Speaker 1: Hey there, fellow travelers. Our twenty twenty five Silmrillion journey
Speaker 1: continues with chapter ten of Quintus Silmarillion of the Cendar.
Speaker 1: The Noldor, led by Feanor, have re entered Bellarion in
Speaker 1: pursuit of more goth than the Silmuriles. This chapter brings
Speaker 1: us up to speed with the Elves that already inhabit
Speaker 1: belleriond especially the people of king Elwei Thingle aka the Cendar,
Speaker 1: and what has transpired in the long span of years
Speaker 1: since their brethren departed Bellerion for the Blessed Realm. Over
Speaker 1: the next several months, will continue revisiting the entire thirty
Speaker 1: episode Silmarillion series that Greta and I recorded back in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. While you're listening, check out Silmguide dot com.
Speaker 1: That's si lmguide dot com for guides to individual chapters.
Speaker 1: You can find that link in the show notes. To
Speaker 1: support our work here, please visit Patreon dot com slash
Speaker 1: Tolkien Road Enjoy. Hey there, fellow travelers, Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Tolkien Road. Episode two eighty nine. Greta, Hey, we meet again.
Speaker 2: Indeed, indeed we do. That's amazing We're meeting.
Speaker 1: In this episode we will be discussing Chapter ten of
Speaker 1: the Selm Million of the Sun Our. Before we get started,
Speaker 1: we'd like to give a double up air five to
Speaker 1: our patrons. Get those hands up. You've been duly warned.
Speaker 1: Three two one, Oh hope you got them up there.
Speaker 2: There we go.
Speaker 1: Need the vibes, There we go, We.
Speaker 2: All need es.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to this episode's executive producers, John R. Caitlin
Speaker 1: of t with Tolkien and Jacob Lockham.
Speaker 2: Thanks guys.
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Speaker 1: know what's on your mind and the comments below. All right,
Speaker 1: And hey, Greta, we gotta I forgot to ask you
Speaker 1: about this before we started. Can we do live stream
Speaker 1: on Thursday April twenty eighth, Thursday this week? Next week?
Speaker 2: I think we have something that night.
Speaker 1: Do we I think we do. What do we have
Speaker 1: because I don't see it?
Speaker 2: Oh, I think we have an event.
Speaker 1: An event m hmm for Chester ten. Oh okay, well
Speaker 1: more to follow, more to follow on when we'll be
Speaker 1: scheduling that. So disregard. I meant to ask Greda about that,
Speaker 1: but we're in kind of a we're in a little
Speaker 1: bit of a not a rush, but just had to
Speaker 1: get down to had to get down to business this morning,
Speaker 1: so got a schedule to keep.
Speaker 2: Yes, So but we will do a live stream.
Speaker 1: We will do a live stream or well, we'll get
Speaker 1: it all worked out when that's gonna happen. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: let's dive on in to chapter ten.
Speaker 2: Yes for chapter ten already.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well we're just you know, making our way through.
Speaker 1: Making it happen. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I feel it's been a much easier read this time.
Speaker 1: Well that'll happen when you read it before.
Speaker 2: I just remember, like it's not as so much as
Speaker 2: it's just easier, But it's like I'm enjoying it a
Speaker 2: lot more too. Yeah, Like last time it felt like
Speaker 2: a chore, but this time I'm like, oh, I can't
Speaker 2: wait to read this summer.
Speaker 1: Really, it's definitely one of those books that rewards you
Speaker 1: upon more and more upon, you know, repeated reads. Right,
Speaker 1: So you know there are some that there's some books
Speaker 1: that like you read them the first time and it's
Speaker 1: just you know, it's so good, but then maybe you
Speaker 1: read it a couple more times and not so much.
Speaker 1: This is the reverse of that to silm Rellion challenge
Speaker 1: at first, but once you've you know, you're on your second, third,
Speaker 1: fourth read, it just gets better and better and better.
Speaker 1: All right, let's let's hit this quote of the week,
Speaker 1: shall we. All right, but if bliss and glad life,
Speaker 1: there is little to be said before it ends as
Speaker 1: works fair and wonderful. While they still they endure for
Speaker 1: eyes to see, are their own record, and only when
Speaker 1: they were in peril or broken forever do they pass
Speaker 1: into song. That that quote really jumped out at me
Speaker 1: from this chapter. It kind of encapsulates the uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the idea that this this area of Balarion had its
Speaker 1: own long age of peace, if you will, And really
Speaker 1: there's not a whole lot that Tolkien has to say
Speaker 1: about that other than just like it was really peaceful
Speaker 1: for a long time, but it doesn't seem to last forever.
Speaker 2: No, So I thought I thought it was interesting. I
Speaker 2: like this quote too, because I think it was it's
Speaker 2: really kind of interesting where it says, and only when
Speaker 2: they are in peril or broken forever do they pass
Speaker 2: into song. Like it just made me think, like that's
Speaker 2: so true. Like I feel like we talk about like
Speaker 2: like when things are good and when you're enjoying them,
Speaker 2: like you don't really think about memorializing or or really
Speaker 2: writing it down. Yeah, that's when things are hard and
Speaker 2: when and when things start to go south, that that
Speaker 2: that that's when you start to to remember the good times.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, unfortunately that's true. Unfortunately that's true. Right, But
Speaker 1: it seems to be the nature of the good times
Speaker 1: and the nature of the bad times is that you
Speaker 1: tend to uh, well, you tend to remember. I don't know.
Speaker 1: That's a very pessimistic way of putting it, but you know,
Speaker 1: I get what he's saying. I get what he's saying
Speaker 1: here anyway, right, Uh yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Didn't mean to be pessimistic. I was just saying that
Speaker 2: that's just kind of when we're in the good times,
Speaker 2: we tend to take them for granted, right, and then
Speaker 2: when things were, like, you know, aren't as good, it's easy.
Speaker 2: That's when you begin to think, like, oh man, we
Speaker 2: had a really good back then.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thing about it, you know, yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's get into chapter ten, shall we,
Speaker 1: all right? In chapter ten, the perspective shifts from the
Speaker 1: Blessed Realm to Bealarion, where it will remain for the
Speaker 1: rest of the Silmarillion. We jump back to where we
Speaker 1: left Bealarion, at the point when the Vanyard, Noldor, and
Speaker 1: Hilarry all departed, leaving behind some of their brethren, who
Speaker 1: become known as the Cindar, and take the Tillary Lord
Speaker 1: Elway as their king and the Maya Melian as their queen.
Speaker 1: In chapter ten, we'll learn of the Sendar, the brethren
Speaker 1: of the Tilary that remained behind in BALARIOND, of the
Speaker 1: creation of Minnagroth, the grand palace of the sendaran king
Speaker 1: thingle of the coming of the dwarves to BEALERIOND of
Speaker 1: the nandorinolves of the return of Melcor to Middle Earth
Speaker 1: in the first Great Battle of BELLERIOND and much more
Speaker 1: so luck going on in this chapter. Again, Yeah, just
Speaker 1: a disclaimer, as with each episode, we won't be covering
Speaker 1: every detail of this chapter, but instead doing our best
Speaker 1: to hit the high points and unpack interesting and important details.
