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I think of Boromir as the Maedhros to Faramir's Fingon. Both noble and bent on defeating evil, but one was bound to his father's desires in a way that marred his judgment. I wonder if Elrond, who was under Maedhros' 'protection' for a while, could sense that conflict in Boromir

I follow the understanding theory... A focus on studying a work of art to better understand another human mind.

I am intrigued by this suggestion. In one of his letters, Tolkien says that both Bilbo and Frodo remained unmarried (a very un-hobbit thing to do) because they felt somewhere deep inside that they needed to be unattached. Fascinating to contemplate whether there was not also some sort of tension...

I would argue against the idea that Frodo is setting out in despair. I'm sure he has absolutely no amdir -- the whole idea of the quest is patently absurd. One does not simply walk into Mordor after all. But I would say he has felt a calling since the moment Bilbo left... There was a reason he...

We are on Elven time. 1 Year = 144 Years.

I wonder whether there was a point of pride in the northern Dúnedain calling themselves "Rangers of the North" -- after all, the Rangers of Ithilien were established before the birth of either Denethor or Aragorn, and I expect that Aragorn might have spent some time with them when he was serving...

I always assumed that the 'best' swords of Gondor were at least inspired by memories of Elendil's sword -- we know that Isildur left a drawing of the Ring inscription in the library at Minas Anor, and I would not be surprised if there weren't also some drawings of Elendil, Isildur and Anarion...

I think the key is in the words "only Elrond knew fully what this hour meant to him." While I'm sure every Chieftain of the Dúnedain dreamed of reuniting the two kingdoms, from the age of 20 Aragorn has known not only the full prophetic import of his birth, but also that he's going to have to...

A few last thoughts. I love the exceptionally close reading of the choices Tolkien makes in his writing -- a particularly appropriate approach for an author for whom words are an unending source of joy and inspiration. However, I think it is equally important to consider why Tolkien chooses to...

I've never tried tagging my posts (and I'm not anywhere near the most prolific contributor), but I'd be willing to go through my posts and add some hashtags. Here's the first one: #organizationideas

I don't know whether this is a sub-category of Speculation or a separate category, but I am a huge fan of 'head canon' - those stories we've told ourselves to fill in the gaps. What were each of the Fellowship doing between the Council and the departure? Did Gimli and Legolas constantly bump...

Well, pretty much all of Milne's poetry, though especially James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree (which eventually became a name for one of our cats, and only much later I realized was satirical commentary on upper class naming conventions) and Halfway Up the Stairs. Also I love...

I apologize for starting a fourth thread on Bilbo's song, but I want to acknowledge what has already been said by others while also looking at the song and the scene from the point of view of character development. I used to think that Bilbo had learned all about the danger of the Ring while in...

Ooh, Odola, have you ordered “The Nature of Middle-earth”? Head-canons will be needing an infusion of athelas….

I think it highly unlikely that the Valar would force any fate onto a Child of Iluvatar without allowing for choice on the part of said Child. I think we should model our head-canon on his fate according to what we know of the fate of Tuor and Ëarendil. It is said, I think in the Unfinished...

I don’t think Dior’s status was ever settled. He died before the Valar set the rule that the half-elven needed to choose their Incarnate tribe. I imagine that his choice was made in the halls of Mandos, but I don’t recall Tolkien ever discussing it. He married an Elf, so one might safely assume...

do you think that Sam’s comment about ‘where to live’ might best be understood as a moment when he lets his Gamgee side speak out (as he will do when he calls himself ’ninnyhammer’)? Despite the fact that he swore to Gildor that he would never leave Frodo, Sam still cares deeply about the Shire...

as is usual when I listen to (as opposed to read) Tolkien's poetry, some things come newly into my mind. I appreciate all the alliteration that was pointed out, but we all seem to have noticed the apparently 'out-of-metric' place phrase "stones crack." I heard, for the first time, an echo of the...

EXPANSE SPOILERS AND END OF MOON SPOILERS OK, right away I saw the influence of Moon on The Expanse series, first in the use of a patois for the outermost human civilization : the Moon/the Belt. Moon only has two political entities (Earth & Moon); Expanse has three (Earth, Mars & Belt). And...

thinking on the fact that Elrond was treating an unconscious Frodo (though there is the implication that Frodo was talking in his delirium), it seems to me that Elrond probably got to observe Sam more closely than any of the others. I expect he fully expected that Sam would attend the Council...