A collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977 which describe (incompletely) the universe in which Middle Earth is found
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The Valar and their power to create
In The Silmarillion it is said that only Eru possesses the Flame Immperishable, and thus only he can create life. For example, when Aulë tries to create the dwarves, these result in a kind of ...
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Did Ilúvatar anticipate Melkor?
Did Ilúvatar know that Melkor would 'turn bad'? Was it part of his vast design? Tolkien often hints that also Morgoth's evil is part of the grand plan, and that he does the will of Ilúvatar in the ...
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141 views
Did the Valar fight in the War of Wrath?
I just finished reading The Silmarillion (prior to this, I'd read The Hobbit once and The Lord of the Rings a couple of times), but something bothered me about the ending: did the Valar themselves ...
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Dagor Dagorath (sources?)
Does anyone know where can I find the references to the Dagor Dagorath, the last battle at the end of the world in Tolkien's legendarium?
I remember something in the Book of Lost Tales, at the end of ...
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Do male elves have long or short hair?
I've noticed that almost every fan drawing of elves (as well as their portrayals in the movies) show them with long hair, both the men and the women. But did Tolkien ever write anything that proved ...
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What does “Turambar” mean?
Why was Túrin called "Turambar" (Master of Fate/Doom)? Is it something to do with the Second Prophecy of Mandos?
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Did Tolkien acknowledge that Silmarillion is harder to read than LOTR?
Personally, I found Silmarillion to be very difficult to read (I admit to having never been able to finish it) compared to LOTR books. I know plenty of people who share that opinion (even native ...
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Second prophecy of Mandos
Does anybody know anything about the mysterious "Second Prophecy of Mandos"? It seems to be about the end of the world.
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Who was the original owner of Orcrist?
We know that Glamdring and Orcrist are both from Gondolin, and that Glamdring belonged to Turgon. All I found about Orcrist is a line from the Hobbit saying that it belonged to some great hero of the ...
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What happens to orcs in sunlight?
It's well know that Orcs, Golbins, Uruk-hai and most of Sauron's forces don't tolerate light, especially sunlight very well, and certain types of trolls turn to stone when sunlight falls upon them.
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In the Silmarillion, what was Morgoth's “dark design” against Luthien?
In the chapter "Of Beren and Luthien", we're told that, when Morgoth discovered Luthien in Angband, he
"conceived in his thought an evil lust, and a design more dark than
any that had yet come ...
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What happens to an elf in Lord of the Rings who dies twice?
An Elf who dies (whether they are in Valinor or Middle-Earth) goes to the halls of Mandos. After a certain time (to be determined by Mandos, its different for each case) they are returned to life in ...
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Was Elrond, in Tolkiens opinion, more inherently powerful than Galadriel?
I always thougt it is the other way arround but then I read this (Letter 236):
"Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him – being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same ...
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Was the Doom of Mandos a curse or a prediction?
In the Silmillarion, Mandos says:
Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the ...
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Could the Arkenstone have been a Silmaril?
Frome Wikipedia:Silmaril
"In agony, Maedhros threw himself and his Silmaril into a fiery pit..."
From lotr wikia
"The Arkenstone also known as the "Heart of the Mountain" of Thrain was a ...
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Other than Morgoth, were any of the Valar ever susceptible to physical injury?
Among Tolkien's mythology, Fingolfin's duel with Morgoth is well known. Morgoth suffered serious injury during the fight, and was left with permanent scars. He had also previously suffered burns from ...
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Is there a hidden significance behind the fact Galadriel gave 3 hairs to Gimli instead of one?
I just saw an interesting interpretation of Galadriel's gift to Gimli on Reddit today, I retraced the source of the image to this tumblr post:
If you’ve read the Silmarillion, you know who ...
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What powers, if any, did the Silmarils have?
In the Silmarillion, the Silmarils were described as being very powerful, holy jewels.
What form did this power take exactly?
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The One Ring and Númenor
Did Sauron have his great Ring while in Númenor? How did he save it then, while in spirit form?
He ... fell into the abyss. But Sauron was not of mortal flesh, and
though he was robbed now of ...
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177 views
Is the appearance of Istari related to Amandil?
There are two major characters trying to reach for the Valar and ask for help. One is Eärendil, who succeded and caused the fall of Morgoth. The other is Amandil, who tried; but nothing is known about ...
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How exactly is Arda supposed to be an ancient Earth?
As most Tolkien fans know, Arda (Tolkien's world) is supposed to be Earth in its past, and all its stories are supposed to have happened long ago on this very same planet. Of course, this is fiction, ...
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What is the true origin of the orcs?
There are a bunch of theories about the true origin of the orcs. Tolkien tried out a few different origins for his Orcs throughout his life but died before he could fully revise The Silmarillion with ...
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How did Túrin's sword speak? [closed]
At the end of the tragic tale of Túrin Turambar, as told in The Silmarillion, Túrin goes alone to the high point of Cabed-en-Aras above the river Teiglin, and there calls to his sword Gurthang.
...
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Was there ever a queen for Melkor?
I am reading for the first time the Valaquenta. It mentions right at the beginning the seven Lords and Queens of the Valar (the Valiers). Melkor is excluded from the count of the Lords and from the ...
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Was there an “original sin” idea in the published version of Silmarillion?
in this answer, it is alluded to that Tolkien had an "original sin" in Silmarillion. It was based on Morgoth's Ring (part of Tolkien's unpublished drafts).
I gave you life. Now it shall be ...
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In the Silmarillion what is meant by Vampires and Werewolves?
We have a fairly specific idea of what vampires and werewolves are in our society. Vampires are cursed with the need to drink blood and immortality, werewolves are cursed with changing into a huge ...
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Is Tolkien's Middle Earth in our Universe?
I started reading The Hobbit to my daughter last night having read most of Tolkien's books in my youth, but haven't read them again for some years.
In the first few pages of The Hobbit, Tolkien talks ...
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Foresight in Tolkien
There's no doubt that in Tolkien's world, foresight really exists. There are many examples: Aragorn correctly predicting that "the years of [Elrond's] abiding run short at last"; Malbeth the Seer ...
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Is there any canonical reference to the fate of the Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando?
All I've ever been able to find is that they arrived in Middle Earth and left to go do something outside of the scope of the story. Has anyone ever found any additional information?
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How big were the Silmarils?
I was reading through the Silmarillion and came up with this question:
Exactly how big were the Silmarils?
I don't see even a single reference to their exact size. The references that I do see say ...
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Can the Valar or Maiar die?
In "The Lord of the Rings" and the "The Silmarillion" some Maiar (Sauron, several Balrogs, Saruman) are defeated. But did these Maiar actually die and if they did, do they go to Halls of Mandos or ...
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The Silmarillion — Different versions?
I just read about the book The Silmarillion and thought I'd like to buy it, but I'm a little confused about the different versions that I found.
On amazon I found foremost these two versions (I hope ...
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What exactly happened to the Noldor?
The Noldor were numerous and powerful, yet by the time of the events of The Lord of the Rings they are few and far between. Why did this once great group of Elves all but vanish by then?
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How does one pronounce the word “Akallabêth” from the Silmarillion?
In the Silmarillion, "Akallabêth" is the story of how Numenor fell. Its an Adunaic word, not an elvish word, and I haven't found any Adunaic pronunciation guides.
So, how is Akallabêth pronounced? I ...
