other minds issue #03 2008-06-01

8/4/2019 Other Minds Issue #03 2008-06-01

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Unless otherwise noted, every contribution in this magazine is published under the

CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (b n a)The exact license of a given contribution can be found at the beginning of each contribution.

Other MindsMagazineIssue 3

May 2008PublisherOther Minds Volunteers

Editors Assistant Editors

Hawke Robinson Chris Seeman

Thomas Morwinsky Chris Wade

Proofreaders Art Director

Neville Percy Hawke Robinson

Oliver Schick

Thom Denholm Production StaffHawke Robinson Thomas Morwinsky

Hawke Robinson

ContentMain Features

2 Editorial Third time is a charm

5 Of Barrow-wights Part TwoNeville Percy

9 J.R.R. Tolkien, Words, Phrases &Passages in The Lord of the Rings - AGame Designers Guide to ParmaEldalamberon 17

Chris Seeman

15 The Rings of Power history andabilities

Thomas Morwinsky

31 The PalantriChris Seeman

34 The Guild of Venturers and theNmenrean colonies

Eric Dubourg

Other Features

43 Fine print

44 Creative Commons license

Supplement: Umbar-dalad (UnderUmbar)

Hawke Robinson

Next Issues featured theme will beDwarves

submission deadline is:July 1st 2008


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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINE

First and foremost: We are very late! Sever-al real-life reasons, technical problems andother responsibilities have delayed Other Minds#3 well beyond its original schedule. Despitethat, we are still here and this is a goodthing.

Now what you see before you is the third is-sue ofOther Minds! And that alone is a causefor celebration. By now we have a small butsteady stream of contributions, so that themagazine slowly works in the way we want itto be: A broad forum for various visions andinterpretations of Middle-earth.

Compared to Issue #2, this incarnation ofOther Minds may seem as a hodgepodge ofthemes, but this diversity is deliberate. Wewant to have a healthy mix of themed andfree issues. For either of these, its mostlyyour active input that influences our decisions.If you want to see certain specific theme treat-ed of Middle-earth treated in our pages over awhole issue, please make workable suggestionshow to fill it. If we do not get specific sugges-tions backed up by fitting contributions (ordrafts that illustrate your point), we will makethematic issues according to what we deem

best.

This is in no way a rant about missing con-

tributions quite the contrary! As said above,we do get fine submissions. We only want tomake clear that you as our readers and con-tributors may also shape the content of themagazine! Commit yourself and you might seeyour pet theme treated in great depth!

So far, for some general musings, what wehave in the pages of Other Minds this time is in our opinion a great mix of various topics:

ContentWe are glad to announce that we indeed

have a good range of contributions rangingfrom the very scholarly to the more gaming-and practically-related.

We start with Neville Percys second part ofhis treatment of the Barrow-wights. Thismakes a fine final chapter on this topic. Wethink that with the Barrow-wights completelydiscussed, few questions concerning Tolkiensideas and inspirations for these creatures re-main unanswered. This comprehensive treat-ment is the perfect base for further more

role-playing-oriented elaborations on the is-sue.

Second comes a highly insightful review ofthe latest issue of the Parma Eldalamberon,dealing with Tolkiens invented languages.Chris Seeman provides us with the most inter-esting parts that concern RPG issues. This

brings us much in the way of new first-handinformation on the Northwest of Middle-earth. Some of this conflicts with establishedRPG canons, while others shed light on somerarely touched topics. In either case, this ex-cellent read is a real jewel for every Tolkienenthusiast.

Our third contribution is an extensive essayabout the Rings of Power by co-editor ThomasMorwinsky their purpose, history and even-tual fate. Many of this may seem obvious, buta lot of misconceptions both by RPG andmovie sources suggest some interpretationsdistinctly different from Tolkiens intentions.We hope you find this treatise as informativeas we do.

To make a good thing even better, ChrisSeeman is present with a second contribution

this time he provides us with a combined es-say on the academic aspects ofthepalantri plus stats for their

use in Deciphers Lord of theRings Role-playing Game. Weare happy to have a contribu-tion that applies to both of ourtarget audiences the moreacademically-minded as wellas the gamers.

Last but not least of the sub-missions for this essay comesEric Dubourgs essay on theGuild of Venturers and theNmenrean colonies in Mid-dle-earth. It should have been

published already in our previ-ous issue, but unfortunately, itcould not be made ready intime. Now we catch up withthat and hope that with all theessays on the Nmenrean ac-tivities now available includ-ing the present one there isa sound basis for more workthat builds on these!

Last but not leastNot all has gone well in the past months,and you might have noticed that not every-

thing that was announced in the last issue hasmaterialized as promised. This applies both tothe Usw Nmenorello supplement as well as therating option for all Other Minds issues on thewebsite. Please accept our apologies for thesedelays. The rating form is now finished at last.Please log in on the Other Minds website. Theimage below shows the position of the link(green circle) on the website once you arelogged in. The more ratings that are given foreach issue and contribution, the better theoverall picture will be. All of you can help us

to make Other Minds ever better by giving us agood picture of what you like best.

We will provide a comprehensive statistic inone of the next issues, once the number of rat-ings allow a reasonably resilient analysis of thedata. The more ratings we get, the better!

Thomas MorwinskyMay 2008

2

Editorial: Third time is a charm


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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200Addendum

An additional number of notes. Many thanksto Thomas for stepping up with so much hardwork and long hours dealing with technicaland content issues. He really was the key tothis issue actually getting completed.

As for the Escape From Nmenor (Usw

Nmenorello) module, a (nearly finished) re-lease is now available, basically an entire issuebehind. It still has some rough spots and is awork in progress, but you can download thelatest snapshot from http://www.numenor-project.com.

Eventually, with the help of feedback fromreaders, a fully polished and finished versionwill materialize and be integrated with theprinted version of Other Minds magazine Issue#2. Hopefully this will materialize beforeMerpCon IV.

We are really hoping to get a module sub-

mission for OM4 in time, that fits the Dwar-ven theme coming up with the next issue. So ifyou have such a campaign or adventure, pleasesubmit it as soon as possible to your trustedpublishers!

In conjunction with Other MindsMagazine Is-sue 3, I have made available MerpCon II'scampaign Umbar-dalan (Under Umbar). Iwas tempted to submit the MerpCon III mod-ule First Contact, but it is a massive cam-paign, and needs some cleanup before release.Maybe it will come OM6. Of course, whatwed really like to see is modules submitted

from everyone else, so please start sending inyour adventure modules, with any theme orsetting in E, so we can start lining them upfor upcoming issues.

There are many significant functionality im-provements coming soon to the website aswell. In addition to Thomas mentioning ofthe Survey forms (please send any bugs, sug-gestions or problem reports to [email protected]) , an additional feature com-ing up very soon includes forums that will linkwith email notification, and subscribing to anypiece of content to be notified of any changesor comments (this goes beyond typical RSSsubscription feeds, though that is already sup-ported on the website). Please watch the web-site for notifications.

There is also a dedicated chat room for people who like real time conversations, so pleaseswing by the website and click the Chatroom link on the left to join with any Java-enabled web browser.

The upcoming issue #4 of OM is meant tocorrespond with being released at MerpConIV. In this spirit, we are attempting to have

the magazine theme correspond with the con-vention theme of Dwarves (seehttp://www.merpcon.org for more detailson the convention). So if you have ANY topicrelated to Tolkien's Dwarves, please startsending in your submissions as soon as possi-

ble. Send email to [email protected] if you only have a rough outline, lettingus know will help, so please don't be shy!

Finally, we could really use some moreartwork submissions to the magazine, soplease, if you have any content you thinkwould fit any issue, don't hesitate to contact u

and send your works.Many thanks to everyone for all their sup-

port in making this magazine better with eachissue!

Hawke RobinsonMay 200


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4

Baruk Khazd!Baruk Khazd! Khazd ai mnu!Khazd ai mnu!MerpCon (Middle-earth Role Playing Convention) is the only annual non-commercial, non-profit, internationalconvention focused exclusively on role playing gaming in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

With guest speaker:John D. Rateliffauthor ofThe History of The Hobb it.Limited seating is available, so be sure to register today!

Yes. It is what so many have been clamoring for: Dwarven adventure!This year's convention theme is focused on the oft misunderstood race,Dwarves.

Each year many of the participants at MerpCon have asked, nay, plead for Dwarven adventures. We have heard yourplea. And so it has finally come to pass. The theme for MerpCon IV, 2008 will be Dwarven adventure. Now, those of you

who are not quite so enthusiastic about Dwarves, need not fret. This does not mean everyone will be forced to play a Dwarf

character. It merely means the campaigns/adventures will have something of particular relevance to the Dwarves. We havemultiple Game Masters with specific campaigns in mind, chomping at the bit (or is that beard?).

MerpCon IV's theme also corresponds to the release of Other Minds Magazine Issue 4 (http://www.omzine.org ) being

Dwarven themed as well. This year's event takes place on the last weekend ofJuly (25th, 26th &-27th), Friday, Saturday and Sunday.The online RSVP form is now available to register.

http://www.merpcon.org/rsvp/

This event is held each year in scenic Spokane, Washington, USA.This is a completely volunteer-run and free event open to the public.Visit our website, join the forums and announcement lists,chat room or email us for any questions at:www.merpcon.org


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ISSUE 2, JANUARY 200

by Neville Percy 2008per the terms of the CC license: b n a1

In Other Minds, Issue 1 we published an excellentessay on the Barrow-wights. While being really

good in itself (and especially in the applied sense),

it was not wholly complete. This fact was also ad-dressed in the essay itself, expressing the hope to

place a follow-up later.

