Misc. Questions

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

#1 Why do I think Beren to be a dummy? If he wanted all three of the Silmarils, he should've just taken the iron crown of Morgoth & back to Menegroth.

#2 the Silmaril says that after Finrod was slain, he was able to walk with Finarfin, his father again. Does this mean his soul was rehoused like Glorfindel?

#3 Did the house of Fingolfin & Finarfin (except Galadriel) swore the oath of Feanor?

#4 The passage below gives me the impression that the children of Finarfin were skilled in magic & enchantment.

By the arts of Felegund their own forms & faces were changed into the likeness of Orcs;

The Silmarillion - Of Beren & Luthien

#5 If Huan had lived during the time of Sauron, would he be able to win against him with his ring on?

This was exactly what Luthien did when she disguised Beren & Huan. So did the children of Finarfin come near in magic?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

#2 the Silmaril says that after Finrod was slain, he was able to walk with Finarfin, his father again. Does this mean his soul was rehoused like Glorfindel?

Yes. This was not a unique occurrence is Glorfindel's case. Many Elves were rehoused in Valinor. The uniqueness is that he returned to Middle-earth. Any Elves who had lived a good life were entitled to be rehoused, and it is clear that Finrod was one of the best and noblest of the Noldor. If Glorfindel was entitled to be rehoused, so was he.

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

#3 Did the house of Fingolfin & Finarfin (except Galadriel) swore the oath of Feanor?

No. Only Feanor and his seven sons swore the Oath. Hence, only they were bound by it. However, ALL the Noldor who went to Middle-Earth (incl. Galadriel) were under the Curse of Mandos, which is a seperate, though related, matter.

As for the other questions, they are not so straightforward, so I'll either hold back on answering, or give myself time to ferment some answers.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Yes. This was not a unique occurrence is Glorfindel's case. Many Elves were rehoused in Valinor. The uniqueness is that he returned to Middle-earth. Any Elves who had lived a good life were entitled to be rehoused, and it is clear that Finrod was one of the best and noblest of the Noldor. If Glorfindel was entitled to be rehoused, so was he.

If an elf is rehoused, he won't be as mighty as he/she was before, correct?

[Lord Melkor]

Hmmm, as far as I know an Elf will not lose power when he is rehoused. After all, death is not something an elf is supposed to experience, though the Marring of Arda and Morgoth evil works are responsible for the death of many Elves and the fading of their hroa. Therefore I believe that Elves will stay as strong as they were when they get rehoused and will not lose power, like Sauron did when he had to fashion a body for himself. Hmmm, come to think of it, it is debatable actually whether the act of creating a body costs any power, though the shape of the hroa and the time it takes to create are definitely correlated with the power someone possesses (Melkor and Sauron losing the ability to take fair form and the time Sauron took to create a new body after the fall of Barad-dur are good examples).

As for your other questions that haven't been answered yet:

#1 Why do I think Beren to be a dummy? If he wanted all three of the Silmarils, he should've just taken the iron crown of Morgoth & back to Menegroth.

Well, Morgoth was a big lad and I reckon that Iron Crown would've been quite a burden. Besides, Fate decreed that Luthien and Beren could only take one Silmaril (which is why the blade broke after Beren attempted to get another one)


#4 The passage below gives me the impression that the children of Finarfin were skilled in magic & enchantment.
Quote:
By the arts of Felegund their own forms & faces were changed into the likeness of Orcs;

The Silmarillion - Of Beren & Luthien

Maybe Finrod was a very good make-up artist?

#5 If Huan had lived during the time of Sauron, would he be able to win against him with his ring on?

Good question that one, really. My own bet would be no, unless Sauron decides to try his hand at another fight with Huan like the first one.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

#1 Why do I think Beren to be a dummy? If he wanted all three of the Silmarils, he should've just taken the iron crown of Morgoth & back to Menegroth.

#2 the Silmaril says that after Finrod was slain, he was able to walk with Finarfin, his father again. Does this mean his soul was rehoused like Glorfindel?

#3 Did the house of Fingolfin & Finarfin (except Galadriel) swore the oath of Feanor?

#4 The passage below gives me the impression that the children of Finarfin were skilled in magic & enchantment.

By the arts of Felegund their own forms & faces were changed into the likeness of Orcs;

The Silmarillion - Of Beren & Luthien

#5 If Huan had lived during the time of Sauron, would he be able to win against him with his ring on?

This was exactly what Luthien did when she disguised Beren & Huan. So did the children of Finarfin come near in magic?

