alt.fan.tolkien

On 15/02/2021 12.59, Bill O'Meally wrote: > Options appear to include include: > 1) Periodically firing up the old Mac to read and post on newsgroups > 2) Hope that this is just a glitch with Big Sur and that Apple will > correct it with an upgrade > 3) Search for another newsreader that is supported by Big Sur > 4) Say, "Oh well. I guess that's it for usenet for me. It was a good run". > > Any advice? Well, a quick search shows that there are other Usenet clients for Apple devices; even Thunderbird (which I use from Linux). I know nothing of the Apple ecosystem, however. -- Michael F. Stemper This email is to be read by its intended recipient only. Any other party reading is required by the EULA to send me $500.00.

So, the battery on my 8-year-old Macbook decided it will no longer hold a charge. Rather than replacing the battery, I decided to upgrade to a new machine. My new Macbook is loaded with Big Sur, wheras my old one has Catalina OS. To my chagrin, Big Sur does not seem to support my newsreader, Unison (I am writing this on my constantly plugged-in old computer). A quick web search appears to confirm this. Another nail in the coffin of usenet?! Options appear to include include: 1) Periodically firing up the old Mac to read and post on newsgroups 2) Hope that this is just a glitch with Big Sur and that Apple will correct it with an upgrade 3) Search for another newsreader that is supported by Big Sur 4) Say, "Oh well. I guess that's it for usenet for me. It was a good run". Any advice? -- Bill O'Meally

rtygr

Posting-Frequency: Monthly (FAQ also posted monthly) Welcome to the Tolkien newsgroups! Our FAQs can be found at: http://tolkien.slimy.com/ Even if you haven't read all of /The Hobbit/ and /The Lord of the Rings/, you are welcome here, but be careful! Spoilers for the stories can be anywhere, even in the subject line of a message. To help you join our community as comfortably as possible, we do ask that you read our Frequently Asked Questions lists before posting. The FAQs discuss proper "netiquette" for participating in discussions here, and also introduce the basics of our most frequent debates (the main Meta-FAQ page lists the most "important" questions in bold). Once again, welcome! We look forward to your participation.

I have posted on this subject before,and now update... the only British monarch in whose reign TLotR has been in print has reached the 69th anniversary of her accession, drawing abreast of Ar-Sakalthor of Numenor and now definitively ahead of the Chieftain Arahad I and King Narmacil I of Gondor. Her Majesty is still in her 95th year,and her husband in his 100th...but the records of Aldor the Old seem more attainable day by day as Eomer's recede behind her. Some of those listed below are namesakes of more famous persons not listed. Hereditary titleholders of Arda reigning between 60 and 100 years: Thorin I 99 years Nain II 97 Arantar 96 Gloin 96 Thorin II 91 Eldacar (Arnor) 90 Cemendur 90 Tar-Calmacil 88 Tarondor 87 Anardil 87 Earendil 86 Amlaith 85 Earendur 84 Faramir 84 Beleg 83 Tarannon Falastur 83 Siriondil 82 Mallor 81 Celepharn 81 Celebrindor 81 Argeleb II 81 Ostoher 81 Atanatar I 81 Hyarmendacil II 81 Tarcil 80 Araphor 80 Calimehtar 80 Ciryandil 79 Tar-Palantir 78 Araval 78 Dain II 78 Cirion 78 Malvegil 77 Atanatar II 77 Ar-Gimilzor 75 Aldor the Old 75 Tar-Ardamin 74 Arvegil 73 Araphant 73 Aravir 72 Gerontius 72 Ar-Zimrathon 71 Arahael 71 Arveleg II 70 Aranuir 70 Ar-Sakalthor 69 Arahad I 68 Narmacil I 68 Aravorn 66 Valacar 66 Aragost 65 Arahad II 65 Arassuil 65 Eomer 65 Ar-Pharazon 64 Arathorn I 64 Argonui 64 Ar-Adunakhor 63 Romendacil II 62 (after 64 years as regent) Belecthor II 61 Gondor's Eldacar reigned only 58 years de jure and 48 de facto. Lifespans between 90 years and the 130 of the Old Took, Argeleb I of Arnor,and the Steward Belegorn: Hallas 125 years Earnur 122 Barahir 122 Telemnar 120 Mardil 120 Hurin I 120 Belecthor II 120 Faramir 120 Pelendur 119 Cirion 118 Eradan 117 Egalmoth 117 Turin I 113 Hurin II 113 Herion 111 Beregond 111 Arvedui 110 Arador 110 Belecthor I 110 Orodreth 109 Beren 108 Dior 107 Rorimac Brandybuck 106 Fortinbras I 103 Gorbadoc Brandybuck 103 Denethor I 102 Isengrim II 102 Fortinbras II 102 Gormadoc Brandybuck 102 Madoc Brandybuck 102 Aldor the Old 101 Isumbras IV 101 Paladin II 101 Arveleg I 100 Aragorn I 100 Thorondir 100 Ferumbras II 100 Turin II 99 Ferumbras III 99 Ecthelion I 98 Turgon 98 Ecthelion II 98 Isengrim III 98 Isumbras III 93 Marmadoc Brandybuck 93 Eomer 93 Saradoc Brandybuck 92 -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

S?bado, 16 de Enero, 2021 de Nuestro Salvador Jesucristo, Guayaquil, Ecuador-Iberoam?rica (Cartas del cielo son escritas por Iv?n Valarezo) The FATHER's HOLY HEART is healed and happy with YOU baptized in water by invoking His HOLY NAME FIRES now: Astonishingly: Our heavenly Father's holy heart was hurt as He watched Lucifer led an angelical rebellion against His Great White Throne and His holy name fire that had been loved, honored and glorified by His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts that were faithful to Him throughout the angelical kingdom until sin was found in Lucifer. This was a terrible angelical event impacting our heavenly Father's holy heart that He needed to remove Himself along with His divine family that is His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit along with the angelical hosts loyal to Him through His holy name fires into a new home-sweet-home as His new heaven and earth, where sin will fail to exist through eternity. Surely, Our heavenly Father really needed to create a new place for His holy heart's healing, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts, so He may continue properly to love, serve and worship His holy name fires over His altar that it has always been Mount Zion in heaven's glory, but now, it will be in Canaan, the earth forever. However, as our heavenly Father created heaven and earth for Himself, His holy name fires, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the angelical hosts faithful to Him through eternity, then, He thought of you and your loved ones, including your neighbors and friends of your entire life upon earth thus you may live with Him, but without ever knowing sin throughout eternity. Really, our heavenly Father had always known you, your loved ones, neighbors and friends since before the foundation of the world, because we were born from His image and His living-soul to become perfect and holy as He has always been in eternity before His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit thus you may only know His perfection and holiness through Him forever. For our heavenly Father needed to continue to live His glorious eternal life always enriched with Holy heart's amazing daily richness before His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts faithful to Him and to His holy name fires over Mount Zion, but now He needed to live it with you, watching it filled with His amazing unfailing-love growing in you always. Unquestionably, our heavenly Father has observed His eternal life always growing gloriously with His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts faithful to Him and to His holy name fires over Mount Zion throughout the angelical kingdom until sin was found in Lucifer and his one-third of fallen angels faithful to his cause to exalt his wicked name above God's Creation. Really, Lucifer's sin was found in his heart that wanted to take control of His holy name fires over His altar, because he knew that if he can take control of it along with his fallen angels faithful to his rebellion against our heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, then, he could have his kingdom of eternal wickedness forever. Timely, our heavenly Father detected Lucifer's sin thriving in his wicked-heart, because He can see every angel's heart always throughout the angelical kingdom that He expelled him immediately along with the one-third of the fallen angels, so he may start his kingdom of wickedness in hell's torment, from where he needed to be defeated and destroyed forever by His holy name's amazing daily powers. Moreover, our heavenly Father needed to destroy Satan, death and the fallen angels in hell's torment as his kingdom of darkness that he needed to possess thus to conquer God's Creation by taking on His holy name fires in heaven's glory, but he failed miserably because no one can ever really understand it and its amazing powers displayed when it is invoked properly. Therefore, given that once our heavenly Father's holy heart had experienced the terrible angelical rebellion that Lucifer presented to Him, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts by trying to take on His holy name fires for his kingdom of darkness, then, He only wanted to have His children born from His image loving Him through eternity entirely forever. Here, our heavenly Father thought of your birth from His image, His living-soul and His holy heart filled with His amazing unfailing-love manifested entirely towards you and your loved ones through coming generations, thus not only healing His holy heart hurt by Lucifer's rebellion, but also, He may have you loving Him and His holy name fires with Him living in you forever. Furthermore, our heavenly Father needed to replace the fallen angels that had gone away from Him and His holy name