Outsourcing canon

[Mithalwen]

Oh Eomer - thanks to "Red flows the Sirannon" I am now burdened with the notion that it is a little known "fact" that Elrond had a sensitive stomach.

I think Christopher Tolkien has done a fantastic job editing. In a way i think it is a pity that it wasn't realised that there would be an insatiable desire for every last hint on Middle Earth and CT admits there are things he might have done differently in the Sil. I am glad that we got the source documents "warts and all" and can make up our own minds. Personally I also enjoy a lot of CT's insights and admire the fact he refuses to speculate. I only regret that there must be a lot of things that maybe he was told but because he hasn't written source he probably will never pass on. However because we have so much of Tolkiens writing in the public domain in HoME I would never accept anything written by others as part of the canon. I enjoy and participate in RPG which play by the "rules" of Middle Earth and don't think they are disrespectful - but I don't see them as part of the canon and would not take any PhD student as having more validity.
Lets face it all of us will HoME are as as wll informed as all but those who have access ot the unpublished material and so I think we probably do quite nicely for ourselves - and we have some fairly serious scholars here. I would hate it say if there was an authorised "expansion" say on the house of Dol Amroth.