Could be Odo, who gets left out of the Fellowship? (And survives as a remnant in the story only as Fatty Bolger)

PRYFTAN: Initially Frodo’s pantry, but now in chaos for this beast!
TROTTER: Running flush – that’s him!
BINGO: He uncoils for a springy sound. Not much, though.
ODO: No party for him?
BLADORTHIN: He renders Thora blind, and Thorin bald!

THEME: FORMER NAMES OF CHARACTERS IN EARLY DRAFTS:

Smaug was Pryftan
Strider was Trotter
Frodo was Bingo
Merry was Odo
Gandalf was Bladorthin

Password: FRODO (Pippin was Frodo).

(Although he wouldn't fit into the puzzle, Thorin was also originally called Gandalf).

Correct answer, Formendacil, but I think Odo was the prototype of Merry, not Fatty Bolger.

In the biography, it refers to ''Bingo and his cousins Odo and Frodo' in very early drafts of LOTR, (but not the very first drafts, in which Bilbo was still the hero). As we (and the characters) tend to refer to 'Merry and Pippin' rather than 'Pippin and Merry,' I have always kind of assumed that Odo = Merry and Frodo = Pippin, even though their characters probably weren't that developed at that stage. I do have the HOME books containing the early drafts, but haven't read them cover to cover.

It's O (no/nothing) plus DO (party).

Well done, everyone!

And over to Nerwen!

Apologies for the delay- have had a very busy week.
I'll come up with something as soon as I can.

Nerwen, I have another one that's good to go if you don't have time to prepare one just now.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!
 

As Nerwen still hasn't replied, I am posting this. I think you will see why I didn't want to wait.

1. Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
2. Second of three, but the first to die.
3. Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
4. One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
5. Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
6. Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
8. Famed for two things, primarily.
9. Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
10. One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
11. Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

2. Finwe, of the Noldor, making Feanor "not the first"?

Not the correct answer, I'm afraid. Just thinking ... who are the three that Finwe would be the second of?

The elf houses, I believe.

3. Elf

1. Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
2. Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
4. One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
5. Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
6. Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
8. Famed for two things, primarily.
9. Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
10. One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
11. Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Could this be "twenty-one?" I think Bilbo adopted Frodo at that age...

You're close ... but the clue says 'to adopt,' not 'to be adopted.' ;)

5: Is this Shelob, and therefore EIGHT? Or Ungoliant and her brood in Nan Dungortheb, same answer.

The closest thing the actual Haunted Pass has to a terror is the Black Gate, which has ZERO limbs.

hS

1. Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
2. Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
4. One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
6. Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
8. Famed for two things, primarily.
9. Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
10. One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
11. Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Testing a far-fetched theory with an unfounded guess...

4. Vilya?

1. Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
2. Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
6. Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
8. Famed for two things, primarily.
9. Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
10. One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
11. Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

VILYA indeed - Y inside a shaken VIAL.

1. Eighty or so - the years Bilbo and Frodo had the Ring?

Happy New Year!

Very close, but only one of their names means 'old-wise.' ;)

1. Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).

Could this be eighteen?

6. Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.

With this then ninety-nine?

7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!

Five Golden Rings!?

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
2. Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
7. This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
8. Famed for two things, primarily.
9. Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
10. One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
11. Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

I had forgotten, but 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas' is indeed sung in 'Twelfth Night' - or the stage directions hint that it is. It isn't the song that the clue refers to, though.

#11 is making me think of ENEL, the mythical founder of the Teleri: third elf to awaken, but quickly became leader of the largest tribe (due largely to Imin's selfishness).

hS

Not Enel.

Not clue 11, but let me drop this here just to be festive.

https://youtu.be/h8kA2zx8isk

Don't say I never give you anything. :D

P.S. So sorry, G55 - Happy New Year to you too, and to all Downers and wanderers here, both dead, undead and in-between.

Ah, well then, #7 must be TWENTY, which is indeed the number of Great Rings. 'Sweet and twenty' indeed (seriously, Shakespeare, what does that even mean?).

#9 could be several things, but TWO seems most likely (his own head, plus his talking purse). Alternately, ONE, as Tolkien specifically notes that these are the kind of trolls 'with only one head each'.

