The Silmarillion: A Group Reading [update 4.12.05]

[Melian]

I finished the Silmarillion section. That's what study hall does to you.. Of course, this was a week ago, so my comments won't be as good.

And I have been disturbed. x.x;

Of the Ruin of Doriath

-Mim gets pwned.Great way to get this going, especially after the depresssing beginning.

-I knew there was a reason why I picked this username. Before Thingol can say something stupid, Melian sees past Hurin, and that's he's just a wee bit bitter over being held prisoner for 28 years.

-Ah, a pretty Dwarvish necklace and an Elvish jewel. This isn't going to end well.

-Thingol was an idiot.

-I do feel bad for Melian at this point. She obviously loved Thingol, why else would she stay in Doriath for so long? I'm glad she doesn't go ala-Nienor and jump off a cliff. If she even could, being a Maia. I also wonder what she does when she gets back to Valinor. Does she sit around and mope? Visit Thingol? Hold concerts for the Valar again?

'muse upon her sorrows' it says. So she mopes for a little while, but she can't being doing that for the rest of time. Thingol wasn't worth that much. XD

-Beren and Luthien are gone at this point. ;_; And now with the Silmaril, Dior is the prettiest! .. This chapter is called the Ruin of Doriath. It can't have a happy ending..

-Dior takes a few of the sons of Feanor with him before he goes. Always a good thing.

-Run, Elwing, run! XD

There are my unintelligent, stupid comments for that chapter. 3nodding But I did read it, and post. That should count for something.  

[Falathrim]

...can I comment even if I don't read?

Because, honestly, the lack of participation in this finally got to me and I gave up on the reading.  

[Nimbrethil]

Love the comments, Melian XD

And Falathrim, I should think so. Firstly, it's not like anyone's going to know if you didn't actually read the chapter(s). Secondly, any discussion is better than no discussion. Thirdly, I've commented when I haven't done the reading before. razz  

[Imyavie]

Hey I participate! blaugh

Nimbrethil

Wow. The thread lives.

Does this mean I need to be updating the first post again?

Of course!

I have started the Akallabeth! Yay! I've been reading whenever I have spare time. But some things in the Voyage of Earendil were confusing to me, so could someone please summarize it in a nutshell? And after that, if I'm still confused, I'll ask my questions...because there are many.

((Is that alright, Nimby? Since I'm sorta ahead of the chapters... sweatdrop ))  

[Falathrim]

VOYAGE OF EARENDIL in a nutshell.

*the Exiles of Gondolin and Doriath come to the Havens*

EARENDIL: You're cute.
ELWING: So are you. Even if we're both still kids and shouldn't be starting romances yet.
EARENDIL: This is a nutshell. Falathrim is condensing things.
ELWING: Ah, I see.

*Earendil and Elwing are wed*

TUOR AND IDRIL: We are so ditching you two.
EARENDIL: I miss my daddy.
ELWING: Boo hoo.
EARENDIL: I'm going to ditch you and our kids now, because I wanna find my daddy.
ELROND AND ELROS: Wait, grandpa ditches you, and so you in return ditch us? Unfair.
ELWING: At least I have my shiny.

*Maedhros and Maglor and Amros kill things*

ELROND AND ELROS: We were so kidnapped.
MAGLOR: Yeah, well at least my people didn't ditch you like Maedhros's people ditched those other twins.
ELROND AND ELROS: True.
MAGLOR: Wait a sec, aren't you like ten years old? You shouldn't be so smart sounding.
ELROND AND ELROS: Nutshell!
MAGLOR: Ah, right.

*Elwing has jumped into the Sea*

ULMO: Sweet merciful Eru you are a dumbass. The Shiny is needed!
ELWING: It is? Opps. My bad.
ULMO: No s**t.

*Ulmo turns Elwing into a seagull*

EARENDIL: Hi Elwing! How are the kids doing?
ELWING: Kidnapped.
EARENDIL: Well, damn. Wanna give up on them and go to Aman?
ELWING: Sure, don't see why not.

