Mardil?

By the way, my dear fellow, is that a portrait of the famed Johnny Appleseed I see as your avatar?

You are correct, Nuranar. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] It is indeed Mardil Voronwe, who ruled Gondor as Steward in the King's stead. He "made up lost time" by adjusting the King's Reckoning, the calendar of Numenor.

Actually, it's a self-portrait. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

lol didn't see mine i thought it didn't work, well too explain my Avatar, its Bush saying that Bin Laden has won soem money and he is tryign too lure him out, i'll fidn a better one

[ June 24, 2003: Message edited by: Gil-Galad ]

Aha, I haven't totally lost my touch. Although your riddles have me pulling out my hair.

Flee from the foreshortened warrior
And his dim companion!
Misleading in name,
But unerring in path.

So, is this obscure enough? [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

[ June 26, 2003: Message edited by: Nuranar ]

I'm going to guess Sam.

Misleading in name.....Turin?

No, both wrong.

Misleading in name...think full name/title/anything known by.

And the first two lines are a cryptic clue.

Nuranar, is it Pippin?

Forshortened- He's a hobbit.

Dim Companion- Merry was a little woozy during his Uruk-hai captivity period.

Yeesh. I was really thinking that it was Sam. You know, as Samwise the Strong being the 'warrior' and the name being misleading, for both 'strong' and 'wise', and his dim companion being Frodo while he was fading... but you said it wasn't...

Is it Legolas as the foreshortened warrior giving the illusion of depth? And Gimli being his dim companion?

I'm lost. I'll keep thinking on this

Fea

Good guess, Lily, but not what I was thinking.

I should clarify that the first two lines provide a cryptic clue to something very closely concerned with the person in question. They are not a clue to the person him/her/itself.

May I guess Frodo? Misleading in name, as he was a Baggins, and unerring in his successful path to Mount Doom. Perhaps the dim companion was... er actually I don't have much idea what it could be but the last two lines might point to him.

Good guess, but not right either.

Hint: This Who Am I is not by any means a major character!

[ July 08, 2003: Message edited by: Nuranar ]

i have a feelign its Mim the petty dwarf becasue Turin thought he was "petty" but was betrayed by Mim

Sounds good, Gil-galad, excellent reasoning. But it's not what I had in mind.

The first 2 lines are a cryptic clue to a thing, not to a person.

The last 2 lines are the Who Am I itself.

OKey, this may sound stupid, but I'm going to try anyway... [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Gollum?

If you hadn't said that it wasn't a major character, I'd guess at Sauron. Misleading in name, as Annatar, the Ring as the 'dim companion' -- but of course if it isn't major, then it couldn't be him.

I'll carry on thinking.

[ July 09, 2003: Message edited by: Gwaihir the Windlord ]

I GOT IT

is it Gandalf becasue his elven ring he never showed and he was the one that brought together all of man aganest Sauron

foreshortened warrior- gandalf was thought as a old man or begger by the Rohirrim
dim companion- his elven ring was never revealed entirely
misleading in name- Gandalf the Grey, old man
unearring in path- did many things too change the fate of Middle Earth, liek kill Balrog and then he returned

No, no, and no. Excellent, excellent work, Gil-galad. But, like I have already said,

It is NOT a major character in any sense of the word.

The first 2 lines are a CRYPTIC clue to a THING, NOT to the person.

Only the last 2 lines correspond to the person.

Is it Bilbo?

Surely Bilbo is a main character in some sense of the word or other.

My latest guess is Halbarad.
Flee from the foreshortened warrior -- the banner, that struck fear ino the hearts of the host of Sauron on the Pellenor
Dim companion -- the banner he hid and did not unfurl
Misleading in name -- Aragorn and Theoden's company expecting enemies, but surprised at 'Halbarad of the Dunedain'
Unnerring in path -- obviously, on the Paths of the Dead he was stouthearted.

Gwaihir, your persistence surprises even me! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Seriously, you are an excellent guesser, except you haven't hit the right one yet. I knew this one was too vague!

Your interpretation of the first two lines is on the right track, as far as not assuming they mean the actual person.

But by CRYPTIC I mean another NAME is hidden in those two lines. You need to put together some words that come from those two lines. And by the way, "foreshortened" (at least for the purposes of this question) means effectively "cut off at the front end."

Savvy?

*grumble* I had a lot of hope for that guess, it was a good one.

Hmm... cryptic... I don't do crosswords, so I was evidently under a false impression that 'cryptic' meant that you were saying something in a riddle-like fashion. So its words you want me to figure with.... God this is a tough one.

I'm not going to hazard another guess today (although I'll try again tomorrow), but if I could have a couple of small clues: is the word 'flee' of any significance, for a start? Secondly, is there any connection here at all with the Battle of the Pellenor?