#11... was EARENDIL younger than Elwing? That would make him the third half-elven, and 'higher honours' seems to describe him well. (Actually, I suppose ELWING the flappy bird could also count, if she's the younger of the pair.)

hS

I'm going to guess you're right about Elwing, but wrong about why. Regardless of Earendil's age, Elwing isn't going to be the third half-Elf. 1. Dior, 2. Elured, 3. Elurin, 4. Elwing (but, of course, this depends on how you reckon your half-Elves. The common definition seems to be "part Elf, part Man," but if you take it more literally, well, Luthien is technically half an Elf, Dior only a quarter, and Elwing five-eighths...)

However, Elwing *is* the last of Dior's three children, and with them dying young, she was soon destined for higher things--i.e. flying.

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
L: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
Y: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
N: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
E: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Wakey wakey!
 

I don't have any great ideas for any of the clues, but for a while I have been entertaining the idea of ELEVENTY ONE for the password and maybe it's time to just say it.

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
L: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
Y: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
N: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
E: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Theme: NUMBERS.

And, yet again, I managed to press edit instead of quote!

Oh! Is Y YAVANNA, famed for the Two Trees (though Treebeard would protest that...)

hS

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
L: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
YAVANNA: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
N: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
E: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Theme: NUMBERS.

Indeed.

Why would Treebeard disagree?

:o The whole time I was reading it as farmed. And I couldn't for the life of me think of an agricultural product mentioned in ME and starting with Y that was specifically noted to have two used components. *facepalm*

Well, as a representative of Yavanna's sentient creations, I just think he might be a bit put out about being passed over for fame. Or maybe not - certainly he'd take his time coming to a conclusion!

Nothing's coming to mind for L or N; I've resorted to looking through alphabetical lists, but nothing's popping. I feel like 'ancient letter' in N points at 'rune' (mangled); words starting with N and containing U are pretty thin on the ground, but the list is overloaded by Numenor. (I suppose if you count Umbar, Gondor, and Arnor, it could be the first of four Numenorean Realms... but then you have to make a 'distant object' from 'nom' or 'mon'.)

E... EOMER was the first king of the Third Line of Rohan. And EREINION GIL-GALAD was of the third generation descended from Finwe, and also the third successor High King to Fingolfin. But... yeah, no.

hS

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
L: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
YAVANNA: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
N: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
EOMER: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Theme: NUMBERS.

The last one IS Eomer, but not for the reason you state. Can you work out why it's Eomer? What does he first introduce himself as?

You will kick yourself when you realise what the L clue is.

... ohhhhh he's Third Marshal, isn't he? Even though he was also the only Marshal of the Mark at that point. That's a good clue!

L, L, L... you're right, I probably am. I mean... Luthien? She was the first elf to properly die, and I think the Silm says as much, but I can't get 'second of three' anywhere.

hS

Even I am the second of three.

(Myself, not Pervinca Took).

... no-one's guessed LALAITH yet, have they? Because we reeeeeally should've.

hS

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
LALAITH: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
YAVANNA: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
N: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
EOMER: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Theme: NUMBERS.

Lalaith it is.

One to go!

To narrow it down a little, the remaining answer is not a person. So don't look at groups of siblings, kings, etc.

Okay, so 'north' is a rearranged thorn, the letter, so North something... ah! NORTH+FAR-THING, the Northfarthing of the Shire.

hS

Perfectly correct!
 

EIGHTEEN: Years of old-wise possession (give or take six months).
LALAITH: Second of three, but the first to die.
ELF: Eleven, teutonically, but only one in the Fellowship.
VILYA: One of three – we hear why in a shaken bottle?
EIGHT: Limbs of the Terror of the Haunted Pass.
NINETY-NINE: Good age to adopt? Legal, at any rate.
TWENTY: This, and sweet, in a Twelfth Night song – so many Great Rings!
YAVANNA: Famed for two things, primarily.
ONE: Number of heads on Bill Huggins.
NORTHFARTHING: One of four; mangled ancient letter meets distant object?
EOMER: Third of a kind, but destined – pretty soon – for higher honours.

Password: ELEVENTY-ONE, to celebrate the eleventy-first page of this thread!

Theme: NUMBERS.

Well done!

And now, over to Galadriel!

Cheers! Really, kudos to Hui for getting those last clues. Hat off to you!

I do not have one ready and I'm pretty busy IRL, which is why I waited so long to say the password. If someone wants to go ahead, be my guest. If not I shall cobble something up in a few days.