Now, here you see this follow-up before you. It ismuch more academic in style, dealing with thesources available to Tolkien, and that he perhaps

used to create his Barrow-wights. It makes clearthat these creatures had some models but that theyare highly original too.

If you ever wanted to know how Tolkien came tohis Barrow-wights, this one is for you!

Historical Sources andthe evolution of conceptsTolkien disliked analysis of the influences of

his own life on his work, but he found hissources in the things that interested him andwould surely have approved of other peoplefinding pleasure in the same things.

We know from his lectures in Beowulf: theMonsters and the Critics that Tolkien was famil-iar with the work of Andrew Lang, the gentle-

man credited with coining the term "Bar-rowwight" (sic):

In Nomenclature Tolkien writesthat barrow-wights are creaturesdwelling in a barrow grave-mound.... It is an inventedname....2 But the Oxford EnglishDictionary attributes the first use ofthis word combination to AndrewLang, in Essays in Little (1891): Inthe graves where treasures werehoarded the Barrowwights dwelt,

ghosts that were sentinels over thegold. The Lord of the Rings: AReaders Companion,Hammond and Scull

As a leading professor of Old and MiddleEnglish, Tolkien must have had at least as finea sensibility for the connotations of barrow-wight as Lang himself. The Oxford EnglishDictionarygives wight several glosses:

Wight (w it), sb. arch. [OE.wiht = OS., OHG., MHG. wiht,ON. vttr, vtr, Goth. waiht(ni...waiht nothing); ulteriorconnexions unc. Cf. AUGHT, NAUGHT,NOUGHT.] 1. A living being; acreature 1587. b. orig. and chieflywith (good or bad) epithet, applied tosupernatural, preternatural, or

unearthly beings. Obs. or rare arch.OE. 2.A human being, man orwoman, person. Now arch. or dial.(often implying contempt orcommiseration). ME. 3. In advb.

phrases, qualified by no, any, a littleor the like: (A certain) amount; for(any, a little etc.) time or distance. 1470.

Wight (w it), a. (adv.) arch. anddial. ME. [a. ON. vgt, neur. ofvgr of fighting age, skilled in arms,

f. OTeut. *w g-, (waig-, wig-), as inOE. wg battle, fight, wiga warrior.]1. Of persons, actions, etc.: Strongand courageous, esp. in warfare;having or showing prowess; valiant,doughty, bold. 2. Strong, vigorous,robust, stalwart; exercising strength,energetic. ME. 3. Moving briskly orrapidly; active, agile; swift, fleet.late ME.

Shorter Oxford EnglishDictionary, 1936 (myunderlined emphasis)

The emphasized entry broadly defineswight as a supernatural or unearthly being: a

spirit, much as the Old Norse cognate vttr,seen in the Icelandic landvttirand sjvttir,the spirits of land and sea, and direct counter-parts of the alarspirit beings of Tolkiens owearly writings. The overall impression create

by the term wight, then, takes in the generaundefined sense of a fellow, almost the manin the mound, but also implying a supernatu-ral aspect and further drawing on the seconddefinition to imply a potent foe.

If Lang coined the term barrowwight, it

Of Barrow-wights

Part Two


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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEmust have been in reflection of the folkloretradition of ghostly, undead or supernatural

beings in the burial mounds of north-westernEurope. Faeries are associated with the hol-low hills, i.e. burial mounds, and traditionsfrom Ireland to Scandinavia often show con-siderable overlap between the faerie folk orelves and the spirits of the dead.3 But

grave-dwelling beings that stand in guardian-ship of the treasure in their mounds are moreof a Germanic than a Celtic tradition.

The word barrow comes to us from theOld English language spoken by the GermanicAngles and Saxons, in their OE word beorgthat meant a grave-mound or tumulus.4 Butthe Germanic peoples who arrived in Britainand found such mounds (in fact dating fromthe Neolithic period through to the lateBronze Age) framed them within their ownpagan tradition of raising grave-mounds fortheir chieftains, and the tradition that the deadin some way lived on within their barrows.

Details of the Anglo-Saxon tradition mustbe inferred from the broadly parallel OldNorse culture, of which far more has survivedto the present day, and in which the walkingdead are known as draugar5 and haugbar(liter-ally: howe-dwellers).6 Such beings are usu-ally described in the sagas as having been dis-tasteful in life: ill-mannered, ugly andodorous, often pagan (the sagas having beenChristianized by the time they were writtendown), or even sorcerers such as the witch-king Thrinn. They remained recognisablythe same person in death, unchanged unless

their unpleasant qualities became more exag-gerated. The howe-dwellers remained in theirmounds, only attacking treasure-seekers who

broke into their barrows. The draugar, how-ever, might either be raised from the battle-slain by sorcery to carry on the fight as un-dauntable warriors of immense strength whocould not be stopped by normal wounds, ormight be the unquiet dead leaving the grave tomaraud over the countryside during the hoursof darkness. They seem particularly to fight

by grappling with the saga-heroes (a bestial at-tribution or a device making for a more horrif-ic encounter; both are also equally true of Be-owulfs foe, the sometimes draugr-likeGrendel), and are often slain by beheadingwith a sword from their own barrow and their

bodies subsequently burnt.

Perhaps a dozen such figures exist in theOld Norse corpus, and Tolkien may reason-ably be expected to have known them all. In

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, BeorhthelmsSon (publ. 1953 but possibly written in the40s) he made a passing mention of a fearful

man imagining barrow-wights and bogies7 inthe darkness. Since this was Tolkien's offeringof a sequel to the Anglo-Saxons poem TheBattle of Maldon he clearly thought the termbarrow-wight an appropriate one for the An-glo-Saxons to have used themselves.

But the Barrow-wights ofThe Lord of theRings are also Tolkiens own creation. They

are neither haugbarsorcerers who went intothe grave on their own terms and somehowevaded the consequences of natural death, nordraugarwho were caused to rise again as theunquiet dead.

In line with the consciously Catholic world-view informing the metaphysics of Middle-earth, Tolkien allows nothing to interfere withthe passage of the souls of the deceased to theHalls of Mandos, and has their blasphemousanimation as the work of other, intrusive spir-its sent by the Lord of the Nazgl. This devicetherefore becomes a parallel of the medieval

Churchs explanations for the persistent folkbelief in the walking dead.

One of the Catholic Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon abbot lfric (d. circa 1020) stresses thefact that there is no true magical power ofnecromancy:

Witches still travel to where roads meetand to heathen graves with their illus-ory skill8 and call out to the devil andhe comes to them in the guise of the

person who lies buried there, as if hewould arise from the dead but shecannot really make it happen, that the

dead man should arise through herwizardry. quoted in Leechcraft, S. Pol-lington (Anglo-Saxon Books)(my bold emphasis)

It was the belief in the Middle Ages thatbodies buried in unconsecrated ground mightbe possessed by fiends and demons and sub-jected to all the indignities that their cavortingwould cause (including any damage to theircorpses handicapping their new bodies whenthey arose at Judgement Day). Tolkien ap-pears either to have adopted or independently

to have re-invented this explanation for thebelief that the dead can be made to walk again.

Beginning with this construct, Tolkienseems rather to have felt his way towards what'had to be' the nature of the Barrow-wights.The earliest notes for The Lord of the Rings hadthe intention to use Barrow-wights, whilst theBlack Riders were only introduced in "an un-premeditated turn" some way into its writing,

but in the early stages of development the twowere sufficiently close in conception that

Tolkien made this note to himself:

Barrow-wights related to Black-riders. Are Black-riders actuallyhorsed Barrow-wights?

Tom Bombadil in HoME VIp. 118, dating from early 1938

He was initially undecided as to which of

them were heard in the night outside thehouse of Tom Bombadil, and Elrond later says,The Barrow-wights I knew of, for they areclosely akin to the Riders.9 But the distinctnatures of the two subsequently emerged, andthe relationship between them came to be oneof allegiance rather than similarity, in that theLord of the Nazgl was responsible for thewights infesting the Barrow-downs.

A later draft includes an interesting notionthat the Nmenreans desire for immortalityled them (presumably via sorcery or necro-mancy) to a mode of Barrow-wightish undeathperhaps similar to that of the haugbar. ButTolkien subsequently rejected the passage thatincluded this:

The world has changed muchsince I [Elrond speaking] was last inthe West. The Barrow-wights weknew of by many names'17' [...]

'17' In a rejecteddraft of this passageElrond goes on: There are others elsewhere,wherever the men of Nmenor sought darkknowledge under the shadow of death inMiddle-earth, and they are akin to the[Ringwraiths].

The Council of Elrond (2),The Treason of Isengard p.

152 & 158 (my bold emphasis)Another rejected note proposed a scene in

which Barrow-wights pursued Bombadil andthe hobbits, but Bombadil turned and raisedhis right hand and they shrunk back. This isagain reminiscent of the later development ofthe Nazgl shrinking back when Frodo raisedhis sword and invoked Elbereth (though thesword being one of the ones from the barrow-hoard,

bound about with spellsfor the bane of Mordor

must also have been significant in that). Thegesture of the raised right hand also survivedinto the final version, where Bombadil used itwhen he commanded the hobbits to awaken.

Nothing further is written of the nature ofthe Barrow-wights as it emerged from thiscreative process, except in the text ofThe Lordof the Rings itself.

6


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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200Notes

1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

2 The full quotation reads:Barrow-wights. Creatures

dwelling in a barrow (grave-

mound); see Barrow under Place-names. It is an invented name: anequivalent should be invented. TheDutch translation has grafgeest'grave-ghost'; the Swedish hasKummelgast 'gravemound-ghost'.

JRR Tolkien, A[Translator's] Guide to theNames in the Lord of theRings

3 The episode in which hole-dwelling hob-bits, destined to fade and survive only as amythical little people, are opposed by amound-dwelling barrow-wight justaposesthe two poles of this blurred tradition.

