Password

[Galadriel55]

Is it possible the answer is simply Thorondor?

[Huinesoron]

It is not Thorondor. The bird in the clue is bigger than he.

1. - A large bird in Tumladen.
2. - He left them! What kind of deal is that?
3. - The blackness around Maeglin (but not on his face).
4. - Ah, no, 'e's a cat swung by a king.

Password hint: From one bay to the other, a flying orc's sparkling song.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Bigger than the greatest of the Eagles.

Hmmmmmm.

[Nerwen]

Roc? Actually referring to the Caragdûr?

[Huinesoron]

I'm going to give you that, because it's actually even simpler: the answer is simply ROCK, as in Gondolin, 'The Hidden Rock'.

1. ROCK - A large bird in Tumladen.
2. - He left them! What kind of deal is that?
3. - The blackness around Maeglin (but not on his face).
4. - Ah, no, 'e's a cat swung by a king.

Password hint: From one bay to the other, a flying orc's sparkling song.

No theme.

Three to go!

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Maybe Roac for the password, then? He flies and has 'orc' in his name.

[Huinesoron]

Roac is not the password, and to be honest I wouldn't even try to find it yet.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Is 3 just Nan Elmoth?

[Huinesoron]

I'm afraid that's rather too early.

hS

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I'm afraid that's rather too early.

hS

???

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

???

Nan Elmoth is too early in Maeglin's life to be the answer to #3.

And some vague hints for the others:

#2 asks a question.

#4 spells out the answer.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I'm afraid that's rather too early.

hS

There was darkness within Maeglin, and his mother-name was LOMION, 'child of twilight.'

[Huinesoron]

Within? Who said anything about within? I distinctly remember writing around.

(Not the answer.)

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Sorry for trying.

Dor Daedaloth. Final offer.

[Nerwen]

The answer is obvious: HAIR. Maeglin's was black, and presumably located "around" him, while his face lacked it since he was an Elf.

Am I right or am I right?

(Actually I sort of hope I'm not right. There is a dangerous edge to Pervinca's last post...)

[Huinesoron]

I can't imagine why you'd be sorry for trying? I was trying to offer a hint with 'who said anything about within'; sorry if it came across otherwise.

Not Dor Daedaloth. If you're willing to make another offer, think about what sort of blackness Maeglin surrounded himself with later in his life - and think about why I would specify that this word didn't refer to something on his face.

hS

PS: No, it's not hair, but very cunning.

[Pervinca Took]

I guess his Goth phase is off limits, then, and it doesn't refer to his thick black eyeliner days.

[Pervinca Took]

Maeglin mined metals and led the House of the Mole, who wore black armour. I couldn't find any mention of visors.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

Maeglin mined metals and led the House of the Mole, who wore black armour. I couldn't find any mention of visors.

You have said the answer in there! Now all you need to do is figure out which bit it was... ^_^ Is there anything that could appear on (not 'in front of') his face...?

hS

[Pervinca Took]

The House of the Mole, perhaps, because he surrounded himself with them.

Oh, a pun on a mole that you can get on your face?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

The House of the Mole, perhaps, because he surrounded himself with them.

Oh, a pun on a mole that you can get on your face?

That's the one! Well done.

1. ROCK - A large bird in Tumladen.
2. - He left them! What kind of deal is that?
3. MOLE - The blackness around Maeglin (but not on his face).
4. - Ah, no, 'e's a cat swung by a king.

Password hint: From one bay to the other, a flying orc's sparkling song.

Theme: [None].

Tolkien's heraldic designs/writings also point out that the House of the Mole's emblem was a plain black field - which, given that it's identical to Morgoth's device, should probably have been a bit of a hint that something wasn't right.

Two to go! One is from the Third Age, the other from before the rising of the Sun.

hS

(Pervinca, I get the impression you have the same relationship to my bad puns as I do to all the anagrams we get on here, that sort of 'arg why do you torture my brain so' reaction...)

[Pervinca Took]

Oh no, anagrams turn my brain to spaghetti, too. It's not so much a case of not knowing words; my brain just isn't very good at reassembling letters.

I like puns. Especially bad ones.

I now have earworms from the musical 'Hair,' thanks to Nerwen's inspired answer.

Do you remember 'Roger's Night Scene' from the 'characters' illustrations' for the Arthur Ransome books? That was exactly the same as those 'two' emblems, too.

[Pervinca Took]

2. Pretty sure this is wrong. But if 'kind of' could mean an anagram, so dale, with he as Eru and the Ainur as them - the Ainulindale ....

[Huinesoron]

I'm afraid not, creative though that is. It's a lot simpler - all you need to do is answer the question...

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Something to do with the burning of the boats and Feanor leaving his kindred? Not sure if Arien had been sent skywards with a fruit of Laurelin at that point.

[Huinesoron]

Good thought, but not that.

