It ain't over til the fat troll swings! Join us in the Reading Room as we explore the thousands of years of history preceding the War of the Ring. This week it's Appendices A.I.i to A.I.iii: Numenor, and the Lost Realm of Arnor!

Appendix A.I.i-iii - Numenor & Arnor

by Beren IV, May 6- 11 & June 25, 2006

Introduction  <Beren IV>  [5/6 @ 10:47 PM]  (6/16)

The Edain  <Beren IV>  [5/9 @ 12:53 AM]  (3/10)

Open Discussion (for now)  <Beren IV>  [5/11 @ 9:43 AM]  (2/4)

Eriador and Arnor - free for all  <squire>  [5/11 @ 10:28 AM]  (4/7)

On the First Part of Appendix A - Finale  <Beren IV>  [6/25 @ 12:03 AM]  (0/0)

The Paleontologist is back I - Dúnedain population genetics  <Beren IV>  [6/25 @ 1:26 PM]  (2/6)

Everyone is wondering where the heck everyone is! Meanwhile, "precious stones are pebbles in Gondor for children to play with" during the height of the South-kingdom's glory and power, yet "Umbar remained at war with Gondor for many lives of men"-- or so you will learn if you join us in the Reading Room, as we discuss Appendix A.I.iv to The Lord of the Rings, "Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion". First visitor will lead the discussion.

Appendix A.I.iv - Gondor

by Alraune, May 15-21, 2006

Gondor's Golden Age  [5/15 @ 5:38 AM]  (3/42)

The Kin-strife   [5/15 @ 3:05 PM]  (3/7)

The beginning of Gondor's long downward slide  [5/16 @ 3:52 AM]  (4/6)

Sauron stirs again  [5/16 @ 1:52 PM]  (4/13)

Wainriders invade, but are repelled  [5/17 @ 2:01 AM]  (4/13)

Dispute over the Northern Kingdom’s claim to the kingship  [5/17 @ 2:33 PM]  (2/9)

The southern line dies out  [5/18 @ 3:26 AM]  (2/5)

Gondor under the Stewards  [5/18 @ 3:31 PM]  (1/2)

Gondor attacked from every direction  [5/19 @ 7:41 AM]  (1/1)

On Ecthelion and Thorongil  [5/20 @ 4:05 AM]  (2/2)

Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir  [5/20 @ 3:47 PM]  (2/6)

Only pretending to be dry  [5/21 @ 3:52 AM]  (5/5)

Everyone is hiding behind the trees around Cerin Amroth, waiting to see if Arwen falls for Aragorn! Then it's back to nonstop warfare with the Annals of the rampaging rough Riders of Rohan. Join us in the Reading Room this week as we read Appendices A.I.v and A.II of The Lord of the Rings.

Appendix A.I.v - The Tale of Aragorn & Arwen

by NZ Strider, May 22-26, 2006

Introduction  [5/22 @ 4:03 AM]  (12/43) 

Life among the Dunedain  [5/22 @ 9:05 PM]  (2/6)

Foresight  [5/23 @ 4:54 AM]  (4/4)

The orphan hero etc.  [5/23 @ 4:57 AM]  (4/8)

Beren and Luthien  [5/25 @ 6:24 AM]  (2/9)

Elrond  [5/25 @ 7:12 AM]  (2/23)

Aragorn in the wilderness  [5/26 @ 6:53 AM]  (4/15)

Gilraen gives up hope (Hope?)  [5/26 @ 7:03 AM]  (3/8)

Two more death-bed scenes  [5/26 @ 8:34 PM]  (5/6)

Open Discussion  [5/26 @ 8:57 PM]  (4/10)

Appendix A.II - Rohan

by squire, May 29-June 4, 2006

The House of Eorl  [5/29 @ 1:59 AM]  (4/10)

The House of Eorl saves the day  [5/30 @ 12:28 AM]  (6/9)

dragons and horses  [5/31 @ 12:07 AM]  (8/14)

Helm Hammerhand's hand hammers Freca  [5/31 @ 11:44 PM]  (4/9)

Helm's Big Sleep in the Deep. [6/1 @ 9:07 AM]  (3/7)

Saruman spelled backward is Evil  [6/1 @ 11:32 PM]  (3/3)

List now the Kings // their lore and long names  [6/2 @ 3:49 PM]  (2/9)

Read how the Mark // was ruled with renown  [6/3 @ 11:19 AM]  (6/9)

and he was young, and he was King: the lord of a fell people.  [6/4 @ 4:04 PM]  (5/12)

Appendix A.III - The Dwarves

by Reera the Red, May 29-June 3, 2006

Some Background on the Dwarves  [5/29 @ 11:32 AM]  (7/18)

Wanderings in the Third Age [5/30 @ 5:42 PM]  (3/8)

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs [5/31 @ 8:45 PM]  (6/11)

The Rings of the Dwarves  [6/1 @ 10:23 PM]  (2/10)

The Quest of Erebor  [6/2 @ 6:43 PM]  (2/3)

After the War of the Ring  [6/3 @ 1:09 AM]  (2/8)

Open Discussion  [6/3 @ 1:17 AM]  (2/3)

The Paleontologist is back II - Dwarven Biology  <Beren IV>  [6/25 @ 1:53 PM]  (3/3)

Everyone is immersed in the joys of archival research! Join us in the Reading Room as we discuss the Appendices to the The Lord of the Rings. This week it's the scintillating Appendix B, The Tale of Years, and the hilarious Appendix C, Family Trees of the Hobbits.