4 barrow (2) mound, O.E. beorg(W.Saxon), berg (Anglian) hill, fromP.Gmc. *bergaz (cf. O.S., O.Fris., O.H.G.berg mountain, O.N. bjarg rock), fromPIE base *bheregh- high, elevated (cf.O.C.S. bregu mountain, height, O.Ir.brigh mountain, Skt. brhant high,O.Pers. bard- be high). Obsolete exceptin place-names and southwest Englanddialect by 1400; revived by archaeology.Barrow-wight first recorded 1891.http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?

term=barrow5 In origin the ON. word draugr (pl.-ar) wasrelated to the word for dream and meantghost or phantom, but the Norseconception of these dead is very much asphysical beings:

... it is clear that the haunting isdone by the actual dead body itself,which leaves its gravemound and is

possessed of superhuman strength andunlimited malice. When the body isdestroyed, the power of the draugr isat an end.

HR Ellis, The Road to Hel,

p. 94They are sometimes described as death-

black or corpse-blue, which finds anoteworthy echo in Tolkiens SindarinDraugluin, combining draug and -luin, or

blue. (Noted by Michael Martinez.)6 The O.N. word haugr survives in the

modern howe, and is notably close toTolkien's Sindarin elvish haudh for burialmound.

7 Bombadil Goes Boating also has the line:

We dont let Forest-folk norbogies from the Barrows crossover Brandywine... (my emphasis)

8 The word translated as illusory skill isgedwimore, familiar to us as the precursor ofTolkiens dwimmerlaik.

9 In The House of Elrond, The Return of the

Shadow, HoME VI, p. 401

7


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8

Ambarquenta is a role-playing game specifically designed for J.R.R. Tolkiens legendary land of Middle-earth.In this effort, it is our goal to produce a game system that is all at once enjoyable, flexible, balanced, and playable, but we also strive to remain true to Tolkiensshining literary examples.Ambarquenta (meaning Tale of Fate in Quenya or High-elvish) aims at experienced roleplayers who desire a complex, yet intuitively

comprehendible set of rules which provides hooks for the Turambar (i.e., the Gamemaster) to develop his stories, instead of distracting from them.At the time being, preview release 5.0 is available for download from our website, located at www.ambarquenta.com.It comes as a 214-page PDF-document, containing all chapters on character creation. To open and print this eBook and future preview releases, youll need totype the password, ambarmeldor (meaning Friends of Fate in Quenya).The current preview version ofAmbarquenta features a brief Introduction to the games mechanics, and chapters on Your Characters Tale (1), Attributes (2),Races and Cultures (3), Skills (4), Abilities and Flaws (5), Weapons and Gear (6), Finishing Touches (7), Character Improvement (8) and Adventuring (9). Inaddition, Appendix A introduces you to the optional concept of everyday Occupations.With a little creativity to f ill in the gaps and the convenient Microsoft-Excel-based character sheet (also available for download from www.ambarquenta.com), anexperienced group of gamers should well be able to start a game ofAmbarquenta; in any case youll get an excellent impression of the games mechanics andfeatures from the preview. Expect detailed chapters dealing with Combat (10), Magic (11), prominent (NPC) Lords of Middle-earth (12), a Bestiary (13), andappendices on various topics such as herbs and poisons and creature design in future versions ofAmbarquenta.Wed greatly appreciate to learn what you think about the published material, and, of course, about your ideas for improving the games existing and completingits missing chapters. The best way to get in touch with us and our friends who are involved in the design process ofAmbarquenta is to discuss your ideas andsuggestions in the Heren Turambarions forum, located at http://ambarquenta.tt.cx.

Design PrinciplesWhile downloading the rulebook, you might be interested to learn a little more about our design principles: First,Ambarquenta is a fairly realistic game. Ofcourse there will be magic spells (as well as other forms of magic) and everything else a fair Middle-earth RPG requires, but certain conditions of real worldphysics are still represented by the system. Hence, it isnt the kind of game in which you can create ridiculously overpowered starting characters, or ever hope to

become a cinematic superhero.The second principle is playability, and this frequently overrules realism. The most accurate combat system isnt worth a penny if it makes a simple encounterlast for hours, or (and this was even more important to us when we decided to write an RPG ourselves) if the Turambar has to keep too many details in mind.Thus, realism governs the character creation and improvement process, while playability dominates the actual game play. So prepare for fast-moving play-rulesthat are far more realistic and satisfying than those you may know from many other major roleplaying games.Another important element is flexibility. A character has the opportunity to learn or practise almost any skill or ability, without the usual limitations by abstractconcepts such as levels, character classes, or character points. Nevertheless, by the systems inherent mechanics, your character will show a unique pattern fromthe beginning on, a personal aptitude towards being whatever you want him to be...THE HEREN TURAMBARIONCreators ofAmbarquentaeMail [email protected] www.ambarquenta.comForum http://ambarquenta.tt.cx


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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200

by Chris Seeman 2008([email protected])

per the terms under CC license: b n a1

Tolkiens linguistic writings contain a wealth ofdata concerning Middle-earth that can enrich virtu-ally every aspect of game design: history, topo-

graphy, culture, nomenclature, magic and meta-physics. Much of the excitement (and frustration) ofthis largely untapped corpus is the fact that it isstill being published as we speakyears after the

final volume of the History of Middle-earth serieshit the shelves. The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship(http://www.elvish.org/) has been responsible forthe vast majority of these publications, authorized

by the Tolkien Trust and prepared with the approv-al of Christopher Tolkien. The most recent labor, a220-page tome entitled Words, Phrases & Passagesin The Lord of the Rings (henceforth WPP), was

published last year as issue 17 of Parma Eldalam-beron.

ApproachLike all of Tolkiens linguistic output, WPP

is a complex document. It consists of a list ofinvented words appearing in the publishedLotR, annotated by extensive commentary.To this the editor, Christopher Gilson, has ap-pended an alphabetical index of Eldarin rootsTolkien composed around the same time asWPP proper (ca. 1957-1967). The result isdense and often highly technical. It is not forthe feint-hearted. The multiple layers ofchanging interpretation (sometimes left unre-solved) can be confusing, and isolated gems ofinformation are often buried beneath materialnot directly relevant to game design.

Given these and other formidable challengesto using WPP, I have undertaken to compilehere a preliminary laundry-list of what seemto me the most valuable items from a gamedesign perspective, along with some of my

own suggestions as to their significance or im-plications. Consider what follows the Read-ers Digest version for the uninitiated. Itshould be noted, however, that not all detailsfound in WPP can automatically be treated asTolkiens definitive statement on the subjectwithout first undertaking a thorough study ofhis other late (post-LotR) writings. What I of-fer here should be regarded as an invitation tofurther research and creative application, sincethe length of the original text cannot be com-prehensively summarized in such a short trea-tise as this one

I organize the items below into five broadtopical categories: 1) place names (toponyms),2) personal names, 3) gentilic names (namesof peoples), 4) theology & metaphysics, and 5)miscellany. Beside each item I list the page(s)in WPP where this entry appears.

I. Place NamesAkallabth (111)Because the tale bearing this title is about

the Downfall of Nmenor,Akallabth hassometimes been glossed as Downfall. This isan error. Here Tolkien supplies an explicitgloss: (she that has) Downfallen.

Akallabth is the name of the sunken island it-self, not the event that caused it to sink.

Arnor (28)

Tolkien glossesArnoras Kings Land (in-terpreting it as a reduced, colloquial form ofQ.Arandre, S.Arannor). The name reflectsthe fact that this was the most important ofElendils realms, and was intended to distin-guish that realm from the Blue Mountains andLindon, the parts of Eriador which wereElvish (i.e., under Elven rule).

What, then, was the zone of Nmenreansettlement in Eriador called prior to Elendilsroyal claim to it in SA 3320? Tolkien reveals

9

J.R.R. Tolkien, Words, Phrases & Passages inThe Lord of the RingsA Game Designers Guide toParma Eldalamberon 17The Tolkien

Email ListThe eldest of the lists

This Tolkien discussion group has existed sincethe

First Age before the world was made round.....

Join and contribute

Our list has existed since the late 1990s with

many members who have been here for years

beyond count....

Now we have moved to Google and have become

a private Google Group.

To request to subscribe to this group, please visit

the following page:

http://groups.google.com/group/tolkien_list/subs

cribe?hl=en-GB

or contact [email protected]

(Elena Rossi, Listowner)


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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEthat Arnor was also referred to by [a]nothername that soon fell out of general colloquialuse: (Realm of the) North-harbourage(Q. Turmen Follondiva; for short: Forolondi(Follondi); S. (Arthor [artaure] na) Forlonnas)in contrast to Gondor, (Realm of the) South-harbourage. (See Gondor entry below.)Tolkien does not specify when this colloquial-

ism first emerged. The prefix, Realm, wouldseem to presuppose Elendils claim. However,one might speculate that the pre-DownfallNmenrean settlement zones of Eriador andBelfalas Bay had, in fact, been called North-harbourage and South-harbourage, and thatElendil and his followers embraced thisnomenclature, adapting it to the new politicalsituation by simply prefacing these traditionaldesignations with (Royal) Realm of

This hypothesis is favored by the fact thatNmenrean settlement of the northwest ofMiddle-earth began on the coasts at port-towns like Lond Daer, Tharbad and Pelargir(however far inland it may eventually have ex-tended). In the absence of evidence to the con-trary, then, I propose the regions associatedwith these Nmenrean havens would have

been designated, respectively, Dor na For-lonnas and Dor na Challonnas.