Speaker 1: If we miss something, you guys want to discuss more,
Speaker 1: let us know. Great place to do that to keep
Speaker 1: the conversation going is in the comments on YouTube. So
Speaker 1: all right, So, as I've been doing, we're talking about
Speaker 1: I'm trying to give a timeline for for each of
Speaker 1: the chapters in the Selm Million. So far, I've been
Speaker 1: using History of middle Earth Chapter ten to do that,
Speaker 1: and actually this week and really going forward, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be using History of Middle Earth Chapter eleven, The War
Speaker 1: of the Jewels to do that. And the reason for
Speaker 1: that is is that chapter ten or volume ten, really
Speaker 1: focuses on the stories of the Blessed Realm, almost like
Speaker 1: the first half of the Summarllion. It really focuses on
Speaker 1: that first half of the Sulm Million and the timeline
Speaker 1: there in the development of those stories after Lord of
Speaker 1: the Rings, and then volume eleven focuses on the development
Speaker 1: of the second half of the Selm million after the
Speaker 1: Lord of the Rings. So and you know, we kind
Speaker 1: of think about that as like volume ten is focused
Speaker 1: on the Blessed Realm, Volume eleven is focused on Valerion, right.
Speaker 1: So the dividing line between chapters ten or Volumes ten
Speaker 1: and eleven History of Middle Earth is the Great Sea. So, uh, timeline,
Speaker 1: where what are the years? And can we kind of
Speaker 1: compare them to the timeline that we've been using from
Speaker 1: volume ten, And the answer is yes, we can compare them.
Speaker 1: So really this takes place between the Year of the
Speaker 1: Trees twelve hundred and fourteen ninety seven, so a very
Speaker 1: long two hundred and ninety seven tree year period, which
Speaker 1: equates to twenty nine hundred and seventy years sun years, right,
Speaker 1: as we would reckon them. So and just to kind
Speaker 1: of frame that again, Melcor goes into captivity in the
Speaker 1: year eleven hundred, Year of the Trees eleven hundred, right.
Speaker 1: He's taken into captivity roughly around the years of the
Speaker 1: year eleven hundred, and his captivity lasts for three ages,
Speaker 1: which an age is one hundred year tree years, right,
Speaker 1: So it lasts from eleven hundred to fourteen hundred of
Speaker 1: the years of the Trees. We pick up the story
Speaker 1: here in the year twelve hundred years of the Trees. Okay,
Speaker 1: so the elves had become had begun to make their
Speaker 1: journey to the Blessed Realm between eleven hundred and twelve hundred,
Speaker 1: all right, of the years of the Trees. During that
Speaker 1: period is when Thingle goes into his trance, when he
Speaker 1: sees Melion, right, he goes into his trance and he
Speaker 1: doesn't actually come out of it until until it's like
Speaker 1: a twenty year period something like that. That he that
Speaker 1: he's in that twenty three year period, so it's actually
Speaker 1: two undred years, and he comes out of that, and
Speaker 1: then he starts to lead the Sindar, right, those those
Speaker 1: of the elves who remain behind. But let's dive into
Speaker 1: just the story of the Sindar here, all right, just
Speaker 1: a quick quick summary, just to refamiliarize ourselves with who
Speaker 1: the Cindar actually are. Gota, would you read this sure now?
Speaker 2: As has been told, the power of Elway and Melon
Speaker 2: increased in Middle Earth, and all the elves of Balion,
Speaker 2: from the mariners of Kirnon to the wandering hunters or
Speaker 2: the Blue Mountains beyond the river. Geleon owned Elway as
Speaker 2: their lord, Elu Thingle. He was called King Gray Mantle
Speaker 2: in the tongue of his people. They are called the Sindar,
Speaker 2: the gray elves of Starlit Bellarion. And although they were
Speaker 2: more Quindi, under the lordship of Fingal and the teaching
Speaker 2: of Melion, they became the fairs and the most wise
Speaker 2: and skillful of all the elves of Middle Earth.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So these are the elves that they made it
Speaker 1: all the way to Bellerion, but they never they never
Speaker 1: took the final journey. And most of them are Tillary.
Speaker 1: Most of them are of the same house as the Tillary. Right, So,
Speaker 1: Elway meets Melon, is entranced and then comes out of
Speaker 1: the trance, and the Sindar take him for their king.
Speaker 1: He is renamed Elu Thingal, which means King Graham Mantle.
Speaker 1: And then they learn a lot, right, they learned a
Speaker 1: lot because they have Melon as their queen. Right, so
Speaker 1: they actually have a who's my Mayar as their queen,
Speaker 1: And that's a you know, that's that's a great opportunity.
Speaker 1: They may not know, they may not become as knowledgeable
Speaker 1: as the elves of the blessed realm. But they become
Speaker 1: pretty knowledgeable, you know, as compared to the elves that
Speaker 1: never you know, that never made it over the Blue Mountains.
Speaker 1: All right. And by the way, just we'll get more
Speaker 1: into the geography of Bellerion. But just so you guys understand,
Speaker 1: if you look at the map of Bellerion in the Sellmarillion,
Speaker 1: it's in the front of the back. Can I remember
Speaker 1: it's in the back. Yeah. If you look at the map, basically,
Speaker 1: the Blue Mountains on the very east right, that's the
Speaker 1: same Blue mountain range that's in the upper northwest of
Speaker 1: Middle Earth and the Third Age, and that's kind of
Speaker 1: the dividing line to the east for Bellerion. All right.
Speaker 1: So to the to the east of the arid luin
Speaker 1: of the Blue Mountains, the terrain starts to become a
Speaker 1: lot more familiar. We recognize a lot more things from
Speaker 1: the Lord of the Rings and from the Hobbit, right,
Speaker 1: we'll actually hear about some of the those things in
Speaker 1: passing reference in this chapter. Some of those areas. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that is that's who the Sendar are. And then
Speaker 1: let's read let's read of the Coming of the Dwarves,
Speaker 1: and the dwarves come along in the year of the
Speaker 1: Trees twelve to fifty. They come to Bealerion in the
Speaker 1: year twelve fifty. So again this is like basically fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred years of sun years after Melkor went into captivity, right,
Speaker 1: so a long period has elapsed since then, all right,
Speaker 1: It came to pass during the second age of the
Speaker 1: captivity of Melchor that dwarves came over the blue mountains
Speaker 1: of arid Lun into belleriond themselves they named Kazad, but
Speaker 1: the Sendar called them Nalgrim. The stunted people and Gonhiram,
Speaker 1: masters of stone far to the east, were the most
Speaker 1: ancient dwellings of the Nalgrim. But they had delved for
Speaker 1: themselves great halls and mansions after the manner of their
Speaker 1: kind in the eastern side of eded Lun, and those
Speaker 1: cities were named in their own tongue Gabielgathol, and too Mounzahar.
