"Of the Noldor in Beleriand" Discussion Post
Welcome this fortnight's chapter discussion!
Important: This is not a spoiler-free zone. It is hard to discuss any chapter in depth without referring to things that happen in later chapters. Proceed at your own risk!
Banner by oloriel
Summary
Even though the Noldor in Middle-earth are living through a brief period of peace, all is not well in Beleriand. After Turgon has found a suitable place for his secret city he initially returns to Nevrast; but after the Dagor Aglareb he decides to act on his dream and summons the most skilled craftsmen of his people to begin building a great city. Turgon remains in Nevrast until, after 52 years, his city is finished. Then by and by Turgon and his people move to the newly-built city of Gondolin, leaving Nevrast empty. Because of the counsel of Ulmo, Turgon leaves a hauberk, helm and sword in his old halls in Vinyamar so that in later days, Turgon may recognise a messenger from Ulmo.
During the time of the building of Gondolin, Galadriel in Doriath is questioned by Melian about the unspoken woe that she perceives about Galadriel and her kin. Galadriel tells Melian about the quest for the Silmarils but mentions neither Oath nor Kinslaying. Thingol realises that the Noldor did not after all come to aid the Sindar against Morgoth, and certainly not as emissaries from the Valar. Nonetheless, Thingol assumes that the sons of Fëanor will be useful because they hate Morgoth. Melian warns him about the ambiguity of the Fëanorians' support.
But Thingol does not come to rely on the Fëanorians anyway, because stories about the deeds of the Noldor begin to spread until they reach Círdan, who informs Thingol of what he's heard. At that time, the sons of Finarfin are guests in Doriath, so Thingol confronts them. Finrod does not want to defend himself by blaming his cousins, but Angrod is angry about the way he has previously been treated by Caranthir and tells the whole story.
Thingol is furious, and sends the children of Finarfin away although he will not banish them, since they are his kin. He bans the use of Quenya in his realm, forbidding any Sindar who have taken him as their lord to speak or listen to Quenya and judging that any Noldo who still uses Quenya is unrepentant of the Kinslaying. As a result, only the lords of the Noldor continue to use Quenya in private, but Sindarin becomes the only every-day language among all the Elves in Beleriand.
Meanwhile, the building of Nargothrond is also completed. At a feast, Galadriel asks Finrod why he has no wife, and Finrod gives a portentous answer, that he will swear an oath and must be free to fulfill it. This will prove true, but there is another reason: The woman he loves still lives in Valinor.
Our Favourite Quotes
~ "High and white were its walls, and smooth its stairs, and tall and strong was the Tower of the King. There shining fountains played, and in the courts of Turgon stood images of the Trees of old, which Turgon himself had wrought with elven-craft […]."
~ “Thus Turgon lived long in bliss; but Nevrast was desolate, and remained empty of living folk until the ruin of Beleriand.”
~ “'For that woe is past,' said Galadriel; 'and I would take what joy is here left, untroubled by memory. And maybe there is woe yet to come, though still hope may seem bright.'”
~ “For what cause, Galadriel, were the high people of the Noldor driven forth as exiles from Aman? Or what evil lies on the sons of Fëanor that they are so haughty and so fell? Do I not strike near the truth?”
~ “’Near,’ said Galadriel; ‘save that we were not driven forth, but came of our own will, and against that of the Valar. And through great peril and in despite of the Valar for this purpose we came: to take vengeance upon Morgoth, and regain what he stole.’”
~ “Beware of the sons of Fëanor! The shadow of the wrath of the Valar lies upon them; and they have done evil, I perceive, both in Aman and to their own kin. A grief but lulled to sleep lies between the princes of the Noldor.”
~ “’Their swords and their counsels shall have two edges,’ said Melian; and afterwards they spoke no more of this matter.”
~ "And Círdan, hearing these dark tales, was troubled; for he was wise, and he perceived swiftly that true or alse they were put about at this time through malöice, though the malice he deemed was that of the princes of the Noldor, because of the jealousy of their houses."
~ "But Finrod answered: 'What ill have I done you, lord? Or what evil deed have the Noldor done in all your realm to grieve you? Neither against your kingship nor against any of your people have they thought evil or done evil.'