fires, because they could not longer live their angelical lives in heaven's glory with His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, thus, they needed to enter into the world of eternal judgment because of sin, and this is hell' s torment forever lost. For our heavenly Father was looking forward to live with His children born from Him as His image, His living-soul and His holy heart's amazing unfailing-love for them, so He may live away from Lucifer and his fallen angels still sinning against His holy name fires in heaven's glory thus He may grow with His life eternal in His new kingdom of endless-richness forever. Besides, our heavenly Father's children were to be born from His image, His living-soul and His holy heart filled with His amazing unfailing-love for them, but born from Him to be perfect and holy as He is forever before His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, thus His children were born along with richness as well--richness existing only in Him through eternity. That is why, that when our heavenly Father's children began to be born in paradise to live in His new heaven and earth, starting with Adam and Eve, then, Lucifer approached them with lies to have them to eat from the forbidden fruit, from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so he may steal this richness for him and his fallen angels. Therefore, Lucifer had to steal from our heavenly Father's amazing daily richness that he had always longed to possess for him and his fallen angels, because when he sinned against Him, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, then, whatever richness that he had had before sin appeared in his heart was lost to him forever. Considering that, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, deceived by the serpent's lie to eat from it, instantly the sacred-flesh and the blood, filled with eternal life and its daily richness necessary to enrich human life through eternity, starting on earth, it was declared Satan's property, due to the sinful-flesh and the spirit of error in them in coming generations. However, Satan failed to take on all richness that our heavenly Father had granted onto His children as they were born from His image and living-soul, because richness emerged from Him unto His children through His Son and the Holy Spirit, consequently, most of the richness stayed in His new heaven and earth, untouched by Satan, waiting for you to reclaim it anytime now. For this richness, powers and glories untouched by Satan and his fallen angels until now are waiting for you to enjoy with your loved ones, neighbors and friends, because He needs everyone to know that He is a very rich God in heaven's glory with the angelical hosts moreover upon earth with you and the families of the nations. For our heavenly Father needs to enrich the entire earth with richness that were born with you as you emerged from His image and His living-soul and the same is true for every man, woman and child from all the families of the nations, because by enriching you then He really is enriching His holy name fires in your life and the earth entirely. Now, Satan is the opposite by not only stealing richness from you but also from every man, woman and child blinded with daily witchcrafts from families of Satanists doing them for death directly from Canaan, real evil people living close to the Israelis along with others satanists active around the world with witchcrafts, thus you may know poverty, sickness and death but never richness. That is why, that our heavenly Father called Abraham to live in Canaan with his wife Sarah along with his nephew Lot and his wife, so he may live in a very beautiful land that has never known sin but only witchcraft ever since Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, thus they also fail to know richness until they finally pass away. For our heavenly Father needed to release the richness that he brought into his life in paradise and on earth as he was born from His image and His living-soul, and so, as he descended with his family to live in Canaan then he became rich until he prayed for Him to stop enriching him, because his enemies wanted to take his richness entirely. However, our heavenly Father answered his prayer by giving him a son, and this is our Lord Jesus Christ born as Isaac from Sarah's barren-womb by the Holy Spirit's powers to see after him and his richness but also his children living through the generations with great richness to enjoy every day of their lives directly from Canaan, thus enriching the earth greatly at last. Lawfully, our heavenly Father needs to enrich the earth with you, your loved ones, neighbors and friends from around the world, regardless of their religious faith, whether they are Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, Taoists, Christians, Hebrews and others: He needs to go forward with you and fill the entire earth with His amazing-powers thus making His new coming kingdom shine with His divine-power through eternity. Graciously, our heavenly Father has given us an entire new earth born from His holy heart, so glorious that He needed to establish it in the earth's heart with ancient Israel baptized at the Red Sea, finally becoming one, as one holy seed, with the nations from the past and the future filled with His amazing unfailing-love along with richness unseen before by anyone. For our heavenly Father to start a new kingdom of His amazing unfailing-love that can only exist in His holy heart for His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the angelical hosts along with the families of the nations, then, He needed you enriched already: loving, serving and worshipping Him and His holy name fires, discovering richness, powers and glories through coming eternity. That is why, that it was important for our heavenly Father to sit at the Lord's Table to eat the bread and wine with Abraham His faithful servant, because He was going to give unto him and his promised children born through the coming generations His only Son, as His Chosen Lamb, to know perfection, holiness and endless richness throughout life in Canaan. For this is Canaan that our heavenly Father had chosen for been the most beautiful from all the lands of the earth for Him to have His Son Jesus Christ born as Isaac from Sarah's barren-womb by the Holy Spirit's powers but also the promised children, including gentiles: you, your loved ones, neighbors and friends, knowing only love, power, peace and endless-richness through life. Amazingly: Canaan is a land where sin fails to exist throughout eternity, because it is an enriched land where our heavenly Father will have His only Son living daily with you as Isaac, His holy-seed from Him, so you may only know His eternal life defeating Satan, fallen angels, death and Satanists families darkening your life until you die in hell's torment cursed with witchcrafts. For Canaan is always without sin for Him, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and for every man, woman and child from Israel and the nations, so they may access it to live with Him and His holy name fires baptized in water by invoking His perfect holiness: abandoning the sinful-flesh for the sacred-flesh to have finally a personal encounter with Him immediately. Then, as Jacob was born in Canaan immediately the twelve patriarchs of Israel were born to give birth to His dream nation that will finally defeat every sin, curse, infirmity, problem, conflict, poverty, death and hell's torment along with the fallen angels, so they may remove with the nations sin's powers from the entire earth in one day forever. Truly, as Jacob along with the twelve Israelis patriarchs where born in Canaan, where sin fails to exist instead what it has always had are Satanists families doing witchcraft blinding the Israelites and the nations, so they will fail to know that Canaan is without sin and filled with endless-richness, milk and honey and love enriching human life each day throughout the earth forever. That is to say, also that once the Satanists families are removed from Canaan then the truth about it and its endless conquests that our heavenly Father had conquered with His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the entire house of Israel until our days, instantly, everyone will see His new kingdom of endless love, enriching human life as never before. These days: Once we have Israel and Canaan liberated from the Satanists families and theirs every day witchcraft, instantly we will see the beautiful land that our heavenly Father spoke about to Israel's patriarchs, beginning with Abraham, because he was promised to inherit it along with his promised children living through the generations a land that flows with milk and honey through eternity. Moreover, for our heavenly Father to make this possible for Abraham and Israel along with the nations from the past and the future, then, He had to remove sin from every man, woman and child, thus He had Israel entirely in the holy-seed in Egypt's captivity absorbing sins, from the first to the last one, finally to abandon them at the Red Sea baptism. Legally, our heavenly Father needed ancient Israel baptized in water at the Red Sea not only abandoning every sin collected from ancient and modern nations but also to become Canaan's citizens enjoying daily richness, as they may walk through the Sinai's desert to conquer Canaan with