Q: Was there any reason that Tom Bombadil never left his "borders?" Was this just self-imposed or did something else happen? And also, did Goldberry ever leave?

–Tim Snider

A: This is largely speculation on my part, as are most lines of thought about Tom and Goldberry. I do think that Tom not leaving his borders was a self-imposed restriction, but that doesn't mean that something didn't happen to make him decide to do that. Perhaps an event in the history of Middle-earth, perhaps a fear that he would abuse his power--who can say? However, I think it's safe to say that as long as Tom did not leave, Goldberry did not either.

–Anwyn

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Q: You know how in one publication Christopher Tolkien makes reference to significant but short statement that was written by his father about Gandalf being an angel (Maia) and that he could maybe even have been a last presence of Manwë before he withdrew to Taniquetil? Have you found any other reference to that?

–Ralph Brew

A: The reference to Gandalf as an appearance of Manwë is found in the section on The Istari in Unfinished Tales. The dating of the note is apparently sometime in the 1950s. As the note explains, Gandalf's self-identification as "Olórin" would be, in this case, an alias or byname. But the later revision of the Valaquenta published in The Silmarillion makes it clear that Olórin is a separate being from Manwë.

The note refers to the Dagor Dagorath, a Ragnarok-like final battle at the end of Arda prophesied by Mandos at the end of the pre-Lord of the Rings "Quenta Silmarillion" (found in Volume V of The History of Middle-earth, "The Lost Road"). This "Second Prophecy of Mandos" was not included as part of the published Silmarillion, because it was later rejected as a "myth of Númenórean origin." A full discussion of Tolkien's changing ideas concerning the nature of Arda cannot fit here, of course. The book "Morgoth's Ring" (Volume X of The History of Middle-earth) presents the complex history of this matter; the Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth, a philosophical and theological dialogue between Finrod and Andreth with extensive authorial commentary, is the most elaborate treatment of this subject.

–Ostadan

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Q: I recall in ROTK that when Gandalf and the Captains of Gondor and Rohan are discussing strategy after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields that someone asks Gandalf what will happen to Sauron and the other rings if the One Ring is destroyed. Gandalf responds that he is not sure--he believes the other rings will lose their power and that Sauron would be so diminished (I think he says something like a shadow gnawing at itself in the wilderness) that none could foresee him ever rising to power again. So my question is, does Sauron really die with the destruction of the Ring or is he reduced and waits in the shadows for Morgoth's return?

–Anonymous

A: To answer this I would like to draw a parallel between the death of Sauron and the death of Saruman. It says that Saruman's spirit gathered around his body like a mist, and that the West Wind arose and blew it away. That seems to signal utter disembodiment and dissipation. When the Ring is destroyed, Tolkien describes a great vast darkness, licked with flame, rising up over Mordor while the towers and gates crumble. Though it does not say that any wind blew it away, this would appear to be Sauron's spirit. I have always supposed that he died indeed as did Saruman, but there are other possibilities: namely as you say, that the darkness was greatly diminished into a small shadow by the passing of the greater part of its power, in the Ring. However, even if that were so, that Sauron was reduced to a gnawing shadow, I do not think he would ever again be able to grow or take shape or meddle in the affairs of Middle-earth, even if Morgoth returned. Simply too much of himself passed out of existence with the destruction of the Ring.

–Anwyn

Update!

My bad! When researching this answer I stopped at the looming up of the cloud and Gandalf's "The realm of Sauron is ended! ..." If I had read a few lines more I would have seen what alert readers Dave and Abigail swiftly reminded me of: "And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell." So we see that just like Saruman, Sauron's spirit was blown away. I'd regard that as final. Sorry for the oversight!

–Anwyn

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Q: I just finished The Silmarillion and The Atlas of Middle-earth, and I have a big question. The Valar are supposed to remain with Arda until the end, or Eru's vision is complete. How is it that they can remove Valinor from the world? Also, in the Atlas, Valinor supposedly is moved into another dimension outside of human understanding after the last Elven ship sails, during the Forth Age. What about this?

