Really? That surprises me; I don’t have the Atlas, as I distrust it for reasons that made a lot of sense to me when I considered buying it but which I have forgotten now but shall, nevertheless, stick to out of sheer cussedness. Anywhistle, I didn’t find it a lack at all; the map that came with the book was fine. And the beauty of the prose, particularly in Ainulindale, stands fine sans map.
The Guide to Middle Earth was helpful, tho.
[pedantic jerk]
What is this “LOTR trilogy” of which you speak? What I read is a one long volume, split into three parts for ease of publication but nevertheless a single work.
::tries to deactivate “pedantic jerk” function, fails as button is stuck::
That’s exactly what I meant. 
I was checking out the other books at Amazon while typing and must have had the DVD’s in my head.
That’s exactly what I keep telling them: it’s all about Radagast. Do they listen? No. But that’s okay, too; Radagast wouldn’t mind.
What the hell are you talking about? Over in rec.arts.books.tolkien, it’s all Arda, all the time.
Also, Radagast was MANWE’S agent, not Eru. He had no congress with the All-Father after coming into the Circles of the World, and anyone who says different is an Orc-lover.
“Though reduced to ‘a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind’, I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended.”
So, how does a spirit on a dark wind manage to manipulate physical objects? Are we talking about a hurricane force wind here?
Is this going to turn into another Middle Earth wrestling thread?
How do you think Gil-galad and Elendil managed to throw down Sauron, besides stab him with pointy things? I really have no idea and haven’t really thought about it before. Maybe he was weakier after he lost his first body in the Drowning of Numenor and it was easier to rob it of him again the second time around? I suppose creating a body would take some energy and didn’t Tolkien write something about how the evil Maiar losing some of their abilities when they took a shape?
For anyone reading the Silmarillion for the first time, there are some family trees in the back of the book which make it easier to figure out which elf whose name begins with F is which. I wish I knew that the first time around.
I can hold my own for a little bit there, but damn, some of those guys are really into Tolkien. :eek:
It was during Aunulindalë, dude!
Depends. You gonna wrestle? 
Sheer strength of will and determination, I suppose
Yeah, weakier. That’s the ticket.
Hmph. You can selectively quote Tolkien to prove whatever you want. Damn literalist!
Me too. Especially with all the name changes with Finrod becoming Finarphin, then Finarfin, then having a son named Finrod, but not changing that thruout the texts.
Pffft. That’s easy.
Finwë - The big daddy. High King of the Noldor, the Deep Elf ambassador to Valinor. Father of Fëanor, Fingolfin and Finarfin.
Fëanor - The Heir-Apparent. Arrogant, conceited (but justified), easily-led by Melkor. Had “First-Child Syndrome” in spades. Mother (Miriel Serindë) died soon after giving birth to him.
Fingolfin - The second-born, Fëanor’s half-brother. He and Finarfin’s mother was a Vanyar, married by Finwë after Miriel’s death. The Noldorin High-Kingship in Middle-Earth fell to his line after Fëanor’s sons gave it up in shame for the Kinslaying and their abandonment of the rest of the Host after crossing the sea.
Finarfin - The weak sister who snivelled back to the Valar after Mandos pronounced the Doom of the Noldor. The Noldorin High-Kingship in Aman was given to him after he returned. His sons and daughter continued to Middle-Earth. You may have heard of the daughter…her name was Galadriel.
Also Fingon (Fingolfin’s eldest and Gil-Galad’s father) and Finrod (King of Nargothrond, one of the sons of Finarfin).
But that’s only six.
You seem to be implying that one can be too much into Professor Tolkien.
That’s crazy talk.
jayjay, Fëanor was hardly easily led by Melkor! Obsessed with him at times, tempted by him at other times, daunted and confused by him, suspicious of him, distrustful of him, covetous of his skills and knowledge but burning to acquire that same knowledge by himself!
IMHO, Fëanor may have had a man-crush on him. Or vice-versa. (Call it a neri-crush if you prefer).
No, I mean they really know their stuff! I mean, I generally have to look it up to remember if Idril is a neri or a nissi, or to remember Fingolfin’s wife’s name (bonus points if you can answer that without googling). Some guys there have all that committed to memory, and speak fluent Quenya in addition to Qenya!
I mean, I know that Argon is Turgon’s brother and all, but but they remember details about his flight to Beleriand and how he died!
I composed a post the other night which said essentially this but the hamsters were conducting n work stoppage and then I had to go to bed.
Anyway, this is what I always assumed, Sauron was weaker in his second body and needed to have The Ring in his constant possession to keep his shit together (literally). That’s why it took him thousands of years to reconstitute himself in the Third Age.
Yes, but he allowed Melkor to plant the seeds of the disaster that was the Oath of Fëanor and the playing-out of the Doom of the Noldor. It seems to me that Fëanor was the only full Elda that allowed himself to be moved by Melkor’s lies prior to the Doom of the Noldor predisposing the sons of Fëanor to evil.
Have you been reading my fanfiction? :dubious:
(Ha, just kidding. Really.)
You mean the Oath of Fëanor. The Doom of the Noldor was their exile, pronounced by Mandos on behalf of Manwe; it did not predispose Fëanor and his sons to evil. They did that to themselves.,
On the contrary, Fëanor was quite suspicious of Melkor.
Silmarillion: Chapter 7. Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor
“Melkor indeed declared afterward that Fëanor had learned much art from him in secret, but lied in his lust and envy, for none of the Eldalië ever hated Melkor more than Fëanor son of Finwë, who first named him Morgoth; and snared though he was in the webs of Melkor’s malice against the Valar he held no converse with him and took now counsel from him.”
No, Fëanor was never led by anyone, least of all Morgoth. And of all the beings in Arda, Morgoth probably feared Fëanor more even than Tulkas or Manwë. And with good reason. It took something like a half-dozen Balrogs to take Fëanor down. And even then, Morgoth’s forces ran away before Fëanor’s kids showed up.
Oh, he was a dangerous guy, Fëanor. But he was, in his own way, uncorruptible. He was just like a small nuclear weapon, incapable of changing course on his own, and rather destined to a fiery end. Given how avidly others with no connection to them sought after the Silmarils, it is no surprise that their maker had to get them back. Personally, I always wondered that crack-pipe Manwë was smoking when he told Fëanor not to leave the Undying Lands.