“When Manwë heard of the ways that Melkor had taken, it seemed plain to him that he purposed to escape to his old strongholds in the north of Middle-earth; and Oromë and Tulkas went with all speed northward, seeking to overtake him if they might, but they found no trace or rumour of him beyond the shores of the Teleri …” (The Silmarillion Chapter 8 — Of the Darkening of Valinor)
Having shown his true colours, Melkor has fled to parts unknown. Thinking Melkor hiding in Middle-earth, the powers appear to relax their guard when they throw a party. Stung at not having been invited, Melkor and his new ally Ungoliant gatecrash and proceed to trash the place. The Two Trees are destroyed, Finwe slain and the Silmarils taken.
Is this yet another instance of the Valar being inattentive and forgetful? Was Melkor’s attitude and plan obvious from his earlier confrontation with Feanor over the Silmarils, or did he simply go further than anyone could have thought possible?
And what of Melkor’s pact with Ungoliant? Why did Melkor believe he needed her assistance, and did Ungoliant accept his promise (lightly made as it was) too easily?
Who and what is Ungoliant? Why did Tolkien choose to make her a spider? Why could she not change form if she was a Maia? Or was she something else? And why was Melkor soon to lose his ability to change form at will?
These are just a few of the questions we’ll be discussing at Hall of Fire this weekend. So join us in #thehalloffire on Sunday April 17 as we continue our Silmarillion chats and discuss the Darkening of Valinor!
Time and date:
Sunday April 17
America:
2.00pm EST
1.00pm CST
12.00pm MST
11.00am PST
Europe:
7:00pm UK
8:00pm Central Europe
Asia-Pacific
5.00am (Monday) Brisbane
5.00am (Monday) Sydney
7.00am (Monday) Wellington
Chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!
Where?
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net – the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our java chat client that works inside your web browser (find it here! ) or choose to install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer.
To find out more about using mIRC to connect to TORn IRC server, check out these instructions.
Upcoming topics:
“Silmarillion Chapter 8 – Of the Darkening of Valinor”
– Sunday April 17
“Tell us your LoTR fan experience!’
– Saturday April 23
– Sunday May 1
“Silmarillion Chapter 9 – Of the Flight of the Noldor”
– Saturday May 7
– Sunday May 15
“Is LoTR unfilmable? Was Tolkien right?”
– Saturday May 21
– Sunday May 29
Got a topic? Let us know your idea!
If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!
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