You don't have to answer both if you choose not to, of course.

I'm sorry about that guess, too - I agree, it was a good one.

As for your questions, (1) "flee" is not part of the crypticness, but the person does it from the name that is hidden; and (2) it has nothing to do with Pellenor Fields.

BONUS CLUE: This person is found in (and only in, I believe) the Silmarilion.

Here it is again, in case you haven't memorized it:

All I can think of is Nightshade - "night" being a foreshortened "knight" and "shade" being something tht is dim.

But I can't think of any Nightshades in the Silmarillion, let alone anyone who fled from them. Is there perhaps an Elvish name meaning "Nightshade"? [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]

Since my brother has lately loaned his copy of the Silmarillion (the only one in the household) to a friend at work, I cannot now look up the precise phrasing.

But "Nightshade" is certainly correct! WHOOP!

I can only say, Read very carefully. And don't try translating anything. My riddle may be vague, but it's not going to pull a stunt like that on you. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Bon chance!

Does 'nightshade' refer to Taur-nu-Fuin (Forest under Nightshade) in Dorthonion?

Is this Beleg, by any chance?

Yes, Taur-nu-Fuin is it I think. Well done Saucepans. Now for the character themselves.

Beren and Beleg both present themselves in the path unneringness department, but they are both major characters and at any rate are not 'misleading'. I'm going to guess at Emeldir, the Manhearted, wife of Barahir. She is only mentioned in the Sil, and she fled from Dorthonion (one of your clues, if you'll remember). She was not a major character, she did not err in her path to Brethil. How she was misleading I do not know. Damn that... perhaps as she was called Man-hearted, but in fact, her heart was female-sized and contained X chromosomatic genes as in reality as she was female?? Or that she led females? She was certainly brave and stouthearted, so it couldn't be that...

Aha, Gwaihir, but Emeldir it is indeed! Correct on all counts...

I admit that the "misleading in name" line wasn't the best...I don't do well under pressure, and I composed that one in an Internet cafe with my time quickly running out.

And thank you for guessing! Now, let's see what you can do...

Pha! (My new not-quite obscenity of the day.)

I was just getting ready to guess Maedhros when I kept reading... you know, the clues do add up for him a little too:

foreshortened: missing hand

misleading in name: considered the leader of the brothers

unerring in path: he did recover a silmaril... sort of...

But I guess not. Bring on the new riddle for me to dwell on and get moody because of!

Fea

How immensely satisfying. I must admit, I do feel I rather deserved that one [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img].

EDIT: Of course, I couldn't have managed it without the assistance of Saucepan. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Ok, for the next.

I travelled long, and never far
From reminders of my great despair.
I could not leave them, deeply scarred
Works I devised, and left them there.

Actually, this one probably isn't too bad. See how you go.

[ July 16, 2003: Message edited by: Gwaihir the Windlord ]

OK, I'm terrible at this... but here goes!

Eru/Iluvatar?

He created the world, but Morgoth caused it to be "scarred" and he left it that way?

[ July 17, 2003: Message edited by: Meneltarmacil ]

could it be Aule with the dwarves becaseu he buried them under neath moutnains and left them there?

could it be Aule with the dwarves becaseu he buried them under neath moutnains and left them there? and they were his childeren but Illuvatar wanted the elves too be the first born

The answer is neither Illuvitar nor Aule. Nice try.

Eol the dark elf for some reason i think it is him, or MAeglin

Gil-galad, you need to state your reasons along with your guesses.

well Eol created many items with the skills of the dwarves but when Maeglin and his wife left and he left them there and was despaired. he did a long journey but was never far from his kindred the elves?

Hi, all! This is my first post in this forum, so go easy on me!

Is it Morgoth? He was always in despair because of his jealousy of the Elves and Iluvator's powers of creation, etc. so he created deeply scarred works, i.e. orcs, and other fell creatures, and he left them in the deep and wild places of ME when he was taken.

Cheers,
Lyta

I'm thinking Feanor, because:

I travelled long, and never far
From reminders of my great despair.- Feanor travelled from Middle-Earth to Valinor, but the Doom of the Noldor and the Fate of the Silmarils followed him everywhere.

I could not leave them, deeply scarred
Works I devised, and left them there.-Feanor could not leave his Silmarils in the hands of Morgoth, and he was deeply scarred by the death of his father and his Oath. He devised many cunning things, but left them all in Valinor in order to pursue his masterwork: The Silmarils.

Aaahh... I almost gave this one to you, Luthien, simply because your answer fits so well with the riddle... but no -- that's not what I'm looking for, sorry. Eol is not the answer either, nice try Gil-Galad. At this rate though, I'm sure someone will guess correctly before long. The answer is fairly straightforward.