All Questions
Tagged with tolkiens-legendarium the-silmarillion
124
questions
89
votes
8
answers
183k
views
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 ...
- 1,219
84
votes
7
answers
23k
views
Are Tolkien's orcs immortal?
Orcs were the most commonplace villains serving the Dark Powers in all of Tolkien's Legendarium, a race of sentient beings bred by the evil Vala Melkor (Morgoth) during the time of the Great Darkness.
...
- 9,582
50
votes
6
answers
18k
views
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 what ...
- 2,662
48
votes
5
answers
27k
views
How were hobbits created?
How were hobbits created? I can't find any reference in The Silmarillion about this. Are they just men who have shrunken over generations or what?
- 3,149
53
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Were there two elves named Glorfindel?
In the Silmarillion, an elf named Glorfindel is killed in a duel with a Balrog at the battle for Gondolin. (He kills the Balrog as well.) Then in The Fellowship of the Ring, an elf named Glorfindel ...
- 5,629
59
votes
13
answers
36k
views
Who or what is the oldest sentient being in Tolkien's lore?
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Histories of Middle Earth, all lore related to this universe is acceptable fodder. Regardless of their power, susceptibility to The One Ring, ...
- 8,271
50
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Why aren't the Valar considered gods?
As an avid Tolkien fan and an increasingly active member of this site, I cannot count the number of times I've seen people refer to the Valar or Maiar as gods, only to be corrected by other members (...
- 38.6k
47
votes
2
answers
14k
views
What happened to Radagast The Brown?
The Maia Radagast The Brown disappeared from Arda after the first book The Fellowship of the Ring. What happened to him?
- 837
61
votes
3
answers
14k
views
Why do people say that Peter Jackson can not make LOTR/Hobbit sequels?
I was reading a couple of posts on forums where people said that "The Silmarillion" would make a great basis for an action movie, a sequel (or would that be prequel?) to LOTR and Hobbit.
But someone ...
- 621
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
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.
- 5,519
34
votes
5
answers
14k
views
How many Balrogs were there?
There are guesstimates of their numbers ranging from as little as three all the way up to hundreds. Still other accounts say there were actually a thousand strong.
We know five were "killed" ...
- 26.6k
34
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why did Christopher Tolkien remove all references to England and Ælfwine from the published Silmarillion?
Reading through the History of Middle-Earth series, it's quite clear the Tolkien had England and Eriol/Ælfwine of England in his mind though most of the history of developing the legendarium. The idea ...
- 4,446
24
votes
4
answers
6k
views
What happened to Huan the Wolfhound after he died?
I just finished reading the chapter of The Silmarillion devoted to Beren and Lúthien, which contains the greatest character in all of Tolkien's work, in my opinion: Huan, the Wolfhound of the Valar. ...
- 70.1k
21
votes
2
answers
5k
views
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
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How many of the Ainur were unable to change their physical form?
The Ainur are spirits who do not need bodies, but they can assume them. From the Ainulindalë in the Silmarillion:
Their shape comes of their knowledge of the visible World, rather than of the World ...
- 4,793
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
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 ...
- 5,519
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the nature of an Ainu's fair form?
When Númenor was sunk, Sauron was forced to flee the island by abandoning his physical body so that his spirit could return to Middle-earth. It was said that, henceforth, he could no longer assume a ...
- 34.2k
52
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Did Tolkien ever specify that Orodruin was a volcano?
It is incredibly clear that Orodruin (Mount Doom) was a volcano. It is a mountain with fire inside of it, and it periodically belches forth ash, smoke, and rock. This is what volcanoes do best (...
- 70.1k
30
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What is the parentage of Gil-galad?
In The Silmarillion, we're told that Gil-galad is the son of Fingon, son of Fingolfin:
Great was the lamentation in Hithlum when the fall of Fingolfin became known, and Fingon in sorrow took the ...
- 164k
30
votes
3
answers
19k
views
How large a form did Melkor take for his duel with Fingolfin?
After the Elves took many casualties in the Dagor Bragollach, Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, rode up to the gates of Angband and challenged Melkor to single battle in such a way that he couldn't ...
- 30.9k
24
votes
3
answers
3k
views
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 that ...
- 4,779
15
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Why did the Valar abandon the Moriquendi and Men?
There is plenty of discussion on this site about why the Valar didn't intervene in more obvious ways in the Second and Third Ages, but I'm asking about the First Age.
Between the return of Melkor to ...
- 261
14
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What do the family relations between the Valar mean?
TL;DR:
Some of the Valar are described in the Silmarillion as husband and wife, and others are described as siblings. But it seems that the Ainur don't procreate, and it's unclear what marriage means ...
- 271
12
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Are any of the original elves that awoke at Cuiviénen named?
This came up because a friend told me he thought Glorfindel was an "original elf". As far as I know, the earliest mention of Glorfindel is at the Fall Of Gondolin, which is a far cry from Cuiviénen. ...
- 621
10
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Are there any other planets besides Arda in Ea?
Did Tolkien mention anything about other planets in his mythology or did he invent just the one planet for his stories?
- 10.8k
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Who does Tolkien include in the category "The Wise"?
I know the wizards (Istari) are considered to be among "the Wise", and I believe the Elves (Eldar) are as well, but are all Elves among "the Wise", or only some of them? And does anyone else qualify ...
- 70.1k
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What about the Vanyar?
In the Silmarillion, we learn much about the origins of the elves and of their leaders. There is a lot of info about the people of the Teleri and the main plots are woven around the fate of the Noldor,...
- 3,042
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Was Melkor/Morgoth a Vala or not?
I had always been under the impression that Melkor was a Vala. It seemed to be almost common knowledge among Tolkien fans, including the ones here on SE. Then I came across this line in The ...
- 70.1k
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What's the difference between the "spiritual" beings in Tolkien's universe?
I'm looking for a brief synopsis of the Maiar, Valar, Ainur, and whatever Eru Ilúvatar is, and what the distinguishing characteristics of each group are.
The specific information I am looking for is ...
- 70.1k
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there anything in Lord of the Rings that could have survived into our age? [duplicate]
If The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion took place in different ages than us, but on Earth, is there any suggestion in those works that some elements would or could have been immortal or ...
- 8,271