Category: LotR Fact

While Galadriel was my top 3rd Age character, none can sway me in saying that Earendil is the best character Tolkien ever wrote (with the possible exception of Niggle)

Age Born: Years of the Sun

Age (At time of Landing): 42

Race: Edain

Family: Tuor (Father), Idril (Mother), Elwing (Wife), Elrond and Elros (Sons)

It truly is easier to simply walk into Mordor than to stand against the iron-strong will of Earendil, Savior of Ennor. Born in Gondolin and growing up at the Havens of Sirion, Earendil learned from the Noldor, and was a great warrior even among them. At age 22 (525 FA), he wedded Elwing the Fair, granddaughter of Beren and Luthien, and his parents departed for Valinor, leaving him to live on and rule the Havens of Sirion.

He was always a mariner. More often than not he was at sea on his beautiful ship, Vingilot. Why, I could write a full article on his boat alone! Eventually, though, this lifestyle literally saved his life when the Havens were assailed by Sons of Feanor, Maedhros and Maglor. Elwing alone escaped, diving into the sea wit the Silmaril upon her breast. but Ulmo pitied her, and gave the form of a white dove, and she was able to find her husband at sea. Together, Silmaril upon Earendil’s brow, they sailed West for 4 long years (538-542), until they finally made it to Aman. There they pleaded with the Valar, and the Valar came to Ennor.

But Earendil and Elwing were never again permitted to set foot in Middle-Earth. Vingilot was placed into the sky, and the two were given immortality as they sail through the sky as the night’s brightest star (a reference to Venus, or Undomiel / Evenstar) forever. Earendil defeated Ancalgon, Morgoth’s greatest dragon, and Beleriand was cleansed of the Dark Lord’s taint.

Sadly, Christopher will likely take the film rights for the Silmarilliion to his grave, and we have a long wait still ahead of us before we see Earendil’s story portrayed on the big screen. Perhaps in my lifetime… perhaps not.

Another highly debated topic amongst us nerds. Which Eldarin language is ‘easiest ‘ to learn, and why? What different benefits come from learning each? Why do so many of us pour hours into learning them when they’re ‘practically useless’?

I do not claim to be fluent in either of these languages, though I have some passable Sindarin, and rudimentary Quenya. In my opinion, Quenya is easier to learn if you already speak a language with noun inflection. There are 10 cases, making things quite difficult for those of us who aren’t used to even having more than one. Quenya is quite simple grammatically aside from that, and has a more extensive vocabulary, making it more useable. Sindarin does not use noun inflection, however, it has a complex system of mutation where consonants often shift depending on the grammatical or phonological placement of the word. While this may be difficult to memorize, it’s certainly easier than 10 cases when you’ve never spoken more than 1.

Yes, i am aware that there are few benefits to learning a mythical language out of a book. However, I advocate that people stop claiming that it is ‘useless’, or that they have no benefits whatsoever. There is a widespread community of Tolkien nerds all over the internet who pour hours into this. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to communicate with somebody who doesn’t speak your native language simply because you are both fans of the same book? But if you need something more solid, here is one of the biggest practical benefits of learning Elvish (primarily Sindarin, but this applies to both): Once you’ve learned it, every other language you want to learn will seem incredibly simple.

Now, just why do we put so much time and effort into this? For some people, they see it as a way to honour what Tolkien created. For others, bringing such a crucial part of his world into ours helps to bring them closer to the core themes and helps them understand the deeper morals of the legendarium at a much deeper level. Some reasons aren’t as deep; my friend and I tried to learn it simply as a secret language so have secret conversations to keep secrets from the memeable-content-hunters who need to find all of your embarassing moments. While she soon fell away when the journey got difficult, I held on. We all do it for our own reasons. I simply do it for the fun of it. I get so much joy when, while re-reading the books for the forty-second time, I stumble across some Sindarin phrase that I understand. Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!

One of Peter Jackson’s lesser faults that really made the movie great was the introduction of material found in Appendix A, Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, into the main narrative of the film. While many fans have struggled to find this tale in the Lord of the Rings, it is truly the most important part of the Appendices, which are almost as long as the Return of the King itself.

As well as having the greatest Sindarin lines the films contained, the Aragorn and Arwen scenes are really a callback to the Silmarillion, in the tale Of Beren and Luthien. Just like Aragorn and Arwen, Beren and Luthien were a mortal man and immortal elven princess who fell in love, making for the most important relationship in the First Age, resulting in the theft of a Silmaril, the destruction of the elven kingdoms, and of their offspring came Eärendil the Mariner, who saved the Edain and Eldar, and so on. Aragorn and Arwen are a wonderful parallel, as their love was part of the culmination of the Third Age, and started the Age of Men. In fact, when Aragorn first meets Arwen, he mistakes her for Luthien and calls out to her by that name!

The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen is the most important piece of material found in the Appendices, as Tolkien himself told us. The main narrative is supposed to be mainly hobbitocentric, so Arwen and Aragorn’s story was not important, but it could not wholly be left out. There are very few small hints throughout the narrative, such as Bilbo suggesting to Aragorn that Arwen’s presence at a feast would mean he should attend, or even just the fact that they seemed to be speaking as close friends, by Frodo’s observation. Nothing solid in the whole book, until, of course, the wedding on Midyear’s Day in the City of Kings. Not March 25th, the date of the fall of Barad Dur (as seen in the films), but the day of Lithe, somewhere in September on our calendar ( as the calendar of Imladris starts the year in April, and each month has 30 days, plus 3 enderi in September, and two days between years, it gets quite confusing when you can’t get numbers to line up).

Even just as a Sindarin student, I enjoy every Arwen scene to the fullest, as very little English slips through in them. While I’m sure many of you can’t stand them, when you have the connection the the lore the movies are far more potent. There is a scene which in the films takes place in Imladris, though I have managed to trace it to an event in Lothlorien in the book, where Arwen asks if he remembers when they first met. Yes! I do! Of course one of my favourite Sindarin sentences in the movie, Nauthannen i ned ôl reniannen ( I thought I had strayed into a dream), and in that very same scene, when she forsakes the Twilight, (I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone, I choose a mortal life, etc), you feel the true meaning of this through the lore:

” ‘I will cleave to you, Dunadan, and turn from the Twilight. Yet there lies the land of my people and the long home of all my kin.’ She loved her father greatly.”

She is sacrificing so much more than just her immortality, and only when the two mediums are together do you truly see its greatness.