The Sindarin forms are preferable, in keep-ing with the attested examples of Nmenreantoponyms in Middle-earth. Vinyalondis, ofcourse, Quenya; but that was subsequentlychanged to Sindarin Lond Daer. (The Quenyaforms Tolkien offers here may be purely forthe sake of linguistic comparison, or they may

reflect the forms post-Downfall learnedworks, written in Quenya, would have usedwhen referring to these colloquialisms.)

Azanulbizar/Nanduhirion (37)Tolkien glosses these toponyms as Vale of

Dim Streams.

Dol Baran (86)This outlier of Methedras, bounding the

Vale of Angrenost on the southwest, has oftenbeen interpreted to mean Brown Hill (ana-lyzing the second element as the same baranfound in Baranduin; cf. HoMe V). Here, how-ever, Tolkien glosses it as Naked Hill orBare Hill (fromparan, derived from the El-darin root PAR peel).

In another (unconnected) entry, Tolkienremarks that the element dolwas typicallyapplied to hills that did not have a sharp apex.

Dol Guldur (36)The fact that Tolkien supplies Dol Guldur as

an illustration of the tendency for dolnot to beused with reference to hills or mountains that

had a sharp apex (see above) would seemproblematic for ICEs topographical interpre-tation of Amon Lanc as a volcano crowned bya steep cinder cone.

Dorwinion (54)Tolkien analyzes this toponym as Sindarin,

but offers two mutually exclusive glosses:

Young-land Country or Land of Gwinion (thelatter presumably to be interpreted as a per-sonal name). Of this region, he comments:These statements belong to a much lengthierdiscussion of Sindarin impact upon the Nan-dorin populations of Rhovanion (See SilvanElves below.)

It was probably far south downthe River Running, and its Sindarinname a testimony to the spread ofSindarin: in this case expectable sincethe cultivation of vines was notknown originally to the Nandor or

Avari.

Gondor (28)Tolkien reiterates here the origin of this to-

ponym (Stone-land) in the monumentalbuilding projects undertaken by Elendils sons(Osgiliath, Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, An-grenost/Orthanc, etc.). It is clear, then, thatthe lands adjoining the White Mountainswould not have been called Gondorprior to SA3320.

A solution is now possible. Paralleling hisremarks onArnor(see above), Tolkien identi-fies the older name of this region as Realmof the South-harbourage (Q. Turmen Hyal-londiva; short: Hyaralondi (Hyallondi); S.

Arthor na Challonnas). In concert with my pro-posal regardingArnor, then, I suggest the zoneof Nmenrean habitation amidst the landswatered by the White Mountains would have

been called Dor na Challonnas prior to SA3320.

This would not, of course, have been ap-plied to all regions that subsequently becameGondor; only to those core territories occu-pied prior to the expansionist conquests of theShip-kings (more or less Lebennin, centered on

the haven of Pelargir, possibly including por-tions ofLossarnach, and perhaps the northwest-ern extremities of what would later be desig-nated Harondoras well). Lands further westwould have been called Belfalas,Anfalas and

Andrast during the Second Age.

Haudh-in-Gwanr (116)No startling new revelations. Just a confir-

mation of the expected gloss: Mound (insward) of (pair of) Twins.

Helevorn (37)Tolkien interprets this Sindarin form as

hele(dh)vorn, black glass, as a translation ofKhuzdul Narag-zram (*black-lake; cf. Mir-rormere and Mordor below).

Isengard/Angrenost (32-33)Tolkien remarks that the sense of iron

(isen/angen) in this toponym derives from thegreat hardness of the stone of the fortressenclosing wall. It would seem to follow fromthis that the name of the river flowing past thefortress (and emptying into the Sea, dividingthe coasts of Andrast and Enedhwith) wouldprobably have had a different name prior toIsildur and Anarions construction of An-grenost sometime after SA 3320. The inter-pretation given by Tolkien here, in any case,would rule out the theory that the River An-gren (or its source, Methedras) was rich iniron.

Khazad-dm (35)Prior to the Elves renaming Khazad-dm

Moria in TA 1981, they had called it Hadho-drond(the Sindarin equivalent to Dwar-rowdelf). This version can be found in TheSilmarillion (ch. Of the Sindarand Of the Rings ofPower and the Third Age). Another renditionmight be Domhabaras another version (per-haps dialect). Real-life experiences with sever-al similar names for the same thing might be amodel here.

Lothlrien (48)

Tolkien explains the Nandorin name,Lriand/Lrinand, as alluding to Galadrielsintroduction ofmallorn trees into that region(interpreting the lrelement as golden [incolor]). From this he concludes that the re-gion must have been called something else pri-or to Galadriels arrival during the mid-Sec-ond Age. He identifies Lindri(n)and, Valeof Land of the Singers, as its original name.

In identifying Galadriel as the individual re-sponsible for introducing mallorns into the re-gion, Tolkien notes that their seeds came as agift from Gil-galad, who had the seed fromEressea (by way of Nmenor). See also Un-

finished Tales for more discussion on the vari-ous names of this land.

Mirrormere (35, 37)Tolkien identifies Nen Cenedril, (literally,

Lake Looking-glass), as the Sindarin transla-tion of Kheled-zram (which probably meansglass-pool or glass-lake). He goes on to saythat the actual Sindarin word for glass,heledh, was actually a loan from Khuzdulkheled. Thus, cenedrilliterally means looking-

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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200crystal, since [t]here was no common Eldarinword for glass.

Mordor (37)In connection with his etymology for

Helevorn (see above), Tolkien indicates thatthe Khuzdul name for Mordor was Nargn(NRG being the consonantal root for black,

-n presumably contributing the meaning ofland).

Narog (37)Tolkien regards this river-name as probably

of Dwarven origin, analyzing it as an Elvenadaptation of Khuzdul Narg (*black[-river]). Presumably this would have been be-stowed upon the river by the Petty-dwarves.

Nrnen (87)Tolkien glosses Nrnen as death-water or

dead-water, based on the elements nguru andnenda. Tolkien does not say whether Nrnenshould be analyzed as Sindarin. However, itseems clear from this and other linguisticnotes that the form is to be regarded as Eldarinin derivation. If the same may be inferred forNrn itself, this calls into question ICEs inter-pretation of this toponym as an indigenousself-designation of the Men of this land, theNrniags.

Pinnath Gelin (24, 97, 173)Initially, Tolkien glossed this toponym as

Green Slopes, which is dialectical or lateGondor Sindarin for the pl[ural]pennath blend-

ed with other pl[ural] formpinn,pind. Subse-quently, he revised this to GreenCrests/Ridges, in which the meanings ofpendandpinn are differentiated (the latter implyinga long (low) hill with a sharp ridge againstskyline).

Rhovanion (78)Tolkien identifies Wilderland as a Westron

translation of this Sindarin toponym. Thewildness of the region alluding both to its

being not tamed, domesticated and fierce,savage, hostile (to Elves & Men). This raisesthe issue of when the region first received this

appellation, and from whom. Would it onlyhave taken root after the shadow began tospread from Dol Guldur?

Rhudaur (115, 170)Tolkien glosses this as Troll shaw, beneath

which he identifies the Sindarin element rh asevil, wicked. It is unclear whether Trollshaw is to be understood as the literal rendi-tion ofRhudaur, or whether it should be un-derstood as Evil Forest (with the implication

that trolls are the source of its evil reputation).Either way, it begs the question of how far

back into history the association of trolls withthis region (or the adjacent Ettenmoors/Et-tendales) goes.

If this etymology is taken as definitive, itcalls into question the geographical interpreta-tion of Rhudaur as rhn + taur(east-forest).

Stonewain Valley (28)So named because of the great road for

heavy drags (platforms on wheels) and wains,used in the quarries of Min-Rimmon that ranthrough it. Tolkien provides the followingglosses: Q. Nand Ondolunkava/Ondolunka-nan(do); S. Nan Gondresgion; Rohirric: Stan-waegna Dael. The wain element is given as S.rasc (Q raxa): a drag or any large, flat vehicleon wheels or rollers for hauling stone or otherweighty material. Q. lunka is glossed asheavy transport wain.

Tarlangs Neck (92, 98, 146)According to Tolkien, this name was ap-

plied to the long narrow col or passage overthe long spur of the mountains that separatedLamedon from the plain ofErech. It is not cer-tain whether this was named after some an-cient man with the Sindarin name Tarlang(stiff-neck sc. proud) or was due to the ob-solescence ofTarlang the stiff, tough, passageto which S. achadhad been prefixed in expla-nation, so thatAchad Tarlang the crossingcalled Tarlang was interpreted as TarlangsNeck.

To this Tolkien appends an alternative inter-pretation: Achadis another word for neck,referring properly only to the vertebrae (the

bony part of the neck not including thethroat): AKAS: Q. akas (later akse) pl. aksi, S.ach, geographically ached(


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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEArathorn (32, 113)Again, in contrast to an alternative etymolo-

gy, which sees thorn as deriving from Sindarinthoron, eagle (Letters, 427), Tolkien here in-terprets Arathorn as steadfast king.

Arwen (56)In an etymological discussion of Arwens

epithet, Vanimelda, Tolkien supplies Arwenspatronym (Daughter of Elrond): Q.Elerondiel; S. Elrenniel.

Ghn buri Ghn (99)Tolkien glosses this as Ghn son of Ghn.

The use of a patronymic in our only attestedDrg personal name (exceptingAghan in UT)might call into question the premise advanced

by the ICE MERP series that the Drughu werea matriarchal people. It certainly counselsagainst the unrestrained replication of the X-y-X formula for naming every Drg characterappearing in the modules, substituting buri forany random phoneme. At any rate, the pres-ence ofAghan testifies against the notion thatthis was a universal naming pattern.