–Blade of Arnor

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Q: Could you please tell me if the Valar are still on the planet? After the world was made round, Aman (and presumably the Valar) was removed from Arda. Does that mean that Manwë and the rest are no longer capable of intervention, and only Eru himself is? If so, who sent the Istari, who 'allowed' Galadriel to take the Straight Road, and who sent the Eagles for that matter (rescuing Bilbo in The Hobbit)? Is Ulmo and other sea types still here, as they were not resident in Aman? Please help me, Regards,

–Ian

A: In the version of the mythology presented in The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion as edited by Christopher Tolkien, the world is made round after the downfall of Númenor; it was previously flat, with the Undying Lands at its western end. But the name "Arda" does not refer simply to the mortal lands, but to all of the created world -- so Aman, while generally inaccessible from Middle-earth, is still part of Arda. And of course the Valar were still capable of intervention in the history of Middle-earth: the obvious examples are the Istari, as Tolkien made explicit in a note quoted in Unfinished Tales: "Manwë, however, even after the Downfall of Númenor and the breaking of the old world, even in the Third Age when the Blessed Realm had been removed from the 'Circles of the World', was still not a mere observer. It is clearly from Valinor that the emissaries came who were called the Istari (or Wizards)..."

Throughout the history of this mythology, it was always supposed that it would be possible, through a special divine grace, for mortals to sail the "straight path" to reach the Undying Lands, and that this may even have happened in historical times.

–Ostadan

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Q: Once Elros had chosen to become mortal that choice was irrevocable, and all of his descendents were likewise mortal. Why, then, was Arwen given the same choice, when Elrond had already chosen to become an Elf? Shouldn't she be bound to Elfdom just as assuredly as any of Elros' descendents were bound to mortality? If I'm overlooking something obvious would you mind pointing me in the right direction? Thanks.

–Seth Whelan

A: Tolkien gives a good explanation for this in his published Letters, specifically, Letter No. 153.

Elros chose to be a King and 'longaevus' but mortal, so all his descendants are mortal, and of a specially noble race, but with dwindling longevity: so Aragorn...

Elrond chose to be among the Elves. His children -- with a renewed Elvish strain, since their mother Celebrían daughter of Galadriel -- have to make their choices.

–Quickbeam

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Q: About Gollum/Sméagol. How could he have been a hobbit? I mean, he succumbed to the Ring in an instant, whereas Frodo and Bilbo were able to possess it for quite a while and not get to the point of murder. Was he some sort of sub-species of hobbit or something?

–Holly Bloom

A: It is not an unequivocal "rule" that all Hobbits are immune to the power of the Ring. Rather, it is observed by the Wise that Hobbits are strangely resistant to it, but not iron-clad immune. Further, we do not have absolute clarity in the text that Sméagol's race was 100% full-on HOBBIT, as we have come to know Hobbits of the Shire. Gandalf says of Sméagol's clan: "I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors..." while most Tolkien scholars will simply agree that Sméagol's clan were plain old hobbits. These two factors lead me to this conclusion: maybe it was because Sméagol belonged to a less pure-bred form of hobbit ancestry, maybe not -- but it is VERY clear that he was a bad egg from the start. It seems that Sméagol was already wicked and malicious in his heart; and maybe the Ring sensed that, and determined it was time to come up from the silted bottom of the Anduin; taking advantage of an "opportunity," if you will, embodied in Sméagol. Gandalf says that the same sad thing might have happened to other hobbits he knew himself. Take that as a warning that not all the kind, sweet, rural-farming hobbits you know are pure good-hearted souls (as seen with Ted Sandyman).

–Quickbeam

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Q: What exactly were the "Dwarf Masks" mentioned several times in The Silmarillion? It seems that they gave their wearers some kind of power to face danger more steadily, and gave them the ability to face the Dragons. Turin wore one for a time in his travels. Where did Tolkien get this idea from? I know that in Polynesia and the South Pacific there were many cultures that made "War Masks", but I have to wonder if there might be a European connection here. These masks are such fascinating artifacts, yet they are barely mentioned. Any ideas about this?

