Crystal Clear Tolkien

My friends and I quickly agreed that Modern Maglor would be a cat person… then we also agreed that he would stumble upon stray cats and take them in… and name them after his brothers because they remind them of him xD

Finno doesn’t live with Maglor, but he often gets in SOMEHOW to visit Nelyo. 

Melkor the Corruptor angry cat

hella long post for ts! I didn’t have the heart to post it all in one line, I couldn’t do that to anyone’s dash. So click through for full effect!

Hi Anon,

You ask a valid question, and I’m aware that how I write rape scenarios does rather contradict Tolkien’s canon, so I’ll try and explain my reasoning. 

Under the cut for mild discussion of rape / its aftermath. 

No, Elves do not die when they are raped.

No.

What is usually quoted as the passage saying this happens is actually an alternate footnote in History of Middle-Earth Volume 10: Morgoth’s Ring. See, there were two versions of The Laws and Customs of the Eldar (LACE): A and B. Christopher Tolkien chose Version B over A because it was the clearer, newer text, reworked by Tolkien before his death. It contained some heavy revisions from Version A, which was why he chose to print Version B (which he viewed as more canonical).

HOWEVER, it should be noted that the LACE—within the narrative Tolkien set up—was written by a man, Ælfwine, soooooo very long after the events of Lord of the Rings, and he is, in fact, a mere framing device Tolkien created for the existence of mythos itself in our world. We have no idea if his word is actually the law as the Eldar deem it in Aman. He’s just a man who told a story.

This is made very clear by Christopher in the lead up to the printed LACE:

It is clear in any case that it is presented as the work, not of one of the Eldar, but of a Man…

Christopher also talks about how Ælfwine was not originally the writer of the LACE in Version A, but showed up in the revisions of Version B. It’s made clear in the discussion that Ælfwine is a puzzling addition, even to Christopher.

But! Besides that, and besides the fact that Tolkien himself was very unhappy with both versions of the LACE, the quotations are from the non-printed Version A. The quote is actually just alternative text from the previous essay, a footnote. In Version B, the one actually used in the book, the passage reads:

The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love or at least by free will upon either part. When even in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

It has a little 5 attached to it, which leads to the actual oft (mis)quoted passage:

The Eldar wedded once for all. Many, as the histories reveal, could become estranged from good, for nothing can wholly escape from the evil shadow that lies upon Arda. Some fell into pride, and self-will, and could be guilty of deeds of malice, enmity, greed and jealousy. But among all these evils there is no record of any among the Elves that took another’s spouse by force; for this was wholly against their nature, and one so forced would have rejected bodily life and passed to Mandos. Guile or trickery in this matter was scarcely possible (even if it could be thought that any Elf would purpose to use it); for the Eldar can read at once in the eyes and voice of another whether they be wed or unwed.

This is not about random acts of rape. This is specifically about one Elf forcing (aka raping) another Elf who is married to have sex. The key to this obsolete passage is that it hinges on the forced Elf being married or not. It also is specific in it’s Elf-on-Elf rape, not Melkor-on-Elf or Sauron-on-Elf or whatever-on-Elf rape. It’s just between Elves.

And then there’s the added issue this passage brings up of adultery. One could not force an Elf to be adulterous, but it leaves the door open for voluntary adultery (if you’re in the camp of Elves are never adulterous, which I’m not). Which, due to all the possible problems with this passage, is why I think Tolkien cut it and replaced it with the passage that says nothing specifically about forcing and just says acts of lust were rare among Elves. But again, it’s only referencing Elf-on-Elf acts of lust, not any other kind of violence.

Feanor and his sons master post! <3

NOTE: Words in BOLD are not attested!  These are merely my best guess at deriving words using all the language resources I have at my disposal.

questions Are you finished? - Trecarach? Do (you/they) understand (me)? - (Heniach/Heniar) (nin)? Do I know you? - Iston len? Do you feel well? - El mae? Do you speak Elvish? - Pedich Edhellen? How are (you/you doing) (today)? - Manen (ech/carach) (arad)? How? - Manen? Is there trouble here? - Trast sí? What are you doing? - Man carach? What did you say? - Man pennich? What do you want (for it)? - Man anírach (assan)? What is your name? - Man enneth lín? Where are (we/you) going? - Mas (trevadim/trevadich)? Where are (you/we) from? - Mas (etholich/etholim)? Where are we meeting? - Mas gevedim? Where did that come from? - Mas te ethol? Where is the meeting? - Mas i ‘ovaded? Which one? - Man pen? Who is leading? - Man toged? Who is/was that? - Man te? Will you marry me? - Erthathach enni? Would you like (drink/food)? - Anírach (sog/aes)?

