Riddles in the Downs

[Urwen]

No, I don't mean that...as in THAT.

I meant that I've been learning how to make difficult riddles, and it paid off.

[Anguirel]

keep the field Pitchwife seriously, I have no idea, am a bit exhausted, and was in any case only the, er, Merry to your Eowyn

[Pitchwife]

As you wish, my lord of Burlach. Let's see how this fares:

Stoneland's servant, Lord of Stone,
my shot was aimed at the hands of friends;
towards sunset I sought for a light of hope,
towards sunset turning my day did end.

Pretty transparent, I'm afraid...

[Galadriel55]

I don't have a guess, but I have a few poks at it.

Stoneland=Gondor

I can't think of any "Lord of Stone" that would be a servant of Gondor (Gonhirrim come to mind, but that doesn't fit).

I guess I could make some person from the Battle of Pelennor fit, but I don't recall any of them betraying friends (what I think the second line means...)

EDIT: On a second thought, maybe Saruman. Baing lord of Isengard, on the property of Gondor, betrays friends, dies and tried to go westward (towards sunset) but fails. Also, the sunset could refer to the end of the War, metaphorically.

Why does the word "hands" bug me?

[Galadriel55]

In Pitchie's post that mysteriously disappeared togeter with many others he said that it's not Saruman but I'm somewhat closer - in a way - with Gonnhirrim. Also, he confirmed that Stoneland=Godor. (I'm lucky I read this before the chaos with missing posts started!)

Judging from that:

I could be closer in 2 ways. Either the name of the person literaly translates to something tht sounds like "Lord of Stone", or this person has good skills with it. (In contrast to Saruman, who is Lord of Stone only because he lives in a stony place).



Then, I doubt that this was an actual archer. There aren't that many Gondorian bowmen mentioned, and nne of them aimed for hands. A "shot" could metaphorically refer to pretty much any action that has a specific intent, or that is meant to lead/go somewhere (eg a speech).

And "hands" could by a part of... anything. It could be two flanks of an army, or... I dunno.

All this is making me confused. And I'm no nearer to the answer.

The next part, about sunset, is probably the easiest and most straightforward. Anyone recall any notable sunsets other than the one at the end of the Battle of Peennor?

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

In Pitchie's post that mysteriously disappeared togeter with many others he said that it's not Saruman but I'm somewhat closer - in a way - with Gonnhirrim. Also, he confirmed that Stoneland=Godor. (I'm lucky I read this before the chaos with missing posts started!)

Lucky indeed! For those who weren't so lucky, I also noted that hands aren't a bodypart you would usually aim a shot at. Which is a hint.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I could be closer in 2 ways. Either the name of the person literaly translates to something tht sounds like "Lord of Stone", or this person has good skills with it. (In contrast to Saruman, who is Lord of Stone only because he lives in a stony place).

No comment.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Then, I doubt that this was an actual archer. There aren't that many Gondorian bowmen mentioned, and nne of them aimed for hands.

Yep.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

A "shot" could metaphorically refer to pretty much any action that has a specific intent, or that is meant to lead/go somewhere (eg a speech).

It could. But it doesn't.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

And "hands" could by a part of... anything. It could be two flanks of an army, or... I dunno.

Or it could be just hands.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

The next part, about sunset, is probably the easiest and most straightforward. Anyone recall any notable sunsets other than the one at the end of the Battle of Peennor?

Why not just read 'sunset'=west, as you did earlier?

[Galadriel55]

Now that I think of it, the last two lines fit any average Gondorian. They have a custom of looking toward the West before their evening meal, which ends the day.

Saying this, I'm left with three clues: Lord of Stone, "shot", and "hands of friends".

I'm begining to wonder if "friends" refer to the [possibly former] friends of this Lord or to any group of people that are friends. Which means that I'm thinking too much.

If you didn't say that its literally just a shot, I would say Denethor. It's even possible to say that he "stared arrows" at Gandalf, but I'd call him "brain of friends".

I don't recall any shot that's related to "just hands". Unless it could somehow refer to Anborn tying Gollum's hands... but still no real connection.