Speaker 1: To the north of the great height of Mount Dolmed
Speaker 1: was Gabielgathol, which the elves interpreted in their tongue Belagost,
Speaker 1: that is Mickelberg, and southward was delved to moun Zahar
Speaker 1: by the elves named Nograd, the Hollowbold. Greatest of all
Speaker 1: the mansions of the dwarves was Kasadum, the Dwarro delf
Speaker 1: Har Hondrond in the Elvish tongue, that was afterwards, in
Speaker 1: the days of its darkness, called Moria. But it was
Speaker 1: far off from the mountains of myst beyond the wide
Speaker 1: leagues of Riador, and to the Eldar came but as
Speaker 1: a name and a rumor from the words of the
Speaker 1: Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you wrote that passage.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna say this was This is what
Speaker 1: I normally put on you, just to mess with you. No,
Speaker 1: So we you know, we hear about these in the
Speaker 1: Blue Mountains themselves. We have two dwarf kingdoms, one in
Speaker 1: the northern side of the range, one on the southern
Speaker 1: side of the range. And then we actually hear of
Speaker 1: of Moria, right of Kasa Doom, which of course plays
Speaker 1: you know, an important role in Lord of the Rings.
Speaker 1: But it's been around since the earliest you know, really
Speaker 1: really going way back into the early first Age, right,
Speaker 1: So we don't get a lot more information about it
Speaker 1: here in the Silmarillion, but we do know that exists
Speaker 1: at this time, and we have reference to the Mountains
Speaker 1: of Myss, the Misty Mountains, we have reference to Ariador,
Speaker 1: and you know, so these regions all do exist, it's
Speaker 1: just they're not in focus during this During the Selm.
Speaker 2: Million, we also hear of Mickelburg.
Speaker 1: Mickelburgh. Yeah, I think is.
Speaker 2: Very funny because it doesn't like it sounds like a
Speaker 2: small town in Pennsylvania or something.
Speaker 1: I was thinking too. I was like, there might be
Speaker 1: a town. There must be a town in Pennsylvani named
Speaker 1: Mickelburg or something. Do you think I was thinking Pennsylvania too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's hilarious.
Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna get a note from a listener
Speaker 1: who lives in Mickelburg, Pennsylvania. Then we then we then
Speaker 1: we're gonna learn that it's like, you know, a mining
Speaker 1: town or something like that.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, it could be it could be in Pennsylvania, absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, So that's the dwarves in the year twelve
Speaker 1: fifty of the Year of the Trees, they come into
Speaker 1: Balarion and and they start to intermingle with the elves
Speaker 1: of that region, and it sounds like the dwarves already
Speaker 1: have kind of their own you know, really civilization going
Speaker 1: at this point, right, mm hmm, Yeah, what were you
Speaker 1: gonna say?
Speaker 2: I was just gonna say that this was probably pretty
Speaker 2: trippy for both the elves and the dwarves, because like
Speaker 2: they both thought that they were like it, right, it
Speaker 2: would almost be like like us, like another civilization, Like
Speaker 2: I think of aliens just like walking into our backyard
Speaker 2: or something like, hey, we're here. You're like what we
Speaker 2: thought only humans lived here, you know. Yeah, So I
Speaker 2: think it must have been really like a kind of
Speaker 2: surreal for both the dwarves and the elves because they
Speaker 2: each were kind of insular before this, and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden than their world's collide. And I think
Speaker 2: it's awesome how and we'll get into this in a minute,
Speaker 2: but they like get along really well. They like they
Speaker 2: you know, they seem to compliment each other, you know,
Speaker 2: and seem to work together.
Speaker 1: I feel like we've probably talked about this before on
Speaker 1: the podcast, but there's this phenomenon called the Uncanny Valley,
Speaker 1: and basically the idea is that as you get closer
Speaker 1: and closer to it, there's this graph. I'll try to
Speaker 1: remember to put this in the notes because it's really
Speaker 1: interesting to think about. But basically, there's like this idea
Speaker 1: that as you go from like the most like basic
Speaker 1: robot all the way to like increasingly complex humanoid like
Speaker 1: kind of looking things right all the way to like
Speaker 1: what a like, like what a normal human being, it's
Speaker 1: it's actually a normal human being. There's like this spectrum
Speaker 1: where you know, it's like, oh, cute, cute, cute, and
Speaker 1: then you hit this point where it's so close to
Speaker 1: humanity but you can tell it's not actually human, and
Speaker 1: but it's it's like close enough to where you're like, uh,
Speaker 1: not cool, right, And it's that's called the uncanny valley.
Speaker 1: So it's like, you know, it's like oh, like you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Robbie the robot little like obviously not a human, right,
Speaker 1: you know, like Teddy Bear, right, you know, like obviously
Speaker 1: not human, obviously not Wait is that human? It doesn't
Speaker 1: look human, but it kind of looks human or I
Speaker 1: don't like it, right, And it gets close and it's
Speaker 1: like there's like these negative emotions that are associated with
Speaker 1: like negative reactions associated with it. So it's like this
Speaker 1: weird effect where it goes it's like too close for.
Speaker 2: Comfort, right, Everything's just fine until you get just close enough,
Speaker 2: but it's just enough to kind of make you go, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's like something's not right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't look Yeah, yeah, it's it's an interesting
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'll try to remember to link to
Speaker 1: this on on it's a the Wikipedia article on this,
Speaker 1: because it's just an interesting little phenomenon to think about.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, I think maybe they're I think we
Speaker 1: do see some of this with the elves and their interactions,
Speaker 1: both with dwarves and with men. Right, you know, there's
Speaker 1: with dwarves there's maybe more of that effect because they
Speaker 1: were you know, they're they're like the they call them
Speaker 1: the stunted people, right people, and they're like, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: you just don't look right, you know, and you know
Speaker 1: it's like the elves already have enough of a superiority complex,
Speaker 1: I'm sure, but you know, they meet the dwarves and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, well, we're obviously so much more
Speaker 1: beautiful than you, and your language is weird and all
Speaker 1: this kind of stuff, right, And then you know, men
Speaker 1: come along and there's a whole nother thing because men
Speaker 1: maybe look even more like elves than dwarves do. So anyway,
Speaker 1: that just your comments there, maybe maybe think of the
Speaker 1: Uncanny Valley here. Yeah, so I'll have to remember to
Speaker 1: put that into the show notes.
Speaker 2: Very interesting, and the el and dwarves probably had less
Speaker 2: in common than like elves and men, right, I mean,
Speaker 2: I think the uncali Uncanny Valley may have been more
Speaker 2: of a thing between elves and men than between elves
Speaker 2: and dwarves.
Speaker 1: But well, you could argue that the that men are
Speaker 1: so close that they're they're back up like close.