other phrases For love, my friend. - Am meleth, mellonen. Forgive me - Geheno nin Have you a better idea? - Gerig anmaer naw? (I)/(I don’t) know - (Iston)/(Aviston) (I)/(I don’t) want it - (Aníron)/(Avaníron) han (I/we) am yours to command - (Im/men) lín cauno I do not need to know this. - Avo bauren isto hen. I have not seen them in days. - Av’arin tírannen ren ned eraid. I need to rest - Aníron idho I see - Tírion I thank you - Hannon (len/chen) I thought they would never leave - Nauthannon i avo ‘wannathar ge I wish to speak - Aníron pedi If I cannot keep you as my lover, I will keep you as my friend. - Ae avochebin chen be velethronen, hebithon chen be vellonen. If I fall, I will fall knowing I fought with all my strength to protect the love of my life. - Ae dannon, dannathon istol i maethannen na vellasen ban verio i veleth-e-guilen. Sleep well. I will keep the demons from you. - Idho mae. Hebithon in roeg o le. The bodies of our foes will gleam under the sun. - Idh ‘raw-i-chythem tinnatha nu Anor. What is your point? - Mas i ventech?

NOTE: Words in BOLD are not attested!  These are merely my best guess at deriving words using all the language resources I have at my disposal.

endearments Ancient one(s) - Pen iaur (pin ioer) Bane of my heart - Dagnir-e-guren Bearded one(s) - Pen fang (pin feng) Beautiful one(s) - Pen vain (pin vain) Beloved - Seron vell Dear one(s) - Pen vuin (pin vuin) Eager one(s) - Pen vara (pin vere) Fierce warrior(s) - Maethor veleg (maethyr velig) Foe of my foe - Coth cothen Friend of my friend - Mellon mellonen Friend(s) - Mellon (mellyn) Guardian(s) - Beriadir (beriedir) Heart of my heart - gûr-e-gûren Little bird(s) - Aewithen (aewithin) Little one(s) - Pen dithen (pin dithin) Little singer(s) - Linnon dithen (linnyn dithin) Love - Meleth Love of my life - Meleth-e-guilen Lovely one(s) - Pen velui (pin velui) Lover (f) - Melethril Lover (m) - Melethron Loyal one(s) - Pen dolog (pin delyg) Lustful one(s) - Pen vaelui (pin vaelui) Mighty one(s) - Pen veleg (pin velig) My beautiful warrior - Maethoren vain My child - Hênen My dark warrior - Maethoren vorn My friend(s) - Mellonen (mellynen) My golden warrior - Maethoren valthen My heart - Gûren My lady - Hirilen My lord - Híren My love - Melethen My master - Herdiren My old friend - Mellonen vrûn My Prince - Ernilen My Princess - Taurelen My soul - Faeren My strength - Bellasen My warrior - Maethoren Singing father - Adar linnol Tall one(s) - Pen dond (pin dynd) Wise one(s) - Pen hael (pin hael) Your friend - meldirech(m)

insults Abominable one(s) - Pen thaur (pin thoer) Angry one(s) - Pen ruthren (pin rythrin) Cowardly dog - Hûachaseb Dark one(s) - Pen vorn (pin vyrn) Dirty one(s) - Pen ‘waur (Pin ‘woer) Horrible one(s) - Pen ngortheb (pin ngerthib) Icy one(s) - Pen chelcheb (pin chelchib) Impetuous one(s) - Pen ‘orn (pin ‘yrn) My enemy(-ies) - Cothen (Cythen) Silent one(s) - Pen dhínen (pin dhínin) Tormented one(s) - Pen vauleb (pin voelib)

exclamations Be gone from my sight! - Ego a cheneden! By the sea and the stars! - An i ‘aer a in elin! Glorify! - Eglerio! Go away! - Ego! Hurry! - Lago! Hide! - Delio! I loathe you! - Delion chen! Listen to my laughter! - Lasto lalaithen! Look! - Tirio! Now! - Si! Oh! - Ai! Run (for it)! - Noro (assan)! Stop (that)! - Daro (te)! That hurts! - Te naegra! You disgust me! - Fuiach nin!