~ "'For this we are named tale-bearer to you and treasonable to the Noldor: untrily as you know, for we have of our loyalty been silent before you, and thus earned your anger. But now these charges are no longer to be borne, and the truth you shall know.'"
~ “'Wherefore should we that endured the Grinding Ice bear the name of kinslayers and traitors?'”
~ “'Never again in my ears shall be heard the tongue of those who slew my kin in Alqualondë! Nor in all my realm shall it be openly spoken, while my power endures. All the Sindar shall hear my command that they shall neither speak with the tongue of the Noldor nor answer to it. And all such as use it shall be held slayers of kin and betrayers of kin unrepentant.'”
~ “And it came to pass even as Thingol had spoken; for the Sindar heard his word, and thereafter throughout Beleriand they refused the tongue of the Noldor, and shunned those that spoke it aloud; but the Exiles took the Sindarin tongue in all their daily uses, and the High Speech of the West was spoken only by the lords of the Noldor among themselves. Yet that speech lived ever as a language of lore, wherever any of that people dwelt.”
~ “'An oath too I shall swear, and must be free to fulfill it, and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.'”
~ “But it is said that not until that hour had such cold thoughts ruled him; for indeed she whom he had loved was Amairë of the Vanyar, and she went not with him into exile.”
Earlier Versions
Gondolin
~ Although Gondolin features prominently in The Book of Lost Tales, the backstory of its building does not appear in any of the early drafts. The only material that pertains to this chapter is a mention of the two Trees. At this point, they are genuine shoots of Laurelin and Telperion, named Glingol and Bansil, rather than sculptures made by Turgon. (1)
~ The notion of Turgon's (and Finrod's) unease and subsequent secret building endeavours first appears in "The Earliest Annals of Beleriand". Annal 50 records that Turgon alone "discovers the hidden vale of Gondolin", and "gathers folk about him" to depart Hithlum. (2)
~ The “Later Annals of Beleriand” state that Turgon became increasingly uneasy and departed with a third of Fingolfin’s people and that no one knew where they had gone. It also states that the building of Gondolin was completed after their arrival. (3) Likewise, the “Quenta Silmarillion” only mentions that Turgon gathered his people secretly and built the city after they’d arrived. It is the first mention of Gondolin likeness to the city of the Elves in Valinor. (4)
~ In “The Grey Annals,” the building of Gondolin starts before the arrival of its people. (5, §89) Ulmo’s prophecy, warning, and advice about a set of armor is entirely new, as is the conception that Sindar also dwell in Gondolin. An early draft of §95 put what became Angrod’s outburst into Galadriel’s mouth. (5, Note on §95) It’s also stated in a rider that Ulmo protected Turgon’s people on their journey. (5)
~ Tolkien inserts a chapter in the “Later Quenta Silmarillion.” It is largely a repeat of information found elsewhere, though a more explicit description of Turgon’s finding and also of the city itself appear. The latter is the only description of Gondolin that appears in any drafts after the first “Quenta” in Shaping. (6)
Ban on Quenya
~ In neither the “Later Annals of Beleriand” nor the “Quenta Silmarillion” is there any reference to Thingol’s learning about the Kinslaying or his ban on Quenya. However, “The Lhammas” says outright that Quenya changed in form in Beleriand thanks to meeting other languages and split into several dialects, of which only the slave-Noldorin and the form in Gondolin survived after the War of Wrath. Furthermore, it became the speech of all of the surviving Elves of Beleriand after Doriath’s and Gondolin’s falls. The ban does not exist. (7)
~ In the first draft of “The Grey Annals” in the "Excursus on the languages of Beleriand," there is still no conception of the ban on Quenya, but Sindarin only is used in Thingol’s realm. The Noldor learned it to converse with the Sindar. (8) In the second draft, Tolkien states that Quenya and Sindarin were fairly understandable between each other, and that after the Rising of the Sun, both languages changed rapidly, Noldorin the more due to the rebellion. (In Gondolin, it changed the least due to a lack of contact with Sindarin, because in this version there are no Sindar there.) The Noldor held that the new form of their language was ‘debased’ and continued teaching proper Quenya. However, the ban on Quenya has appeared: Thingol forbids his people to speak it due to the Kinslaying. (9) The third draft rejected the whole of the second, and states that the Noldor took Sindarin as their main tongue, leaving Quenya for lore, for multiple reasons. One, the Sindar outnumbered them and their peoples mingled save in Doriath. The second was the ban on Quenya due to the Kinslaying. Daily speech in Beleriand was in Sindarin. This draft ends with the note that the in-universe document was written after the War of Wrath but before the return to Tol Eressëa, and in the changed-but not considered debased-- form of the Noldorin language. (10)
