Fresh clues to solve! *rubs hands*

2. Probably HOPE, in reference to Andreth's Old Hope and, of course, Estel.

8. Could it be just MAN?

HOPE is correct. MAN is not, but you're using one of the correct elements.

1. The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
3. A Sindarin season or village in Wales
4. Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
5. A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
6. And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
9. The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

hS

5. (S)hire?

2. Rhiw.

Both correct!

1. The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
4. Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
6. And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
9. The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

hS

Password: Christmas?

9. Sterday.

Spot on, and a merry one to you. :)

(One of the Yule-days is always a Sterday, for anyone confused by that one.)

1. C - The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
4. I - Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
6. T - And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. M - The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. A - The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
STERDAY - The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

hS

6. (yule)TIDE?

Ayup.

1. C - The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
4. I - Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
TIDE - And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. M - The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. A - The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
STERDAY - The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

And I think that pulls us past the halfway mark!

"But hey" is not part of the clue, it's just for the rhyme. 1, 4, and 7 all have both cryptic and straight components; unfortunately 8 is just cryptic.

hS

1 is Calaquendi and 4 is Imlad.

1: no, and I don't know how you got there.

4: close, but add a bit (hence "starting").

hS

4. Imladris?

The Fellowship set out from there on Christmas Day.

So they did. Off you go, lads; take a left at Caradhras and it'll lead you straight to it.

1. C - The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
IMLADRIS - Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
TIDE - And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. M - The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. A - The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
STERDAY - The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

hS

On Christmas, he letters are usually sent to Santas, who don't exist in this setting, and elves. And Calaquendi are the only elves who begin with C.

This put me on a thought. Tolkien wrote Father Christmas Letters for his children. Chilly-dren? Just CHILDREN?

That's a very nice chain of logic, but I'm afraid:

The answer was just a cold pun. :D

CHILDREN - The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
IMLADRIS - Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
TIDE - And after the day comes the sea on the shore
7. M - The heart of the cold is the name of the day
8. A - The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
STERDAY - The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

Two left! 8 is a Quenya word, and "the Undying Lands are unnoted" is a fairly straightforward cryptic clue. 7... I actually thought was one of the easiest in the puzzle. :D

hS

Avallon(e) ?

The only M term I could come up with is Mersday.

Nope. The clue is in two parts: "the Undying Lands | are unnoted".

Nope. Again, the clue is in two parts: "the heart of the cold = the name of the day".

hS

No idea what the heart of the cold is, but as a somewhat silly answer... is it MONDAY? Because Christmas Day falls on Monday this year? :D

You're assuming a lot about my ability to keep track of the day. :D No.

What day is Yule? What *makes* it Yule, and is a synonym for "Heart -- Cold"?

hS

8. Amanar

Aman ar(e) - e 'unnoted.'

'Yule' in Quenya.

Ah, so M is Midwinter.

Correct and correct!

CHILDREN - The cold-sounding ones to whom letters are sent
HOPE - Estel's name translated that after 'old' went
RHIW - A Sindarin season or village in Wales
IMLADRIS - Where I am a boy starting down in the dales
SHIRE - A letter to rent in a fair land of yore
TIDE - And after the day comes the sea on the shore
MIDWINTER - The heart of the cold is the name of the day
AMANAR - The Undying Lands are unnoted (but hey)
STERDAY - The first of the seven in Hobbitish forms
Together all call for a feast at Beorn's!

And a happy new year, nearly! Password goes to Pervinca I believe.

hS

Sorry, been very busy with Dad being unwell. I will give thought to the password. I think I had one or two ready, but it was ages ago and I need a little time to find them.

Hope all who celebrate Christmas are having a good festive break.

Here you go:

1. Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
2. Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
3. Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.
4. It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
5. Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
6. ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
7. It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

The password sounds like another holiday-themed one and has seven letters. Is the password New Year?

N: Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
E: Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
W: Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.

Y: It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
E: Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
A: ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
R: It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

Winter for W one.

"Winter is coming."

Close, but no cigar. It's longer than that.

2 could be EREGION - the Land of Holly.

hS

N: Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
EREGION: Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
W: Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.

Y: It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
E: Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
A: ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
R: It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

Some answers, and many thoughts:

1/ Christopher Tolkien studied at Trinity College.

3/ I reckon this is "Winter's [Something]", probably a quote from LotR, possibly similar to "Winter's End".

4/ "Yeast", with the middle (a?) removed, and something added... YESTARE? (Why scripture study, though?)

5/ I want this to be the Sindarin for Yestare, but... there isn't one? Could be ENTARE, an earlier version of the same word. Based purely on the letter and theme, ERUKYERME was the Numenorean new year.

6/ Not a clue.

7/ Kate Bush has a song about December being magic again... :D RINGARE is the last month of the Gondorian calendar (until Aragorn mucked about with it).

hS

But he was also connected with another.

/ I reckon this is "Winter's [Something]", probably a quote from LotR, possibly similar to "Winter's End".

No apostrophe. There is a word in the clue that you haven't taken into account.

4/ "Yeast", with the middle (a?) removed, and something added... YESTARE? (Why scripture study, though?)

The A pops up AND VAULTS OVER to the end, then you add R(eligious) E(ducation).

N: Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
EREGION: Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
W: Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.

YESTARE: It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
ENTARE: Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
A: ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
RINGARE: It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

Winter filth. :D

Oh wait, dogblammit, that's an actual Hobbit month, isn't it? WINTERFILTH, then.

hS

N: Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
EREGION: Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
WINTERFILTH Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.

YESTARE: It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
ENTARE: Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
A: ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
RINGARE: It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

Yes - and not called 'Winterfilth' in Gondor.

Couple of hints?

N is two words.

A is another hobbit month.

A: after you, L! Er, AFTERYULE.

N: CT lectured at New College, so probably "New Something". "Logic dawns at the end of an age"... I'm stumped, but I'm gonna stab at NEW RECKONING (different from the Shire Reckoning!).

hS

NEW RECKONING: Christopher’s college logic dawns at the end of an age, and differs from the Shire's.
EREGION: Festive flora still fruitful now, and here?
WINTERFILTH Cold and dirty! It’s coming, but not for quite a while, and not in Gondor.

YESTARE: It gives rise, though the middle pops out and vaults, to scripture study on this day.
ENTARE: Like 4, but neater? No, untidy!
AFTERYULE: ‘You go first,’ we hear, with liquid addition, for a period of time.
RINGARE: It will be magic again, when it comes. (Or so Kate Bush would probably say).

I used 'logic' as a synonym for 'reckoning.'

All done, and over to Urwen!