Riddle ME this

[Finwe]

All of you are very very off. I'll give you a hint. You've got the right race, but the wrong kingdom and the entirely wrong time. Look at other Mannish kingdoms.


BTW, this one is hard. It is extremely obscure.

[Voralphion]

Is the mannish kingdom Rohan? If so does it concern the paths of the dead?

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Well, I'm far too tired and time-constrainted to answer right now. I'll wait for a few more clues, to make it easier... smilies/smile.gif What an infuriatingly strange riddle you have given us, Finwe.

[Evisse the Blue]

Is it maybe the Arkenstone?

[Iarwain]

The answer is Baldor's Belt, I believe.

Iarwian

[Finwe]

My word! That was quick! You really have to tell me how you get these things so quickly, Iarwain.

In other words, Iarwain got it. It was Baldor's Belt.

[Iarwain]

Ah, but that was only my second riddle solved. The first was Sophia's, and I wouldn't call that quick or easy in the least. smilies/smile.gif Thanks for the compliment though. smilies/smile.gif

It is incredible that I've been writing so many riddles lately. Here's another.

'Twas greed, indeed;
Corruption of sorts,
the force that pushed the fleets from port.
Arrogance, a foolish crime,
had led our people forth,
this time.

But I at least have seen the cause,
Indeed, his sweetened tounge it was.
From Minas Tirith did he come,
that sickly fruit, the clever one.

And now, away from home we go,
The final seeds our boats do tow.
The last sons of the greatest men,
we sail away, begin again.

Who am I?

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Glorfindel?

[Iarwain]

Even though, you're wrong, I'd be very interested in how you came up with that answer. smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[Voralphion]

Elendil?

[Iarwain]

Quite. Your go! smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[Voralphion]

When king was mad with thoughts of power
And relations with the gods had long turned sour
I sailed away from the land of the gift
Its balance of power my hope to shift
But I was never seen again
Of any of the race of mortal men
My son and his family managed to flee
the destruction in ships across the sea
There he became a mighty king
But fell to the one who bore the ring

Who am I?

[Finwe]

Amandil, father of Elendil.

[Voralphion]

Correct, your turn Finwe.

[Finwe]

Hmmm, let's make this one another hard one:


Slippery and slimy with mud, am I,
Part of the geography,
Of every country, am I,
Found in all the worlds, it's true,
Below the substance,
That gives life to you,
Without that substance,
Our life would disappear,
Thus, I am important,
Yet seem not dear,
I can shine at places,
I witnessed a murder,
I witnessed a massacre,
Just what can I be?

[Evisse the Blue]

The Marshes?

[Finwe]

Kind of close, but not quite. You're thinking too high (high = measuring high). Think a little lower.

[Amanaduial the archer]

The Brandywine River, maybe?

[Finwe]

Nope.

You've got the general idea, but it's too general. I need something a LOT more specific.

[Iarwain]

you are either a bog or mud.

Iarwain

[Finwe]

You're extremely close with that second guess, Iarwain, but just not close enough.

[Iarwain]

silt

[Finwe]

Nope. Think of something that usually CONTAINS mud!

[Voralphion]

The river bank of the Anduin

[Finwe]

Extremely close, extremely close. You got the "river-" part right, but it's the second part that you're missing.

Here's a hint:

Hard and uncomfortable, I can be,
Soft and cuddly, I can be too,
Whole Houses of Creatures,
Came into being on me,
Both fëar and hroar,
Just what can I be?

Now if you manage to solve this fairly easy riddle, you will get the second half of the word, that is the answer to the first riddle. Complicated enough?

[Iarwain]

river-bed, it is

Iarwain

P.S. If I'm right, Voralphion gets it.

[Voralphion]

If you are right, you should get the next clue, as I said river bank and you said river bed, which are different.

[Finwe]

Technically, Iarwain got it.

Voralphion: I really wanted to give you the credit, but as you said, "river bank" and "river bed" aren't the same thing, although they are mightily close. I hope you don't mind.