~ In “The Grey Annals” proper, the full conception of the ban appears. However, the information about Gondolin and Thingol’s discovery of the Kinslaying happen in reverse order. The information about Finrod and Amarië is new. (11, 12) In a marginal note to the chapter proper in “The Later Quenta Silmarillion,” it’s stated that Turgon and his family spoke Quenya, but the people of Gondolin spoke Sindarin. (6) However, in “Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin,” the passage where Tuor and Voronwë attempt to find the Hidden Gate implies that Quenya is spoken by more people. (13)
~ In a letter dated from 1972 (well after the composition of "The Grey Annals"), Tolkien made no mention of a ban on Quenya when explaining to Richard Jeffery that the "'High-Elves' or exiled Noldor" had immediately adopted Sindarin. It is unclear whether he forgot about Thingol's ban in his old age, or whether he was no longer satisfied with the idea. (14)
Food for Thought
~ How do you think the people Turgon and his followers left behind felt when they realized no one was in Nevrast? Could they have blamed a secret weapon or new tactic of Morgoth or did they think they were cowards for sneaking away or something else entirely?
~ Do you think Turgon kept up communications with his kin outside Gondolin on any sort of regular basis? Do you think that Fingolfin and Turgon's brothers knew the location of Gondolin, if not the exact road?
~ Why do you think Thingol decided that banning Quenya was the best (and/or easiest) way to punish the Noldor for the Kinslaying?
~ In a previous chapter, it has been stated that the Noldor predominantly spoke Sindarin even before Thingol's ban. Do you think this blunts the edge of Thingol's judgement?
~ Do you think that some Noldor may have continued to use Quenya - or even returned to using Quenya after using predominantly Sindarin - to show that they did not consider themselves bound by Thingol's rules? Do you think that all Noldor who continued to use Quenya genuinely were "slayers of kin... unrepentant"?
~ How do you interpret the ban on Quenya? Do you think that the Sindar would pretend they didn't hear what the Noldor said if the latter spoke in Quenya or that the Sindar shunned those who used Quenya even in private or do you believe something else entirely?
~ How do you think the ban on Quenya affected Noldorin culture?
~ The text specifically mentions the Sindar “throughout Beleriand” honoring the ban. Could this mean that the Sindar in Hithlum (and later in Gondolin) ignored it?
Works Cited
(1)The Book of Lost Tales 2. "III. The Fall of Gondolin."
(2)The History of Middle-earth: The Shaping of Middle-earth. "VII. The Earliest Annals of Beleriand." Years 50 (2).
(3) The Lost Road, The Later Annals of Beleriand, Annals 52 and 102
(4) The Lost Road, Quenta Silmarillion, “Of Beleriand and its Realms,” §116
(5) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, §89 and 110-113.
(6) The War of the Jewels, The Later Quenta Silmarillion, “Of Turgon and the Building of Gondolin”
(7) The Lost Road, The Lhammas, 8
(8) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 1
(9) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 2
(10) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 2, revised
(11) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, §88-109
(12) The War of the Jewels, The Later Quenta Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin, Commentary
(13) Unfinished Tales, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin, Note 26
(14) Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (eds.). The Letters of JRR Tolkien. Letter 347, Item 3.
Please note: We don't know everything and it's perfectly possible that we missed something. These summaries and questions are by no means supposed to be complete and exhaustive. If you have looked further into this particular topic or would like to discuss something that we've overlooked, please share it!
Also, please don't be afraid to talk amongst yourselves. We don't want this to be an echo chamber or for us to be lecturing to you. We want this to be a discussion among the community as a whole - everybody's got something to contribute!
Finally, don't forget to rec your favorite fanworks related to this chapter in the Fanworks Rec Post.
