"Meanwhile, there’s an entire episode where an elf cries because he has to cut down a tree. " More like an entire two minutes. But it was cool.
Nope. Most/Many of the hobbits were “brown skinned”. So, the Harfoots are pretty realistic.
I recently learned that in early drafts Tolkien referred to what he later dubbed the noldor as gnomes.
Correct, but not meaning the little Garden Gnomes or D&D Gnomes but as in those of Deep Knowledge.
Here I found the reasoning he was using:
The word gnome belongs to late XVI century and is derived from the Greek word gnōmē (from the Proto-Indo-European root *gno – ‘to know’) meaning ‘intelligence, thought’.
https://middleearthreflections.com/2019/02/19/2555/
In terms for Middle Earth, I equated the Petty Dwarves with D&D Gnomes. A fairly good match especially for first edition.
Thanks for all your in depth knowledge.
I just thought it was interesting, and gave some insight into the sound of the word “Noldor”, i suspect.
But the hobbit characters (not the general population) are mostly of the larger Took clan, and hence, as Fallohides, fairer of skin and hair than the general population (and taller, even before two of them started juicing):
Bilbo and three of the four principal hobbit characters in The Lord of the Rings (Frodo, Pippin, and Merry) had Fallohide blood through their common ancestor, the Old Took. The one physical description given for Frodo matches this, as Gandalf identifies him as “taller than some (hobbits), and fairer than most”
Yeah. As best as i can tell, Tolkien was a decent fellow, and probably treated actual human beings he met well enough. But he wasn’t “woke”, and the prejudices of his time poke out of his writings here and there.
Professor Tolkien was a good man, especially for his time.
Did you ever read his letter to the Nazis?
Yes, his writings were very Britain-centric, but consider the time.
I was thinking the same thing and I’ve decided that it’s the actress. I tried to imagine some of her scenes with just some authority or at least some emotion. Something. I pretty much enjoy every other scene without her.
I liked Arondir fighting skills. They weren’t too outrageous but definitely bad-ass.
At first I thought Adar was Sauron, but if Sauron is already in Eregion with Celebrimbor, then he can’t be in Mordor at the same time. Plus, I think that white-haired, white-eyed dude in the trailers is Annatar. Adar is some completely made-up character.
Old, confused, mysterious guy has to be a wizard and he might as well be Gandalf. This would explain why Gandalf put so much stock in hobbits.
It’s too bad Galadriel is such a weak link considering her importance in this series.
Couple of extra words in that link. This one works. Thanks for that.
She definitely needs to ramp it up some. For me, she’s the low point of the show. Still plenty of time to pull it out.
I did. And i agree that he was a good man for his time. And probably a good man by any standards. But he was a man of his time, and he often used “white=good, black=bad” and similar code that hasn’t aged well.
Fair enough.
Except that these are Noldor not Sylvan elves, I think they would chop down a tree or two when building their cities (Nevrast, Gondolin, etc)
Nevrast probably, but Gondolin was largely stone IIRC.
I would think that at leat one tree grew there but fair enough, the rest of the cities and fortresses the Noldor built in Beleriand must needs have implied the felling of many trees, not to mention the wood for firing the forges for their weapons and armor.
Who was Isildur’s sister? I couldn’t catch the name. Have they gender switched Anárion?
No, she’s a completely new character for the show.
Name is Eärien.
I think they mentioned Anárion is on the other side of the Island.
And they mentioned that the west side of the island was off-limits or something?
I dinna know SD had “cake days”
Cheers, What_Exit
May you live as many years as your post count!
In the earliest drafts of what would become the Silmarilion he also referred to the elves in general as “Fairies”. It’s a little jarring reading the Book of Lost Tales and hearing him write about fairies and gnomes.