On September 22nd, the very date of Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays, a large group of Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Men, Wizards, and well-behaved Wargs, gathered for a day of merriment, feasting, and activities.
The Party took place under the sheltering trees of Griffith Park, in the Mineral Wells picnic area, close by a meandering river. The day was warm, but not too warm. The sun high and bright. The leaves sparkled green and gold in a fair breeze which ruffled the Baggins’ Birthday banner and the feathers adorning Hobbit hats. Tents dotted the landscape: an Elven enclave here, a Dwarven fortress there, a Hobbit hole beneath a tree.
The banqueting table was laden with dishes–pulled pork, barbecue chicken salad, spicy sausages, cheese samplings, Lembas, watermelon, pasta salad (I could go on and on, but it’s making my mouth water all over again.) There were even two big jugs of delicious homemade apple brew crafted from a long list of enticing ingredients.
This week in Reflections from the Shire we have a guest post from Tolkien lover, and Tiktok and Threads regular, Lea/Silmarilleanne about The Shibboleth of Fëanor and it’s appearance in The Rings of Power episode four. Enjoy!
~ Staffer Kelvarhin
Reflections from the Shire – The Shibboleth of Fëanor
Guest post by: Lea/Silmarilleanne
Keen-eared Tolkien fans may have noticed an interesting linguistic quirk spoken by Adar at the end of episode four of The Rings of Power. He greets Galadriel with a familiar Quenyan phrase – one used by Frodo to greet Gildor Ingolrion in The Lord of the Rings: “elen síla lúmenn omentielvo”, to quote Frodo. But Adar’s is slightly different, raising some interesting possibilities about his original elven identity.
Firstly, there’s the fact that Adar is speaking Quenya at all. This suggests he is a Noldo of Valinor – just as Galadriel is; Quenya the language originated in Valinor and is the the language of the High Elves. It was dropped in favour of Sindarin shortly after the exiled Noldor arrived in Middle-earth, thanks to the ban placed upon it being spoken by the Sindar King, Elu Thingol, after he was informed of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, the victims of which were his own people, the Teleri. It was never spoken by any of the other elves of Middle-earth, becoming something of an archaic language of lore. Furthermore, Adar calls Galadriel “Altáriel”, the Quenyan form of the name Galadriel – an epessë (a kind of nickname) she was given in Valinor, and which was Sindarised to Galadriel in Middle-earth. This is all to say, were he anything other than a Noldo, it is extremely unlikely he would have spoken Quenya and known Galadriel’s Quenyan epessë.
The most intriguing part of all this though is instead of síla, Adar pronounces the word as thíla – or, more accurately þíla. This usage of the thorn in place of s suggests he is not only speaking Quenya, but a very specific dialect of Quenya – Fëanorian Quenya, known amongst many fans as ‘the Fëanorian lisp’ (indeed, those who spoke this way were dubbed ‘the Lispers’).
In The Shibboleth of Fëanor, published in The Peoples of Middle-earth, volume 12 of the History of Middle-earth, Tolkien at his philological best describes how sociopolitical matters affect language and vice versa. As the Shibboleth explains, the Noldor and the Vanyar, two of the three tribes of elves, once lived together in the city of Tirion in Valinor and shared a language, Quenya. The Vanyar relocated to the city of Valmar to be closer to the Valar, and as a result of this distancing, dialectical shifts occurred between the two peoples. The Vanyar retained the þ in their language, but amongst the Noldor there was a “conscious and deliberate change…based primarily on phonetic ‘taste’ and theory” to s.
The change was attacked and opposed by loremasters, who believed it would cause damage “in confusing stems and their derivatives that had been distinct in sound and sense”. The chief linguistic loremaster at this time was Fëanor, who as well as being a fastidious loremaster also had a very personal reason for objecting to the change. Fëanor’s mother, and first queen of the Noldor, was Míriel Þerinde. While the linguistic shift is said to have happened (or at least began) within her lifetime, Míriel herself adhered to the pronunciation þ, and “desired that all her kin should adhere to it also, at least in the pronunciation of her name”, therefore Þerindë as opposed to Serindë.