“Of Maeglin” is due on July 27.
Important: This is not a spoiler-free zone. It is hard to discuss any chapter in depth without referring to things that happen in later chapters. Proceed at your own risk!
Banner by oloriel
Summary
Even though the Noldor in Middle-earth are living through a brief period of peace, all is not well in Beleriand. After Turgon has found a suitable place for his secret city he initially returns to Nevrast; but after the Dagor Aglareb he decides to act on his dream and summons the most skilled craftsmen of his people to begin building a great city. Turgon remains in Nevrast until, after 52 years, his city is finished. Then by and by Turgon and his people move to the newly-built city of Gondolin, leaving Nevrast empty. Because of the counsel of Ulmo, Turgon leaves a hauberk, helm and sword in his old halls in Vinyamar so that in later days, Turgon may recognise a messenger from Ulmo.
During the time of the building of Gondolin, Galadriel in Doriath is questioned by Melian about the unspoken woe that she perceives about Galadriel and her kin. Galadriel tells Melian about the quest for the Silmarils but mentions neither Oath nor Kinslaying. Thingol realises that the Noldor did not after all come to aid the Sindar against Morgoth, and certainly not as emissaries from the Valar. Nonetheless, Thingol assumes that the sons of Fëanor will be useful because they hate Morgoth. Melian warns him about the ambiguity of the Fëanorians' support.
But Thingol does not come to rely on the Fëanorians anyway, because stories about the deeds of the Noldor begin to spread until they reach Círdan, who informs Thingol of what he's heard. At that time, the sons of Finarfin are guests in Doriath, so Thingol confronts them. Finrod does not want to defend himself by blaming his cousins, but Angrod is angry about the way he has previously been treated by Caranthir and tells the whole story.
Thingol is furious, and sends the children of Finarfin away although he will not banish them, since they are his kin. He bans the use of Quenya in his realm, forbidding any Sindar who have taken him as their lord to speak or listen to Quenya and judging that any Noldo who still uses Quenya is unrepentant of the Kinslaying. As a result, only the lords of the Noldor continue to use Quenya in private, but Sindarin becomes the only every-day language among all the Elves in Beleriand.
Meanwhile, the building of Nargothrond is also completed. At a feast, Galadriel asks Finrod why he has no wife, and Finrod gives a portentous answer, that he will swear an oath and must be free to fulfill it. This will prove true, but there is another reason: The woman he loves still lives in Valinor.
Our Favourite Quotes
~ "High and white were its walls, and smooth its stairs, and tall and strong was the Tower of the King. There shining fountains played, and in the courts of Turgon stood images of the Trees of old, which Turgon himself had wrought with elven-craft […]."
~ “Thus Turgon lived long in bliss; but Nevrast was desolate, and remained empty of living folk until the ruin of Beleriand.”
~ “'For that woe is past,' said Galadriel; 'and I would take what joy is here left, untroubled by memory. And maybe there is woe yet to come, though still hope may seem bright.'”
~ “For what cause, Galadriel, were the high people of the Noldor driven forth as exiles from Aman? Or what evil lies on the sons of Fëanor that they are so haughty and so fell? Do I not strike near the truth?”
~ “’Near,’ said Galadriel; ‘save that we were not driven forth, but came of our own will, and against that of the Valar. And through great peril and in despite of the Valar for this purpose we came: to take vengeance upon Morgoth, and regain what he stole.’”
~ “Beware of the sons of Fëanor! The shadow of the wrath of the Valar lies upon them; and they have done evil, I perceive, both in Aman and to their own kin. A grief but lulled to sleep lies between the princes of the Noldor.”
~ “’Their swords and their counsels shall have two edges,’ said Melian; and afterwards they spoke no more of this matter.”
~ "And Círdan, hearing these dark tales, was troubled; for he was wise, and he perceived swiftly that true or alse they were put about at this time through malöice, though the malice he deemed was that of the princes of the Noldor, because of the jealousy of their houses."
~ "But Finrod answered: 'What ill have I done you, lord? Or what evil deed have the Noldor done in all your realm to grieve you? Neither against your kingship nor against any of your people have they thought evil or done evil.'