its endless-richness for His holy name fires to descend where sin fails to exist through eternity for humankind. Legally, our heavenly Father needed to conquer Canaan for Israel and the nations, because it will be there that not only His Son Jesus Christ was born without sin as Isaac from Sarah's barren-womb by the Holy Spirit's powers, but also, His children as you and I these days only to know love, peace, prosperity and endless richness for His holy name fire's endless-glories. The entire house of Israel after they began walking through the Sinai's desert then they received the tabernacle of reunion with the Holy of Holiest that needed to be spilled throughout Canaan and the earth for His altar to be known by every man, woman and child from the families of the nations, only baptized in water by invoking His holy name's perfect holiness. However, this was impossible only until sin was removed from the world by ancient Israel not only performing the oath sworn to Isaac's powers within the tabernacle's Holy of Holiest, but also, bitten by poisonous snakes lastly descended to hell's gates to become one with the nations, as one seed planted in Canaan, as Israel's cross with humankind forever liberated from sin into everlasting. For our heavenly Father needed to turn hell's gate into His heaven's gate, but with every man, woman and child, starting with Adam and Eve, instead of being cursed for failing water baptism and not knowing His name's perfect holiness, then, He nailed His name along with His flesh without sin to them to see life again in His new earth with great richness. That is why, that whenever someone is baptized from Israel and the families of the nations then they are reborn in His sacred-flesh that is without sin forever to be guided by the Holy Spirit's powers thus to live our heavenly Father's eternal life in Canaan's daily richness, meanwhile the baptized person may continue to live in his homeland with loved ones as usual. This is when: The baptized person will operate nonstop in amazing powers from the oath sworn to Isaac that expels Satan, fallen angels, infirmities, curses, problems, conflicts, accidents, Satanists families, death and poverty, because our heavenly Father had His Son Jesus Christ living His eternal life in Canaan for you to live finally an enriched life through eternity, starting at home now. This is the life that the baptized person will always live in Canaan, regardless of where he may live, for our heavenly Father has removed sin from the earth with His Son Jesus Christ nailed to the cross that is Israel and the nations as one flesh without sin bearing His holy name fires towards greater richness forever untouched by sin through eternity. Really, once baptized in water by invoking Him, as the God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob, then, you will become as perfect and holy as he is forever with His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts only knowing His eternal life never failing to love you until now with Canaan's daily endless-richness pouring towards you always. This richness along with powers, healing, knowledge of the Lord, wisdom, intelligence, milk and honey and other important blessings is instore in Canaan that really belong to you forever, because when you were born from our heavenly Father's image and living-soul then you were born to know His love, richness and endless happiness throughout eternity, starting at home today with loved ones. However, our heavenly Father can only trust you with His richness born with you, as you emerged from Him to be your father and mother's child, when you are reborn from His water baptism by invoking the perfect holiness of His holy name fires that descended from heaven's glory with His Son Jesus Christ birth in Bethlehem, in Israel, to bless you nowadays eternally. Really, our heavenly Father will never trust you with His amazing richness that you have inherited from Him, as you were born from His image and His living-soul until you are reborn from His water baptism by invoking His name's perfect holiness, because this richness that you have inherited from Him along with amazing daily powers is too great for you alone to bear. Truly, once baptized in water by invoking His holy name's perfect holiness then you are reborn into His holy-seed, His own flesh without sin, where He will live with you, because He will be in your mind, soul, human spirit, heart only to live His eternal life that He alone can live it with you, releasing great richness through your days until kingdom comes. Here, you will convey our heavenly Father's will throughout the earth, regardless of where you may live, for He has removed sin from the families of the nations as His Son Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, born from Him initially for you to be His child filled with endless-richness into everlasting, enriching humankind entirely with you for His final descend into Canaan soon. Certainly, it was important for the entire house of Israel not only to be born with His eternal life, because everyone is always born upon earth through the generations from Isaac's sacred-flesh, where sin fails to exist forever only when baptized in water, so He may live His eternal life within them, as in His holy-seed, blessing the earth with Canaan's endless-richness and sweetness forever. In other words, as Israel is baptized in water by invoking His holy name fires, as God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob, then, our heavenly Father along with His Spirit will live with His children in Canaan, growing with them with great richness, glories, powers untouched by sin until the families of the nations become one with Him through eternity. Really, once Israel is baptized in water then with our heavenly Father growing within them just as His Son Jesus Christ grew mightily to be known throughout the families of the nations as the Savior always faithfully protecting them with Canaan's daily richness, then, He will grow, as a giant that He is, absorbing the entire earth into His kingdom of eternal love forever. Truly, it will be just as His Son Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross over Jerusalem's holy hill transferring victories conquered in Canaan against Satan, the fallen angels, death and the Satanists families that were deceiving Israel in those days with daily witchcrafts, but they were destroyed by the Lord's powers as usual, thus Israel may have power over all evil always forever. Understanding that, as His Son Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, transferring victories against Satan and his followers, then the entire house of Israel even though they were bones in the Valley of the dried bones with the nations from the past and the future, then they became as perfect and holy as our heavenly Father is forever to live with Him forever enriched. Really, the Valley of the dried bones was filled with the house of Israel's bones but also wicked spirits in the area, failing continually to approach the people to torment their souls, because they were born with the oath sworn to Isaac's powers, however, as our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to them then the whole place became liberated from wicked spirits forever. This means that the entire Valley of dried bones became as holy and perfect as our heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will ever be forever into eternity, because the Valley of the dried bones became His holy heart filled with His amazing unfailing-love for His children to see life again with Him and His endless-richness well into eternity. Therefore, the Valley of dried bones filled with the house of Israel's bones, it became as holy and perfect as heaven's glory, because not only our heavenly Father's holy heart was established there forever but also it became His new earth filled with eternal life and endless richness of love, joy and never-ending happiness for the families of the nations--enriching you now tremendously. Amazingly, these wonderful blessings happened within the Valley of the dried bones, in the heart of the earth for Israel to become God's home-sweet-home, because Israel was born with the sacred-flesh filled with the oath sworn to Isaac to become His holy name fires' Temple forever in Canaan thus our heavenly Father may live finally forever loved by His children through eternity. Timely, as our heavenly Father had His Son Jesus Christ nailed to the cross over Jerusalem's holy hill, then, hell's gate was no longer the way to enter into hell's torment forever lost into eternity, but it became heaven's gate for anyone willing may enter into His holy heart, but baptized in water by invoking His holy name fires' perfect holiness for lasting-salvation instantly. Really, the Valley of the dried bones completely changed by our heavenly Father having His Son Jesus Christ nailed to the cross over Jerusalem's holy hill, because it has powers that His beloved Son along with the Holy Spirit and Israel has conquered through the generations until now, so you may become a new creature upon earth forever enriched by Canaan's daily richness. Well, this is exactly what happened to every man, woman and child from the house of Israel and the nations lying in hell's torment for centuries without ever anyone caring for them, as they cried through their endless torments for missing the water baptism when they