Favourite minor character?

[Marwhini]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

Marhwini, if you want to change the spelling of your screen name, try reaching out to Barrow-Wight. Welcome to the Downs!

Thank you.... I will do that. In my haste I transposed two characters (in my own writing on the subject of the Northmen of Rhovanion, I have discovered that I do this about ½ the time I write the name "Marwhini"). And I have discovered a few others where I make similar mistakes (Thurwingethil being another, where I write "Thuringwethil").

And thank you for the welcome.

I have been a Tolkien fanatic for a very long time, and perhaps take his work too seriously (so seriously that I have begun to work out actual metaphysics that would give rise to physics, chemistry, and biology - etc. basically operationalized sciences - to account for the functioning of the different beings, creatures, plants, geography, etc. in Middle-earth that we take to be "supernatural" - Tolkien's commentary on them are that most were "natural" parts of Middle-earth). Thus my other post on "The Metaphysics" (and Ontology) "Of Middle-earth."

I understand that there is an actual Tolkien academic here, as well (Zigûr)? It would be interesting to get his take on these subjects.

It's been a long while since I read it, but you might want to peek at Peoples of Middle Earth, HoME 12. In particular, the two chapters of Tolkien's brief attempt to write an LoTR sequel.

I have the complete set of HoM-e (two sets in fact, the Hard-Bound, which I got as they were first released, starting back in the 1980s, and a soft-bound set, which I use for my primary research). And it is from it that I have begun a sort of emendation of the History of the Northmen, their relationship with Gondor and the Second Age Númenóreans.

I need to read it again, as I have not read the works concerning anything but the Silmarillion for some time (working on the Metaphysical Foundations for Ëa, Arda, and Middle-earth - as well as it's topology.... I have an idea for how to get a Flat Middle-earth that has gravity that works the same way as it does in our universe, yet which does not collapse into a sphere).

But directly to the issue of minor characters.... I can't think of a minor character I could call a "favorite" as ANY minor character chosen I could easily rattle off hundreds of things I would want to know about them.

They are all my "favorites" so to speak. Tolkien usually seems to have put as much thought into naming his minor characters as he did into his major characters, indicating that he did not really consider them to be "minor" as another author might.

MB

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Marwhini

And I have discovered a few others where I make similar mistakes (Thurwingethil being another, where I write "Thuringwethil").

The latter version, the one in quotation marks, is actually the correct one.

It shows in your posts that you've immersed yourself in Tolkien's work and word head over heels, and if you take them a little too seriously by your own account that's considered a virtue rather than a vice here. There used to be quite a few Tolkien scholars in this place, most of whom have become rather treeish since. The whole forum has become a lot quieter than it was when I joined, but so much the greater is the pleasure to see a new member with a real passion for Tolkien. Once again, welcome!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Marwhini

I have been a Tolkien fanatic for a very long time, and perhaps take his work too seriously...

Well, fortunately we don't take Tolkien very seriously around here. No heated arguments. No nearly coming to fisticuffs over minor canonic issues. No calling anyone blithering idiots for the inanities they disembogue like a retched font of imbecility.

*Pauses*

Hey, why are you all looking at me like that?

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Marwhini

Thank you.... I will do that. In my haste I transposed two characters (in my own writing on the subject of the Northmen of Rhovanion, I have discovered that I do this about ½ the time I write the name "Marwhini"). And I have discovered a few others where I make similar mistakes (Thurwingethil being another, where I write "Thuringwethil").

Hey, I do that all the time when I read things in a rush. Parks are full of conversations (conservations), and philosophy class had no casualty (causality). When I first joined, I misread a couple Downers' names because of the letter switching, and I still haven't fully erased them from my mind. In Tolkien, I spent the first couple years of reading LOTR thinking that Redhorn is called Baranzibar (vs Barazinbar), just to name one. I'm not dyslexic, but I also have a tendency to switch letters when I read fast, especially if there are unfamiliar words.

Back to the topic, I completely agree with you about the minor characters being as important in shaping the story and the world as the major ones. For one thing, if we didn't meet a few minor but representative individuals in every place the Fellowship passed, all these places wouldn't feel as real. It makes you aware that there are many people beyond the immediate story, and you relate to them and want to know more about their lives.

[Faramir Jones]

Marwhini, I'd like to add my voice to those others and say, 'Welcome to the Downs!'

[Faramir Jones]

Pitchwife, like you I enjoyed very much the character of Sador Labadal, and his interactions with Túrin. It's the only time in the context of Middle-earth that we see an adult Man trying to explain to a child, whose little and beloved sister has died, the big issue of what happens when Men die.