~ "'For this we are named tale-bearer to you and treasonable to the Noldor: untrily as you know, for we have of our loyalty been silent before you, and thus earned your anger. But now these charges are no longer to be borne, and the truth you shall know.'"
~ “'Wherefore should we that endured the Grinding Ice bear the name of kinslayers and traitors?'”
~ “'Never again in my ears shall be heard the tongue of those who slew my kin in Alqualondë! Nor in all my realm shall it be openly spoken, while my power endures. All the Sindar shall hear my command that they shall neither speak with the tongue of the Noldor nor answer to it. And all such as use it shall be held slayers of kin and betrayers of kin unrepentant.'”
~ “And it came to pass even as Thingol had spoken; for the Sindar heard his word, and thereafter throughout Beleriand they refused the tongue of the Noldor, and shunned those that spoke it aloud; but the Exiles took the Sindarin tongue in all their daily uses, and the High Speech of the West was spoken only by the lords of the Noldor among themselves. Yet that speech lived ever as a language of lore, wherever any of that people dwelt.”
~ “'An oath too I shall swear, and must be free to fulfill it, and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.'”
~ “But it is said that not until that hour had such cold thoughts ruled him; for indeed she whom he had loved was Amairë of the Vanyar, and she went not with him into exile.”
Earlier Versions
Gondolin
~ Although Gondolin features prominently in The Book of Lost Tales, the backstory of its building does not appear in any of the early drafts. The only material that pertains to this chapter is a mention of the two Trees. At this point, they are genuine shoots of Laurelin and Telperion, named Glingol and Bansil, rather than sculptures made by Turgon. (1)
~ The notion of Turgon's (and Finrod's) unease and subsequent secret building endeavours first appears in "The Earliest Annals of Beleriand". Annal 50 records that Turgon alone "discovers the hidden vale of Gondolin", and "gathers folk about him" to depart Hithlum. (2)
~ The “Later Annals of Beleriand” state that Turgon became increasingly uneasy and departed with a third of Fingolfin’s people and that no one knew where they had gone. It also states that the building of Gondolin was completed after their arrival. (3) Likewise, the “Quenta Silmarillion” only mentions that Turgon gathered his people secretly and built the city after they’d arrived. It is the first mention of Gondolin likeness to the city of the Elves in Valinor. (4)
~ In “The Grey Annals,” the building of Gondolin starts before the arrival of its people. (5, §89) Ulmo’s prophecy, warning, and advice about a set of armor is entirely new, as is the conception that Sindar also dwell in Gondolin. An early draft of §95 put what became Angrod’s outburst into Galadriel’s mouth. (5, Note on §95) It’s also stated in a rider that Ulmo protected Turgon’s people on their journey. (5)
~ Tolkien inserts a chapter in the “Later Quenta Silmarillion.” It is largely a repeat of information found elsewhere, though a more explicit description of Turgon’s finding and also of the city itself appear. The latter is the only description of Gondolin that appears in any drafts after the first “Quenta” in Shaping. (6)
Ban on Quenya
~ In neither the “Later Annals of Beleriand” nor the “Quenta Silmarillion” is there any reference to Thingol’s learning about the Kinslaying or his ban on Quenya. However, “The Lhammas” says outright that Quenya changed in form in Beleriand thanks to meeting other languages and split into several dialects, of which only the slave-Noldorin and the form in Gondolin survived after the War of Wrath. Furthermore, it became the speech of all of the surviving Elves of Beleriand after Doriath’s and Gondolin’s falls. The ban does not exist. (7)
~ In the first draft of “The Grey Annals” in the "Excursus on the languages of Beleriand," there is still no conception of the ban on Quenya, but Sindarin only is used in Thingol’s realm. The Noldor learned it to converse with the Sindar. (8) In the second draft, Tolkien states that Quenya and Sindarin were fairly understandable between each other, and that after the Rising of the Sun, both languages changed rapidly, Noldorin the more due to the rebellion. (In Gondolin, it changed the least due to a lack of contact with Sindarin, because in this version there are no Sindar there.) The Noldor held that the new form of their language was ‘debased’ and continued teaching proper Quenya. However, the ban on Quenya has appeared: Thingol forbids his people to speak it due to the Kinslaying. (9) The third draft rejected the whole of the second, and states that the Noldor took Sindarin as their main tongue, leaving Quenya for lore, for multiple reasons. One, the Sindar outnumbered them and their peoples mingled save in Doriath. The second was the ban on Quenya due to the Kinslaying. Daily speech in Beleriand was in Sindarin. This draft ends with the note that the in-universe document was written after the War of Wrath but before the return to Tol Eressëa, and in the changed-but not considered debased-- form of the Noldorin language. (10)