invitations This is my home - Sen baren Come, eat, and drink of the feast - Telo, medo, a sogo uin mereth Come, join us - Telo, ertho ven Come near the fire - Telo an úr You will always be welcome here - Nanithach maetolo sí uireb.

mushiness I have loved you - Im mellen chen I love you - Melin chen I will love you forever - Melithon chen uireb I will not live without you - Avo guithon uchen You are all I dreamed - Ech pân i olthannen

greetings A star shines on the hour of our meeting - Êl síla or lû o govaded vín Good day - Maer aur Good night - Maer daw Greetings - Suilad I serve you - Buion len I give greetings (to everyone) - Suilannon (allen) I have not seen you for a long time - Avgennin anann chen My heart sings to see you - Gûren linna ceni chen Well met - Mae govannen You again? - Chen ad?

farewells Fair winds - Syl vain Farewell - Navaer Good (day/afternoon/evening/night) - Maer (arad/aberin/aduial/dú) Good luck - Maer galu Good hunting - Maer farad I hope it will be a long journey - Harthon i san nantha lend ann May the leaves of your life never die - No i less-e-guilach avo firitha May the wind fill your sails - No i hûl pathra revith lín May your paths be green and the breeze behind you - No baid lín galen a no i ‘waew adel len May your ways be green and golden - No baid lín galen a glor My heart shall weep until it sees you again - Gûren ninnatha nanarad as achên len Rest/Sleep well - Posto mae Sweet water and joyous laughter till next we meet - Nen vaer a lalaith veren nanarad agevedim Until later - Nan ablû Until then - Nan lû sen Until next we meet - Nanarad agevedim Enjoy yourself - Garo gel Until tomorrow - Nan abarad I will see you in the morning. - Tirathon chen ned i aur.

This is a phrasebook I created years ago. It’s all in Sindarin.

NOTE: Words in BOLD are not attested!  These are merely my best guess at deriving words using all the language resources I have at my disposal.

family words Brother - tôr Dad - ada Daughter - sell Father - adar Grandfather - iauradar Grandmother - iaurnaneth Husband - hervenn Maternal Aunt - thêl-en-naneth Maternal Uncle - tôr-en-naneth Mom - nana Mother - naneth Pair of twins - gwanûn Paternal Aunt - thêl-en-adar Paternal Uncle - tôr-en-adar Sister - thêl Son - iôn Sworn brother - gwador Sworn sister - gwathel Twin - gwanunig Wife - hervess

months January - Narwain February - Nínui March - Gwaeron April - Gwirith May - Lothron June - Nórui July - Cerveth August - Urui September - Ivanneth October - Narbeleth November - Hithui December - Girithron

compass directions North - forn South - harad East - rhûn West - dûn

cardinal numbers One - min Two - tâd Three - neled Four - canad Five - leben Six - eneg Seven - odog Eight - toloth Nine - neder Ten - pae Eleven - minchaer Twelve - tadchaer Twenty - nadchaen Twenty-One - min nadchaen Thirty - nelchaen Thousand - meneg

ordinal numbers First - minui Second - tadui Third - nellui Fourth - canthui Fifth - lefnui Sixth - enchui Seventh - odothui Eighth - tollui Ninth - nedrui Tenth - paenui

animals Bear - brôg Butterfly - gwilwileth Deer - aras Dog - hû Dove - cugu Elephant - annabon Fish - lim Frog - cabor Gull - maew Lion - raw Nightingale - dúlinn Rat - nâr Snake - lhûg Stork - orchalmyl Swallow - tuilinn Woodpecker - tavor Yellowbird - emlin

colors Black - morn Blue - luin Brown - rhosc Copper - gaer Dark Brown - baran Green - calen Grey - mithren Pale Blue - elw Red - caran Snow-White - gloss White - fain Yellow - malen

races (one / many / race) Dwarves - Naug / Noeg / Naugrim Elves - Edhel / Edhil / Ellonath Ents - Onod / Enyd / Onodath Half-Elves - Peredhel / Peredhil / Peredhrim Hobbits - Perian / Perin / Periannath Men - Adan / Edain / Adanath Orcs - Orch / Yrch / Glamhoth