–Kexx

A: The dwarf masks to which you refer are mentioned primarily in the account "Of the Fifth Battle:" "...It was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons." There are two interesting points about this passage. First, it was introduced after the writing of Lord of the Rings; in the pre-LotR version (found in "The Lost Road", Volume V of The History of Middle-earth), the Dwarves did not participate, 'for we favor neither side -- until one hath the mastery.' As he used this manuscript as the basis for the post-LotR version, he wrote, "Not true of Dwarvish attitude."

In the later version, the passage first read "...great masks or visors...", but the last two words were crossed out. The Dragon-helm of Hador was evidently of similar design, as you point out; from the "Narn i Hîn Húrin:" "It was wrought by Telchar, the smith of Nogrod... It had a visor (after the manner of those that the dwarves used in their forges for the shielding of their eyes), and the face of one that wore it struck fear into the hearts of all beholders."

There are apparently two important features to these helms or masks: the fearsome face, and the visor that protects the wearer's vision. In one of the scraps of writing related to the "Narn" in Unfinished Tales, we read that that Turin dared not look straight into his [Glaurung's] eyes, but had kept the visor of his helmet down, shielding his face, and in his parley had looked no higher than Glaurung's feet." When he raises the visor, Glaurung is able to work his spell upon Turin.

I personally think of these masks as resembling ornate versions of modern welders' masks (as they serve similar functions); I cannot guess Tolkien's inspiration for them. As usual, though, he may have had a variety of different things in the back of his mind, including welders' masks and the masks of Classical Greek theatre. In researching this answer, I found an interesting Web page with an essay on "Arms and Armour in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth," [click here] which includes photographs of one person's idea of how these masks looked.

–Ostadan

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Q: What exactly is it that haunts the Dead Marshes? Supposedly, they are the ghosts of the warriors that died in the battle of Dagorlad, but wouldn't their spirits all go to their respective afterlives? Even if they were somehow trapped there because of the manner of their deaths, I doubt they would be trying to lure people into the water, so is there something evil that takes on their form to do this? I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure about afterlife in Middle-earth, or if ghosts even exist.

–Claire

A: I do not find where Tolkien explains this with many particulars. Here is what we know: within the Dead Marshes could be found the Mere of Dead Faces; which was the actual name of the pools wherein you'd see the flickering corpse-lights. A ghastly place indeed, but not wholly anachronistic with other "haunted" places in Middle-earth. Remember the Paths of the Dead? That location was haunted by the Oathbreakers. But our main concern here is whether the Mere of Dead Faces is actually an abode of spirits that should have left Arda and gone to their respective "homes." After these Men, Elves, and Orcs died during the War of the Last Alliance, I too would assume that their spirits went to the various places meant for them: the Halls of Mandos (for the Elves) and beyond the Circles of the World (for the Men); but who knows about the Orcs? Samwise suggests that there is some unknown necromantic work of Sauron occurring here, which is entirely possible. Unfortunately, I cannot say with certainty why the Dead Marshes were inhabited by these spirits. They weren't trying to lure anyone into the waters (that happens in the movie, not the book) mind you, they were just part of the "tableaux." But Tolkien has shown specific events that could, although rarely, determine a spirit would stay bound to the world of Arda, even though the flesh was long gone. The existence of the Nazgűl is another example. So it is clear that within these stories, Tolkien gives instances of terrible extremes that prevent the spirit from leaving the physical plane at the point of death, but often the details and parameters of this notion are left unclear.

Then, on the other hand, you have the Barrow-wights. I previously wrote a great deal about them [click here] and they illustrate another possibility. The Barrow-wights were malignant, demonic spirits that had descended upon the bodies within the barrows, animating the corpses (while the corpses themselves retained some vestigial memory of their previous lives). So following this example you might consider that the dead soldiers within the Marshes were only empty shells -- that the spirits of the fallen had indeed gone to their afterlives, yet somehow the corpses had since been infested with some evil will or other unknown entities.

–Quickbeam

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Q: I've been working on the hypothetical situation of what if Saruman hadn't have gone bad. With the massive industrial capabilities of Isengard, and the power of five Istari (Saruman didn't lead Alatar and Pallando into the East), just think what damage the Captains of the West could have achieved with that!! What are your opinions on this matter? Also -- slightly related to the above question, could the forces of good have spawned Orcs and made them fight for the good guys? I know they'd see it as immoral, and Tolkien hated mass-production and industrialization, but it would still be a cool idea, don't you think?

