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05-21-2007, 05:59 AM | #1 |
Pittodrie Poltergeist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: trying to find that warm and winding lane again
Posts: 633
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"Weel done, Cutty-sark!" -Mithril, Moria and Valinorean ship-building
Bit of a random title I know but watching the poor Cutty Sark burn down didn't just remind me of the time in 1997 when I went hilariously missing for three hours and was eventually picked up by the police when my family and I went out to see the last tea-clipper when she visited Aberdeen.
Not a nice memory, but anyhow it, also a bit randomly having recently rearead Bilbo's song in Rivendell, made me wonder how they managed to build Earendil's boat out of Mithril in Valinor, when according to Gandalf, Moria was the only place in the world where Mithril was found. How did they find the rare metal? It seems unlikely that there was trade between Khazad-dum and Valinor and I doubt Earendil himself took enough to rebuild his ship. Was it artistic license on Bilbo's part?
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As Beren looked into her eyes within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies he saw there mirrored shimmering. Last edited by hewhoarisesinmight; 05-21-2007 at 06:13 AM. |
05-21-2007, 07:38 AM | #2 |
Woman of Secret Shadow
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells
Posts: 4,511
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Is Valinor included in the word "world", or does "the world" only mean the lands east of the Sea?
I doubt Aulë would have stored such a metal as mithril only in one place in Eä, so it's possible that it was found also in Valinor.
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05-21-2007, 09:33 AM | #3 | |
Guard of the Citadel
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxon
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No, clearly it is implied in the world at that time.
We know that mithril was also found in Númenor: Quote:
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05-21-2007, 10:15 AM | #4 |
Relic of Wandering Days
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: You'll See Perpetual Change.
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Looking at Wikipedia, they mention that there are indications that Mithril was present in both Numenor and Aman in smaller quantities than in Moria. I wish that the reference would have been noted in the article, as I'm wondering if it was deduced by the building of a certain aforementioned ship.
Another interesting tidbit was that Moria might have been the only soure in the Third Age, which agrees nicely with The Might's thoughts. Wikipedia's article on Mithril |
05-21-2007, 10:47 AM | #5 | |
Dead Serious
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If memory serves, there's a footnote somewhere in Unfinished Tales that provides the basis for the speculation about mithril being found in Valinor and Númenor.
However, I'd like to address the Might: Quote:
In Tolkien's earlier writings, especially, "the world" quite often does NOT inclusively refer to Valinor. This was particularly the case in the The Book of Lost Tales, when the conception of the Straight Road and the the Round World after the Akallabêth had not yet been conceived. Tolkien several times refers to "the world" as "everywhere but Aman"--or what afterwards came to be named Aman. I'm not sure how prevalent this usage of "the world" becomes after the Book of Lost Tales, but I think it would be unwise to write off the possibility of Aman having mithril simply on the basis of it having been "in the world".
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05-21-2007, 11:21 AM | #6 |
Pilgrim Soul
Join Date: May 2004
Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle...
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Just a couple of points:
Also Gandalf was talking mainly to the hobbits and the world for them was effectively Middle Earth.
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05-21-2007, 08:01 PM | #7 | ||
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 274
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Quote:
Quote:
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He looked down at her in the twilight and it seemed to him that the lines of grief and cruel hardship were smoothed away. "She was not conquered," he said Last edited by Morwen; 05-21-2007 at 08:05 PM. |
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05-21-2007, 08:11 PM | #8 |
Dead Serious
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One wonders if Aragorn would have allowed Bilbo to take much artistic license. Remember his words, reported by Bilbo to Frodo later--about having "cheek" to write verses about Eärendil in the house of Elrond?
Which isn't to say that Bilbo didn't....
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05-21-2007, 08:26 PM | #9 | |
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 274
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Quote:
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He looked down at her in the twilight and it seemed to him that the lines of grief and cruel hardship were smoothed away. "She was not conquered," he said |
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