~ In “The Grey Annals” proper, the full conception of the ban appears. However, the information about Gondolin and Thingol’s discovery of the Kinslaying happen in reverse order. The information about Finrod and Amarië is new. (11, 12) In a marginal note to the chapter proper in “The Later Quenta Silmarillion,” it’s stated that Turgon and his family spoke Quenya, but the people of Gondolin spoke Sindarin. (6) However, in “Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin,” the passage where Tuor and Voronwë attempt to find the Hidden Gate implies that Quenya is spoken by more people. (13)
~ In a letter dated from 1972 (well after the composition of "The Grey Annals"), Tolkien made no mention of a ban on Quenya when explaining to Richard Jeffery that the "'High-Elves' or exiled Noldor" had immediately adopted Sindarin. It is unclear whether he forgot about Thingol's ban in his old age, or whether he was no longer satisfied with the idea. (14)
Food for Thought
~ How do you think the people Turgon and his followers left behind felt when they realized no one was in Nevrast? Could they have blamed a secret weapon or new tactic of Morgoth or did they think they were cowards for sneaking away or something else entirely?
~ Do you think Turgon kept up communications with his kin outside Gondolin on any sort of regular basis? Do you think that Fingolfin and Turgon's brothers knew the location of Gondolin, if not the exact road?
~ Why do you think Thingol decided that banning Quenya was the best (and/or easiest) way to punish the Noldor for the Kinslaying?
~ In a previous chapter, it has been stated that the Noldor predominantly spoke Sindarin even before Thingol's ban. Do you think this blunts the edge of Thingol's judgement?
~ Do you think that some Noldor may have continued to use Quenya - or even returned to using Quenya after using predominantly Sindarin - to show that they did not consider themselves bound by Thingol's rules? Do you think that all Noldor who continued to use Quenya genuinely were "slayers of kin... unrepentant"?
~ How do you interpret the ban on Quenya? Do you think that the Sindar would pretend they didn't hear what the Noldor said if the latter spoke in Quenya or that the Sindar shunned those who used Quenya even in private or do you believe something else entirely?
~ How do you think the ban on Quenya affected Noldorin culture?
~ The text specifically mentions the Sindar “throughout Beleriand” honoring the ban. Could this mean that the Sindar in Hithlum (and later in Gondolin) ignored it?
Works Cited
(1)The Book of Lost Tales 2. "III. The Fall of Gondolin."
(2)The History of Middle-earth: The Shaping of Middle-earth. "VII. The Earliest Annals of Beleriand." Years 50 (2).
(3) The Lost Road, The Later Annals of Beleriand, Annals 52 and 102
(4) The Lost Road, Quenta Silmarillion, “Of Beleriand and its Realms,” §116
(5) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, §89 and 110-113.
(6) The War of the Jewels, The Later Quenta Silmarillion, “Of Turgon and the Building of Gondolin”
(7) The Lost Road, The Lhammas, 8
(8) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 1
(9) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 2
(10) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, Excursus on the languages of Beleriand, Grey Annals 2, revised
(11) The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals, §88-109
(12) The War of the Jewels, The Later Quenta Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin, Commentary
(13) Unfinished Tales, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin, Note 26
(14) Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (eds.). The Letters of JRR Tolkien. Letter 347, Item 3.
Please note: We don't know everything and it's perfectly possible that we missed something. These summaries and questions are by no means supposed to be complete and exhaustive. If you have looked further into this particular topic or would like to discuss something that we've overlooked, please share it!
Also, please don't be afraid to talk amongst yourselves. We don't want this to be an echo chamber or for us to be lecturing to you. We want this to be a discussion among the community as a whole - everybody's got something to contribute!
Finally, don't forget to rec your favorite fanworks related to this chapter in the Fanworks Rec Post.
“Of Maeglin” is due on July 27.