had the opportunity to do it and they passed it negligently--dying in their sins lastly unfortunately cursed. Certainly, with our Lord Jesus Christ nailed to the cross over Jerusalem's holy hill, in Canaan, then he not only turned the Valley of the dried bones for human life to be possible everlastingly, but also, he removed evil from it thus we may live with our heavenly Father and His angels forever loved, enriched and with a bright future throughout His new earth forever. Presently, we have our heavenly Father's loving holy heart in the earth's heart not only loving what His Son Jesus Christ along with the Holy Spirit and Israel has accomplished in Canaan until now, as your heart is touched by His holy heart to become baptized in water to see life again, but also, it is enriching you progressively with Canaan's richness always. Then, this means that our heavenly Father is loving us from heaven's glory, because this is where His Throne is, but also, He is loving us from the earth's heart, because He needs to baptize us progressively with His holy heart's amazing-love always craving to have you blessed through His water baptism by invoking His name's perfect holiness for perfect lasting-salvation touching you finally. For our heavenly Father is ensuring that you are not only blessed from your homeland's resources but also you must be blessed by Him, His Son Jesus Christ ant the Holy Spirit from heaven's glory and from Canaan's endless richness waiting for you now, because they emanated with you from Him, but you may have them with His sacred-flesh and never with the sinful-flesh. Truthfully, our heavenly Father has turned what was going to be your place of eternal torment in hell into His holy heart for you always to receive love, peace, richness and endless prosperity with your loved ones, neighbors and friends from around the world, because you need to be blessed for His holy name fires to receive glories always from you through eternity. That is why, that our heavenly Father needed for His Son Jesus Christ to be born as Isaac from Sarah's barren-womb by the Holy Spirit's powers, so they may not only possess Canaan and its daily richness, but also, they may become one with Him, finally growing within them to His fullness filling the earth with perfect holiness within humankind through eternity forever. Understanding that, as our heavenly Father grows within Israel to His fullness in Canaan just as He has grown entirely in heaven's glory with His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts, then, He will grow in Canaan to cover the earth and humankind with His perfect holiness only to know beautiful and glorious eternal days filled with amazing-richness throughout eternity. For this is our heavenly Father's eternal life that His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have granted unto you already entirely filled with richness, powers, prosperity, healing and endless peace by just been reborn from the water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism, by invoking Him, as God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob to live His life now upon earth. Moreover, our heavenly Father needs to grow in the oath sworn to Isaac's daily powers from which the entire house of Israel will operate in their everyday life for Canaan's richness to become unblocked from Satan and Satanists families doing witchcraft continually, thus blocking Israel and the nations never to know that they were blessed by Him already before the foundation of the world. Really, our heavenly Father will grow within Israel touching every man, woman and child from the nations forever, covering them with His perfect holiness, as He assured Abraham that he must be perfect and holy to see life eternal forever, and so, He can cover them with Himself growing towards them to declare them perfect and holy as He is forever with lasting-salvation. This will be something as His Son Jesus Christ nailed to the cross over Jerusalem's holy hill, in Canaan, then the entire heart of the earth became as perfect and holy as our heavenly Father is in heaven's glory before the angelical hosts, thus He will cause every family from the nations to live with Him in His holy heart's perfect holiness throughout eternity forever. This is how our heavenly Father will expel from Canaan every unclean spirit brought in by Satan and death with the Satanists families practicing witchcraft to deceive Israel and the families of the nations, because they are the ones with Satan sending evil towards false doctrines, blinding the eyes, hearts and minds for everyone failing to know that they have richness in Canaan always. Therefore, Satanists families along with death are blocking every richness that our heavenly Father had placed throughout the earth as it was created, for the families of the nations to live a glorious life with Him, enjoying great richness, powers and glories ready to be used by Him with His children reborn from His water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism these days. However, with the entire house of Israel baptized in water by invoking His name, as God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob then these blessings and richness from Canaan and from everywhere will be unblocked: at last, flowing freely towards the families of the nations, blessings them abundantly until richness could be seen abundantly and plainly throughout the entire earth. Now, it is true that with Israel baptized already in water by invoking the perfect holiness of His name fires that descended with His Son Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem, in Canaan, blessing greatly every man, woman and child from Israel and the families of the nations only to see Canaan's richness filling their lives throughout the earth with abundance of things continually forever. For this is our heavenly Father's eternal life granted onto you to live with Him blessing not only your loved ones, neighbors and friends but also every nation, because He has removed sin from the world for the Holy of Holiest to spill His holiness towards everyone's water baptism entering His holiness lastly forever blessed to see life again filled with richness throughout eternity. Legally, as our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross by his hands and feet, then, as he spilled his atoning-blood over the wood then every man, woman and child from the past and the future ate from his bread deepened in the sauce for the Holy of Holiest's veil torn from top to bottom, releasing its Holiness entirely for His new earth. Given that, as our Lord Jesus Christ ate at the Lord's Table the bread and wine with His twelve apostles, then, he broke the bread and wine of life that had descended with him in his flesh without sin and his atoning-blood that is our heavenly Father's holy-seed for His children to eat from Him and live forever blessed and enriched throughout the earth. This is when, our Lord Jesus Christ's apostles question him about the one that he was talking about that was about to betray him before the Sanhedrin, in Israel, because the High Priest in those days needed to arrest him to take him into trial with his priests and find him guilty for having said that he is the Son of God. Then, our Lord Jesus Christ told his apostles, questioning him about the one betraying him, for they wanted to know if it was one of the twelve, and then, he said the one that deepens the bread in the sauce of the dish, that is the one that will betray me--and this was Judas Iscariot that ate the bread moisten in his atoning-blood. For Judas was one of the twelve turning our Lord Jesus Christ to the Sanhedrin's council of priests to find him guilty of blasphemy then lead him to the Romans that were in Canaan to nail him to his hand and feet to the cross, so his bread of life to be deepen in the sauce that his atoning-blood giving us finally eternal life. For Judas needed to be one from the twelve apostles to turn our Lord Jesus Christ to the Jewish Council of priest to find him guilty of blasphemy then the Romans could legally nail him to the cross, so his flesh without sin spilled with his atoning-blood filled with our heavenly Father's eternal life liberating us finally from Satan and the evil of witchcraft forever. For Judas had known very well that our Lord Jesus Christ was without sin and that every word that had come out from his mouth towards the families of Israel were words of life that not only healed them from sickness, problems and conflicts but also, it liberated them from Satan and the evil of witchcrafts that has always led towards terrible holocausts. Indeed, our heavenly Father has placed His loving heart for His children from Israel and the nations under Canaan, loving them with perfect love and endless richness that His eternal life enjoys always with His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the angelical hosts, so you may live with His holy heart in your chest, enriching you nowadays with your loved ones throughout life. Presently, our heavenly Father's holy heart is healed and happy with you, your loved ones, neighbors and friends, because baptized in water by invoking Him, as God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob, then you will live with Him, living His life with you, doing His perfect will to enrich the earth for His coming kingdom of love through eternity finally. Amen!