–Joe

A: You answer your own question when you say Tolkien hated mass production and industrialism. As such, Saruman's evil was predicated at least partially on his having wheels and machines to begin with -- i.e., if he'd have stayed good, he wouldn't have had those things, so he couldn't have used them for good. As for Orcs, no, they are a very specific form of evil, and the "good guys" would never have mass produced beings and forced them to do anything -- free will is the entire essence of the "good side." In addition, I don't think there's any question of Orcs being "spawned" and mass-produced in the same way that Peter Jackson depicted it -- "spawn" simply means having a large number of offspring, and is also slang for foul or vile offspring. We suppose that Orcs propagate in the normal mammalian manner.

–Anwyn

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Q: Aragorn said he had been in Moria before the Fellowship arrives there. "I too once passed the Dimrill Gate... the memory is very evil." When and why had he done this? I don't think he went all the way through because Gandalf says that Aragorn doesn't know the west gate area well. Also if he had been all the way through he most likely would have known about the Balrog and would have warned them.

–Chris Amon

A: At the age of twenty, Aragorn was sent away from Rivendell to travel the Wild; and over the decades that followed he endured many hardships fighting against the Enemy. He also learned many things of Middle-earth's cultures (not only of Men, but other Free Peoples as well). You can read in Appendix A that Aragorn was "a friend of Gandalf the Wise, from whom he gained much wisdom. With him he made many perilous journeys, but as the years wore on he went more often alone." Though Tolkien does not give greater specifics, it is not unreasonable that Aragorn would travel into Moria from the eastern side. We do not know anything exact about why or when he was there -- but it seems to me his long years of journeying and becoming a wise and learned "Man of the World" could include a trip through the Dwarven realm. And why should Aragorn know anything about the Balrog? Clearly no one in the Fellowship had any idea such a creature still existed there, much less encountered it! But remember, although Gandalf and Aragorn had individually been through Moria and came out alive, on those previous occasions they did not have the One Ring of Sauron in their midst (which seems to have been a key factor in the rousing of the Balrog).

–Quickbeam

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Q: When Gandalf and Pippin are riding Shadowfax from Rohan to Minas Tirith, Gandalf seems able to make out the watch fires on the various hills and towers along the northern side of the White Mountains, naming many, in fact. But if Middle-earth is curved, as is our Earth, this would seem impossible. I live at the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, and must travel a mere 30-40 miles out on the plains before even the tops of our 14,000-foot-plus peaks disappear over the horizon; the journey from the heart of Rohan to Gondor is many hundred miles. Far sighting ability by Gandalf? Flat earth? I would note, also, that Legolas apparently has an ability to perceive things over the curve of the horizons. Thoughts? Thanks.

–Claywise

A: "See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon Dîn, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan." So Gandalf declares to Pippin as they ride eastward through Anórien. Yes, indeed, at this later point in the history of Arda the world was round, and had been since the Fall of Númenor. In Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth she has an opening chapter about the challenges of mapping a round world that Tolkien himself mapped out as if it were flat. She stuck to Tolkien's mapping methods, even though her experience as a cartographer demanded otherwise, for ease of the reader. It's all very interesting but let's get back to the physics of your question. I estimate (from looking at Fonstad's maps of Gondor) that the road Gandalf traveled that night was, at furthest, about 10 miles distant from the foothills where these beacons sat. We do *not* know the elevation of these beacon-towers, however. I'm inclined to think they were set quite high up, for practical reasons. According to the website "Howstuffworks.com" a 100 foot-tall ship sailing on the ocean 15 miles away from the viewer standing on the shore is not visible because of the curvature of the earth. So if you assume these Gondorian beacon-towers were built at an elevation close to 1,000 feet (which is safe to assume, after all the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles rests on Mt. Lee at approximately 1,600 feet above sea-level, and I can see the Sign from ANYWHERE in the metropolitan Los Angeles area -- and these wee little Hollywood Hills can hardly compare to the greater elevations of the Ered Nimrais!) then it would be very easy for Gandalf to see the fires along the road. Perhaps the trick here is looking at exactly what Gandalf said. He named all of them but maybe they were only looking at two; the two closest to them at that point being Amon Dîn and Eilenach. It seems that the phrase "and there they go speeding west..." is Gandalf only reciting the many more that went further west behind them, once already passed in the night.

