DoV/RotS: the outline and editing discussions

[Arvegil145]

"Shibboleth" is certainly later. From around 1968. Problem is (perhaps not that much of a problem, if we manage to find a convincing solution) that the "Shibboleth" has the greater 144 solar years = 1 Valian year. So if Fëanor was born in YT 1169 and Míriel died in YT 1170, by that greater number, Fëanor could have still grown to an adult by the time of Míriel's death.

Of course, one could argue that if are going to take the lower number (9.58 solar years = 1 Valian year), Fëanor COULD (theoretically) have grown to an "adult", so to speak - c. 20 of our years is the greatest figure for Fëanor's age at the time of Míriel's death. However, it is said that the Elves do not reach their full physical stature until the age of 50, and are not fully mature until 100 years of age. Again, Fëanor could be an exception to the rule - he is, after all, called the "Spirit of Fire" by his mother, and it doesn't seem so unlikely (at least to me) that he could have achieved his full stature (at least physically) by this time.

Then again, you could also argue that by "fully grown" he was fully grown MENTALLY.

OR you could just abandon the notion of Elven children maturing more slowly than mortal children (physically).

In any case, there are many possible "solutions", and I think that the information given in the "Shibboleth" contains some vital character motivations behind Fëanor's later actions - especially his mother's use of "th" as opposed to the later general change to "s" - after all, the essay IS called the "Shibboleth of Fëanor".