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.3.1 (Perl 5.020) Posting-Frequency: monthly URL: http://tolkien.slimy.com/ TOLKIEN NEWSGROUPS FAQ Copyright (C) 1999-2012 by Steuard Jensen (Created 17 Aug 1999) (Last updated 11 Mar 2012) For many years, the Tolkien Usenet newsgroups have been home to a pair of excellent Frequently Asked Questions lists about Tolkien and Middle-earth, compiled by William D. B. Loos. These sources contain a wealth of information, but are no longer maintained (the last update seems to have been in July 1996). This means that quite a few issues of current interest to the groups are not fully addressed in those documents. This FAQ supplements, updates, and expands on the earlier ones, though it is not meant to replace them entirely. It includes new and corrected information on some of the old discussions, numerous entries on topics not covered in the older FAQs, and a broad discussion of the Tolkien newsgroups and common standards of netiquette. This FAQ is intended both as an introduction for newcomers to the newsgroups and as a source of information for anyone exploring Middle-earth. The official HTML version of the FAQ is on the web at http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/ The plain text version is posted to Usenet on the 22nd of each month and is also available on the web, at http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/TolkNgFaq.txt For a unified and easy to use interface to this FAQ, the Loos FAQs, and others, consider visiting the Tolkien Meta-FAQ, at http://tolkien.slimy.com/ I would like to give my sincere thanks to the many, many people on the newsgroups and elsewhere who have given criticism, suggestions, and encouragement as I wrote this FAQ. This project would never have succeeded without their wonderful support. Steuard Jensen steuard@slimy.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents Sections/questions marked: * have been revised since the last release ** are new since the last release I. Changes Since the Last Release * II. Newsgroups and Netiquette A. Information on the Tolkien Newsgroups 1. What newsgroups are we talking about again? 2. Why are there two groups? 3. Do I have to have a Ph.D. in Tolkienology to post? 4. What questions and topics are appropriate? 5. What does a tilde (~) in the subject mean? and Is it acceptable to post messages with sexual content? 6. What common mistakes should I try to avoid? 7. What do all the abbreviations used on the groups mean? B. The Basics of Netiquette 1. What is the proper subject line for my post? 2. What should I do when replying to an earlier article? For example, should I "top post" or "bottom post"? 3. When should I "cross-post" to multiple newsgroups? 4. I am able to post my messages with HTML formatting. Should I? 5. If someone insults me or otherwise makes me upset, should I flame them back? 6. Even if my reputation and honor are at stake? 7. Where can I go for more information on netiquette, and on Usenet in general? III. Debates and Discussion A. Story External Questions 1. What is the best order in which to read the books? 2. What books about Middle-earth are considered "canonical"? 3. How does /The Silmarillion/ as published differ from what Tolkien intended? 4. Which are "The Two Towers"? 5. Which books /about/ Tolkien are good, and which aren't? 6. Is Middle-earth Medieval? 7. Was Tolkien racist? Were his works? 8. Are there electronic versions of Tolkien's books? 9. Where can I report copyright violations that I observe? B. Story Internal Questions: Creatures and Characters 1. Did Balrogs have wings? 2. Could Balrogs fly? 3. What was Tom Bombadil? 4. Did Elves have pointed ears? 5. Did Elves have beards? 6. What happened to Elves after they died? 7. Was Glorfindel of Rivendell the same as Glorfindel of Gondolin? 8. Who was Gil-galad's father? 9. Did Dwarf women have beards? 10. Was there "telepathy" in Middle-earth? 11. Did Sauron have a physical form during /The Lord of the Rings/? * 12. What were the names of the Nazgul? 13. What was Gothmog (the lieutenant of Morgul)? 14. What was the origin of Orcs? 15. Were Orcs immortal, and what happened to them after death? 16. What was the relationship between Orcs and Goblins? 17. What was the origin of Saruman's Uruk-hai? 18. What was the origin of Trolls? 19. What were the giants (seen by Bilbo in /The Hobbit/)? C. Story Internal Questions: History and Happenings 1. Why didn't they just have an Eagle fly the Ring to Mt. Doom? 2. Were the barrow blades magical? In what way? 3. Why didn't the Nazgul take the Ring at Weathertop? 4. Who killed the Witch-king, Merry or Eowyn? 5. Did Frodo and the other mortals who passed over the Sea eventually die? 6. Did Sam follow Frodo into the West? 7. What is known about the Blue Wizards? 8. Who was aware that a Balrog lived in Moria? 9. Did Elves and Dwarves generally get along? 10. Where was the Ring when Numenor was destroyed? 11. Who was the oldest inhabitant of Middle-earth? IV. External Resources A. Where else can I find general information about Middle-earth? 1. The Tolkien Meta-FAQ 2. The Tolkien FAQ and LessFAQ 3. The "FAQ of the Rings" 4. The Letters FAQ 5. Google's Usenet archive B. Where can I learn more about Tolkien's languages? C. Stories of Middle-earth in many forms 1. What editions of Tolkien's books are best? 2. What audio versions of Tolkien's books are available? 3. What is the groups' view of the recent /Lord of the Rings/ movies? 4. Where can I find out about music related to Middle-earth? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. CHANGES SINCE THE LAST RELEASE Adjusted wording of question III.B.11 about Sauron's physical form to emphasize the relevance of the evidence to the period of LotR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ II. NEWSGROUPS AND NETIQUETTE When discussing Tolkien (or anything else) online, it is important to know at least a little about the "culture" of the discussion forum that you are participating in. The information in this section is intended to give an idea of "appropriate" behavior on the Tolkien Usenet newsgroups. To make our discussions as enjoyable as possible, every participant should try to be familiar with what follows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ II.A. INFORMATION ON THE TOLKIEN NEWSGROUPS 1. What newsgroups are we talking about again? There are several Usenet newsgroups specific to Tolkien and his works. However, the two most widely read and distributed of these are rec.arts.books.tolkien and alt.fan.tolkien, commonly abbreviated either r.a.b.t or RABT and a.f.t or AFT, respectively. The official rec.arts.books.tolkien charter can be found at http://tolkien.slimy.com/newsgroups/RABTcharter.txt Alt.fan.tolkien does not have a formal charter. ------- 2. Why are there two groups? Originally, AFT was the only Tolkien newsgroup on Usenet. RABT was created (when the approval vote passed on 26 Mar 1993) as a replacement for AFT which would be carried by a larger fraction of news servers. However, AFT was never removed, and both groups currently enjoy substantial readership. While only RABT has a formal charter (see question II.A.1 for reference), the two groups are virtually identical in intended content. Many participants see a tendency for RABT to be somewhat more "scholarly" in tone while AFT is a bit more "conversational", and some suggest that this distinction is useful and should be encouraged. Other participants draw less of a distinction between the two groups, and often believe that a difference in focus would be both undesirable and impossible to achieve. In practice, everyone decides for themselves how they want to treat the two groups, and most people generally don't complain one way or the other. ------- 3. Do I have to have a Ph.D. in Tolkienology to post? By no means! People with any amount of Tolkien "lore" are welcome to participate. It is advisable, however, to have read /The Hobbit/ and /The Lord of the Rings/ before spending much time here, as otherwise you run the risk of many, many spoilers