Is it possible: 1 Silmaril found: The Arkenstone

[Eönwë]

I was wondering, is the Arkenstone the Silmaril that fell into the Earth? After the mountains shifted and Beleriand went, did a Silmaril come up in the heart of a mountain, encased in stone, only to be carved back by a dwarf? This would explain everything. I'm not sure about dates and if this theory works (because the War of Wrath was before the Silmarils were recovered, though only just, I think). Does anyone know the answer?

[Hookbill the Goomba]

A quick search of the forum is always advisable. But we all do it from time to time:

An old discussion on the Arkenstone.

There are others out there, of course, but this is my favorite.

[Eönwë]

You obvioulsy have better searching powers than me. I thought I had searched well, but oviously not well enough.

And I didn't just make this thread because of my pseudonym, though its quite a nice coincidence (trying to look for what I lost, eh?)

[William Cloud Hicklin]

A good discussion. I think that the Arkenstone was somewhat informed by the pre-existing description of the Silmarils, as much of The Hobbit's geography resembles but isn't quite that of Beleriand: it's especially worth noting that in Tolkien's Anglo-Saxon translations of the Annals he uses the OE word 'eorclanstanas' to translate 'Silmarils.' But the word literally means nothing more than 'precious or sacred stones.'

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

"somewhat informed" I like that. There are so many things from the unpublished Silmarillion that crept into the published Hobbit and LotR that one cannot help but think that Tolkien had despaired of TS ever being published and didn't want all that hard work and creativity to go to waste. The Arkenstone would look to be one. If it were an actual silmaril, though, I would wonder how Smaug, a creature of evil, would manage to keep it around without being either burned or driven mad by it.

[skip spence]

Nope, I don't think so.

To begin with the Lonely Mountain must've been very far from the place where Maedros threw the silmaril down a firery pit. I find it highly unlikely that it would have travelled under the crust of the earth to be refound countless leagues east of where it was originally lost.

[ianintheuk]

Let's kill this once and for all the answer is NO !!!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by ianintheuk

Let's kill this once and for all the answer is NO !!!

Thank goodness you didn't reply earlier. We wouldn't have had this interesting discussion with such an emphatic reply.

Now, since you are inclined to imperatives, did Balrogs have wings, or did they not? We need to settle this once and for all.

[Stoatly Grimes]

Morthoron

Interesting.

I was actually referring to the "evidence" presented here:
http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/theories/bombadil.htm

As I said previously, it is totally tongue-in-cheek; I mentioned it because I think the Arkenstone-Silmaril theory is just as ridiculous.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Stoatly Grimes

Morthoron

Interesting.

I was actually referring to the "evidence" presented here:
http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/theories/bombadil.htm

As I said previously, it is totally tongue-in-cheek; I mentioned it because I think the Arkenstone-Silmaril theory is just as ridiculous.

Stoat:

Realizing you were being tongue-in-cheek, I thought I'd be mildly impertinent in return. Anyway, it is quite hilarious the fellow @ flyingmoose.org came up with many of the same points that I did (although I thought my references to Väinämöinen and Þráinn gave my piece an almost scholarly flare ).

Ah well, you know what they say: great mimes wink alike.

[Hot, crispy nice hobbit]

It was said in Silmarillion that:

And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.

Seemed somewhat intuitive that the Silmaril in the volcano should still be in the molten core of the Earth instead of being dug up and chiseled into some twopenny worth of heirloom...

[Stoatly Grimes]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

(although I thought my references to Väinämöinen and Þráinn gave my piece an almost scholarly flare ).

It certainly did give you a scholarly flare, my learned friend.