Incnus (88, 155)Tolkien offered numerous interpretations of

this Latin look-alike (e.g. in the UTessay onthe Istari). Here he glosses it as Quenya: in-canus(se) mind mastership (cf. aranusse king-ship, trisse queenship). He derives the in-element from Quenya indo (inmost heart,thought, mind).

Nimrodel (49)Tolkien expresses uncertainty as to the ety-mology of this name, tentatively deriving nimfrom Telerin nimbi white. He analyzes rodelas either Sindarin lofty star or [noble] lady.

Roheryn (97)Tolkien explains that Aragorns horse bore

this name (Steed of the Lady) because Arwenhad given it to him. This detail is not revealedin LotR.

Sauron (163, 183)Tolkien reveals that Saurons original

[Quenya] name was Mairon, but this was al-tered after he was suborned by Melkor. But hecontinued to call himselfMairon the Ad-mirable, or Tar-mairon King Excellentuntil after the downfall of Nmenor.

Tolkien derives this name from the Eldarinroot MAY excellent, admirable (from whichthe term Maia comes). Presumably the -ron inMairon should be understood as a superlative.

Thranduil (27, 187)Tolkien interprets th(a)randuil as Sin-

darin: vigorous spring (as in a vigorous springof water).

III. Gentilic NamesDradan (99)In contrast to UT, where Tolkien regards

dr as a Sindarizing of the indigenous gentilic,Drughu, here he analyzes it as a Sindarin ele-ment in its own right (savage, wild), related tothe hrova element in Sindarin Rhovanion.Hence, Dradan really would mean WildMan.

Huorn (86)Tolkien interprets this as Sindarin, but ap-

pears to be uncertain as to how to analyze thefirst element: ? + tree. He experiments withdifferent etymologies for hu (e.g., spirit, shad-

ow, heart), but without apparent resolution.

Lossoth (39)Tolkien notes that the element hoth in

Loss(h)oth was nearly always used in evil or atleast unfriendly sense in Sindarin. Hence, theLossoth are described as the unfriendlyNorthern folk who lived in the snow.

Rhovain (18)In a discussion of the distinction between

Dnedain and other Men, Tolkien notes thatthe latter were called by the Eldar Q. Hr-natani; S. Rhnedain but more commonlyHrvani (S. Rhovain) Wild-men, Sav-ages.

The Sindarin form is curious, because onewould expect the plural ofRhovan to be Rhe-vain, following the normal rules of vowel mu-tation.

Tark (101)Tolkien identifies this as an Orkish word

for Nmenrean. Etymology in any Elvishsense unknown; but possibly a mere abbrevia-tion or tarkil, an ancient name for the Atani orEdain. The Eldar sometimes called all Men

hildi tarkhildi high-Men would phonetical-ly produce Q tarkildi (and S. *terchil(notused)).

IV. Theology and metaphysicsAmbar/Umbar (105, 123-124, 163-164)Tolkien confirms that Q.Ambarmeans this

Earth, the planet, as a whole, includingAmanuntil its removal, but excluding other parts ofthe Kingdom of Arda under the guardianship

and headship of Manw (Sun, moon, etc.).Tenna Ambar-metta Until Worlds-end thusmeant until the end of the finite time duringwhich the Earth is appointed (by its umbar: see

below) to endure, at least as a region inhabitedby the Children (Elves and Men).

In describing the dispositions and will ofEru, with regard to Creation as a whole, to

this World in particular, or to persons ofgreat importance in events, Tolkien suggeststhat Umbarcould correspond to History, theknown or at least the already unfolded part,together with the Future, progressively real-ized. To the latter it most often referred, andis rendered Fate or Doom. But this is inaccu-rate, so far as genuine Elvish, especially High-elvish, is concerned, since it was not in thatuse applied only to evil events.

The word umbar appears more than oncehowever and in different meanings. First wehave the meaning as outlined above, then the

Tengwar letter umbarmeaning fate (see TheLord of the Rings. Appendix E). Last but not leastthere is the great city ofUmbarwhich has aprominent rle in the history of the N-menreans. This name is of pre-Nmenreanorigin and the original meaning forgotten (TheLord of the Rings. Appendice F). Due to its multi-ple meanings in the elvish language(s) (seeabove), it might have been viewed as a fittingrendition/allusion or wordplay by the firstNmenreans who encountered it and subse-quently kept the originally alien name fortheir own use.

Arda Un/marred (150, 178)Tolkien renders these expressions with Q.

Arda Vanya and Q.Arda vanya respec-tively. Tolkien remarks that the Eldarin rootBAN appears originally to have referred sim-ply to beauty but with implication that itwas due to lack of fault, or blemish.

Tolkien remarks that one purpose of thecreation of Elves and Men was to completethe Design by healing the hurts which it hadsuffered, and so ultimately not to recoverArda Unmarred (that is the world as itwould have been if Evil had never appeared),

but the far greater thing Arda Healed.

Eru (177)In one of his more lucid expositions of the

respective roles of the Valar and the Childrenof Ilvatar in the healing of Arda, Tolkien dis-cusses the degree to which each were capableof communicating with and/or perceiving thewill of Eru directly. The Valar, he states, re-mained in direct contact with Eru, thoughthey, as far as the legends go, usually ad-

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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200dressed Him through Manw the Elder King.No doubt these legends are somatomorphic(sc. Almost as anthropomorphic as are ourown legends or imagination), and most Elves,when speaking of Manw appealing to Eru orhaving converse with Him, imagined him as afigure, even more majestic than one of theirown ancient kings, standing in attitude of

prayer or supplication to the Valar. [HereTolkien adds, At this time there was no wayfor the Incarnate direct to Eru, and though theEldar knew well that the power of the Valar tocounsel or assist them was only delegated, itwas through them that they sought for enlight-enment or aid from Eru.] By nature one of theValar, or of those of the prime order of creat-ed spirits to which they belonged, would be inthe presence of Eru only by presenting them-selves in thought. The Eldar, and still less theElves of Middle-earth (and again still less Men,especially those who had no contact with Elvesor shunned it), knew little of such things; but

they believed that direct resort to Eru was notallowed to them, or at least not expected ofthem, except in gravest emergency. The Valarwere themselves on trial an aspect of themystery of free will in created intelligences.They had a sufficient knowledge of the will ofEru and his design to undertake the responsi-

bility of guiding its development by means ofthe great prowess given to them and accordingto their own reason and intelligence.

Fana (26, 173-180)WPP contains by far the longest and most

comprehensive disquisition in Tolkiens extantwritings on the etymology and nature offanar.Much of what he says here he ascribes to aQuenya work of lore entitled Nasser ar Ken-ime Kantar Valaron ar Maiaron (The Na-tures and Visible Shapes of the Valar and Ma-iar), from which he reproduces the followingline: Valar ar Maiar fantaner nassentar

fanainen ve quenderinwe koar al larmar:The Valar and Maiar veiled their true-being in

fanar, like to Elvish bodies and raiment.

As for the Sindarin cognate,fn, Tolkienwrites that [i]t may be said to mean shape,

but with the added notion of light and white-

ness; it is thus often used where we might usea vision of something beautiful or sublime.Yet being elvish, though it may be used ofthings remote, it has no implication either ofuncertainty or unreality. The context ofTolkiens discussion is the vision of Elberethupon Taniquetil in Galadriels lament (ve fanyamaryat elentri ortane), but also in the hymn toElbereth sung by Gildors wandering companyon its pilgrimage to the Tower Hills (fanuilos).

Tolkien views this spiritualized use offn

as a development resulting from contact be-tween the Noldorin exiles and the Sindar ofMiddle-earth: No doubt this use aroused inthe minds of the Sindar who had not seen theValar in their own sacred land of Aman a men-tal picture of a majestic figure robed as if in ashining cloud seen far away. So the Eldar inMiddle-earth usedfn to describe numinous

visions. Tolkien reinforces this point: As anoun [fn] was used of vague shapes or fleetingglimpses, especially of apparitions or figuresseen in dreams.

By contrast, Quenyafana was applied onlyto the physical forms in which the Valar andMaiar presented themselves (when they sochose) to Incarnates. Tolkien is at pains to dis-tinguish this from the visionary mode of pre-sentation expressed by Sindarinfn: The fanarof the Valar were not phantoms, but physi-cal: that is, they were not visions arising tothe mind, or implanted there by the will of asuperior mind or spirit, and then projected[The latter, says Tolkien, were called inQuenya indemmarmind-pictures.], butreceived through the bodily eyes. Or mainlyso: the power of the presence of one of thesespirits no doubt affected the reception and wasresponsible, for instance, for the impressionsof radiance with which the vision was en-dowed.

Tolkien expands upon the affective qualitiesof spiritual presence, stating that, even whenunclad, the Valar were perceived by someamong [the Eldar of Valinor] as lights (of dif-ferent hues) which their eyes could not toler-

ate; whereas the Maiar were usually invisibleunclad, but their presence was revealed bytheir fragrance. This applied only to those un-corrupted. Melkor, they said, was invisible,and his presence was revealed only by a greatdread and by a darkness that dimmed or blot-ted the light and hues of all things near him.The Maiar corrupted by him stank. For thisreason neither he nor any of the evil Maiarever approached one of the Eldar that theywished to persuade or deceive except clad intheirfanar. These they could still make to ap-pear beautiful to Elvish eyes, if they wished until after the great treachery of Melkor andthe destruction of the Trees. After thatMelkor (Morgoth) and his servants were per-ceived as forms of evil and enemies undis-guised.