Nerdanel (with baby Maedhros) Speed Paint

I know, her hair is too red - I’ve remembered too late that she is supposed to have brownish hair… orz

Actually, the Valar have almost no idea about the Elves. Really. “For the Valar, having had no part in the devising of the Children of Eru, do not know fully the purposes of Eru concerning them, nor the final ends that he prepares for them.” Also, Elves are not given new bodies… like… rembodied as a full grown Elf. They are literally reborn. They get to have a second childhood where they remember nothing of the previous life until they adults. “For the fëa reborn became a child indeed, enjoying once more all the wonder and newness of childhood; but slowly, and only after it had acquired a knowledge of the world and mastery of itself, its memory would awake; until, when the reborn Elf was full-grown, it recalled all its former life, and then the old life, and the ‘waiting’, and the new life became one ordered history and identity.”

Arda is the proper term for ‘Middle-Earth’. The world is Eä. :) And, yes, Elves are bound to the life Eä, which is why they’re immortal. Valinor is also a city in Aman. Námo’s Halls are actually southwest of Valinor. (Sorry, I am such a stickler for Aman. I adore the Elves, Valar, and Maiar and the cities/realms they created in Aman. XD)

As soon as Elves were disembodied through fading, they were summoned by Mandos. They did have a choice to ignore the call and remain where they were in a half-life, but Tolkien did state in a footnote to that part of the LACE that it was a very, very rare thing for an Elf to forsake the Call of Mandos. I did touch on your very incorrect statement above that Elves do not pop back into existence in Valinor as adult Elves. Only one Elf has done that, and that was Míriel (Fëanor’s mother), and only because her physical body was preserved in Lorien. She left her body voluntarily and because there was no decay in Aman, it remained preserved and she could just simply return to it. But she is very much the exception, and that exception caused the Valar no end of trouble.

The Valar also do not judge an Elf. Only Mandos—aka Námo—does that. His purpose is to help the spirits of Elves come to terms with their sins in life, their disappointments and pains and losses, and when the soul is ready, allow them to pass from the Halls of Mandos back into life once more. Námo is not a cruel being that holds re-embodiment from Elves, but grants it when the spirit is ready.

There really is nothing that states that the Fëanorians and their followers (which includes most of the Noldorin race) are irredeemable and doomed to imprisonment in Mandos. “The length of time they dwelt in Waiting was partly at the will of Námo the Judge, Lord of Mandos, partly at their own will.” The only true exceptions are Míriel and Finwë due to their unique situation. When Míriel refused to return to her body initially, Finwë petitioned the Valar for a divorce. He’d spent centuries waiting for her to heal, but she never would, and it was his right to have a living spouse he could share his life with. Eventually, Míriel agreed to remain in Mandos forever so Finwë was free to marry the Vanya Indis. When Melkor killed Finwë, Míriel wanted to return among the Elves, and so Finwë agreed to never leave so she could since there was no precedent for an Elf to have two living wives. But, Míriel didn’t stay out of Mandos long, quickly choosing to return forever as a handmaid of Vairë.

We’re never told if that nullified Finwë’s agreement or not, but I’ve always thought it would be against Eru’s intent for the Valar to force Finwë to remain while he had a living wife and children in Valinor waiting for him.

I think you’re speaking about the Dagor Dagorath, the final battle between the Valar and Melkor. It’s also left out of The Silmarillion, so we’re not sure if Tolkien intended for the prophecy to be exactly as it appears in The Lost Road. But, even if it was, nowhere in that prophecy does it say Fëanor and his sons and followers were stuck in Mandos until that very moment. They are given the same opportunity as all Elves: atone and repent and be reborn when they have done their penance in Mandos.

My only final thing is there are more cities in Aman than just Valinor (and in fact, Noldor populated Valinor, Tirion, and Formenos). :) Aman is a great continent with many Elven and Valarin realms, and the Noldor are pretty spread out due to the size of their race compared to the Elven races.