Hopefully other will asnwer my ever growing misc. questions. I've got a new one. Now after the War of Wrath, the xiles were allowed to return not to Valinor but in Avallone (Tol Eressea). What about for the remaining great Eldar? Surely they would not band Galadriel to dwell in Aman (Valimar) to let her be content with an isle (Eressea) in sight of Valinor? After all she was deemed greatest among the Eldar & had the power to intercede for Frodo & Gimli.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

If an elf is rehoused, he won't be as mighty as he/she was before, correct?

Actually, no. Rehousing STRENGTHENS an elf, not weakens him.

In the case of Glorfindel, the reason for his great power in both the regular world and the spirit realm was due not only to being a Noldo of Valinor, but also due to his rehousing.

In the texts dealing with Elven reincarnation, Tolkien says that the reincarnated Elf is even more unlikely to be killed than a never-killed Elf, having a body even better suited to withstand turmoil, and having a greater "spiritual" presence. I believe that he also says that there are few or no known cases of reincarnated Elves being killed.

That said, a reincarnated Elf is the original Elf, in a near-identical, but pretty much perfect, copy of his (going with the male pronoun out of habit) previous self- and contains all the memories and skills that he had before. There is no reason to assume that the reincarnated Elf is any weaker.

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Actually, no. Rehousing STRENGTHENS an elf, not weakens him.

In the case of Glorfindel, the reason for his great power in both the regular world and the spirit realm was due not only to being a Noldo of Valinor, but also due to his rehousing.

In the texts dealing with Elven reincarnation, Tolkien says that the reincarnated Elf is even more unlikely to be killed than a never-killed Elf, having a body even better suited to withstand turmoil, and having a greater "spiritual" presence. I believe that he also says that there are few or no known cases of reincarnated Elves being killed.

That said, a reincarnated Elf is the original Elf, in a near-identical, but pretty much perfect, copy of his (going with the male pronoun out of habit) previous self- and contains all the memories and skills that he had before. There is no reason to assume that the reincarnated Elf is any weaker.

The Glorfindel of the 1st age was able to fight with a Balrog (a freakin Maia) but in the 3rd age, not much of that potency is felt. He's lingering in Rivendell. So you're saying that a re-embodied elf is better than the great survivors such as Cirdan & Galadriel? 'Coz from what I get is that even these two have strong spiritual presences.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

The Glorfindel of the 1st age was able to fight with a Balrog (a freakin Maia) but in the 3rd age, not much of that potency is felt. He's lingering in Rivendell. So you're saying that a re-embodied elf is better than the great survivors such as Cirdan & Galadriel? 'Coz from what I get is that even these two have strong spiritual presences.

Okay...

I am only going with what Tolkien wrote...

But remember that Cirdan and Galadriel were VERY important Elves- very potent Elves. Glorfindel, while powerful, is no Cirdan or Galadriel.

Perhaps I ought to have merely said that reincarnating an Elf merely doesn't WEAKEN him, and left it at that. However, the textual evidence left by Tolkien DOES suggest that a reincarnated Elf is stronger than his previous self.

However, if Glorfindel was $25 before his death, multiplying him to $50 doesn't make him worth more than the $60 Cirdan was to begin with, or the $65 Galadriel was...

NOTE: These are random numbers, being used as an example, and are not intended to be any sort of in-depth comparison of the relative powers of the great Eldar.

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

The Glorfindel of the 1st age was able to fight with a Balrog (a freakin Maia) but in the 3rd age, not much of that potency is felt. He's lingering in Rivendell.

Glorfindel is not merely 'lingering' in Rivendell, he was sent back to aid Elrond and the others against Sauron. Wasn't he involved in the war against Angmar, and he was one of the few left who had power enough to withstand the nine ringwraiths, and Gandalf describes him as a very powerful elf-lord to Frodo and during the Council of Elrond. He may not have had the power of Galadriel or the wisdom of Cirdan but there are definite pointers and allusions to the power of Glorfindel.

[Elianna]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

#1 Why do I think Beren to be a dummy? If he wanted all three of the Silmarils, he should've just taken the iron crown of Morgoth & back to Menegroth.

Tolkien addressed this in the text. 1) Angrist broke, and 2) when Angrist broke, a spark landed on Morgoth and he was about to wake up. And add to that that those Silmarilli were probably pretty heavy on the Black-Enemy's head, and he would have noticed if Beren took all that weight off.

The rest of the questions I cannot answer, since I've just finished Silm for my first time.

[daeron]

4 The passage below gives me the impression that the children of Finarfin were skilled in magic & enchantment.

Galadriel tells Sam there is no magic as the hobbits (or we) call it. Its only the arts which are not understood by the lesser folk that makes it seem like magic. May be it was Finrod's skill in disguises which Tolkien was refering to as 'arts'. It makes one wonder though whether there really was magic (as we see it) in Tolkien's works or is it just 'arts' misunderstood.