[mark12_30]

Living In Greenwood? All right. I always imagined the hobbits living on the west bank of the Anduin and visiting Greenwood-- presumeably because the Gladden fields are on the west bank, I suppose.

I know Gamba made a big fuss about Greenwood, but I pictured him being seriously disenchanted about elves and men both, by recent events, and thinking only of getting as far away from Minas Anor as he could. I guess you're going to talk him out of that disenchantement, though, right?

Then I'll edit the stuff about Thranduil; but I still picture him carefully, rather suspiciously and judiciously making friends with just a few elves who travel through regularly, and not trusting them as travelling companions until he had really proved them as friends. It's one thing, as we have seen, to trust a group of elves all on a mission together helping a large group of hobbits; and another thing to trust a single elf. You lose that "safety in numbesr" thing. And those Rhovanion elves are mighty suspicious of outsiders, and so the suspicion is mutual. I still see Gamba aas being very careful up at the Langwell.

I didn't think it was Mirkwood yet. I thought it was still Greenwood. The shadow was only beginning, so I don't see them changing the name yet, not until Dol Guldor is more prominent.

From Encyclopedia of Arda: "The name 'Mirkwood' was first used in about III 1050...".

ref. Mirkwood: The name 'Mirkwood' was used of this forest after Sauron, in his guise as the Necromancer, took up his abode at Dol Guldur in its southern regions.

ref. Dol Guldor: Founded c. III 1050.

So I stand by Greenwood! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]