All Questions
Tagged with tolkiens-legendarium the-silmarillion
391
questions
23
votes
2
answers
9k
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Why, in The Silmarillion, does Melkor disappear forever and leave Sauron to reign as some kind of "Melkor copy"?
Melkor is many times driven back and trapped and whatnot after being defeated. At some point, the Valar/gods banish him to some kind of existence from which he cannot come back. Or can he? Why not? I ...
- 281
23
votes
2
answers
7k
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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 ...
- 4,044
23
votes
2
answers
4k
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When did Gandalf become a Maia?
Obviously in the final legendarium, Gandalf was always a Maia as he is Olórin, one of the Ainur who was present at the singing of the Music.
What I want to know is: did Tolkien always consider ...
- 331
23
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2
answers
3k
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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 ...
- 7,624
22
votes
4
answers
5k
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Is there any hint that some of the beings in Tolkien's lore may have survived into "our" times?
In Tolkien's lore, they are many very old beings. Is there any indication that some or even one would have been truly immortal and survived into what we would call "our" history or Age? Galadriel, ...
- 8,271
22
votes
6
answers
7k
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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 ...
- 335
22
votes
3
answers
13k
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Was Ungoliant more powerful than Morgoth?
Ungoliant and Morgoth formed an alliance temporarily and came to Valinor, while Morgoth cast a dark shadow covering them, Ungoliant sucked the light from the Two Trees and darkened Aman, hence why it ...
- 10.8k
22
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3
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5k
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What did ships in Middle-earth look like?
I was wondering what the different ships of the different peoples look like, specifically Elves, Gondorians/Númenoreans, and Corsairs.
The elvish ships are often described to have swan-shaped prows:
....
- 5,519
22
votes
1
answer
3k
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Why wasn't Gandalf/Olórin head of the White Council
I'm just reading through The Silmarillion (again) and I'm curious why Olórin (later Gandalf) wasn't appointed head of the White Council when he arrived in Middle-Earth. In The Silmarillion he's ...
- 253
21
votes
2
answers
5k
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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 ...
- 7,575
20
votes
6
answers
5k
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What are all the prophecies in The Lord of the Rings?
I'm looking for a definitive list of all of the prophecies* that have been made within the world of The Lord of the Rings.
The only one I can think of (off the top of my head) is when Glorfindel 2.0 ...
- 45.6k
20
votes
4
answers
8k
views
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?
- 26.5k
20
votes
3
answers
6k
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Do the Tolkien elves need to eat to survive?
On the one hand, they are physically very similar to humans, and the only crucial difference is that they don't age or fall ill. This, as well as frequent mention of food being eaten by elves, gives ...
- 4,446
19
votes
5
answers
7k
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Why didn't Beren kill Morgoth when he had the chance?
Beren had Morgoth at his mercy, and he could've drove his knife into Morgoth while he slept.
Suddenly he fell, as a hill sliding in avalanche, and hurled like thunder from his throne lay prone ...
- 26.4k
19
votes
1
answer
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What were the contents of the Phial of Galadriel?
I have read that the phial contained a part of Eärendil's star, but do we know how that came to be in Galadriel's possession?
- 311