Near the end of his discussion of PHAN andits derivatives, Tolkien returns to the matterofindemmar, which turns out to be an elabo-ration of many of the themes addressed in hissanwe-Kenta essay: The High Elves distin-guished clearly between fanarand other

modes of communication between minds, thamight take visual forms. They held that a su-perior mind by nature, or one exerting itselfto its full in some extremity of need, couldcommunicate a desired vision direct to an-other mind. The receiving mind would trans-late this impulse into the terms familiar to itfrom its use of the physical organs of sight (an

hearing) and project it, seeing it as somethingexternal. It thus much resembled a fana, ex-cept that in most cases, especially in thoseconcerned with minds of less power (either ascommunicators or receivers) it would fre-quently be less vivid, clear or detailed, andmight even be vague or dim or appear half-transparent. These visions were in Quenyacalled indemmarmind-pictures. [Tolkien de-rives this form from Q. indo mind and theEldarin root EM, depict, portray. a quantaemma or quantemma was a facsimile, a com-plete detailed visual reproduction (by anymeans) of a visible thing] Men were receptive

of them. According to the records of the timemostly when presented to them by the Elves.To receive them from another human beingrequired a special urgency of occasion, and aclose connexion of kinship, anxiety or love between the two minds. In any case indemmarwere by Men mostly received in sleep(dreams). If received when bodily awake theywere usually vague and phantom-like (and of-ten caused by fear); but if they were clear andvivid, as the indemmarinduced by Elves might

be, they were apt to mislead Men into takingthem as real things beheld by normal sight.Though this deceit was never intentional onthe part of the Elves, it was often by them be-lieved to be.

Tolkien concludes with a discussion of cor-rupted or malicious Elves who did seek to de-ceive Men by indemmar. According to theElves these were mainly disembodied Elves,who had met with some mortal damage, butrebelled against the summons of their spirits tgo to their place of Awaiting. Those who sorebelled were mostly those who had been slainin the course of some wrong-doing. Thus theywandered as houseless elf-souls, invisible except in the form ofindemmarthat they could

induce in others, and filled often with maliceand envy of the living, whether elvish or hu-man.

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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEThule (124-125)Tolkien writes: Q thle (sle) spirit. Eldar

did not confound ordinary breath of thelungs with spirit. The particular spirit in-dwelling in a body they calledfa [


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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200Palantr (86)In a brief etymological note, Tolkien identi-

fies this word as a Numenorean formation.

Silvan Elves (51-54)The complete discussion (excerpted in UT)

concerning Tolkiens views on the relationshipof Sindarin to Silvan and the history underly-ing this relationship.

Notes1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-

nc-sa/3.0/

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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200This influence of Morgoths dissipated pow-

er is reported by Finrod Felagund in his dia-logue with the wise-woman, Andreth. Thisfirst passage is from the introduction to the di-alogue, whereas the second one is from Finroddirectly:

Now the Eldar learned that,according to the lore of the Edain,

Men believed that theirhrar werenot by right nature short- lived, buthad been made so by the malice ofMelkor. It was not clear to the Eldarwhether Men meant: by the generalmarring of Arda (which theythemselves held to be the cause of thewaning of their own hrar);...

HoMe 10: Athrabeth Finrodah Andreth

For know, it is not otherwisewith the Quendi themselves: their

health and stature is diminished.Already those of us [Finrod speaking]who dwell in Middle-earth, and evenwe who have returned to it, find thatthe change of their bodies is swifterthan in the beginning. And that, I

judge, must forebode that they willprove less strong to last than theywere designed to be, though this maynot be clearly revealed for many long

years. HoMe 10: Athrabeth Finrodah Andreth

As we have seen, this tainting influence is

negligible for the Undying Lands. This differ-ence in exposure to the mordo might be onereason (though certainly not the sole or eventhe primary one) that the cycle of life anddeath in Middle-earth is much faster than inthe Undying Lands. Another factor might bethe fact that Eru wanted Middle-earth as thehome for mortal Men, for whom a long lifes-pan would be unnatural.

At first this feeling of accelerated aging waslittle felt, but with the passing of the swiftyears of Middle-earth it became quite notice-able. See Finrods quote above on this matter.

After the War of Wrath, the surviving ex-iles were pardoned by the Valar and given thechance to return to the West. Some, however,chose to remain in Middle-earth. This mayhave been for various reasons. Tolkien pointsout that their decision was partially fuelled bythe desire to stay at the top of the social lad-der in Middle-earth, while in Aman they (theElves) were the lowest caste after the Valarand Maiar. In Tolkiens Letters, this motive isespecially mentioned twice:

In the first [theme of the SecondAge] we see a sort of second fall or atleast error of the Elves. There wasnothing wrong essentially in theirlingering against counsel, still sadlywith3 the mortal lands of their oldheroic deeds. But they wanted tohave their cake without eating it.

They wanted the peace and bliss andperfect memory of The West, andyet to remain on the ordinary earthwhere their prestige as the highest

people, above wild Elves, Dwarves,and Men, was greater than at thebottom of the hierarchy of Valinor.They thus became obsessed withfading, the mode in which thechanges of time (the law of the worldunder the sun) was perceived bythem. They became sad, and their art(shall we say) antiquarian, and theirefforts all really a kind of embalming

even though they also retained theold motive of their kind, theadornment of earth, and the healingof its hurts. Letters: #131, late1951

3 it appears that here the typisthas omitted some words fromTolkiens MS.

But the Elves are not wholly goodor in the right. Not so much becausethey had flirted with Sauron; asbecause with or without his assistance

they were 'embalmers'. They wantedto have their cake and eat it: to livein the mortal historical Middle-earthbecause they had become fond of it(and perhaps because they there hadthe advantages of a superior caste),and so tried to stop its change andhistory, stop its growth, keep it as a

pleasaunce, even largely a desert,where they could be 'artists' andthey were overburdened with sadnessand nostalgic regret.

Letters: #154, Sept. 1954

Thus we can infer a good deal of selfish mo-tives beside the more positive love of Mid-dle-earth that moved these Eldar to stay be-hind when their comrades left for the Westagain. The following passage about Galadrielsmotives for staying in Middle-earth is interest-ing. It is not wholly unproblematic, sinceTolkiens ideas about Galadriel, and whetherher stay in Middle-earth after the War ofWrath was voluntary or not, changed quite of-ten.

Angrod is gone, and Aegnor isgone, and Felagund is no more. OfFinarfins children I [Galadrielspeaking] am the last. But my heartis still proud. What wrong did the

golden house of Finarfin do that Ishould ask the pardon of the Valar,or be content with an isle in the sea

whose native land was Aman theBlessed? Here I am mightier. UT: The Elessar

The Noldors desire to rule realms of theirown was still great in this time (as we see,even for Galadriel). Eventually, some of theremaining Noldor founded the realm of Ere-gion near the western boundaries of Khazad-dm. Here developed the greatest friendship

between the Naugrim and the Eldar that everwas in the West, even reaching cordial rela-tions.

The already mentioned effect of mortal

Middle-earth was quite noticeable among theNoldor, though. Tolkien tells us that it wasGaladriels desire to have everything aroundher stay unsullied and without death. Thequote continues:

What would you then? saidCelebrimbor.

I would have trees and grassabout me that do not die here inthe land that is mine, she answered.What has become of the skill of theEldar?UT: The Elessar

Here we can clearly see the heartfelt desireof the Noldor to enjoy the bliss of the Westeven in Middle-earth, where they could rule.If we develop this reasoning to its end, Gal-adriel might have been one of those who firstformulated the idea of artificially altering thenatural way of life of Middle-earth for the

benefit of the Eldar, a scheme later masterfullexecuted by the Gwaith-i-Mrdain in generalwith the Great Rings and Celebrimbor withthe Three in particular.

We should not judge the Eldar too harshly,though, since Sauron exploited this weak spotto its fullest. However, once they recognizedtheir folly and Saurons true intent, theyshowed responsibility and always worked to-wards the eventual defeat of Sauron even ifthat meant the destruction of their own com-munity in Middle-earth:

Indeed the Elves destroyed theirown polity in pursuit of a humaneduty. This did not happen merely asan unfortunate damage of War; itwas known by them to be an

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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEinevitable result of victory, whichcould in no way be advantageous toElves. Elrond cannot be said to havea political duty or purpose.

Letters: #183, 1956

The figure ofAnnatar is pivotal to thehistory of the Great Rings:Morgoths greatest

servant, Sauron, hid for a long time after thedefeat of his master (as told in The Silmaril-lion), and eventually inherited his aim of rulingthe outside world beyond Aman.

Seeing the desolation of theworld, Sauron said in his heart thatthe Valar, having overthrownMorgoth, had again forgottenMiddle-earth; and his pride grewapace. He looked with hatred on theEldar, and he feared the Men ofNmenor who came back at whiles intheir ships to the shores of Middle-earth; but for long he dissembled his

mind and concealed the dark designsthat he shaped in his heartMen he found the easiest to

sway of all the peoples of the Earth;but long he sought to persuade theElves to his service, for he knew thatthe Firstborn had the greater power;and he went far and wide amongthem, and his hue was still that ofone both fair and wise.

Sil: Of the Rings of Powerand the Third Age

For this, he took great care to survey the sit-uation and he determined to gather the Eldarto his cause because he understood that theywere by far the most powerful of the FreePeoples. Attracted to power, it was naturalthat Sauron sought to add them to his follow-ing. Therefore, he sent many emissaries intothe Northwest and finally came himself:

When he [Sauron] felt himself tobe secure he sent emissaries toEriador, and finally, in about the

year 1200 of the Second Age, camehimself, wearing the fairest form thathe could contrive.