The House of barbie FInarfin

Finrod - Angrod - Aegnor - Galadriel

(sorry Orodreth but i use the version where he is son of Angrod)

anw, for Finrod hair design i use Dwimmerlaiks's amazing design! i really like her Finrod so fits on my headcanon about him even though i cant draw his face properly 

This is the last Elvish lesson I prepared. If there is an interest n more, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. ;)

Tangado ech sen a anno den mae enni! (Make that spear firm and give it to me good!)

Now, at last, we come to the wild bunch, the outsiders, the freaks of the Sindarin verb world. These are the rebels who refuse to follow the rules, a veritable underworld of semantic misdemeanors. (Yes, I have been watching far too much “Law & Order” recently, why do you ask?) These verbs fall into four categories: mixed conjugation verbs, impersonal verbs, surviving -u- verbs, and the truly irregular verbs.

mixed conjugation This class of verbs is called “mixed” conjugation because they look like A-stem verbs, but they don’t always act like A-stem verbs. In some cases, they act more like I-stem verbs. This group seems to include most verbs that end in a single consonant followed by an -a (as long as that consonant isn’t ‘th’ or ‘ch’ — which count as one letter, if you’ll remember). Let’s take a look at a few examples and examine their particular brand of premeditated malice. (Sorry, sorry…)

In other words, the imperative, infinitive, present, future, present participle, and gerund forms all conjugate as normal A-stem verbs. Example:

Imperative: Aníro “desire!” Infinitive: Aníro “to desire” Present: Aníra “desires” Future: Aníratha “will desire” Present Participle: Anírol “desiring” (as an adjective) Gerund: Anírad “desiring” (as a noun)

However, the past tense, past participle, and perfect participle forms conjugate as though the verb were an I-stem without that final ‘a’. (In this case, as though the verb stem were anír- instead of aníra-)

Past: Anirn “desired” Past Participle: Anírnen “desired” (as an adjective) Perfect Participle: Aníriel “having desired”

The important thing to note about the above (and the reason that I chose this verb as an example) is that when the verb stem has a long vowel, that vowel becomes short in the past tense (but nowhere else). Another distinction between the mixed conjugation verbs and the normal I-stem is that when adding a pronomial ending to the past tense, the connecting vowel is -e-, not -i-. This means that the i-umlaut effect does not happen with these verbs. (The consonant mutation to the ending cluster still occurs just as with I-stems, though.)

impersonal verbs These verbs are called ‘impersonal’ because they cannot accept a subject. There are currently only two verbs in this group that we know about.

The first of these is the verb ‘elia-‘, “to rain”. You can see why this verb is considered impersonal. You would never, for instance, say “I rain” or “he rained”. Now, in most forms, this verb acts just like a normal A-stem. However, the past and present tenses go a little pear-shaped. The present tense (“it is raining”) appears to be ‘ail’ and the past tense (“it rained”) shows up as ‘aul’.

The other impersonal verb that we know of is ‘boe’. This roughly translates to “it is necessary”. ‘Boe’ is really a Noldorin verb that was updated and adapted into Sindarin. There is no attested use of it in the corpus, but we can guess that it might look something like:

Boe beriad i garas! “It is necessary to protect the city!” Boe anim breithad chen. “It is necessary for me to break you.” (Could also be translated as “I must break you” — although it’s much more intimidating when Dolph Lundgren says it.)

Notice that we use the gerund form here instead of the infinitive as you might expect. If it helps you to keep this oddity in mind, consider that the translation “Protecting the city is necessary” is also an acceptable translation of the first example. It’s easy to see that “protecting” is operating as a noun in this sentence, hence the gerund form.

