Ten facts you probably know about Middle-earth. I’m not entirely sure they make one a “super fan” (which is, frankly, the sort of exclusionary title wielded to make others feel that they’re not real fans). Enjoying Tolkien is surely not some sort of contest to prove one is the biggest fan.
Still it is a nice little list with plenty of nods to some lesser-known but important characters from Tolkien such as Celebrimbor, Feanor, Gothmog and Oropher. So read and enjoy! Minor nitpick: there are more than two Elvish languages (at least conceptually), but Sindarin and Quenya were probably the best developed.
Ten facts only Rings ‘super fans’ know
Have you read The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings — and seen the extended editions of the movies — multiple times? Is Shadowfax your favorite fictional horse? Do you have strong feelings about Tom Bombadil being left out of Peter Jackson’s “Fellowship”? Does the eventual marriage of Pippin and Sam’s offspring seem like super-basic trivia to you? Are you Stephen Colbert, IRL?
If you answered “no” to all of these questions, the following may not make a lot of sense to you. (But I picked out some really good GIFs, so maybe you should read it anyway.) For everyone else: I, too, am a LOTR superfan. I read The Silmarillion and appendices. I learned a lot of weird stuff. Let’s talk about it.
1. Arwen is Aragorn’s cousin.
… sixty-three times removed. Aragorn is a descendant of Elros, who was Elrond’s brother.
Elrond and Elros were part of a race called “halfelves,” which gave them the power to choose between elven and human lives. Elros picked life as a mortal man, because he’s a badass, while Elrond set up shop in Rivendell as a glowy, immortal elf. This is why Aragorn got to live way longer than normal men. It’s also (probably) why Elrond let him move in with the elves and have a super emo relationship with his daughter.