UT: The History of

Galadriel and Celeborn andAmroth King of Lrien

In this context, it might be interesting tospeculate on the nature of these emissaries ofSauron. Since his mission was now to gain thetrust and friendship of the Eldar, they cannothave been Orcs or any other obviously evilcreatures (e.g. Trolls). Men under his swayare also hard to imagine especially whentheir task is to make a diplomatic mission tothe High-king of the Noldor in Exile. They

might have been Avari of a kind that was inSaurons fold.3 Another option might have

been other (lesser) Maiar left in Middle-earththat were able to clothe themselves in a fairshape. In my opinion, only the Avari or the(lesser) Maiar would be an option as envoys tothe Eldar of the West especially when weconsider that he is pretending to be an emis-

sary from the Valar! (see quote below)He deceived the Eldar cleverly about his na-

ture and so sufficiently explained the presenceof an obviously Maiarin presence in Middle-earth.

In Eregion Sauron posed as anemissary of the Valar, sent by them toMiddle-earth (thus anticipating theIstari) or ordered by them to remainthere to give aid to the Elves. UT:Concerning Galadriel andCeleborn

This theme of an emissary of the Valarprobably greatly helped Saurons cause: TheNoldor with their experience of disobedienceto the Valar (when they set out to wage waragainst Morgoth) were probably keen not tomake the same mistake again and accordinglypaid heed to the arguments of a presumptive

emissary from Valinor. It is ironic that thelikely eagerness and goodwill of the Noldor toact in accordance with the imagined will ofthe Valar would turn out to be a clever trap toenslave them. Celebrimbors decision to admitAnnatar might thus have been of a twofold na-ture. Of course there was the vast knowledge

that Annatar was offering plus Celebrim-bors desire not to repeat the tragic rle of hisfamily (see the chapter on his ancestry below)in the First Age, where Fanors defiance ofthe Valar and his terrible Oath had caused somuch misery.

And he said to them: Alas, forthe weakness of the great! For amighty king is Gil-galad, and wisein all lore is Master Elrond, and yetthey will not aid me in my labours.Can it be that they do not desire tosee other lands become as blissful astheir own? But wherefore should

Middle-earth remain for ever desolateand dark, whereas the Elves couldmake it as fair as Eressa, nay evenas Valinor? And since you have notreturned thither, as you might, I

perceive that you love this Middle-earth, as do I. Is it not then our taskto labour together for its enrichment,and for the raising of all the Elven-kindreds that wander here untaughtto the height of that power and

knowledge which those have who arebeyond the Sea?


Sauron even proposed to make these itemsin order to help all the Elves, not only the El-dar (e.g. including the wild Avari). It would

be interesting to know whether Celebrimborreally planned to take up this idea or not. Re-gardless of this, these guileful words of An-natar swayed the majority of the Noldor ofEregion and the plot to rule the Eldar and,with their help, make himself the undisputedruler of Middle-earth, took its course:

But Sauron guided their labours,and he was aware of all that theydid; for his desire was to set a bondupon the Elves and to bring themunder his vigilance.


With powerful Elven lords as his faithfulservants, few obstacles in Middle-earth wouldhave been beyond his power. He was wellaware of their desire for the West while stay-ing in Middle-earth. (See the next to lastquote for this.) Thus, he slowly began to earnthe trust of the Eldar of Ost-in-Edhil, thoughinterestingly Galadriel despised him from the

beginning:

He [Sauron] perceived at oncethat Galadriel would be his chief

adversary and obstacle, and heendeavoured therefore to placate her,bearing her scorn with outward

patience and courtesy. [Noexplanation is offered in this rapidoutline of why Galadriel scornedSauron, unless she saw through hisdisguise, or of why, if she did

perceive his true nature, shepermitted him to remain in Eregion.] UT: Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn (C. Tolkiensnote in square brackets)

It is important to note that the cause for the

enmity of Galadriel at this time is not fullyclear. She may have had a gut feeling aboutthisAnnatar, but was probably unable to speci-fy her doubts.4

His words fell on fertile ground within theGwaith-i-Mrdain. He convinced them thatwith his help they would be able to achievetheir dream of eating their cake while havingit. (See the quote from Letter #131 and 154in the section about Elvish Motivation abovefor thisespecially the colourful compari-

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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200son.) Tolkien clearly denotes this project ofthe Eldar as a flirting with evil (from the per-spective of the omniscient author) that,through their desire to dominate and shape theprimary world by their craft, brought them tothe brink of machinery.

But at Eregion great work began and the Elves came their nearest to

falling to magic and machinery. Letters: #131, late 1951

So began the project which would enablethe Eldar to enjoy the blessings of the UndyingLands while remaining in Middle-earth. Forthis, Sauron instructed the Mrdain in tech-niques of his own knowledge. Since he origi-nally was a (great) Maia of Aul, he is likely tohave had great skills in this department in-cluding much that was unknown to the Chil-dren of Ilvatar.

Among those of his servants thathave names the greatest was thatspirit whom the Eldar called Sauron,or Gorthaur the Cruel. In hisbeginning he was of the Maiar of

Aul, and he remained mighty in thelore of that people.

Sil: Of the Enemies

Therefore they [the Gwaith-i-Mrdain] hearkened to Sauron, andthey learned of him many things, forhis knowledge was great. In thosedays the smiths of Ost-in-Edhilsurpassed all that they had contrived

before; and they took thought, andthey made Rings of Power. ButSauron guided their labours, and hewas aware of all that they did; forhis desire was to set a bond upon theElves and to bring them under hisvigilance.


Please note again the specific goal of Sauron:To bind the Elves to his service! Nowhereis there any thought of Dwarves or Men Saurons victims are the powerful Elves, nolesser people. Indeed, Tolkien explicitly statesthis goal of gaining their compliance:

For long he paid little heed toDwarves or Men and endeavoured towin the friendship and trust of theEldar.

HoMe 12: Of Dwarves andMen

Sauron left Eregion after the Mrdain hadbegun fashioning the Great Rings according tohis instructions:

Sauron himself departed fromEregion about the year 1500, afterthe Mrdain had begun the making ofthe Rings of Power.

UT: Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn

The date of Saurons departure is problem-

atic, though. (See below for more details.) Af-ter Sauron departed, Celebrimbor aloneachieved his greatest work, the creation of theThree Rings, which Sauron never touched andthe crafting of which may even have been un-known to him at that time (because he leftEregion before this specific project was evenenvisioned). The creation of the Three is in-teresting: Sauron only knew of the Nine andSeven, and probably deemed his plot a fullsuccess. The existence of the Three mighthave caught him by surprise (probably at thevery moment he put on the One).

We have a timing problem in pinpointing

the forging of the Rings and Saurons depar-ture from Eregion. According to the LotR wehave:

c. 1500 The Elven-smithsinstructed by Sauron reach the heightof their skill. They begin the forgingof the Rings of Power.

c. 1590 The Three Rings arecompleted in Eregion.

c. 1600 Sauron forges the OneRing in Orodruin. He completes theBarad-dr. Celebrimbor perceives thedesigns of Sauron.

LotR: Appendix B

This seems to settle the matter, especiallysince the quote before the last from UT sup-ports it. Further down in the same essay,Tolkien says something else, though:

This [the location of the SevenRings] Celebrimbor revealed, becauseneither the Seven nor the Nine did hevalue as he valued the Three; theSeven and the Nine were made withSaurons aid, whereas the Three weremade by Celebrimbor alone, with adifferent power and purpose.

UT: Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn

Now, how could have Sauron had a part inthe creation of all the Seven and the NineRings, if he left Eregion when the Mrdain had

just begun forging the Rings? One could arguethat he had only been involved in the begin-ning touches. But since it is likely that it tooksome time to make all the Rings and we os-tensibly have two different series of Ringshere (Nine and Seven; see also the section be-

low for the question of these series), it is unlikely that about the year 1500 could bestretched so far, that Sauron had a consider-able part in all of them. In addition, the pas-sage suggests that Sauron was involved in acentral role in the fashioning of the Seven andthe Nine. Unfortunately, we have not even ahint how long the making of any of these Ring

(Nine, Seven, Three or One) or their respec-tive series actually took. This number mighthave been a help in making an educated guessabout the timescales involved.5

After the completion of the Nine and Sevenit is likely that a brief happy time in Eregion

began. Tolkien does not describe the decadesafter Annatars departure. Since the Ringswere then probably already made (the Threehaving been finished in S.A. 1590) or in theirfinishing stages, it is likely that they were putto use already. Perhaps not all of the GreatRings were in use, but since they were specifically made to ease the life of the Eldar, there ia high probability that in these few happyyears, several Rings were at work in Eregion.

These times were not to last, however.Saurons betrayal was approaching fast. Hewent on to make his Master Ring to control althe others that had been made with the knowledge and techniques he had taught the Elves.Finally, in the year 1600 of the Second Age, itwas completed. Sauron thought himself at thefulfillment of his dreams. Unfortunately forhim, the moment he put on the One on hisfinger, Celebrimbor in Eregion became awarethat he had been cheated:

For in the day that Sauron firstput on the One, Celebrimbor, makerof the Three, was aware of him, and

from afar he heard him speak thesewords [Ash nazg durbatulk...], andso his evil purposes were revealed.

LotR: The Council of Elrond

The moment he [Sauron] assumedthe One, they were aware of it, andof his secret purpose, and wereafraid.

Letters: #131, late 1951

It is highly likely that Celebrimbor immedi-ately ordered the Rings (the Nine, Seven6 andThree) taken off and not used for the time be-ing. This is also supported by the followingquote.

But the Elves were not so lightlyto be caught. As soon as Sauron setthe One Ring upon his finger theywere aware of him; and they knewhim, and perceived that he would be

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OTHER MINDS MAGAZINEmaster of them, and of all that theywrought. Then in anger and fearthey took off their rings.


