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
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
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
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 ...
- 7,565
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 ...
- 4,783