[Iarwain]

My good Voralphion, what should happen and what does happen are very often very different. I confer the duty of riddle making to you. smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[Voralphion]

Although the riddle making duty was given to me, I have been unable to think one up. If anyone else would like to go, be my guest.

[Evisse the Blue]

I'll try my hand at it, if that's okay!

I am the offspring of high folk,
Who left a haven long ago.
My father was quite wise, yet he
Chose a perilous strategy
That ended bitterly for me.
Oh, where a mighty foe was slain
I too was killed and lost remain.
Though ages since have passed, I swear it -
My name brings doom to all who bear it.

This should be easy...

[Iarwain]

I would say Turin, but neither of his parents sailed anywhere. But I guess Turin all the same.

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Is it Maeglin?

[Evisse the Blue]

Nope, it's neither. 'the name brings doom' thing - is not from any book, it's a realization of mine (and of yours, too, after you solve it) smilies/smile.gif

[Finwe]

It was Fëanor wasn't it?

[Evisse the Blue]

No, although all these are very good guesses. They match almost perfectly and you're all very close.
Hint 1: it's a woman
Hint 2: the mighty foe is indeed Glaurung.

[Beren87]

Nienor is the obvious assumption, then.

[Evisse the Blue]

No.
HINT: the name was shared by another woman in the Third Age who had a sad fate as well, hence the 'my name brings doom'.

[Beren87]

Every answer I get seems to only work for half the riddle..humph.

How about Morwen, then? The mother of Theoden was named after her.

[Lyta_Underhill]

Or perhaps Finduilas, who perished by Glaurung's trickery of Turin...was also the short-lived mother of Boromir and Faramir...

[Evisse the Blue]

Yes - Lyta has got it! Congrats! and btw, I love your avatar!

[Lyta_Underhill]

Wow! I finally answered a riddle correctly! I am new at this riddle making art, so this one may be too easy, or incomprehensible! But I'll be glad to give hints...and, by the way, thanks for the complement on my sleeping Frodo avatar, Evisse! I always enjoy your Lady of Shallot avatar as well! Nice to see the great artworks represented here! smilies/smile.gif Now on to my riddle:

Life is but a crucible in my hands,
I dwell in the stone of old that stands;
For my sake the slow are moved to haste,
My dreams by small stones are now outpaced;
Through stone from afar my will is wrest,
I can no longer return to the West.

Who am I?

Cheers,
Lyta

P.S. I'll be out for several hours, but I'll try to check for answers when I return! smilies/smile.gif

[ September 13, 2003: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ]

[Iarwain]

I must say that it is a very clever riddle, and to me it seems to match Saruman's personality very well.

Iarwain

[Lyta_Underhill]

Got it in one, Iarwain! Not clever enough, I suppose, but thanks for the compliment! The floor is yours! smilies/smile.gif

Cheers,
Lyta

[Iarwain]

The calimasts of Triahod,
they hidden lie, to make me sob.
The trothellshells that crackle so,
when killing I defeat my foes.
Oh faugath treal, the purshed tooth,
with poison bites but not forsooth.
And lying groth upon the throsh,
my darled body becoming slosh.
The plunging knife that scinds my blood.
Hidden about the garlish mud.

Beware the Jabberwock my boy! smilies/wink.gif

A pathetic copy of a classic, I hope Carroll would forgive me. The object is to discover the subject of the poem. There is only one real clue I can give, and that may or may not be necessary. We shall see.

Iarwain

[Arestevana]

A most disturbing clue.
Could it be Saruman? Or, more specifically, his death?

[Iarwain]

I can very much see how you came to that conclusion, and perhaps the riddle does point that way more than to its intended answer, so here's the clue. The only proper noun in the riddle is an approximate location for the subject.

Iarwain

[Evisse the Blue]

Iarwain, I love your riddles!
Is mud the proper noun? If so, could Smaug be your Jabberwock?