"Boe" does not appear to have any other forms, nor can it accept pronomial endings. (Meaning that, at this time, we really have no way to say ‘it was necessary’ or ‘it will be necessary’ using this verb.)

surviving -u- verbs This class of irregular verbs includes the following: groga- “feel terror” loda- “float” soga- “drink” toba- “cover, roof over” nod- “tie, bind” tog- “lead, bring”

These verbs all derived from primitive root stems that contained the vowel ‘u’. Over time, the primitive ‘u’ mutated to ‘o’ in standard Sindarin. For the most part, these verbs will conjugate just like mixed conjugation verbs. However, when these verbs go into the past tense, that primitive ‘u’ makes a comeback. So, for the past tenses, we get:

stem > past tense > past tense with ending groga- > grunc > grunge- + pronomial ending loda- > lunt > lunne- + pronomial ending soga > sunc > sunge- + pronomial ending toba > tump > tumme- + pronomial ending nod > nunt > nynni- + pronomial ending tog > tunc > tyngi- + pronomial ending

truly irregular verbs The following verbs cannot be grouped in any other way. Each is unique in its own way because of the various ways that they evolved from their primitive roots. I’m not going to go into detail about these individual histories, because it’s not really necessary to understand. The details are available in several places for those wanting an in-depth explanation. For the casual user, though, these oddities should just be memorized.

Anna- “give”

This verb conjugates just like a normal A-stem verb, except for the past tense and past participle. The past tense is ‘aun’, which becomes ‘one-’ before a pronomial ending. The past participle is ‘onen’, with plural form ‘onin’. (The ‘o’ does not change due to the i-umlaut in this case because the ‘o’ derives from ‘au’.)

Drava- “hew”

The past tense of ‘drava’ is the irregular form ‘dramp’. In all other respects, this conjugates like a normal A-stem.

Gwedh- “bind”

Tolkien indicated in his writings that the irregular past tense ‘gwedhant’ came into use. It is likely that the past participle was also replaced by ‘gwedhannen’. (‘Redh-’ “sow” probably alters the same way.)

Thora- “fence”

Most forms of ‘thora’ are consistent with A-stem verbs. However, the past tense is ‘thaur’ (‘thore-’ before a pronomial ending). The past participle is, correctly, ‘thoren’, but the plural form is ‘thorin’. This is for the same reason as ‘anna-’ above. Additionally, the perfect participle of ‘thora-’ becomes ‘thóriel’ (instead of the expected ‘thúriel’).

Trenar- “recount, tell to the end”

'Trenar-' is identical to an I-stem verb except in the past, past participle, and perfect participle. (This is a recurrent pattern, you may have noticed.) In the past, we end up with 'trenor', yielding a past participle 'trenoren' with plural 'trenorin', and a perfect participle 'trenóriel'.

Banga- “trade”

Although it is not confirmed, the past tense of this verb appears to be ‘banc’. If that is the case, then this verb probably conjugates via the rules of mixed conjugation, despite having two consonants before the final ‘-a’.

conclusion

Mixed conjugation verbs include most verbs with a single consonant before a final ‘-a’.

They conjugate like A-stem verbs except in the past, past participle, and perfect participle, where they behave like I-stem verbs

Long vowels in the verb stem are shortened in the past tense of mixed conjugation verbs

Irregular verbs tend to fall into three categories: impersonal verbs, those with a surviving primitive ‘-u-‘, and those with individual quirks due to developmental history

These irregular forms are best memorized or written down and kept as a reference.

Exercise Eleven part a: translate the following conversation into sindarin

Glorfindel: I must tell you something, Elrond. Elrond: Follow me, and I will listen. Glorfindel: Erestor traded your begetting day gift for a book of poems! (Hint: saying ‘the gift of your begetting day’ may be easier!) Elrond: How do you know? Glorfindel: I eavesdropped on him behind the guardhouse. Elrond: I gave the gift to him. He wanted to give you the book. Glorfindel: Oh! Now I want to hide for about a year!

vocabulary about : os- (prefix) book : parf day : aur gift : ant guardhouse : tirithadab poem : glîr something : nad to beget : edonna- to follow : aphada- to hide : doltha- to know : ista- to listen : lasta- year : idhrinn

part b: translate the following conversation into english

Rúmil: Grungen ir i ‘lamhoth anglennant! Orophin: Findelen nimmint ir cennin hain! Rúmil: Cuina Haldir? Orophin: E harnannen na orch. E bronatha. Rúmil: Harthon an ngalu. Celeborn degitha ven ae melethron în gwanna!

Fathers with Their Firsborn

hmm maybe i should upload this in Father’s Day, but nevermind, already draw this now and also tomorrow is Children’s Day. Happy Children’s Day 20 November 2013! :D