Appendices B & C

by the Reading Room as a free for all, June 4-11, 2006

#1  <Altaira>  [6/4 @ 11:52 PM]  (6/9)

The Tale of Years. What's with the Second Age?  <squire>  [6/6 @ 12:43 PM]  (3/8)

Appendix C:  Family Trees.  Baggins and Boffins and Bolgers--oh, my!  <N.E. Brigand>  [6/11 @ 9:11 PM]  (4/7)

Appendix B:  The Tale of Years.  The Third Age  <N.E. Brigand>  [6/11 @ 10:34 PM]  (2/2)

Everyone is adding and subtracting fractional days to the millennial deficit, and practicing their voiceless stops and aspirated consonants, as we stagger through Appendix D "The Calendars" and Appendix E "Writing and Spelling" of The Lord of the Rings. Join us in the Reading Room this week as we consider: was Tolkien a nut, or what?

Appendices D & E

by squire, June 12-18, 2006

Appendix D: The Calendars. Introduction; and yén, enquië, and loa, made E-Z.  [6/12 @ 9:04 AM]  (6/19)

Yestarë, all their troubles seemed so far away: The Númenoreans invent the long week-end.  [6/12 @ 9:45 AM]  (3/9)

Shire-Reckoning, Shire-reform: Throw out that odd weekday!  [6/12 @ 2:11 PM]  (4/8)

“In the Westron the Quenya names of the months were usually retained. . . ”  [6/13 @ 8:43 AM]  (2/4)

"The last day of the week, Friday (Highday), was one of holiday and evening feasts."  [6/13 @ 9:24 AM]  (3/5)

“They had many names for these ‘twilight’ periods”   [6/13 @ 1:22 PM]  (2/8)

The New Reckoning, and Open Discussion.   [6/13 @ 6:40 PM]  (10/19)

Appendix E: Writing and Spelling. “R represents a trilled r in all positions; the Orcs are said to have used a uvular r”  [6/14 @ 12:59 AM]  (10/16)

“In Quenya ui, oi, ai and iu, eu, au are diphthongs. All other pairs of vowels are dissyllabic.”  [6/14 @ 3:53 PM]  (4/17)

“Where the last syllable but one contains (as often) a short vowel followed by only one (or no) consonant, the stress falls on the syllable before it”  [6/14 @ 4:10 PM]  (3/4)

“The scripts and letters used in the Third Age were all ultimately of Eldarin origin.”  [6/15 @ 2:02 AM]  (3/5)

“The raising of the stem indicated the opening of the consonants to a 'spirant': thus assuming the above values for Grade 1, Grade 3 (9-12) = th, f, sh, ch, and Grade 4 (13-16) = dh, v, zh, gh.”  [6/15 @ 3:52 PM]  (4/6)

Grades 5 and 6: “For lv, not for lw, many speakers, especially Elves, used lb: this was written with 27+6, since lmb could not occur.”  [6/15 @ 4:10 PM]  (3/4)

The vowels were in many modes represented by tehtar, usually set above a consonantal letter. [6/16 @ 12:15 AM]  (2/6)

“And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking”  [6/16 @ 3:37 PM]  (5/7)

Cirth you, sed Daeron! [6/18 @ 12:29 AM]  (3/4)

The End of our Discussion is in Runes.  [6/18 @ 12:36 AM]  (2/4)

Open Discussion. [6/18 @ 12:38 AM]  (10/31)

Appendix F

by dna, June 19-25, 2006

(Intro): 14 Languages; Family-names; the Finarfin-fix; & the Finale  [6/19 @ 3:19 AM]  (3/11)

(History): Forewords and Backwards [6/19 @ 5:36 PM]  (1/1)

(I): Languages & Peoples of the 3rd Age - [Preamble] / Of the Elves [6/20 @ 4:42 AM]  (1/12)

(I): Languages & Peoples of the 3rd Age – Of Men [6/20 @ 10:39 PM]  (3/7)

(I): Languages & Peoples of the 3rd Age – Of Other Races  [6/21 @ 11:22 PM]  (3/13)

(II): On Translation - The Matter of Hobbits (the ‘conceit’ is on!)  [6/23 @ 8:49 PM]  (2/17)

(II): On Translation - free use of familiar forms; ‘forest of the great fear’; for instance, ifs; figures of fun; fancies, as butterflies to falcons; fate of Fathers in far-off days; the Finarfin-fix and final footnote! [6/25 @ 3:38 AM]  (4/33)

The Paleontologist is back III - Dragons and their ecology  <Beren IV>  [6/25 @ 2:02 PM]  (4/12)

Open Discussion on The Lord of the Rings

June 25-July 9, 2006

The Index  <N.E. Brigand>  [6/28 @ 10:13 PM]  (6/31)

What did you discover this time around?  <Curious>  [6/30 @ 7:20 AM]  (10/32)