Speaker 2: To well maybe yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1: But but you get to with with something like all right,
Speaker 1: so a little morbid here. But like you know, if
Speaker 1: you've been to a funeral, open cask of funeral, and
Speaker 1: you've seen you know, the body of the person that's
Speaker 1: in that, you know, the corpse, right, there's kind of
Speaker 1: that effect, right, because every time I go to one, right,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm like, it's that I can tell it's
Speaker 1: that person, but it doesn't really look like that person
Speaker 1: because there's nothing animating it. It's like it's it's an
Speaker 1: empty it feels like an empty body, you know. And
Speaker 1: and there's it's obviously you know, been a lot of
Speaker 1: like makeup and that kind of stuff done and there's
Speaker 1: probably been fluids put in there. I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: not in you know, I don't do all of that work,
Speaker 1: so I don't know what goes on with that, but
Speaker 1: I know there's some things that they have to do
Speaker 1: to make the body look presentable, right, And and so
Speaker 1: they actually point that out on this little graph here,
Speaker 1: like corpse is like the bottom point of the Uncanny valley, right,
Speaker 1: So anyway, you know, that's that's kind of so I
Speaker 1: would think like with dwarves there may be that effect
Speaker 1: even more like huge, Like men might look close enough
Speaker 1: to elves that it's almost like indistinguishable, right, especially men
Speaker 1: in the prime of their life, right, But dwarves it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, at least the depictions that we normally see
Speaker 1: of dwarves in Middle Earth, they're kind of funny looking
Speaker 1: compared to elves and men, right. So anyway, and.
Speaker 2: Obviously orcs would be like a low point here.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, and orcs are almost like a member. They
Speaker 1: have two They actually have two things here. They have
Speaker 1: two like little lines on this graph, the straight the
Speaker 1: straight line the corpse is the bottom point and it
Speaker 1: doesn't go as far down. But then you have zombie
Speaker 1: on the like it's all like this is the artificial
Speaker 1: humanity line, and Zombie goes even further down. So I
Speaker 1: have to think like Orc would be even further down
Speaker 1: on the uncanny. So it's like Dwarves would be like
Speaker 1: maybe like coming back up from corpse, but still maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit of a negative, and then Orcs would
Speaker 1: be like all the way down where Zombie is.
Speaker 2: The very base.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, I've always been fascinated by
Speaker 1: that idea, So a little bit of a sidetrack, but
Speaker 1: I think I think it's relevant, you know, Yes, all right,
Speaker 1: so back on track, let's talk about Menogroth. So the
Speaker 1: year we've met the dwarves, and then in the year
Speaker 1: of the Trees thirteen hundred, we learned about the construction
Speaker 1: of Menogroth. So, Greta, can you read this part right
Speaker 1: here and then I'll read the rest of it right here.
Speaker 2: Yes, Now, Melion had much foresight after the manner of
Speaker 2: the Mayar, and when the second age of the captivity
Speaker 2: of Milcor had passed, she counseled Thingle that the piece
Speaker 2: of art would not last forever. He took thought, therefore,
Speaker 2: how he should make for himself a kingly dwelling and
Speaker 2: a place that should be strong if evil were to
Speaker 2: awake again in Middle Earth, and he sought aid and
Speaker 2: council of the dwarfs of Belakost.
Speaker 1: Therefore the Nolgrim labored long and gladly for Thingal, and
Speaker 1: devised from him mansions after the fashion of their people,
Speaker 1: delve deep in the earth where the Eskaldouan flowed down
Speaker 1: and parted Neldorreth from region. There rose in the midst
Speaker 1: of the forest a rocky hill, and the river ran
Speaker 1: at its feet. There they made the gates of the
Speaker 1: Hall of Thingal, and they built a bridge of stone
Speaker 1: over the river, by which alone the gates could be entered.
Speaker 1: Beyond the gates, wide passages ran down to high halls
Speaker 1: and chambers far below that were hewn in the living stone,
Speaker 1: so many and so great, that the dwelling was named
Speaker 1: Menegroth the thousand caves. So Melion tells Thingle, Look, this
Speaker 1: piece isn't going to last for ever, right, And I
Speaker 1: know it's you know, we've had fifteen hundred years of
Speaker 1: peace at this point, but it's time to get you know,
Speaker 1: we need to prepare for the worst. Right, something is
Speaker 1: going to happen. Something always happens. So Thingles wise and
Speaker 1: he says, well, I better listen to Melion, because not
Speaker 1: only is she really beautiful, but she's also really smart.
Speaker 1: And so he decides to build this. He decides to
Speaker 1: build this cave with the help of the dwarves, and
Speaker 1: so they delve the Menigroth thee thousand caves, and that
Speaker 1: is the really that's kind of the center of thingles kingdom, right,
Speaker 1: that's that's the place from which he rules.
Speaker 2: Sounds like quite a fortress, yeah, yeah, well protected, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: The dwarfs kind of outdid themselves.
Speaker 1: So that is that that is completed in the year
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred year of the Trees, thirteen hundred and so
Speaker 1: this is this is two hundred year tree years into
Speaker 1: the captivity of Melcor, two thousand years of Sun, two
Speaker 1: thousand years of Sun, two thousand son years. There we go,
Speaker 1: and you know, we're still we're still one hundred three
Speaker 1: years a thousand years out from the uh, you know,
Speaker 1: out from the release of Millcret, right, so you know,
Speaker 1: still kind of along a long ways of where from
Speaker 1: where we left off in terms of time. And the
Speaker 1: last chapter all right, and then it's not too long
Speaker 1: after that that evil does in fact return to Belleriond.
Speaker 1: All right, but it's not quite it's not quite melcor
Speaker 1: slash Morgoth yet, right, but it is uh. It is
Speaker 1: going to be some of his works. So Greta, would
Speaker 1: you read this first chapter here, and I'll read this
Speaker 1: first paragraph. I read the second paragraph.
Speaker 2: But as the third age of the captivity of mal
Speaker 2: Court drew on, the dwarfs became troubled, and they spoke
Speaker 2: to King Thingle, saying that the Valar had not rooted
Speaker 2: out utterly the evils of the north, and now the remnant,
Speaker 2: having long multiplied in the dark, we're coming forth once
Speaker 2: more and roaming far and wide. There are fell beasts,
Speaker 2: they said, in the land east of the mountains, and
Speaker 2: you're ancient Kindred that dwell, there are flying from the
Speaker 2: plains to.
Speaker 1: The hills and ere long the evil creatures came even
Speaker 1: to Bellariond over passes in the mountains, or up from
Speaker 1: the south through the dark forests. Wolves there were or
Speaker 1: creatures that walked in wolf shapes, and other fell beings
Speaker 1: of shadow, and among them were the Orcs, who afterwards
Speaker 1: wrought ruined and Belleriond. But they were yet few and wary,
Speaker 1: and did but smell out the ways of the land,
Speaker 1: awaiting the return of their lord. Whence they came, or
Speaker 1: what they were, the elves knew not then, thinking them
Speaker 1: perhaps to be Avari, who had become evil and savage
Speaker 1: in the wild in which they guessed all too near.
