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Old 05-05-2021, 06:58 PM   #5
Galadriel55
Blossom of Dwimordene
 
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,299
Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.
I agree with the above-said. The first read-through for me was just plodding on through the confusion and constantly cross-referencing the family trees to keep the relationships straight, especially for the F's. (Side question - is there anyone in The Sil who begins with F and is not related to Finwe? Hmm, maybe moot question, as most Elves in The Sil are related to Finwe.) I would advise to bear with it through the first half, because once you reach the half-way point it becomes a lot more linear and a lot more intense: you find yourself in the realm of epic tales and lose the descriptive but plotless air of the early chapters. On repeated reads it makes a lot more sense, because you then know who is who, and which place is where, and what approximately happened when. Though - and I'd like to think I know The Sil fairly well - I wouldn't be able to tell you how much time passes between X and Y. The actual timeline makes no sense to me, it's a background of Elvishly-long periods of nothing punctuated by bursts of rapid plot development. But you get a clear sense of the order of things, if not the proportion of the time intervals, once you become a bit more familiar with it. My advice, if I can give any - press on! It will come eventually. And in the meantime, you can always post questions here as they arise.
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