for both books. When you do participate in discussions, just use whatever Tolkien knowledge you have: you can have great ideas regardless of how much you've read. Occasionally, others will cite sources (often obscure but just as often authoritative) that weaken or disprove your arguments. When this happens (as it does to every one of us), nobody will think less of you for not knowing the reference; treat it as a chance to learn something new about Middle-earth. ------- 4. What questions and topics are appropriate? Virtually any topic related (even distantly) to Tolkien and his works is fair game. If you post a purely "factual" question (like "How many Ringwraiths were there?"), it's a good idea to explain why you're asking: we periodically see questions from students who hope we will do their homework for them, and the last thing we want to do is help people to avoid reading the books! It is appreciated if articles that have absolutely nothing to do with Tolkien have subject lines beginning with "OT:" ("Off Topic"). The Tolkien newsgroups are a sufficiently social community that threads often do drift away from their initial topics, and while this should not be discouraged, it is polite to label it when it happens. On the other hand, off topic discussions that get too intense or go on too long can interfere with others' enjoyment of the groups, and should be avoided. Binary files, such as images or sounds, are NEVER appropriate in a non-binaries newsgroup. To share a binary file with people in the Tolkien groups, you have two main options. One is to find an appropriate newsgroup in the alt.binaries.* hierarchy, post the file there, and then post a message here telling us where to look. Another (more common) method is to put the file on the Web and post the URL on the newsgroups. ------- 5. What does a tilde (~) in the subject mean? and Is it acceptable to post messages with sexual content? Articles posted to these newsgroups occasionally contain comments that some consider inappropriate for younger readers. After much discussion, most participants agreed to mark messages with /sexual/ content with a tilde in the subject line. Individuals can then create killfiles to screen out such messages as desired. While not everyone agrees that such a system is beneficial, following this convention is the polite thing to do. The newsgroup charter recommends the use of ROT-13 "encryption" for this purpose, but this has become less common. ------- 6. What common mistakes should I try to avoid? By and large, the participants in the Tolkien newsgroups try to judge others based on their ideas rather than on details of grammar and posting style. However, there are a few types of simple mistakes that tend to cause some level of bias and annoyance among many group members, which in turn can distract them from your real message. Most of these are covered in the "Netiquette" section below. One common mistake of this type that is not related to netiquette is confusing the singular and plural forms of common Elvish words. On the Tolkien newsgroups, these words are so familiar that the phrase "Manwe is a Valar" sounds just as jarring and strange as "Finrod is an Elves." To reduce this problem, a list of some of the most commonly confused singular/plural pairs is given below. Note the patterns! Singular: Vala Maia Elda Noldo Teler Istar Adan Plural: Valar Maiar Eldar Noldor Teleri Istari Edain Another issue that arises periodically is whether or not /The Lord of the Rings/ should be referred to as a "trilogy". Tolkien said quite clearly in Letter #165 that "The book is /not/ of course a 'trilogy'", and some people make a point of correcting those who use the term. However, in Letter #252, Tolkien himself refers to "my trilogy", so most of us agree that using the term is an acceptable shorthand, if nothing else. ------- 7. What do all the abbreviations used on the groups mean? [More abbreviations can be found in section IV of the Tolkien FAQ.] Some names and phrases come up so frequently on the Tolkien newsgroups that they are often abbreviated for convenience. A few of the very most common are defined below; these definitions are excerpted from Sir Confused-a-Lot's old AFT Glossary, now online at http://silenceisdefeat.com/~aft-rabt/glossary/ JRRT: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien ME: Middle-earth LotR: /The Lord of the Rings/ FotR: /The Fellowship of the Ring/ TT: /The Two Towers/ RotK: /The Return of the King/ Silm.: /The Silmarillion/ UT: /Unfinished Tales/ HoMe: the "History of Middle-earth" series Letters: /The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien/ Narn: The "Narn I Hin Hurin" in UT Athrabeth: The "Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth" in /Morgoth's Ring/ NG: Newsgroup TEUNC: "Tolkien Eccentric Unusual Nut Cases", an eGroup of Tolkien fans, some of whom frequent the newsgroups LOL: Laughing Out Loud ROTFL: Rolling On The Floor Laughing ------------------------------------------------------------------------ II.B. THE BASICS OF NETIQUETTE 1. What is the proper subject line for my post? Make sure that the "Subject:" line of your post matches the topic that you are discussing. Be concise, but specific: subject lines such as "The Lord of the Rings" or "Tolkien" give no useful information about the contents of your post. Note that this does not only apply to the first post in a thread: if you see that the subject line no longer matches the topic of a thread, change it when you reply! Also, follow the "OT:" convention for off-topic posts (mentioned in question II.A.4 above). When you do change the subject line, it is polite to indicate the subject of the previous post. For example, "Balrog Wings" might become "Balrog Flight (was Balrog Wings)" and then "Eagles (was Balrog Flight)". This helps people follow the history of the thread. ------- 2. What should I do when replying to an earlier article? For example, should I "top post" or "bottom post"? First and foremost, make sure to retain the attribution of any quoted text, so others know who said the things you are replying to. Almost equally important, make sure that you trim the previous post as much as possible: * If you are replying to one specific comment in the previous article, delete all of the previous text except that comment. If the comment is at all long, try to trim it down to its essence. Type your reply directly beneath the quoted comment. * If you are replying to several distinct points individually, quote each one as above and type your reply immediately below it (and above the next point). * If you are replying to a long section that cannot be easily trimmed down (for example, an original poem or story), quote only its first and last lines (and perhaps put "[snip]" or "..." on a line in between the two). If there are particular pieces that you want to respond to individually, do so as described above. There are two general rules of thumb to follow in connection with the above guidelines: * Any article you post should have more lines of new text than lines of quoted text. It is generally acceptable to ignore this rule if the entire post (including basic headers and any signature) is short enough to fit on a single 24 line screen. * Any comments specifically replying to the previous article should come /below/ the relevant part of the previous article. This makes reading the article more like reading a conversation, and therefore much easier to follow. This obviously means that "top posting" is strongly discouraged: it forces readers to scroll up and down between the new and old material, and it usually involves quoting the entire previous post(s) untrimmed.. Whether you call our practice "bottom posting", "middle posting", or "standard netiquette" is up to you. An example of a post that follows these guidelines can be found on the web at http://tolkien.slimy.com/newsgroups/EssayDiscuss.txt This long message (from a discussion of my essay on Tom Bombadil) would be all but impossible to follow if the point by point replies were not organized as described