However, unprecedented amongst the elves of this time, Míriel died, and refused to be re-embodied. Embittered by this, her husband Finwë himself switched away from þ in favour of s, which had at this point become almost universal amongst the Noldor bar Míriel’s kin. Matters were worsened further when his second wife, Indis of the Vanyar, followed suit. As a Vanya, Indis had hitherto retained the þ in her speech, but she declared, “I have joined the people of the Noldor, and I will speak as they do”. Fëanor, hating Indis and seeing her as somewhat of a usurper in his mother’s rightful place, believed her switch to be a grave insult and belittlement of his mother, and came to view the rejection of Þ as a symbol of rejection of both his mother Míriel, and by extension himself, her son, as the chief of the Noldor next to Finwë.
Thus, he became yet more vehement in his objection of the shift, even while his behaviour turned those who had previously agreed with him to the opposing side:
“Had peace been maintained there can be no doubt that the advice of Fëanor, with which all the other loremasters privately or openly agreed, would have prevailed. But an opinion in which he was surely right was rejected because of the follies and evil deeds into which he was later led.”
Fëanor remained steadfast in his opposition, pointedly calling himself ‘Son of Þerinde’ and telling his sons, when they queried the difference in their speech from that of their kin, that they “speak as is right, and as King Finwë did before he was led astray”.
So even before the Rebellion of the Noldor and their exodus to Middle-earth, s in place of þ had become dominant, and this was further cemented in exile: “The s was certainly used in Beleriand by almost all the Noldor,” Tolkien writes, and this is followed by the note “It is not even certain that all Fëanor’s sons continued to use Þ after his death and the healing of the feud” between the Fëanorians and the family of Fingolfin, though it seems almost certain any elf who did retain the thorn would have been counted amongst the Fëanorian followers – thus is raised the question of Adar’s identity.
But Adar saying it to Galadriel adds yet another layer of significance. The Shibboleth of Fëanor further details how Finarfin, Galadriel’s father “loved the Vanyar (his mother’s people)” and that because of this love in his house, þ remained in standard use and he was moved neither one way nor the other by Fëanor’s shibboleth, acting purely as he wished. Galadriel therefore grew up in a household that retained the þ. However:
“opposition to Fëanor,” Tolkien writes, “soon became a dominant motive with Galadriel… so while she knew well the history of their tongue and all the reasons of the loremasters, she certainly used s in her own daily speech.”
In other words, she purposely transitioned to using s to spite Fëanor. Adar’s own usage of it then could also be retaliative or in a similar vein: he is aware of its import and meaning to Galadriel and could potentially be purposely using it as a means of aggravating her.
Certainly, the implications of him speaking Quenya – and specifically the Fëanorian dialect of Quenya – seems to contradict earlier indications in the show about him being one of the first orcs; the first orcs were made from elves taken during the days at Cuiviénen, long before the elves went to Valinor and Quenya the language even existed; at this time, they spoke only Primitive Quendian. It would also seem odd if Quenya is his mother tongue, why his name is Adar, the Sindarin word for father, as opposed to Atar as it is in Quenya. But how deep does the show want to delve? It could be a lot more straightforward – the show is going on the simplified premise of Quenya having been spoken by the elves since those early days, and the dialectical shift having happened since then simply being indicative of Adar’s extreme age. But if Adar is from amongst those first elves, as Galadriel claimed in the first series, that would put him of an age, older even, than Círdan, and yet Adar is very noticeably lacking the beard that is illustrative of Círdan’s long lifespan. On the other hand, if the show really is going this deep on the lore, exactly who is he? Theories of Adar being Maglor abound, since it would tick many of the boxes: Fëanorian speech, Noldo, dark hair, familiarity with the name Altáriel… But surely, even with a multitude of scars on his face, Galadriel would recognise her cousin? There is also, and perhaps most fundamentally, the issue of rights. While the Tolkien Estate has afforded Amazon some leniency and granted access to certain items outside the rights they own – most notably, the name “Annatar”, a word which does not appear in the Lord of the Rings and its appendices, which Amazon owns the rights to – it is another level entirely to grant them access to an entire character.
Regardless of whether Adar’s use of the “Fëanorian lisp” becomes significant and plot-relevant, or remains a little easter egg for keen-eared viewers, it has certainly conjured a lot of discussion, and a wonderful new level of interest in more casual fans, who have begun seeking out a once fairly obscure text like The Shibboleth of Fëanor.
About the author:Lea aka Silmarilleanne is a long-time lover of Tolkien’s works with a penchant for his languages and the House of Finwë. When her nose isn’t buried in a book or a PlayStation controller in her hands, she can most often be found talking Tolkien on Tiktok and Threads.