Now about Legolas having far-seeing eyes. Let's try the same approach, again assuming the curvature of Arda is exactly the same as the curvature of our world today. In "The Riders of Rohan" Legolas says he can see the hobbits' captors: "They are many leagues away: twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure." At the point where he was standing, rather high up on the Emyn Muil, above the East Wall of Rohan, he could see many things across a distance of twelve leagues (36 statute miles). If the Three Hunters were at least 250 feet up when they looked out west, then it fits my calculations fine. It's possible they stood at a higher elevation. There is nothing Tolkien says that indicates Elf-vision could defy normal physics, it was just easier for Legolas to make out some details. Easy for an Elf, a bit of a challenge for a Man, yet Aragorn can see them also! There does not seem to be any concrete, inarguable examples of Tolkien violating the basic rules of vision across the horizon, at least that I can find.

–Quickbeam

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Q: When Saruman sent Radagast the Brown to seek out Gandalf, during their conversation he referred to the name "Shire" as uncouth. Do we know why? Was it equal to some taboo in the common tongue? Do we know what the word "Shire" means?

–Nicholas Payne

While the word 'uncouth' in modern English means 'crude', 'rustic', or 'unrefined', it also can mean 'unknown' or 'unfamiliar', which is its earlier meaning. The word 'cuth' was the Old English past participle of 'cunnan' meaning: "to know." Of course, Tolkien would have been very familiar with the older meaning of this word. The word 'shire' is an ordinary English word for a county or territorial division. In the United States, it only occurs as part of names like Devonshire, derived from England. It is worth observing that Radagast did not recognize this strange name as a word in the Common Speech -- he takes it to be a proper name like "Rohan," and Gandalf corrects him by replying, The Shire." In this, Radagast is not unlike modern Americans, at least, whose only acquaintance with the word is through Tolkien's writings. It is not uncommon, for example, for visitors to an American 'Renaissance Faire' to hear the actors referring to 'their shire' and conclude that this is some fanciful reference to hobbits!

–Ostadan

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Q: In The Two Towers film there is a scene where Aragorn is dead of old age (in the future) where Arwen seems as young as ever. But if she had become mortal, shouldn't she have aged, too? Then also I thought that in the book, when Elladan and Elrohir stay in Middle-earth, there isn't much ado about them becoming mortal etc. as was with Arwen. It seems like they were only delaying their departure for a while. But then why would Arwen have to become mortal if SHE stayed and married Aragorn? I had thought that she would become mortal only because she decided not to leave Middle-earth when her father did. Couldn't she decide to stay until Aragorn died and then go to Valinor (as Aragorn himself proposed to her), possibly with Legolas and Gimli? How exactly are things with the mortality/immortality choice?

–Myrto

A: 1) On the question of Arwen aging, I don't think there's any reason to suppose that she would show outward signs of mortality just because she had agreed to "die from the world" after the manner of Men. After all, Aragorn is over 80 years old at the time of the events in Lord of the Rings, and he clearly does not look it. If he, a human descended from the kings of Númenor, can appear younger than he is, then certainly the daughter of Elrond may, mortal or not.

2) On the question of why she wouldn't have just stayed with Aragorn until he died and then gone over-Sea, she could have, if she'd been willing to abandon the possibility of spending eternity with him. Aragorn tells her that as mortals they are not bound forever to the Circles of the World, as are Elves, and that beyond those circles (beyond death) is "more than memory," meaning they both believe their spirits will be together in some more tangible way than just memory, which is all Arwen would have left if Aragorn died and she returned to her people.