above. Finally, make sure to keep the subject line up to date, as discussed in question II.B.1. ------- 3. When should I "cross-post" to multiple newsgroups? Generally, you should post an article to the single most appropriate group: a question about /The Hobbit/ is more appropriate on rec.arts.books.tolkien than on rec.arts.books. However, there are cases when several groups are appropriate: a discussion of the influence of Tolkien's faith on his writings could be interesting to readers of both soc.religion.christian.roman-catholic and rec.arts.books.tolkien. (Cases in which more than two or three groups are truly appropriate are extremely rare!) In such cases, it is almost always better to "cross-post" the article to multiple groups than to post separately to each. To do this, list all of the relevant groups together on the "Newsgroups:" line, separated by commas but /no/ spaces (many posts here list "Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien,rec.arts.books.tolkien"). Cross-posting has several advantages, the most important being that responses to a cross-posted article are also cross-posted. That ensures that everyone involved in the discussion sees every reply. Some internet service providers (notably AOL) misguidedly forbid cross-posting, probably because /inappropriate/ cross-posting is very bad netiquette and is often used to "spam" many groups at once. If you have this problem, it may be better to choose just one "best" group for your post than to post separate copies to multiple groups. ------- 4. I am able to post my messages with HTML formatting. Should I? Generally, no. Many of us use simple text-based programs to read news, and posts with HTML formatting can be very difficult to read. You can generally turn off this behavior from the "Preferences" or "Options" section of your newsreader. For some newsreaders, you will need to change more than one setting to completely eliminate this behavior. ------- 5. If someone insults me or otherwise makes me upset, should I flame them back? No. 6. Even if my reputation and honor are at stake? Feel free to post any corrections or differences in opinion that you feel are necessary. Feel free to indicate that you are hurt, unhappy, or insulted because of their comments. But by no means escalate the budding flame war, and try your hardest to be polite in your response: this tends to get the group's sentiments on your side far better than any exchange of name-calling ever could. People are usually fairly good at recognizing when someone is being terribly unfair. Yes, it is undoubtedly your right to flame if you want to, but the vast majority of the group would be happier if you did not. In general, try to give others the benefit of the doubt: with only text to go on, it's hard to judge their real intent. Could you have misread the insulting lines in their post? Could they have been speaking tongue in cheek? Maybe they only meant to tease you, not realizing that you would really be insulted. Assuming the worst is a depressing way to live one's life. Finally, be particularly careful not to reply to a "troll", someone who intentionally fishes for arguments and flames. These people seem to take great personal delight in inspiring people to anger or indignation; the best reaction to them is generally to ignore them altogether. ------- 7. Where can I go for more information on netiquette, and on Usenet in general? One of the best places to start has always been the newsgroup news.announce.newusers. This group is home to a wide range of articles that provide introductory information about many aspects of Usenet news. Unfortunately, most of these articles are no longer being posted regularly to the group. It may be more effective to read archived copies of them at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/ Read the "Welcome to Usenet!" article there first. The information on netiquette and on Usenet in general in the news.announce.newusers articles remains very relevant today, but those articles are several years old. More recent information on similar topics can be found at the web sites associated with the news.newusers.questions newsgroup. A list of these sites around the world can be found at http://users.rcn.com/kateshort/nnq/nnqlinks.html (among many other places). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ III. DEBATES AND DISCUSSION A great many questions about Tolkien and his books arise repeatedly on the Tolkien newsgroups. The starting point of each debate is the same almost every time, and it takes a long time for the discussion to reach "new ground." In the worst cases, bitter and longstanding arguments about the basics get in the way before new progress can be made at all. The purpose of a FAQ is to avoid this problem by setting down the basics in a common place so that the discussion can deal with new issues from the start. However, it is very difficult to balance the need for conciseness with the need for completeness: many debates that repeatedly appear on the Tolkien newsgroups have generated very large amounts of "known territory." Keep in mind that this FAQ provides only summaries of these debates: many of their subtleties are omitted for the sake of brevity. Most of these topics have been discussed at length by many intelligent In these cases, it is extremely unlikely that any unambiguous "proof" of one position exists. With this in mind, try to be respectful toward those who disagree with you. To get more information on the usual content of common discussions, it is often helpful to browse those discussions themselves at the Google Groups Usenet archive (see question IV.A.5 for more information). Finally, be sure to read question III.A.2, dealing with "canonical" texts. This FAQ addresses only the state of Middle-earth after LotR was written, which corresponds roughly to the material included in the published /Silmarillion/. Details from earlier versions of the mythology will not be discussed in this document (and are generally given very limited weight in debates about the later state of the mythology). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ III.A. STORY EXTERNAL QUESTIONS 1. What is the best order in which to read the books? This depends on each person's personal preferences. Unless you strongly dislike stories written for children, most recommend reading /The Hobbit/ first. /The Lord of the Rings/ is certainly next (feel free to skip the Prologue if you find it dull, and after the main text try to read at least Appendix A.I.v, "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"). If you enjoy any part of the Appendices to LotR, there are things in Tolkien's other books that you are likely to enjoy as well. Most suggest reading /The Children of Hurin/, /Unfinished Tales/, /The Silmarillion/, and /The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien/ next, in some order (perhaps that one). /The Children of Hurin/ is the only complete novel about Middle-earth published after Tolkien's death (although it takes place long before the events of LotR, it probably isn't necessary to read Silm. first). The stories and essays in UT can be read in any order, so the "Third Age" material is a good starting point for those coming straight from LotR (the "First Age" stories are excellent, but are easier to follow after reading Silm.; the other parts of UT are mostly accessible to those who have read LotR and its appendices). Many people find the early parts of Silm. slow to read (like a history book or the Bible), but it is often a favorite among those who have read it. /Letters/ contains insights into both Middle-earth and Tolkien as a person. For more details (and more books), try getting a personalized recommendation from the Custom Tolkien Book List, on the web at http://tolkien.slimy.com/books.html (This URL redirects to the longer and messier URL of the actual list.) ------- 2. What books about Middle-earth are considered "canonical"? [I have written an essay on this topic, including general observations and my own approach. It is