I thought it would be good to have a thread where people can ask questions pertaining to the books. and to start this thread off my question is, is glorfindel of rivendale the same as glorfindel of gondolin? I have read other internet sites that argue it both ways, but i was reading Return of the Shadow (history of middle earth) and it said that it was intended that he was one in the same (i will check it tonight so i can site a page number) and that mandos had released him back to middle earth. So basically what is everybodies thoughts and are there any other refrences either way on the subject.
k here is what i found in "Return of the Shadow" page 214-215. this is taking place just before the council of elrond- "glorfindel tells of his ancestory in gondolin" years later, long after the publication of LOTR, my father gave a great deal of thought to the matter of glorfindel, and at that time he wrote "in LOTR is one of the cases of somewhat random use of the names found in the older legends, now referred to as the silmarillion, which escaped reconsideration in the final published form of LOTR". He came to the conclusion that glorfindel of gondolin, who fell to his death in combat with a balrog after the sack of the city, and glorfindel of rivendale were one in the same: he was release from mandos and returned to middle earth in the second age" -Christopher Tolkien
this makes me wonder if there is other info about it (i think Christopher refers to a letter) and second why glorfindel and not others such as ecthelion?
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
interesting, so i guess if i am reading it right when LOTR was written they were not intended to be the same character (nor was it even really thought about). Later on tolkien gave much thought to it and finally determined that they were one in the same. I still havent found the last 3 books in the history of middle earth except on the internet and they are hardback. guess i am going to have to try harder to find them!
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
k next question, this seemed a little far fetched to me but i had read (again on the internet) that thranduil and legolas were in gondolin and escaped the sack of the city. i find this far fetched, but maybe there ancestory is from there or something. Is there any literature that pertains to this?
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
From the looks of it that seems quite impossible. After reading bios for Legolas, Thranduil, and Oropher (Legolas' grandfather), it seems that they never dwelt in Gondolin, but were Sindarin elves from the country of Lindon who traveled eastward to found their forest kingdom. Lindon was in the north-west, while Gondolin was in the south.
Ya, i complete agree, very unlikely. It was kind of a stupid question but i had read it in a forum like this and i thought it would be kind of cool if there was any support for it. I was hoping more people would be posting questions. this is a great resource and there are some people here who really know there stuff. Im the only one posting any questions!!! well heres another one. Is there any literature that confirms or denies that balrogs have wings?
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
another question, i am so full of them. where do dragons come from? it is said that morgoth couldnt create anything new but only in mokery of other creatures. orcs were in mockery of elves, trolls in mockery of ents. So where do dragons fit in? mockery of the eagles? or maybe they were mair like balrogs? hopefully Ush will get in on this, he knows his stuff.
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
I'm pretty sure that Balrogs have wings. It says so in the book, unless the Balrog is stretching his arms to full wingspan, which would seem pretty stupid and wouldn't make sense, because then it would be called armspan or something like that.
Hmm, dragons, dragons, dragons...I'll be right back...
i have a question, are there any drawings of balrogs besides the one from morgoth
__________________ Where is the Horse and the Rider?
Where was the horn that was blowing?
They have passed liked rain on the mountains.
Like Wind in the Meadows.
The days have gone down in the west.
Pella i amoni tenn' lumbule
Well I know there is a big contreversy over whether balrogs have wings or not and i think the main cause for it is that there isnt any literature supporting it either way. I was hoping that perhaps C. tolkien had published something about it and if anyone in this forum can quote the information.
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
There is a little text that conferms it. I think that was the idea anyway.
EoA says that the origin of dragons is unknown. Glaurung was issued from the gates of Angband, so it is either one of Morgoth's creatures or he corrupted some grand thing.
WELL I AM HOPIN THAT SOMEONE CAN SITE A REFRENCE FOR BALROGS AND WINGS, AND WHERE DRAGONS COME FROM. THEY ARENT SOMETHING MORGOTH JUST CREATED SINCE HE CANT DO THAT SO IT MUST BE SOMETHING HE CURUPTED.
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and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
Corrupted creature seems more likely, and it makes you wonder if at some point dragons were consider grand and beautiful things instead of terrifying monsters that look at you with a look that says "You look tasty...I wonder if you're good when turned into charcoal..."
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Mar 25th, 2003 11:27 PM