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On March 18 this year we began Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers had been working behind the scenes to choose and then vote on a plethora of happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. We whittled that number down to 64, and created seeding based on the staffer votes, and back in March we opened the contest to YOUR votes.
Now, after six rounds and thousands of votes cast, we have a winner. Of all the moments when magical powers are used in Middle-earth, one has been chosen as the ‘most magical’. If you watched TORn Tuesday last night, you saw the winner revealed there. But if you’ve stayed ‘spoiler free’, we can now reveal the Middle-earth March Madness Champion for 2024 is…
We come to it at last – the great battle of our time… Well, at least of this year’s Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers picked 64 happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. (Though what exactly counts as ‘magic’ in Middle-earth is, of course, up for debate!) These moments were seeded based on staffer’s votes, divided into four bracket (one for each book), and so it began. Now, three weeks later and with thousands of votes cast, we are down to the final two. Let’s see how the Semi-finals played out:
The Hobbit Division vs The Two Towers Division
The first time Bilbo experiences the power of the Ring, becoming invisible when seeking to escape Gollum, deep under the Misty Mountains, was the winning moment of The Hobbit bracket. It faced the victor from The Two Towers region, no less a moment than the return from the dead of Mithrandir, coming back to Middle-earth as Gandalf the White. Two absolutely iconic moments – and you might have expected a tight battle. In fact, the power of the Ring was no match for the wizard; The Two Towers contestant took 70% more votes than its opponent. So Gandalf the White strides into the final. Who or what will be his adversary?
The Fellowship of the Ring Division vs The Return of the King Division
This showdown was a much tighter contest then the other Semi-final. Just SIX votes made the difference between the contenders during much of this round – even as the numbers rose, that margin stayed more or less the same. It’s a duel between the defeat of the Witch-king by ‘No Man’ and Gandalf’s overthrowing of the Balrog. Will we have an all Gandalf championship battle?
The answer is … yes! At the last moment, coming in just under the wire, and having been trailing for most of this round, the wizard won by ONE VOTE. Eowyn overcame the Lord of the Nazgul, but could not defeat the Maiar. And so an event which started off seeded all the way down at #6 in its bracket confronts a #1 seeded event in the Final. It’s The Fellowship of the Ring vs The Two Towers, a kind of ‘before and after’ – the battle against the Balrog, and the return thereafter:
Gandalf Confronts the Balrog with Glamdring and the Flame of Anor (6)
VS
Gandalf the White Returns from the Dead (1)
Staffer Madeye Gamgee was excited by this nail-biting thriller of a Semi-final:
What a magical finish for our penultimate round! I cannot recall ever having such a tight matchup in the history of Middle-earth March Madness. The Witch-king’s Fall to “No Man” had led during the entirety of its Final Four Round, but the lead was always “walking on the edge of a knife”, hardly ever more than 10 votes. And in perhaps the upset of the tournament, the FotR champion, only the number six seed in its own region, pulls off the last second victory, squeaking by the iconic moment on the Pelennor Field by a single vote. Sadly perhaps for Éowyn and Merry fans (and possibly a ‘crushing blow’ for Witch-king fans…), our March Madness tournament officials have yet to figure out instant replay technology. What a Balrog Burner of a match!
The return of Gandalf the White from his journeys beyond thought and time easily handled the contest with Bilbo’s Ring of Invisibility, despite its darker Power lurking in the background. At least for this tournament, the One Ring will not rule them all.
Which leads us to a dream matchup between two versions of possibly the most magical icon of the Third Age: Gandalf. Can Gandalf the Grey keep his momentum going? Slaying a Balrog is no small thing. Or will Gandalf’s resurrection as an Istari more evenly matched against Sauron prove that he has brought more than just a fool’s hope to this magical tournament?
It should be very clear by now that the ultimate tournament outcome lies in the hands of the fans. And even the smallest single vote can change the course of the future.
Place your votes! As with the Semi-final, we just have one bracket to vote. Use the embedded experience below, or click here. Then click the ‘Vote Now’ option that appears at the top left of the page. Let’s get voting!
Which Magical Moment will be the Champion for Middle-earth March Madness 2024? You decide! Would you like to see the wielding of Glamdring and the flame of Anor sweep to victory? Or is Gandalf’s return from the dead unbeatable magic? Rally the troops and place your votes! Voting will be open until the start of TORn Tuesday on Tuesday April 9th; we’ll take a look back over the contest and reveal this year’s Grand Winner during the show. But which moment will it be? That’s up to YOU – vote now!