*Earendil and Elwing and those other three people sail to Aman*

GIL-GALAD: I am here to save the day!
FEW LONE SURVIVORS: Too late, dumbass.
GIL-GALAD: Oh...
FEW LONE SURVIVORS: This place sucks. Take us with you.
GIL-GALAD: You mean I get to lord over you? This is the happiest day of my life!

*Manwe looks at the Sea*

MANWE: Ooh... Shiny...
VARDA: Indeed.
MANWE: Shut up, b***h.
VARDA: On one hand, that was mean. On the other hand, it was true.
MANWE: Let Earendil into Aman!

*Earendil cries because everything is empty*

EONWE: Behold Earendil, brightest of stars!
EARENDIL: OMG YOU SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME!
EONWE: I laugh.

*Earendil is guided to the Circle of Doom*

EARENDIL: *says stuff in Quenya*
EARENDIL: *says stuff in Sindarin*
EARENDIL: *says stuff in Hadorian*
EARENDIL: *says stuff in Beorian*
MANWE: Wow. You are one hell of a linguist.
ULMO: It is Fate that brought him here.
MANWE: No, it was the Shiny. I accept your bribe. Muster the Host of the Valar! And in Host of the Valar, I mean Host of the Everyone of Aman but the Valar!
ULMO: Ugh...
NAMO: You realize that, because he is part Noldorin, I need to kill him?
EARENDIL: a**.

*Elwing decides she wants the life of the Eldar*

EARENDIL: Damn.

*The Host of the Everyone of Aman but the Valar march to war*

EARENDIL AND/OR TURIN: *slays Ancalagon*
MANWE: YAY! We win! And in we, I mean they, but I'm gonna take all the credit!
ULMO: For the love of...
NAMO: *executes Morgoth*
MANWE: Earendil, as reward for your services, I give you this reward!
EARENDIL: OMG I love rewards!
MANWE: You get to sail around in the Void, making sure Melkor doesn't return to Aman! Isn't that amazing!
EARENDIL: . . .
MANWE: ???
EARENDIL: ...so, I get to sail around in nothing, all alone, guarding the Black Foe of the World?
MANWE: Yep.
EARENDIL: God I hate you.
ELWING: ...and I get to stay here. Dammit, Manwe, we chose to both be Elves so we could be together.
MANWE: Well, he's allowed to return to you sometimes...
ELWING: a**.

*Earendil guides the Edain to Numenore, then leaves the world*

EARENDIL: So dark out here...
EARENDIL: This story sucks.
EARENDIL: I hate nutshells.  

[Menegil]

Ai! I feel guilty in not having posted here... Is it too late for me to really join the reading?  

[Nimbrethil]

Imyavie: nope, you go right ahead.

Falathrim: Your nutshell is a shining beacon of excellence that all nutshells should endeavour to follow. And it also made me giggle.

Menegil: Nope. Well, kind of. But not really. So, no. Feel free.  

[Imyavie]

Falathrim

MANWE: Earendil, as reward for your services, I give you this reward!
EARENDIL: OMG I love rewards!
MANWE: You get to sail around in the Void, making sure Melkor doesn't return to Aman! Isn't that amazing!
EARENDIL: . . .
MANWE: ???
EARENDIL: ...so, I get to sail around in nothing, all alone, guarding the Black Foe of the World?
MANWE: Yep.
EARENDIL: God I hate you.

xd
*Is recovering from the stomach ache (just ate supper...pain x2!) her fit of giggles gave her*

That was even better than Dragon Ball Z in a nutshell. I praise your humourous nutshell-making skills, Falathrim. Thank you! heart 3nodding

That pretty much answered all my questions except one...why did Earendil start demanding the Noldorian curse stuff to be pardoned by the Valar all of a sudden? I found that to be rather random O_o.  

[Melian]

Nice summary. XDD

I liked the Voyage of Earendil chapter though, but that was still amusing. 3nodding  

[Falathrim]

Okay. Random comments!

OF THE FIFTH BATTLE: NIRNAETH ARNOEDIAD

Hmmm. Despite this being my favorite battle of all time, I have not much to say about it. I like the way it sounds.

Just recently I learned that the 'ae' sounds like 'eye', and that I've been saying many names incorrectly, such as Maedhros, Daeron, Aerin, etc. Yet, oddly enough, I've always said Nirnaeth correctly. Shows how much attention I pay to language. confused

Ummm.