It is important to note that Tolkien says allthe Rings were removed from use. Since there

is no distinction between Elven, Dwarvenor Mannish Rings at this time (all of themwere Elven Rings, of course), it is not unrea-sonable to assume that Rings from all threeseries were already used. Consequently, thismeans that at least some of the Nine, Seven(or six of them) and the Three were already inuse by the Eldar of Eregion. Perhaps not allwere already used, because it is likely thatCelebrimbor and his peers would only havegiven them to great Eldarin lords. It might bethat not enough worthies, or willing, recipi-ents had yet been identified. In any case, thoseRings already in use were immediately taken

off.Of course, Sauron was enraged at this last-

minute failure of his delicate plot. The Onegave him power to see only the actions of theother Rings, and to govern their wearers onlyif they were actually worn. If taken off, his in-struments of control were worthless. Thisvery clear fact must have infuriated him, sothat he at first demanded the Rings surrenderto him immediately. Foreseeably, the Noldordeclined, and Sauron mustered for war. Sincethere are about ninety years between Cele-

brimbors realization that he had been be-trayed (S.A. 1600) and the beginning of thewar (S.A. 1693),7 we can surmise that this de-velopment caught Sauron completely by sur-prise, compelling him to build up sufficientmilitary strength for the task at hand. Obvi-ously, he had planned to take over the Eldarthrough the Rings. This would have neededonly very little military power on his part.Now that the powerful Noldor were hisfiercest enemies, he had to gather more mili-tary strength before he could be sure of a vic-torious outcome.

In contrast to Morgoth, Sauron was a mas-terful schemer and planner who could slowly

develop delicate plans and wait long years (oreven centuries) to see them bear fruit. Thefollowing two quotes shed light on Sauronsway of thinking and judging a situation.

Though of immensely smallernative power than his Master, heremained less corrupt, cooler andmore capable of calculation.

HoMe 10: MythsTransformed (Orcs)

Well, let folly be our cloak, a veilbefore the eyes of the Enemy! For heis very wise, and weighs all things toa nicety in the scales of his malice.But the only measure that he knowsis desire, desire for power; and so he

judges all hearts.LotR: The Council of Elrond

The methodical planner Sauron took histime to build a military and logistic infrastruc-ture capable of beating the powerful Eldar ofEriador. His long stay in Eregion (and Eriadorin general) would have given him a good un-derstanding of the military strength of theElves there; accordingly, he planned for a hostpowerful enough to do the job. Due to hislikely neglect of the matter beforehand, ittook some decades to build up his force.

The above mentioned possibility, that someor all of the Rings had already been used (evenif only briefly according to the temporal per-

ception of the Eldar) might have given Sauronsome intelligence of things in Eregion madewith the help of these Rings.

Destroying the Rings is the first idea thatcomes to mind once the Elves knew whatSauron was up to. So why did the Elven-smiths not simply unmake the Rings now, sothat no damage could be done through them?It is natural that now, after the Mrdain hadlearned the true purpose of their Rings, theywould take counsel for what to do next. Cele-

brimbor visited Galadriel in Lrinand proba-bly full of repentance and asked for her ad-

vice.Now Celebrimbor was not

corrupted in heart or faith, but hadaccepted Sauron as what he posed tobe; and when at length he discoveredthe existence of the One Ring herevolted against Sauron, and went toLrinand to take counsel once morewith Galadriel. They should havedestroyed all the Rings of Power atthis time, but they failed to find thestrength. Galadriel counselled himthat the Three Rings of the Elvesshould be hidden, never used, and

dispersed, far from Eregion whereSauron believed them to be. UT: Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn

Of central importance here is, of course,the statement, but they failed to find thestrength. The Mrdain had made the Rings;thus, they had both the skill and the means(the forges where the nineteen Rings had beenmade) ready at hand. In addition, it was morethan ninety years later that the war against

Sauron began. Thus, there was more thanenough time to do it. In my opinion, theyfailed to find the strength means that the Mr-dain could not find the mental strength to doit. This is an often repeated theme in Tolkienswritings, where a creator is so connected tohis great work that he is not able to dam-age it, or allow any possibility for it to be

damaged. Here a look on the effect of the Oneis interesting:Also so great was the Rings

power of lust, that anyone who usedit became mastered by it; it wasbeyond the strength of any will (evenhis [Saurons] own) to injure it, castit away, or neglect it. So he thought.It was in any case on his finger.Letters: #131, late 1951

Although the motives of the One and the El-ven Rings are different, they were made withthe same basic techniques and knowledge.Thus, basic effects should be similar. So thefact that the One would not allow any wearerto treat it carelessly or even attempt to dam-age it hints at a similar compulsion at work forthe Elven Rings, which were Great Ringstoo. Of course, the powers at work would beless powerful than in the case of the One.Here, a short definition of a Great Ring is inorder.

A mortal, Frodo [Gandalfspeaking], who keeps one of theGreat Rings, does not die, but hedoes not grow or obtain more life, hemerely continues, until at last every

minute is a weariness. LotR: The Shadow of thePast

Only the Great Rings confer serial longevityto a mortal; even the Nine were able to dothis. This is also mentioned in another twopassages of the same chapter:

He knows that it is a Great Ring,for it gave long life. LotR: The Shadow of thePast

In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as youcall them, and they were, of course,of various kinds: some more potentand some less. The lesser rings wereonly essays in the craft before it was

full-grown, and to the Elven-smithsthey were but trifles yet still to mymind dangerous for mortals. But theGreat Rings, the Rings of Power,they were perilous.

LotR: The Shadow of thePast

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ISSUE 3, JANUARY 200At last, Gandalf puts it in direct words,

plain to see. Please note that Gandalf does notspeak of The One but about a Ring of Pow-er (e.g. speaking generally).

A Ring of Power looks afteritself, Frodo. It may slip offtreacherously, but its keeper neverabandons it. At most he plays with

the idea of handing it on to someoneelses care - and that only at an earlystage, when it first begins to grip.

LotR: The Shadow of thePast

This last quote, coupled with those above,shows that all the Elven Rings were GreatRings, and that these had a will of their ownand a strong tendency to look after and pro-tect themselves. Thus, they make it hard foranyone (even their makers) to damage them.In the case of the One, it is even not possibleto intentionally damage or neglect it. For the

Elven Rings, the effect may not be so ex-treme, but still strong enough to prevent theirmakers from their intentional destruction.

In my opinion, this is the reason why theMrdain were not able to destroy the Rings:They had the skill, the means and the time,

but could not muster enough strength of willto really do it. Thus robbed of the best way todeal with the pending threat, Galadriel coun-seled Celebrimbor the second-best option hiding the Rings.

Now that the foreseeable war was coming,so was the danger of Sauron capturing the

Rings. As is told in UT, Sauron eventuallybreached the defenses of Eregion and caughtCelebrimbor alive at the great door of theHouse of the Mrdain. It is important to notethe value Celebrimbor assigned to the Rings.The Nine he deemed unimportant enough tokeep them openly in Eregion (even if probablyin the best-protected part of the realm) whereSauron eventually seized them.

Celebrimbor, desperate, himselfwithstood Sauron on the steps of the

great door of the Mrdain; but he wasgrappled and taken captive, and theHouse was ransacked. There Saurontook the Nine Rings and other lesserworks of the Mrdain; but the Sevenand the Three he could not find.Then Celebrimbor was put totorment, and Sauron learned fromhim where the Seven were bestowed.This Celebrimbor revealed, becauseneither the Seven nor the Nine did hevalue as he valued the Three; theSeven and the Nine were made withSaurons aid, whereas the Three were

made by Celebrimbor alone, with adifferent power and purpose. [It isnot actually said here that Sauron atthis time took possession of the SevenRings, though the implication seemsclear that he did so. In Appendix A(III) to The Lord of the Rings it issaid that there was a belief among

the Dwarves of Durin's Folk that theRing of Durin III, King of Khazad-dm, was given to him by the Elven-smiths themselves, and nothing issaid in the present text about the wayin which the Seven Rings came into

possession of the Dwarves.] UT: Concerning Galadrieland Celeborn

It is commonly held that Sauron capturedthe Nine and Seven in Eregion. This is superfi-cially supported by the quote above: The Ninewere probably shelved in the House of theMrdain, while the Seven and Three were hid-den. Please note Christopher Tolkiens com-ment (in square brackets). Though Sauronlearned where to find the Seven, it is not ex-plicitly stated that he immediately set out toget them once he was able to do so. It is likely,though, since the capture of the Elven Rings(and here all of the Mrdains Rings Nine,Seven and Three are meant) were his prima-ry motivation to invade Eregion.

That Sauron took possession of the Seven inrelatively quick temporal succession to thecapture of the Nine (at least before his defeatin Eriador) is found elsewhere, fitting to the

theory outlined above:From that time war never ceased

between Sauron and the Elves; andEregion was laid waste, andCelebrimbor slain, and the doors ofMoria were shut. In that time thestronghold and refuge of Imladris,that Men called Rivendell, was

founded by Elrond Half-elven; andlong it endured. But Sauron gatheredinto his hands all the remainingRings of Power; and he dealt themout to the other peoples of Middle-earth, hoping thus to bring under his

sway all those that desired secretpower beyond the measure of theirkind. Sil: Of the Rings of Powerand the Third Age

The Seven8 and Three were regarded asmore precious, and Celebrimbor revealed thehiding place of the Seven only under said in-tense torture. The hiding of the Three he didnot reveal, probably because he loved thesecreations so much that they were almost a part

of himself. Failing to gain tidings of the ThreeSauron ordered Celebrimbor to be killed. Theadvice of Galadriel to give the Three to Elvenguardians and keep them far away from Ere-gion might give us an idea about the way Cele

brimbor tried to protect the Seven. Followingthe quote above, he clearly judged all the se-ries of Rings differently: The Nine

other minds issue #03 2008-06-01

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