Speaker 1: It is said. So, you know, we'll recall that Melchor
Speaker 1: had his prime, his prime abode in Autumno, which was
Speaker 1: at the north kind of in the north center of
Speaker 1: this mainland mass of Middle Earth, right, and that was
Speaker 1: you know, the the dungeons of it were like kind
Speaker 1: of thrown up when the when the Valar came and
Speaker 1: they did battle with Melcor and took him captive, they
Speaker 1: kind of un you know, unearthed everything and like you know,
Speaker 1: just you know, just destroyed Autumno. Right, But all these
Speaker 1: like creatures that Melcor had made a lot of them
Speaker 1: maybe got away and they started to multiply again. And
Speaker 1: you give him enough time and there's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot more of them. Right. So there they start coming
Speaker 1: back really in the you know, to the east, right
Speaker 1: to the east of the Blue Mountains, and they start
Speaker 1: harassing the elves that are still over there, they start
Speaker 1: harassing other good creatures that are over there, and and
Speaker 1: then eventually they make their way back into Balion, right
Speaker 1: and uh, and then you've also got Enband read there, right,
Speaker 1: which was where once upon a time, uh, Suron was
Speaker 1: kind of was kind of ruling. And you know, is
Speaker 1: the is Melcor slash Morgs chief lieutenant right now, we
Speaker 1: don't hear anything about Saron in this chapter, but you know,
Speaker 1: one wonders if maybe he was behind some of this, right, So,
Speaker 1: you know, he's just waiting for more Goth to return,
Speaker 1: and you know, he's kind of doing what evil he
Speaker 1: can while, you know, while more Goth is gone. So
Speaker 1: we do get this reference. We get this reference to
Speaker 1: the elves not knowing where the Orcs had come from,
Speaker 1: thinking that perhaps to be a votery who had become
Speaker 1: evil and savage in the wild in which they guessed
Speaker 1: all too near. Right, so of their brethren elves who
Speaker 1: had stayed much further behind, wondering if these were where
Speaker 1: the Orcs came from. So again another reference to the
Speaker 1: Orcs being you know, at least the original Orcs being
Speaker 1: elves that were corrupted, right, captured by Melcor and corrupted
Speaker 1: and turned into these kind of fell creatures. So, but
Speaker 1: the good news is that Thingles company is armed by
Speaker 1: the Dwarves. They they get weapons from the Dwarves, they
Speaker 1: learn how to use these weapons, and they drive off
Speaker 1: these creatures of evil. Right so they you know, hear
Speaker 1: the year thirteen thirty, of the Year of the Trees.
Speaker 1: They secure a peace once again, even though it looks
Speaker 1: a little perilous for a bit there, they secure peace
Speaker 1: once again for this region of Bellerion by driving off
Speaker 1: these these evil creatures thanks to the Warve's help, thanks
Speaker 1: to the Dwarf's help. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But but Thingle and the process, Thingle and his and
Speaker 1: his company become pretty stout warriors themselves in the process,
Speaker 1: right they and you know that's something to remember, right,
Speaker 1: the elves are not warlike people's right. They learn warfare
Speaker 1: through the course of their history. Remember with the story
Speaker 1: of and that takes place in the Blessed Realm. You know,
Speaker 1: there aren't weapons in the Blessed Realm until towards the end,
Speaker 1: right until towards the end, and the Old Door start
Speaker 1: creating weapons, right, So, so then Old Door do learn
Speaker 1: start to learn weaponry and learn the art of warfare,
Speaker 1: and then the Sindar learn the art of warfare as well,
Speaker 1: right here in this kingdom. So but you know, it's
Speaker 1: a good thing that Thingle does learn this because he
Speaker 1: needs to protect the Sindar, right, he needs to protect
Speaker 1: his people in his region and make it this realm
Speaker 1: of peace, all right, all right, Then next we learn
Speaker 1: about the coming of the non Door, all right. So
Speaker 1: just to give you a little perspective again here on
Speaker 1: the non Door, we can go to our our groups
Speaker 1: of elves table right in the appendices, and the very
Speaker 1: last table here we look at the Quindi and the
Speaker 1: non Door are descended from the Tillary. They're actually a
Speaker 1: part of the Tillarry, but they left off from the
Speaker 1: Tillarry even earlier than the Sendar did. Right, So the
Speaker 1: non Door left off around the River Onduin, right, the
Speaker 1: great river Okay, the River Ondoin of course, being the
Speaker 1: one that plays a major part in the Lord of
Speaker 1: the Rings. Right, it's the river that runs through between
Speaker 1: the Misty Mountains on the east. It has the Misty
Speaker 1: Mountains on the west side of it, and then Mirkwood
Speaker 1: on the east side of it, right, And it runs
Speaker 1: down all the way through the through that continent pass
Speaker 1: through Asgiliath, right and and it's the river that the
Speaker 1: Fellowship journeys on after it leaves, after it leaves Lethalorian.
Speaker 1: All right, So this is you know, the Great River.
Speaker 1: It's the very same river right that we are going
Speaker 1: to read about right here, m all right. So Greta,
Speaker 1: could you read this passage right here?
Speaker 2: Yes, now has been told one lenue of the hosts
Speaker 2: of Elway forsook the march of the Eldar at that
Speaker 2: time when the Tilleri were halted by the shores of
Speaker 2: the Great River upon the borders of the westlands of
Speaker 2: Middle Earth. Little is known of the wanderings of the
Speaker 2: nandor whom he led away down Onduan. Some, it has said,
Speaker 2: dwelt age long in the woods or the vale of
Speaker 2: the Great River. Some came at last to its mouths,
Speaker 2: and they're dwelt by the sea. And yet others, passing
Speaker 2: by iRED Nimras the White Mountains, came north again and
Speaker 2: entered the wilderness of Ariador, between rid Lewin and the
Speaker 2: far mountains of Myst. Now, these were a woodland people
Speaker 2: and had no weapons of steel. And the coming of
Speaker 2: the fell beasts of the north filled them with great fear,
Speaker 2: as the Nagurum declared to King Thingle and Menegroth. Therefore Denethor,
Speaker 2: the son of Lenwe, hearing rumor of the might of
Speaker 2: Thingal and his majesty and of the peace of his realm,
Speaker 2: gathered such hosts of his scattered people as he could,
Speaker 2: and led them over the mountains into baleriand there they welcomed.
Speaker 2: Then there they were welcomed by Thingle as king long
Speaker 2: as Kin long lost that return, and they dwelt in
Speaker 2: osiriand the land of seven Rivers.
Speaker 1: All right, I know what you're thinking, But this is
Speaker 1: not that Denor.
Speaker 2: I was, Yes, I was a little confused for a minute.
Speaker 1: This is not that denethorpe that Denethor. Right, the Denthor
Speaker 1: you all know from Lord of the Rings. Then Denethor
Speaker 1: you all know and despise from Lord of the Rings,
Speaker 1: is the steward of Gondor and the late third Age.
Speaker 1: And he is a man, right, he is not a elf.