And then there were four… It is semi-final time in Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments – from 64 starters, we’re down to just our bracket winners remaining. Which magical happening has emerged triumphant from each division? Let’s take a look:
The Hobbit Division
Alas! Speaking personally, I (staffer greendragon) was really hoping the Moon Runes would win this bracket. TORn staffers had voted those glowing, secret runes the #1 seed in this group; but the power of the Ring is of course not easily overcome, and the #2 seed took the lead and held on to it. The margin wasn’t huge – this was the closest contest across all the brackets this round, and only a little over 50 votes came between them – but Bilbo’s disappearing act is the winner here.
Bilbo’s Ring Turns Him Invisible (2)
The Fellowship of the Ring Division
We saw the widest margin of the Elite Eight in this bracket; no amount of saying ‘Mellon’ could overcome Gandalf’s epic conquest of the Balrog. The last act of Gandalf the Grey (seeded #6) garnered twice as many votes as Durin’s magical doors (which were actually seeded higher, at #5), so the wizard goes through to the Final Four.
Gandalf Confronts the Balrog with Glamdring and the Flame of Anor (6)
The Two Towers Division
Gandalf on Gandalf action was the order of the day in this regional final! These moments are two kinds of resurrections – Mithrandir’s own, returning as Gandalf the White; and the rediscovery of his strength by Theoden, as Gandalf releases him from Saruman’s spell. The choice was pretty clear right from the start of voting, with the wizard’s return from the dead taking the lead and keeping it. Gandalf the White goes through to face an invisible Bilbo.
Gandalf the White Returns from the Dead (1)
The Return of the King Division
It looked like those Riders of Rohan might sweep all the way to ultimate victory, repeating their 2020 glory, when they were Champions in the battle amongst scenes from Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies. But it was not to be. By a larger margin than might have been expected, taking 1.5 times as many votes, the triumph of ‘No man’ over the Witch-king won this regional final.
The Witch-king Is Destroyed by “No Man” (1)
Eowyn slays the Witch-king, by Stephen Walsh
Staffer Madeye Gamgee had these thoughts on what we’ve seen so far – and what is to come!
Other than the FotR region, the OneRing staff ended up forecasting our final seeds fairly well, with two # 1 seeds (the Resurrection of Gandalf the White and the Death of the Witch King), and one #2 (Bilbo’s Discovery of the One Ring). The lowest seed left in the tournament comes from the FotR Region, the epic battle between the Flame of Udûn and the Flame of Anor wielded by Gandalf.
We’re left with some truly epic magic in the Final Four, and it’s really anybody’s tournament to win:
The first appearance of the One Ring, its true power still largely veiled
One of the most epic Maiar battles in the entire legendarium, as Gandalf and the Balrog face off on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm
The return from death by the super-charged Gandalf the White as he replaces Saruman as the true leader of powerful resistance against the reign of Sauron
The fulfillment of long prophecy of the fall of the Witch King of Angmar, a combination of a humble hobbit wielding a spell-lace Númenórean blade, and desperate Dernhelm revealed to deliver her final coup de grâce to destroy Sauron’s chief lieutenant
Will it be a Gandalf vs. Gandalf finale? Only if his White-robed persona can overcome the Power of the Ring, and his Balrog-battered bridge match can move past the crowd favorite, a climactic contest between Éowyn and the Lord of the Nazgûl. Could we see Gandalf the White versus Gandalf the Grey in the championship match?
Will the One Ring prove its Power at last, with the Black Speech echoing across Middle-earth? Ash nazg durbatulûk indeed!
Will we see one of Tolkien’s most beloved scenes and themes, the triumph of the weak over seemingly insurmountable strength, embodied by a Shieldmaiden of Rohan, resound in victory even as her opponent wails and fades, powerless before her?
Only the magical Tolkien fandom can tell.
Place your votes! Now that we are down to the Final Four, we’ll just have one bracket to vote. Use the embedded experience below, or click here. Then click the ‘Vote Now’ option that appears at the top left of the page. Let’s get voting!
You have until the end of the day Saturday April 6th to vote in Round Five; Sunday 7th we’ll open voting for the Championship round. And then join us for TORn Tuesday on April 9th, when we’ll reveal this year’s Grand Winner! But which moment will it be? That’s up to YOU – vote now!
