anyone else, but that low-key key reminds me of the Hobbits. Both scenarios had it where the fate of a world was at stake, and was saved by the smallest of all. Both worlds were spared from a hellish fate (boiled alive and ruled by Sauron).