Speaker 1: This is an elf. This is and you're gonna see
Speaker 1: certain names pop up again, right, so you can one
Speaker 1: can surmise that like they were. You know, maybe Denethor
Speaker 1: was named with respect to this Denethor. I'm not sure,
Speaker 1: but you'll see certain names pop up more than once
Speaker 1: and being used by certain characters more than once, which
Speaker 1: is normal. I mean we do that in our world, right,
Speaker 1: So that is not the same Denethor. This is the
Speaker 1: this is the son of the leader of the Nondor,
Speaker 1: right of this group of velves that broke off. And
Speaker 1: so this group of elves had broken off on that
Speaker 1: journey many you know, many many many years ago, right,
Speaker 1: and and they had dwelt in really our Ariador, right
Speaker 1: in that region where we think of as being the
Speaker 1: home of like the Hobbits. Right, So, Greta, here's the
Speaker 1: third Age map, right, Ariador right there, shires right here,
Speaker 1: So Bellarion is over here somewhere, okay, where it's now
Speaker 1: underwater in the third Age, right, And then the non
Speaker 1: Door would have dwelt in this region right between the
Speaker 1: blue mountains on the west and the misty mountains on
Speaker 1: the east. And they start having problems and they're like,
Speaker 1: let's go see if we can find the rest of
Speaker 1: our kin, and they it's how they get into Blarion
Speaker 1: and they're welcomed by Thingle.
Speaker 2: So yeah, well, I think is awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, so far you're like this thing old guy,
Speaker 1: he seems like a pretty good guy. Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. He didn't have to he didn't have to let
Speaker 2: them in, but he did.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. And Thingal is a pretty good
Speaker 1: guy at first. He is a pretty good guy, but
Speaker 1: that's kind of going to change as the story goes on,
Speaker 1: all right. And so with the coming of the Nondor,
Speaker 1: we have really this period of bliss that we referred
Speaker 1: to in the quote of the week, right, it lasts
Speaker 1: from the year thirteen to fifty of the Year of
Speaker 1: the Trees to the year fourteen ninety five, the year
Speaker 1: fourteen ninety five being the year that Dune Dun Dun
Speaker 1: Melkor slash Morgoth returns to Blarion. All right, but that
Speaker 1: is a one hundred and forty five tree year period,
Speaker 1: which means it is and fifty years. So that's a
Speaker 1: long period of time again, right, fourteen you know, and
Speaker 1: fifty years ago from right now would have been like
Speaker 1: around the year five hundred, right, roughly the year late
Speaker 1: the late five hundreds, right. You think about how much
Speaker 1: time has elapsed in our own history, how much happened
Speaker 1: in that period of time in our own history. You
Speaker 1: realize how long a period of time that actually is,
Speaker 1: that they have this period of bliss. Okay, so we
Speaker 1: don't know much about that. One would resume that lots
Speaker 1: of things happened during that period that we just aren't
Speaker 1: big enough for us to have heard about with the
Speaker 1: grand arc of this story. But there you have it,
Speaker 1: all right, And so we jump forward, way forward, and
Speaker 1: we hear about the return of Angoliant, and we hear
Speaker 1: about the return of melkor slash more Goth, who really
Speaker 1: will just start referring to as more Goth more Goth
Speaker 1: to Bellerion along with Emgoliant right where we left off
Speaker 1: with them. They had big fight, the Balrogs had to
Speaker 1: come to Morgo's rescue, and he had that terrible scream
Speaker 1: which like filled the whole continent of Bellerion with like terror.
Speaker 1: And we hear about that here. Okay, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to rehash all of that, because we did talk about
Speaker 1: it in the last chapter, kind of rehashes it in
Speaker 1: the chapter here, but let's read about what happened. We
Speaker 1: do learn a little bit more about what happened with Angolian. So, Greta,
Speaker 1: do you want to read about this right here.
Speaker 2: Sure. Soon afterwards, Angoliant fled from the north and came
Speaker 2: to the realm of king Thingle, and the terror of
Speaker 2: darkness was about her. But by the power of melions
Speaker 2: she was stayed and entered not into Neldreth, but a
Speaker 2: bode long time under the shadow of the precipices, in
Speaker 2: which Dorthonian fell southward, and they became known as a Gorgoroth,
Speaker 2: the mountains of Terror, and none dared go thither or
Speaker 2: pass nigh them. Their life and light were strangled, and
Speaker 2: they're all waters were poisoned. Yeah, I don't want.
Speaker 1: To Yeah, do you not want to go to there?
Speaker 2: It's not a not an up and coming vacation spot.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no, no. All right, so we can
Speaker 1: kind of, uh, we can kind of get a idea.
Speaker 1: So we look at the map at the at the
Speaker 1: back of the Selmar million. You've got this in the
Speaker 1: in the very north, in the center, in the very north.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately in my edition, in this edition we're using here,
Speaker 1: it's like split between two pages. But in the middle
Speaker 1: you've got the anfaluglyth uh kind of this open space
Speaker 1: at the top on bond is to the north of
Speaker 1: that right on band is just I don't know why
Speaker 1: they didn't put on Bond on this map, but it's
Speaker 1: to the north of that. And then you've got this
Speaker 1: uh Tar new Tar new fuin right, and then Non
Speaker 1: Non dune Go THEB and the arid Gorgoroth right. So
Speaker 1: these mountains that Angolian goes and twells in are on
Speaker 1: the you can kind of see them between where it
Speaker 1: says Tarnu Fuen Dorthonion and non dune gor THEB right
Speaker 1: there in the middle, and it says arid Gorgoroth, So
Speaker 1: that would have been the mountains where she took up
Speaker 1: her abode for some period of time, the mountains of Terror.
Speaker 1: And then you can look a little further south from
Speaker 1: there and you'll see the region that is the center
Speaker 1: of Thingles kingdom, which we're going to read about next,
Speaker 1: which is Dorioth, and that is that is the location
Speaker 1: of Menogroth. Although I'm trying to find Menogroth on this map.
Speaker 1: Well it's is it there, don't know? Yeah, And sometimes
Speaker 1: again sometimes they do these weird things with this map
Speaker 1: where they don't mark the most important things that you
Speaker 1: want to know, where they are go figure. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: there it is, I see it. So it's right here
Speaker 1: above the A and Dorioths, yes, right, or above the
Speaker 1: T in Dorioth, it says Menigroth right there. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: So all right, well let's read about the So after
Speaker 1: Angolian goes there, Melcor returns to his throne, and then
Speaker 1: it's it's not very long. It's only basically two tree years,
Speaker 1: so basically about twenty years from when more Goth takes
Speaker 1: up his abode in Ubond to when he declares war
Speaker 1: on Valarion. Right, so he's ready to get back. He's
Speaker 1: ready to get back into the action against against any
Speaker 1: elves he can find.
Speaker 2: Can I make a comment super quick about Melion staying
Speaker 2: on Gooliant?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're both my are right, will we
Speaker 1: believe Ongoleans?