We’re already half way through Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments – and now just eight contenders remain, as we reach the final round in each division. So how did the third round play out? Let’s take a look:
The Hobbit Division
We could have seen the final in this bracket being between the Moon Runes and the setting sun, both indicating the way into the Lonely Mountain. It was not to be; though the Moon Runes did beat the conversation with Smaug, the power of the One Ring could not be undone – by a very narrow margin of just over 40 votes, Bilbo’s disappearing act defeated the revealing of the secret door on Durin’s Day. So we have the first and second seeds in this division up against each other for the ‘regional final’:
Moon Runes Appear on Thrain’s Map (1)
Bilbo’s Ring Turns Him Invisible (2)
The Fellowship of the Ring Division
Last round we saw the closest battle in this bracket; but here in the Sweet Sixteen, both contests had pretty wide margins, with around 300 votes difference between the winners and the losers. This time, the Ring turning Bilbo invisible did NOT beat an entryway associated with Durin; the door to Moria is through to the regional final. Meanwhile water and fire had a show down – Gandalf’s river horses vs his confrontation with the Balrog. It’s the battle with the ancient demon which is still in the contest:
Durin’s Doors Open at the Right Password (5)
Gandalf Confronts the Balrog with Glamdring and the Flame of Anor (6)
Password into Moria, by Ted Nasmith
The Two Towers Division
The march of the Ents has come to an end! As we expected might happen, Gandalf’s return to life defeated them, with two thirds of the vote. More wizardly skill won the other Sweet Sixteen duel in this region, with Gandalf’s healing of Theoden taking three quarters of the vote against the Ent-draught.
Gandalf the White Returns from the Dead (1)
Gandalf Heals Theoden from Saruman’s Curse (3)
The Return of the King Division
Two massive battles in this bracket: two acts of destruction (the Fall of the Witch-king vs the final destruction of the One Ring) in one duel, with far lower seeded events (Rohan arriving to battle vs the regeneration of the Shire) making up the other.
Both contests were fairly close. For a while it looked as though Sam and his work in the Shire might be victorious, but those Riders from Rohan once again swept to victory, with about 100 votes between them in the end. The Witch-king and the Ring had half that number of votes between them – and this time the power of the Ring WAS undone! Ultimately voters felt that the wraith’s defeat by ‘No Man’ was a more powerfully magical moment than Mount Doom’s melting powers. So our final match-up in this division is:
The Witch-king Is Destroyed by “No Man” (1)
Rohan Arrives on the Pelennor Fields as the Rooster Crows (14)
Eowyn slays the Witch-king, by Stephen Walsh
Staffer Madeye Gamgee shared some of his thoughts on what lies ahead:
Moving on to the Elite (or Einior — Sindarin for Elder) Eight:
Gandalf continues to be the big dog of this Magical Moments tournament, with a direct contribution to three of our final eight magical moments, plus a strong assist at the Doors of Durin
The power of the One Ring proved more feeble than some could have guessed, with only Bilbo’s original discovery of the Ring of Power in the Hobbit making it to the final eight.
Three of the four #1 seeds as ranked by the OneRing staff have made it to the final eight: Moon Runes, Gandalf the White, and the Witch King Goes Down. The staff also successfully called a number 2 and 3 seed which are still alive in the tournament (Bilbo’s Invisibility Ring and Theoden’s Healing).
The FotR region seemed to befuddle our staff, though, with all four top seeds already out of the tournament. That leaves a #5 seed (Durin’s Doors) and #6 (a Balrog Battle) to fight it out for the Final Four spot.
The “Cinderella” of the tournament, the #15 seed Rohan arriving on the Pelennor Fields, may be simply a sleeper. A perpetual fan favorite (and one of JRR Tolkien’s as well), those stirring horns of the Rohirrim as the rooster crows still resonate. But can they overcome Eowyn’s “I am no man” moment?
There’s still some mighty magic yet to come!
Place your votes! In case you need a reminder, here’s how it works: click on one of the orange division buttons below. Then click the ‘Vote Now’ option that appears above the divisional bracket. This year, as with last year, you get to vote in each divisional match-up in one convenient and visual interface. Note – you need to click each division to vote in their respective brackets. So let’s get voting!
You have until the end of the day Tuesday April 2nd to vote in Round Four; on TORn Tuesday that evening we’ll discuss the likely results and the story so far! Wednesday 3rd we’ll open voting for the Final Four. Will Rohan ride their way to victory? YOU decide – vote now!