–Anwyn

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Q: In the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen it is mentioned that after many hard and tiring journeys, Aragorn wished to return to Rivendell for some time to rest; and on the way he passed by Lothlórien. Now it is also given that he was admitted into the Hidden Land by the Lady Galadriel. She clothed him in silver and grey and she sent him to Arwen. It was at that point that Arwen's choice was made and her doom appointed. Now Elrond was always against a union between Aragorn and Arwen because he probably knew how difficult it would be for Arwen to face the Doom of Men. Galadriel was Arwen's grandmother; but on the other hand she helped Aragorn win Arwen's favour. Galadriel must have known all along that if Arwen chose Aragorn, she would give up immortal life. Why did Galadriel help them? I really don't get it!

–Mayura

A: Sometimes, mothers and grandmothers are more clear-sighted on the subject of daughters' marriages than their fathers. Galadriel had her mirror and she had far sight; it has always been a theory of mine that Aragorn was able to do his duty partly because he knew what his reward would be in the end, and perhaps Galadriel realized that for events to take their proper course, Aragorn and especially Arwen needed to be free to make their own decisions, as perhaps Elrond would not have wanted them to be. Women are painted as quite self-sacrificing in many stories, and Galadriel could have sacrificed her wish to retain Arwen among her own people for what she saw as the higher good for the world. We don't really know for sure.

–Anwyn

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Q: I was just wondering, did Elves and Men have surnames? I know of Legolas Greenleaf and Arwen Undómiel, but was this usual practice or a rarity? Were surnames more like titles, like Galadriel, Lady of Light Are there any other examples of surnames?

–Pamela

A: Hobbits (and their Big Folk neighbors in Bree-land) appear to be the only people who use the modern Western practice of a personal name and a family surname. Other characters may not even recognize this practice, preferring to address the Hobbits with such patronymics as "Frodo son of Drogo." The other names we see that appear to be surnames are more appositives. The word "Greenleaf" simply translates "Legolas;" one might as well say "Legolas, the Greenleaf," as we sometimes see Elessar, the Elfstone. We see this kind of apposition in other usages such as "Théoden King" (not Mr. and Mrs. King's little boy Théoden).

Elvish names are more complicated, as Tolkien wrote in an essay on the customs of the Eldar that appears in Volume X of The History of Middle-earth "Morgoth's Ring"; this note is summarized in Unfinished Tales in the notes on Galadriel's and Celeborn's names. When a child was born, its father gave it its first name. Other names were added later. Each child among the Noldor (but not the other Eldar, perhaps) could choose his or her own name once he or she had mastered their language fully, around their tenth year. This name did not necessarily have meaning in the Elvish language. These chosen names were not secret, but were treated as a private possession, used only by intimates. Additional names might be given by a child's mother in a moment of insight or foresight, "indicating some dominant feature of its nature as perceived by her, or some foresight of its special fate." These mother names were also regarded as true names, and might be private or public. Tolkien gives as an example the eldest son of Finwë, whom his father first named Finwion, later modified when his talent was revealed to Curufinwë. 'But the name of insight which his mother Míriel gave him in the hour of his birth was Feanáro 'Spirit of Fire'; and by this name he became known to all and he is so called in all the histories. (It is said that he also took this name as his chosen name, in honour of his mother, whom he never saw.)"

Other names are 'given' names, not 'true' names; in effect, they are nicknames, as in one example Tolkien gives, "Mormacil (that is Blacksword)". The example in the question, Arwen Undómiel, the Evenstar of her people, is almost certainly another such 'given' name, not a mother-name of insight (unless I have overlooked a reference to it as such). The closest we get to a family surname is Aragorn's self identification in his letter to Sam (in the Epilogue found in "Sauron Defeated", History of Middle-earth Volume VIII) Elessar Telcontar, (Elfstone, Strider), in which the name Telcontar, that is Strider, is the name of Aragorn's house -- but even then, it is not known whether Eldarion styled himself as "Eldarion Telcontar" or "Eldarion son of Elessar Telcontar" or "Eldarion Elessarion of the House of Telcontar (as in "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod" -- Inglorion simply means "Son of Inglor"). The name "Galadriel" is said to be one such 'given' name, given to her by Celeborn, and so her favorite name.

–Ostadan