Speaker 2: Okay? Yeah, so I was just gonna say that clearly
Speaker 2: not all my r created equal. If Melion is able
Speaker 2: to stay Onngoleant, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I will say that. You know the whole thing
Speaker 1: about Onolean being able to it's interesting. It is really
Speaker 1: interesting that like Ngoliant is able to kind of best
Speaker 1: More Goth. But I think the you know, what we
Speaker 1: learn about more Goth is that he is. Just as
Speaker 1: he continues to pour all of his energy into the
Speaker 1: creation of these like fell beasts and everything, it's like
Speaker 1: he he loses more and more of his own life potency, right,
Speaker 1: and he becomes weaker and weaker over the course of
Speaker 1: the story. Right, Whereas she has been swelling with all this,
Speaker 1: like consuming all this light, right, you know, the light
Speaker 1: of the two trees. She's been swelling more and more,
Speaker 1: right with this, with this strange energy. But Melion has not,
Speaker 1: you know, she has not been doing you know, she
Speaker 1: has not been pouring her life's energy into all these
Speaker 1: different things like more Goth has. Also, she uses different tactics, right.
Speaker 1: I mean, she's not like going and doing war with
Speaker 1: Ungoliant directly, but she's using a certain a certain different
Speaker 1: kind of skill right to keep Ungoliant at bay, right,
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean it doesn't give us a lot
Speaker 1: of detail on that, but you know, she is using
Speaker 1: her own, her own set of skills, her own brand
Speaker 1: of magic, if you will, to keep Onngolient at a distance.
Speaker 2: I feel like maybe she's kind of like the scarlet
Speaker 2: the scarlet, No, not the.
Speaker 1: Scarlet, Oh, I get those the think of the Scarlet Witch,
Speaker 1: the one from the Marble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, who was it? Oh geez, this is embarrassing. The
Speaker 2: series that we watched Scarlet Charlottitch.
Speaker 1: Okay, well they gave it. They had a different name
Speaker 1: for it. It was called WandaVision WandaVision. Yes, but that
Speaker 1: she is the Scarlet Witch.
Speaker 2: S Caelowitch. Okay, I get her in Black Widow, except
Speaker 2: I know that's terrible. Yeah, but that's kind of how
Speaker 2: I picture it. Like she kind of puts like force fields,
Speaker 2: kind of like, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, against I think I think there's something to be
Speaker 1: said for that, right, I think, you know, And I
Speaker 1: think we see more of that in the In this
Speaker 1: next section right here that we're about to read, we
Speaker 1: see what she does. She creates this thing called, uh
Speaker 1: called the Girdle of Meleon. But let's read about why
Speaker 1: she does that. So do you want to read this
Speaker 1: first paragraph here and then I'll read the second.
Speaker 2: Now, the Orcs that multiplied in the darkness of the
Speaker 2: earth grew strong and fell, and their dark lord filled
Speaker 2: them with the lust of ruin and death, and they
Speaker 2: issued from Angban's gates under the clouds that Morgoth sent
Speaker 2: forth and passed silently into the highlands of the north.
Speaker 2: Thence thence on a sudden a great army came into Balerion,
Speaker 2: and as sailed King Thingal now in his wide realm,
Speaker 2: many elves wandered free in the wild or dwelt at peace,
Speaker 2: and small kindreds farsundered, and only about Menagroth in the
Speaker 2: midst of the land, and along the Phalas and the
Speaker 2: country of the Mariners were their numerous peoples. But the
Speaker 2: Orcs came down upon either side of Menagroth, and from
Speaker 2: camps in the east between Ceylon and Ceylon and Gelan,
Speaker 2: and west in the plains between Syrion and Nargog. They
Speaker 2: plundered far and wide, and Thingal was cut off from
Speaker 2: Kirdan at Elglarest. Therefore he called upon Denethor, and the
Speaker 2: elves came in force from region, from region region beyond us,
Speaker 2: and from Osyriond, and fought the first battle in the
Speaker 2: Wars of Belleriond in the eastern hosts of the Orcs,
Speaker 2: was taken between the armies of the Eldar north of
Speaker 2: the Androm and midway between Us and Gelian. And they
Speaker 2: and there they were utterly defeated, and those that fled
Speaker 2: north from the great Slaughter were waylaid by the axes
Speaker 2: of the Nogrim that issued from Mount Dolmed. Few indeed
Speaker 2: returned to enband, but the.
Speaker 1: Victory of the elves was dirbat for those of Osyriand
Speaker 1: were light armed and no match for the Orcs, who
Speaker 1: were shod with iron and iron shielded, and bore great
Speaker 1: spears with broad blades. And Denethor was cut off and
Speaker 1: surrounded upon the hill of amman Arab. There he fell,
Speaker 1: and all his nearest kent about him before the host
Speaker 1: of Thingal could come to his aid. Bitterly, though his
Speaker 1: fall was avenged when Thingal came upon the rear of
Speaker 1: the Orcs and slew them in heaps. His people lamented
Speaker 1: him ever after and took no king again. After the battle,
Speaker 1: some returned to Osyriand, and their tidings filled the remnant
Speaker 1: of their people with great fear, so that thereafter they
Speaker 1: came never forth and open war, but kept themselves by
Speaker 1: wariness and secrecy. And they were called the Laya Quindi
Speaker 1: the green elves, because of their raiment and the color
Speaker 1: of the leaves. But many went north and entered the
Speaker 1: guarded realm of Thingal and were merged with his people,
Speaker 1: all right, so kind of the kind of a sad
Speaker 1: end to the remainder of the nondor there. Some of
Speaker 1: them do join with the people of Thingal, some of
Speaker 1: them kind of become this like just remnant that live
Speaker 1: in the woods, and they're kind of this strange, strange
Speaker 1: group of elves. Right, But you know, very big first
Speaker 1: Battle of BALERIOND and it's you know, we get carried
Speaker 1: on and his people driven all the way to the shores,
Speaker 1: and and you know, kind of a victory maybe on
Speaker 1: the eastern front, but you know, a stalemate, a loss,
Speaker 1: with a little bit of a stalemate on the western front, right,
Speaker 1: And this is all taking place in the year fourteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven, of the Year of the Trees. By the way,
Speaker 1: the distance it does say the distance between Agbond and
Speaker 1: Menigroth in the War of the Jewels, it's actually one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty leagues, which if I understand the league correctly,
Speaker 1: is a league is one league is three miles, So
Speaker 1: it's four hundred and fifty miles from Angbond to Menigroth.
Speaker 1: So it's not super close, right, And you've got that
Speaker 1: big mountain ranges in the middle that nobody wants to
Speaker 1: go through because Angolian and her offspring live there, So
Speaker 1: they're coming down on either side of that mountain range.
Speaker 1: And those are the two different sorts of sorts of
Speaker 1: fronts there. But yeah, and so after this, and you.
Speaker 2: Know you're scary when even Orcs don't want to come
Speaker 2: to where you live.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right, all right. And so here's what
Speaker 1: we learned about the Girdle of Melon. And when Thingle
Speaker 1: came again to Menogroth, he learned that the or coast
Speaker 1: in the west was victorious and had driven curried on
Speaker 1: to the rim of the sea. Therefore he withdrew all
Speaker 1: his people that his summons could reach within the fastness
Speaker 1: of Neldorus and region. And Meleon put forth her power
Speaker 1: and fenced all that dominion round about him with an
Speaker 1: unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment, the Girdle of Melion,
Speaker 1: that none thereafter could pass against her will or the
Speaker 1: will of King Fingal, unless one should come with a
Speaker 1: power greater than that of Melion. The Maya, and this
Speaker 1: inner land, which was long named Eglador, was after called Dorioth,
Speaker 1: the Guarded kingdom land of the Girdle. Within it there
Speaker 1: was yet a watchful peace, but without there was peril
Speaker 1: and great fear. And the servants of more Goth roamed
Speaker 1: at will save in the wald havens of the Phallus.
