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Old 07-02-2019, 02:47 AM   #5
Huinesoron
Overshadowed Eagle
 
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Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea
Posts: 3,778
Huinesoron is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Huinesoron is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun View Post
"Link the two" in what way?
Ah, sorry - I meant that Legolas winds up with a very strong connection to the Sea ("If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore" &c), and I think this is the first time that link is drawn.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun View Post
Perhaps he had in mind that The Sea was a source of sorrow, especially to the Númenóreans in exile.
Interesting! I hadn't considered the Numenorean perspective.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun View Post
I think you're reading too much into it. That could be just a way of saying "the Sea is so large and touches so many lands, who can say where anyone is?"
Who, me? You may be right, and it does say 'shores', plural, which supports this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun View Post
Wasn't the song toward the end of the day? Or maybe Aragorn just had seen it before when lighted by a low sun.
But I don't think it could be. Waterfalls cut back up their courses, so they're usually shielded from the side by rock. I don't think the sun could shine on Rauros except around noon.

Except I guess if it's big enough... hmm. What does Niagara look like at sunset? Okay, admittedly pretty golden:



And that gold is visible from the top, too. Sailing over it, Boromir would have vanished into a golden haze.

Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin View Post
Turin made and sang a lament for Beleg- but was that his Edainic heritage, or Elvish upbringing?
The more I think about it, the more I think it's Elvish. In Lorien, it's the Elves singing about Gandalf that spark Frodo into doing the same. If we ignore Rohan, it's only people who hung out with Elves who sing laments - and Legolas seems very capable of jumping in to join Aragorn.

Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin View Post
Gondor is elsewhere poetically referred to as the "land of seven streams"- probably to echo old Ossiriand, although you can't get the count to seven without counting Gilrain and Serni separately, despite the crossing at Linhir being below their confluence.

Or you could include Anduin, which anciently was within Gondor not its border.
Ohhh, now I'd forgotten that. 'Over seven streams' could absolutely mean 'through Gondor'... were it not that the traditional reading has Boromir riding to Rivendell through Rohan.

Do we know for sure that's the case, though? The exact phrase he uses is:

"If we cannot cross the mountains, let us journey southwards, until we come to the Gap of Rohan, where men are friendly to my people, taking the road that I followed on my way hither. Or we might pass by and cross the Isen into Langstrand and Lebennin, and so come to Gondor from the regions nigh to the sea."

It's just possible that 'the road I followed' is the road to the Gap of Rohan, and he originally came by the second route he proposes.

Except... nah, because Aragorn points out how long that would take, and it doesn't seem like Boromir took his time travelling.

Perhaps it's just a more general statement that the West Wind has often seen him riding across Gondor?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron View Post
The original Minas Tirith, built by Finrod in the 1st Age, was located on the isle of Tol Sirion to keep watch upon Morgoth on the northern plain of Ard-galen. The watch faced northward, but perhaps the actual gate faced south towards the river (and escape, if necessary). Legolas may have recalled ancient tales of the wrong keep. Or I could just be recalling some useless trivia regarding the name "Minas Tirith", and have actually nothing germane to add to this specific point.
This argument is brilliant and I love it. ^_^ It's also a great excuse if you're caught somewhere you shouldn't be in Thranduil's Halls. "Oh, this is the wine cellar? Fancy that. I must have been thinking of Menegroth!"

hS
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