The High Elves of the West were so pwned.

OF TURIN TURAMBAR

Not much I can say to this, other than 'Poor Turin sad '

Worst. Life. Ever.

I don't like how the Wanderings of Hurin were excluded from the published Silmarillion. I don't like it at all.

OF THE RUIN OF DORIATH

Ah, the Ruin of Doriath. Chris pretty much wrote this chapter, what with the good professor never really fixing it so that it made sense with the later Quenta Silmarillion.

Wow. I have no good comments tonight. Bah.

Yay Ents!

Boo Feanorians!


OF TUOR AND HIS COMING TO GONDOLIN

The first chapter to ever be written by Tolkien. And then, after that... never written again. If you want to read about the Fall of Gondolin, you need to work your way back to The Book of Lost Tales II. Odd, how that worked out. Yet, despite some un-Elvish sounding names (Rog?), it still, for the most part, works.

I heart me my BoLT Fall of Gondolin.

OF THE VOYAGES OF EARENDIL AND THE WAR OF WRATH

...how far as we supposed to be? I could check, but I'm lazy, so meh.

War of Wrath was actually nearly 50 years long. Cool.

Sadly, Tolkien never wrote much beyond vague outlines and annals regarding the Voyages of Earendil. We are told that he wanders all over the world, seeking out his parents, and that's about it. Supposedly, he made two or three voyages, only coming to Aman after Elwing brings with her the Silmaril.

Speaking of which... the Valar are a bunch of asses. "Yeah, we'll let the Noldor back in when they get a Silmaril. But Morgoth has those! Mweheheheheh!" Asses.

Feanorians again! BOO!

Earendil went on his first voyages to find mommy and daddy. After awhile, though, he realized that Elves and Men had no hope of survival under the Ban of the Valar, and so he became determined to beg for the Valar's mercy. Fortunately for all involved parties, he succeded.

Yeah, that's all the commesnt I have tonight.  

[Imyavie]

I give life to thee, Silmarillion thread. (hopefully!)

Thanks to my english teacher assigning the Lord of the Flies for us to read and analyze for the past month. On the plus side, I'm almost finished Akallabeth!

I was rather gleeful (^-^) to read about Numenore. I finally figured out what the heck Armenelos was, and Meneltarma. It sounds so pretty....I like Numenore more than any other place Tolkien ever created.

Is it just me...or do some of the Numenoreans seem like a bunch of whiny, thankless kids? I mean, yeah, they live pretty close to a place where the elves reside and do not need to ever worry about death, but so what! They still have long lives, are perfectly healthy (If I do recall correctly, it stated that Numenorians are free from illness.) and they live on this really nice island. What more could they ask for? Can't they just accept the way that they are?

And then comes Sauron, and everything begins to suck.

Oh, and I have a little question (I think someone explained this before, but I'm not sure):

Sometimes Tolkien says 'Numenor' and other times 'Numenore', with the accents. Why is that?  

[Falathrim]

Numenore is how it's supposed to be spelt in Quenya. If I recall Nandelle's rantings correctly, often times words in Quenya will be shortened by removing the last 'e', and hence the Numenor.

Numenoreans were not spoiled. They lasted 1800 years without saying anything bad, and then lasted another 1200 years before they finally did anything stupid; and even then it was because Sauron decieved them. You forget that with time comes change, and the Valar simply couldn't deal with that. It was Numenor that paid the penalty.

Isle of Numenor was nice, yes, but there were more Numenoreans than could live on Numenor. It wasn't all that long before some of the Numenoreans needed to return to Middle-earth, and all they found there were a few Elves and a lot of Dark Men.

Plus, sticking the Numenoreans within sight of a paradise they were BANNED from ever setting foot on was pure stupidity on behalf of the Valar.  

[Imyavie]

Yeah, I guess I was being too harsh on the Numenoreans....Gosh I'm thankful for this thread. It makes everything make sense (especially for first time readers like me.) If it weren't for it, I'd just be another confused reader who wrongly accuses certain races when it was really someone elses fault @_@

I'm going to try an finish the whole book by Saturday.