Speaker 1: All right, So yeah, it describes Meleon's power as fint
Speaker 1: is unseen wall of shadow and bewilderment, right as she
Speaker 1: fences this area of Dorioth with this unseen wall of
Speaker 1: shadow and bewilderment. So yeah, something like you know, maybe
Speaker 1: what we saw on that in WandaVision right with that,
Speaker 1: you know, this kind of like invisible dome, invisible dome
Speaker 1: put over this town, right, maybe it's like an electric fence. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: you know, I think something more graceful, probably that Milon's
Speaker 1: doing an electric fence.
Speaker 2: But probably, but the concept is very similar, that's true.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we do we get cured on dwelling over
Speaker 1: here in the Phallas, which is to the far you know,
Speaker 1: kind of the far west of the map. Curedon always
Speaker 1: dwelling by, you know, dwelling by the sea, right, dwell
Speaker 1: dwelling far on the on the shores of the sea
Speaker 1: to the west. Right, that's where he seems to like
Speaker 1: to make his boats. And yes, that is the same
Speaker 1: cured on that's around around at the end of the
Speaker 1: third age in Lord of the Rings. He's just much
Speaker 1: younger at this point. So so yeah, that's the that's
Speaker 1: the story of the Sindar before the return of the
Speaker 1: noldor to Bealerion, right, and the Cindar thingle Melion. They
Speaker 1: will all play a very big role in the rest
Speaker 1: of the Selmer Million. Okay, so uh that's you know,
Speaker 1: that's where we leave off with this chapter. One other
Speaker 1: thing I'll say is that the next two chapters they're
Speaker 1: a bit more stage setting before the action really picks
Speaker 1: up again in chapter thirteen. Now they're not super long
Speaker 1: chapters eleven and twelve, but they we've gone from having
Speaker 1: a few chapters now of like a lot of action
Speaker 1: after a lot of stage setting. There's still more, say
Speaker 1: stage setting that has to happen because we're back in
Speaker 1: Balerion now, right, and there's some big changes that are
Speaker 1: happening to the world, right, So we're gonna get We're
Speaker 1: gonna get some stage setting in chapters eleven and twelve.
Speaker 1: It it's interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, it's interesting stuff,
Speaker 1: but we're not actually gonna get back to really the
Speaker 1: action of the Noldor and the Sindar until chapter thirteen.
Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, and then pretty much a lot of action
Speaker 1: from then on, right, So a lot of action from
Speaker 1: then on. So that's the nature of the Silm Million, right.
Speaker 1: Sometimes there's a lot of stage setting and sometimes there's
Speaker 1: a lot of action.
Speaker 2: It's a good balance.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I have a quick question, So all of this,
Speaker 2: this this particular chapter closes mentioning fan Or and his
Speaker 2: burning of the ships with the tillery, So is all
Speaker 2: of that, like, is that kind of happening happening concurrently?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, yeah, that happened in the year well let
Speaker 1: me hear, look back at my I don't have it
Speaker 1: right here, but anyway, yes, that roughly, it actually says
Speaker 1: here in.
Speaker 2: The history of the battle of the First Battle of
Speaker 2: Balerian was around the same time that then old Or are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's actually in the same year, fourteen ninety seven. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's see. Yeah, it says, uh, now new tidings were
Speaker 1: at hand which none in Middle Earth had foreseen. Now
Speaker 1: that more Goth and his pits, nor me Leon and
Speaker 1: Menagroth for no news came out of Aman, whether by
Speaker 1: messengers or by spirit or by vision and dream, after
Speaker 1: the death of the trees and the hiding of valen
Speaker 1: Or in this same year of the Valar, but some
Speaker 1: seven years after, in the later reckoning of time. So
Speaker 1: it's like in that year of the Tree, but it's in,
Speaker 1: you know, within the peer of that one year of
Speaker 1: the Tree. It's like seven years later, fan Or came
Speaker 1: oversea in his white ships of the Tillery and landed
Speaker 1: in the in the Firth of Drinkist and there burned
Speaker 1: the ships at low Scar.
Speaker 2: All right, right, the same general time period.
Speaker 1: Yeah, year of the Tree is fourteen ninety seven, gotcha?
Speaker 2: Yeahs?
Speaker 1: All right, Well let's do a let's do a little hiku,
Speaker 1: shall we do it? All right? Rock paper scissors? Shoot,
Speaker 1: you gotta get your hand up. We got people gotta
Speaker 1: see it. Rock paper scissors Shoot, Boom you go first.
Speaker 2: Mmmm. Dwarves and elves aligne. Stars shine as silver fires,
Speaker 2: valerion bliss.
Speaker 1: Nice. I like that stars shine as silver fires. Tolkien
Speaker 1: would have loved that with all of this did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's in the chap Oh man, that's hilarious.
Speaker 2: Wow, I'm really impressed that you thought I may be
Speaker 2: came up with that on my own lot, you know,
Speaker 2: but maybe I should have keet my mouth shut just
Speaker 2: taking credit. It's like taking that store bock cake on
Speaker 2: a pretty crystal platters. Everybody thinks you brought it, you
Speaker 2: made it yourself.
Speaker 1: That's right. Well I liked it anyway, Thank you.
Speaker 2: I'm glad.
Speaker 1: There is nothing to under the sun. As they say,
Speaker 1: all right, here's mine evil chained, peace, reins, kingdoms rise
Speaker 1: and flourish, free, a long day yet doomed.
Speaker 2: Oh that's good.
Speaker 1: I like that. Yeah, I was pretty happy with that one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it doesn't beat my silver fires though, you.
Speaker 1: Mean Tolkien's silver fires? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Well, are Tolkien in my silver fires?
Speaker 1: Yeah? You take credit?
Speaker 2: See I maybe took the words.
Speaker 1: Did y'all collaborate on that credit? Did?
Speaker 2: I think we did well? I think he wrote the
Speaker 2: words and then I just fit them perfectly into my hiku.
Speaker 1: I see it works.
Speaker 2: Yeah, run a lab.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, y'all get us your hiku, get us
Speaker 1: your IQ. We recorded again a little earlier this week,
Speaker 1: but so you all get it if you want it
Speaker 1: right on the episode, you got to get it in early,
Speaker 1: you know, really kind of a week ahead. Of time
Speaker 1: if you can, and uh and if not, if you're
Speaker 1: not able, you can still leave it in the comments below, right,
Speaker 1: So that's what I encourage you to do so that
Speaker 1: you can participate in the hiku. All right, okay, you guys,
Speaker 1: that's uh, that's about it for this episode. Leave us
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