Chart of the Valar


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PART 2: The Quenya Ban

Introduction: Quenya is the language of the High Elves in Valinor, making it the native tongue of the Noldor who came to Middle Earth. However, when King Thingol of the Sindar heard of the kinslaying in Aqualondë against his brother’s people, he banned the language in Beleriand as retaliation. Whether or not this was a legitimate ban, many of the Noldor stopped speaking Quenya and the language was replaced by Sindarin Elvish (which had already existed in Middle Earth before the exiles arrived). By the Third Age, Quenya had become a dead language used for ceremonies and spoken almost exclusively by scholars. Let’s discuss! Part 1: legitimacy, reasoning, and impact (prior post) Part 2: perspective and world-building, concluding remarks, fun facts 1.) Perspective and world-building The language ban is presented as acceptable in The Silmarillion, and the Quenya names of places and people that were never in Middle Earth are almost always translated to Sindarin anyway. For example, Arafinwë ...
Read more

Ladies of Middle Earth (and Valinor)

Image
There is a common belief that Tolkien failed to adequately write women into his works. He is thought of as depicting women as unimportant side-characters whose only purpose is to look beautiful, where Eowyn, Galadriel, and Luthien are the few exceptions. However, this is a false misconception based on out-of context assumptions and adaptations. The ladies of Middle Earth and Valinor are warriors, scholars, and artists… just like the gentlemen. Many of them are also mothers who would do anything for their children. So without further ado, let’s hear it for the awesome unspoken girl bosses of LOTR! (All of the images are from Tolkien Gateway)  Aredhel, the White Lady of the Noldor was known for her great strength and adventurous spirit —hunting and horse-back riding in the forests of Valinor and Middle Earth.  She was exceedingly brave and sacrificed herself to save her son, Maeglin, a feat that often gets overlooked because of his eventual actions.  Nerdanel the Wise was ...
Read more

Who Was the Best High King of the Noldor in Middle Earth?

Image
 Who Was the Best High King of the Noldor in Middle Earth? First let’s layout some rules: • This analysis only accounts for the high kings who spent the majority of their rule in Middle Earth .  (Sorry Finwë and Finarfin fans!) • Only things each character did during his time as high king will be accounted for (e.g. Turgon founding Gondolin beforehand doesn’t count towards his accomplishments as high king) • Smaller Noldor kingdoms working together do not count as alliances (e.g. Gondolin, Nargothrond, Eregion, and Imladris are still technically under the High King’s jurisdiction) • A “good” high king is determined by his contributions to the Noldor and ability to lead… away from chaos.  Objectively, Gil-galad had the most successful reign. He led the Noldor during the defeats of both Morgoth and Sauron (Round 1). Gil-galad ruled for the longest period of time, had the greatest number of victories, formed one of the largest alliances, and maintained relative peace for a...
Read more