It was kind of their choice that he left them.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Well, Melkor is the obvious choice for leaving them (the Ainur) ... although Ulmo leaves them (the Ainur) in a sense, just not in terms of abandonment. But a deal?

You're not expecting us to imagine Melkor saying 'No deal' to Eru in a cringey Noel Edmonds voice, are you?

Either that or a reference to Feanor refusing to eat his sprouts. ('He left them.')

[Huinesoron]

Ever noticed how people's guesses at answers can be so much better than the actual answer?

Sadly, no. The leaving is somewhere between the two events you've listed... which I guess isn't saying much, since they're pretty much the top and tail of the sunless years!

We're looking for 'left them behind', specifically, and the question in the clue points directly at the precise answer.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Is it the deal between Aule and Eru about the dwarves? Left them? Maybe ... left them behind with Eru?

[Nerwen]

*sigh*

I am forced to the conclusion that the answer is OROMË, leaving the Teleri behind on the Great Journey from Cuiviénen. It's Araw deal, geddit?

[Pervinca Took]

Oh! That sounds right. Very clever.

I did think of the Great Journey, but couldn't remember the Vala involved.

[Nerwen]

Or actually- looking at how Huey's phrased the hints, ARAW might be the answer. Same chap, anyway.

[Huinesoron]

1. ROCK - A large bird in Tumladen.
2. ARAW - He left them! What kind of deal is that?
3. MOLE - The blackness around Maeglin (but not on his face).
4. - Ah, no, 'e's a cat swung by a king.

Password hint: From one bay to the other, a flying orc's sparkling song.

Theme: [None].

Indeed, it was Araw deal. ^_^ (I was actually thinking of him leaving the Avari completely, but the Teleri work too.)

One to go! It's in the early Third Age, and is not an English word.

hS

[Huinesoron]

A hint, then... I didn't actually know this word prior to writing this Password. It's one of the few things retained by someone who lost everything. And I've pretty much spelt out the answer.

hS

[Pervinca Took]

Oh ... is it *swung by* a king because it's a sword?

[Huinesoron]

It is!

[Pervinca Took]

There are various elvish words for sword, but to find one with a bit that goes miaow?

Macil and megil don't work.

Ekit sort of has 'e' plus 'kit' ....

The sword retained when almost all other heirlooms were lost was Narsil, a king's sword, but that's too well-known for you to have only just come across it.

Unless 'cat' here is the 60's slang word for people, as used by Tim Benzedrine.

[Huinesoron]

The actual Sindarin word is 'eket', which is the type of sword Isildur had, and which I believe he kept hold of (despite losing other items, eg a certain ring). 'Eket' is 'A cat', with the As replaced by Es - 'Ah, no, 'e'... I did say I spelt it out for you. (You might quibble over c and k being the same letter, but this is Elvish; they actually are!)

Which gives us not only the final clue, but the password as well:

1. ROCK - A large bird in Tumladen.
2. ARAW - He left them! What kind of deal is that?
3. MOLE - The blackness around Maeglin (but not on his face).
4. EKET - Ah, no, 'e's a cat swung by a king.

Password hint: From one bay to the other, a flying orc's sparkling song.

Password: Rámë (Quenya, 'Wing') , ÓROK (Root, 'Goblin', Etym.), Cálë (Quenya, 'Light'), KWET- (Root, 'Speech', Etym.)

Theme: [None].

Ta-da! A full square password for your entertainment. (All right, it doesn't have diagonals - unless 'Rrlt' and 'Eoak' are Orkish names or something - but still!) Generated by my spreadsheet, which is very good at stuffing Elvish roots into place, but much less good at finding words I can actually clue for.

And with that, over to you, Pervinca!

hS

PS: ... was that a Bored of the Rings reference you snuck in there?

[Pervinca Took]

If you pull another stunt like 'Ah, no, e's a cat,' you'll get Rankin Bass ROTK, never mind Tim Benzedrine. (Although personally I prefer it to Jackson's version. At least it's entertaining).

That was quite ingenious. But how did you gather all those words and feed them into your spreadsheet?

I have three and a half new password puzzles ready. Just need to recharge/plug in the laptop.

[Huinesoron]

Heard and witnessed.

I actually pulled the entire page list from Tolkien Gateway, then filtered it for word length. They seem to have an article for every Primitive Quendian root, which make up the bulk of the list (though there's Khuzdul in there too); I've also ended up with surnames and first names of various people mentioned on there. I know 'John' showed up, and I think I remember 'Anke' (Eissman, the artist). So it does involve a certain amount of common-sense; this is the first decent square I've had over a couple of dozen runs.

(Unfortunately, removing the roots makes it impossible... I've tried using the Encyclopedia of Arda's page-list, and there's only one valid square:

ROSE
OXEN
SEAT
ANTS

You see, it's different! Because Ents vs Ants! Yeah, good try, computermobile, but no.)

hS