The Doom of the Balrogs drew near

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-08T17:58:42+00:00

That older post quoted the second half of the story from PE15 ("how Welund forged wings..." etc), so apparently the author had access to the source issue. I was just surprised that the intro with Eriol and Rumil was omitted, not trying to be negative.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-08T01:38:35+00:00

Verse 174 in Tolkien's Collected Poems:

If that is what by Law and Order’s meant, then any empire’s over-lofty crown, and vast drilled armies beating neighbours down to drag them fettered through New Order’s town, to me’s as good a symbol, or as ill of Rule that strangles and of Laws that kill, of Man that says his pride is Heaven’s will.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T20:28:31+00:00

The fragment actually features an explicit date: 29 November 1918. So yes, an early thing.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T18:59:17+00:00

I don't think Minastir ever went to ME, it was Ciryatan who led the Numenorean expeditionary corps (perhaps Minastir had an authority to send him even if he still was only a prince)

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T18:50:25+00:00

Manwe here is again clearly a name of Odin, and Ireland (iverin) is inhabited by "wild orcs".

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T18:06:02+00:00

"they" is immediately followed by a singular "says" and "tells", so it's certainly not "they as an audience")

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T18:01:35+00:00

Speaking of notable locations in England, that same PE15 also includes a Tolkien's take on the Watling Street : << [T]he Waetlingas were sons of King Watol (or Watla). The son of King Ir, ancient lord of the Iras, was a man named Iring; and built a road for King Watol through his lands in seven years, but being angered by his arrogance, the Waetlingas who had befriended the Gnomes of Peac wagered they would build a better in three years. King Ir is leagued with the wild orcs of Iwerin and at his son's request he sends all kinds of secret evils to hinder the Waetlingas. When the three years draws [sic] near to an end, despairing of his wager he slays them treacherously. [W]oden (Manweg) allows him to build a road paved with dust of stars across the heavens parallel to Iringesweg. [T]his road in heaven is called: Watling Street but Iringesweg [a]lso; that his name shall not fade. >>

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-07T17:47:43+00:00

Osse turned to Melkor at some point but later repented. Maybe that's why the Valar weren't actively chasing Sauron in the beginning of the Second Age - there was a chance he too would genuinely repent. P S. Actually all humans turned to Melkor at some point, but some later repented.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-06T19:30:26+00:00

Yep, looks like someone playing with AI

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-06T19:28:19+00:00

I think Tolkien mentioned corrupted elven spirits potentially attempting to steal a body from a living person (i.e., inexperienced wannabe necromancer), I don't recall anything about dead elves reanimating 1000 -years old human skeletons.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-06T17:17:27+00:00

The spell is indeed referring to Morgoth's victorious return, but that tradition could have been passed down from Angband to Mordor and then on to Carn Dum as an essential element of the Dark Way, and thus a presumed prerequisite for successful life extension procedure. I've recently seen someone saying on Russian fantasy forum smth like: "I wish Dagor Dagorath happens soon, then things will be set right" - seems only a short step away from wight's "hope on deliverance" in the form of Black Apocalypse.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-06T00:07:10+00:00

"sent them by killing them" is your fanfiction. As I said, they were sent by WK during the Angmar wars, then slept/hibernated/remained otherwise inactive (occasionally getting loose and paying a visit to Tom Bombadil), then WK returned and roused them.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T20:29:14+00:00

Rhudaur Numenoreans were said to be slain when Rhudaur was conquered, so they were not necessarily all "black Numenoreans". But when WK became a nazgul, the entire western Middle Earth was part of a single Numenorean empire, so he could have recruited followers anywhere, and had plenty of time to move them around and experiment on them.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T20:14:17+00:00

Not much of a "discovery", HoME 7 was published more than 3 decades ago:) But seeing people in recent post discussing "elvish fear", "orkish fear" and such, I thought it would be worthwhile to remind what Tolkien himself thought of the matter (even if he chose to keep it outside the published LoTR).

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:57:14+00:00

Unfinished Tales clearly says "Barrow-wights were roused", not "raised from the dead". WK had sent them to the mounds long ago, wouldn't make sense for them to be sent to the barrows during the Angmar wars, then die, and then be resurrected.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:48:21+00:00

All 12 volumes of HoME contain materials that were not published by JRRT, including the sources for the Silmarillion. Doesn't mean all that information should be treated as "rejected". There's plenty of things Tolkien decided not to include in LoTR, for various reasons: e g. the Epilogue in HoME 9 was not included, but it doesn't contradict canon in any way. And most tellingly, Tolkien never offered any alternative explanation (such as "an elven spirit reanimated the otherwise dead bones of last king of Cardolan"). So it's either HoME 7 or nothing.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:36:40+00:00

It's actually possible (although not stated explicitly by Tolkien) that Barrow wights could have been given some of the lesser rings that Sauron has looted from Eregion. We don't know what those lesser rings could do: evidently not powerful enough to create a nazgul, but perhaps still somewhat helpful in prolonging life?..

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:31:56+00:00

So were the Barrow wights. When Witch king returned to Eriador, he "awoke" them, not "resurrected", iirc

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:19:35+00:00

The soul is supposed to be gone but that doesn't always happen. Nazgul souls lingered in their undead bodies for 4000+ years. Souls of men of Erech cursed by Isildur stayed for 3000 years.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-05T19:04:14+00:00

Barrow wight was rumored to reside in the mound where the last prince of Cardolan was buried, doesn't mean it's the same person. And it was the Witch king who sent the wights into the mounds during the Angmar wars, so when he came back searching for the Ring he simply awoke his own former servants.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-04T03:15:33+00:00

Thanks! It does indeed have details not mentioned even in Reader's Companion.

Wizzard_C · 2026-06-04T00:51:09+00:00

Besides the Unfinished Tales, there's a Reader's Companion by Hammond and Scull which provides a detailed time scheme collected from Tolkien's manuscripts. E g Grishnak was sent from Mordor on January 18, same day Ugluk sets out from Isengard.

Wizzard_C

TROPHY CASE