on the web at: http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TolkParish.html.] As the term is used on the Tolkien newsgroups, a "canonical" text is one which is believed to provide authoritative information about Middle-earth. This concept is more subtle than it may appear at first glance, in part because most of Tolkien's mythology remained incomplete when he died. Books or even individual chapters or essays may be regarded as more or less "trustworthy" than others, and many people reject the idea that there is a single "true" Middle-earth entirely. Among those who accept the concept of "canon" to at least some degree, almost all agree that /The Lord of the Rings/ is a canonical text and most assign equal or near equal weight to /The Hobbit/ (the other books about Middle-earth published in Tolkien's lifetime are treated similarly). However, due to heavy and unmarked posthumous editing, /The Silmarillion/ is considered by many /not/ to be canonical (see question III.A.3 for details). People put various amounts of trust in the many drafts and essays in /Unfinished Tales/ and the "History of Middle-earth" series. In cases where Tolkien's intent seems particularly stable and clear, some trust these sources almost as much as /The Hobbit/ and LotR themselves. In practice, this means that most of the more trustworthy material is found in /Unfinished Tales/ and in volumes X-XII of the HoMe series. Opinions on how much to trust /The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien/ are mixed, but its contents are generally respected as long as they are not contradicted by other (more canonical) texts. The pictures in /J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator/ by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull may also be considered somewhat canonical. It is important to note that many aspects of Middle-earth changed substantially over the course of Tolkien's life. Because of this, facts taken from the early versions of the mythology can be misleading or just plain wrong when used to draw conclusions about LotR or later versions of the mythology. This means that while the early versions can provide valuable hints about Tolkien's thoughts on an issue, they are rarely considered to provide definitive evidence for any position. The Custom Tolkien Book List (mentioned in question III.A.1) includes my own perspective on the "canonicity" of each section of each book in the list. While those are just one person's opinions, they are fairly typical. A static version of the list in publication order can be found on the web at http://tolkien.slimy.com/publist.html That static list still contains a link to the customizable version. ------- 3. How does /The Silmarillion/ as published differ from what Tolkien intended? This is a complicated question that is essentially unanswerable: despite his lifelong effort, Tolkien never came close to completing /The Silmarillion/. At Tolkien's request, after his death his son Christopher (with some help from Guy Kay) worked to "bring the work into publishable form"; Christopher discusses the difficulties involved in the book's Foreword. To understand why /The Silmarillion/ took the form that it did (and why it is rarely considered "canonical", as mentioned in question III.A.2), it is worth exploring those editorial changes. The full story can be found in the "History of Middle-earth" books, particularly /Morgoth's Ring/ and /The War of the Jewels/ (volumes X-XI). The most basic editorial decision was which writings to include in the book at all. The "Quenta Silmarillion" is of course the central text, but Tolkien also wrote numerous associated stories and essays. Charles Noad explored this question as part of his essay "On the Construction of 'The Silmarillion'" (published in /Tolkien's Legendarium/; see question III.A.5), where he suggests an "outline for 'The Silmarillion' as Tolkien may have intended it". In addition to the texts in the published book, Noad includes expanded versions of four stories: "The Lay of Leithian" (possibly in poetic form), "Narn i Chin Hurin", "The Fall of Gondolin", and "Earendil the Wanderer" (which Tolkien never even fully sketched). He also includes five "Appendices": writings about Middle-earth and its inhabitants such as "Laws and Customs among the Eldar" and the "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" (most of these were published in HoMe X-XI). Sadly, a book with this outline could never be made satisfying with just the texts that Tolkien left us. Moving on to the texts that were actually included in /The Silmarillion/ as published, there were three types of problems to overcome. In the worst cases, there were crucial gaps in the narrative where Tolkien had never written more than an outline of the story (or where the most recent version was hopelessly outdated). Much more frequently, Tolkien's years of revisions led to factual inconsistencies between stories written at various times (especially between writings before and after /The Lord of the Rings/). And finally, Tolkien's writings differed markedly in tone, ranging from vivid narratives to terse annals to philosophical essays. To assemble a single text, consistent in style and detail, from such a range of source material clearly required substantial editing. Despite that pessimistic assessment, the vast majority of the published /Silmarillion/ is taken directly from Tolkien's work and seems to come quite close to what he intended, as far as it goes. (None of the "expanded" tales were ever completed, but what exists of them can be found for the most part in /Unfinished Tales/, /The Lays of Beleriand/, and the other "History of Middle-earth" books mentioned above.) Still, mild editing is not uncommon, and can be difficult to identify even by comparison to the source texts as published in HoMe. Thus, /The Silmarillion/ is often not treated as a final authority in scholarly discussions of Middle-earth. (A classic example is its mistaken ancestry of Gil-galad, as discussed in question III.B.8.) The greatest concern, of course, comes from those few cases where large gaps had to be filled by the editors. This happened to some extent for "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" and "Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath", but the most substantial editorial "invention" came in the chapter "Of the Ruin of Doriath". The episode was of crucial importance and thus could not be left out or glossed over, but Tolkien had written almost no description of the event since

Posting-Frequency: Monthly (FAQ also posted monthly) Welcome to the Tolkien newsgroups! Our FAQs can be found at: http://tolkien.slimy.com/ Even if you haven't read all of /The Hobbit/ and /The Lord of the Rings/, you are welcome here, but be careful! Spoilers for the stories can be anywhere, even in the subject line of a message. To help you join our community as comfortably as possible, we do ask that you read our Frequently Asked Questions lists before posting. The FAQs discuss proper "netiquette" for participating in discussions here, and also introduce the basics of our most frequent debates (the main Meta-FAQ page lists the most "important" questions in bold). Once again, welcome! We look forward to your participation.

I watched the first of the Hobbit films, and after that, didn't bother to watch the other two. Simply not interesting. The paper version of "The Hobbit" that I have as an interesting typo. It says "This is a better adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it." Sort of changes the meaning by a lot...

On Tue, 05 Jan 2021 09:24:04 -0800, Paul S Person wrote: >Particularly considering the minor detail that /TH/ was written for >children. Something PJ didn't so much ignore as not even notice. Opinions obviously vary greatly. I thought PJ had added too much comedy in his attempt to make his TH more a trilogy for children and to make it less dark than LoTR. In particular the scenes in the Goblin caves including the homage to Indian Jones, and the Dwarves riding goats.