[Dancing_Hobbit]

Triahod is a propper noun, but I have no idea where that leads us.

[Arestevana]

Aha! (triumphant)
Triahad = Doriath.
I hope that's helpful to someone.

Edit: Oh! Is it the host of the Naugrim in 'of the ruin of Doriath'?

[ September 17, 2003: Message edited by: Arestevana ]

[Voralphion]

Carcharoth?

[Iarwain]

You are quite right about Triahod. It is not, however the naugrim or the Red Maw. Thanks for the compliment, though, I like them too, (even though this one wasn't completely original).

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Is it Glaurung?

[Iarwain]

'Tisn't. The approximate setting is Doriath. This means that it is not necessarily in Doriath, but it is nearby The key to the riddle is to remove the nonsense and find the truth. Certain words point the way, if you have the sense to see them.

Iarwain

[Iarwain]

Clue number three:

The calimasts of Triahod,
they hidden lie, to make me sob.
The trothellshells that crackle so,
when killing I defeat my foes.
Oh faugath treal, the purshed tooth,
with poison bites but not forsooth.
And lying groth upon the throsh,
my darled body becoming slosh.
The plunging knife that scinds my blood.
Hidden about the garlish mud.

If no one can decrypt that, I'll just have to provide the answer. That, however, would be a most dissapointing turn of events.

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Beren?

[Iarwain]

Nope. The answer is not the "I", but the "foes" that the narrator is speaking of. I imagine there were probably many people that could recount the subject, were they living. smilies/smile.gif

[Voralphion]

Spiders

[Iarwain]

I need a more specific answer, but you're on the right track. smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Is it Shelob?

[Iarwain]

Too specific and no. I'm looking for a place, and a group.

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Ah, I see.

Would it be Nan Dungortheb and the Spawn of Ungoliant who lived there?

[Iarwain]

Precisely! I'm glad you got it. smilies/smile.gif

Your go,
Iarwain

[Finwe]

Wow! Once I got spiders and Doriath, I just put two and two together.


Those mighty towers standing high,
Their sharp points piercing the sky,
Those numerous entries,
With guards and sentries,
And living eyes on the surround,
Shrouded in shadow around,
a dark-man and the inverse came,
Followed by the bane of the inverse's hame.
Who am I, a person,
Who lived in a city,
Who am I, a person,
Who lived with trees,
Who am I, a person,
A cursed lying thief,
Who am I, a person,
Of a union of grief.


All right, this one is a bit complicated, but go ahead and try it.

[Iarwain]

It has wonderful verse to it. I believe you are talking about the Mouth of Sauron coming forth to Gandalf with Frodo's artifacts near the towers of the teeth, and in front of the black gates. He was a Black Numenorian, who were seafaring folk that lived in the midst of the original white tree. As Gandalf took the artifacts, he was truly grave, and Pippin cried out. Those two were a union of grief.

The solution is the Mouth of Sauron.

Iarwain

[ September 23, 2003: Message edited by: Iarwain ]

[Finwe]

Nope, sorry.

[Iarwain]

Pippen then?

Iarwain

[Finwe]

Nope. I'll give you a hint, you're in the wrong time period. The towers that I'm referring to are not Minas Tirith or Barad-dur. They're other towers.

[Iarwain]

The tragic battle of Finglofin and Morgoth, before Thangorodrim.

Iarwain

[Voralphion]

Is the city Gondolin?

[Finwe]

Ok, Voralphion has got the city right, so you have a start. The answer to the riddle is not a battle, it is a person.

Hint: Look at the second word in each line. If you take one specific letter from each of those second words (up til the line, "Who am I?") then those letters will form the name of the person who is the answer to the riddle. They are in the right order.

[Voralphion]

Maeglin?

[Finwe]

Yep. You've got it!

[Voralphion]

I have exams at the moment at uni so I probably won't be able to come up with a riddle for a while. If anyone else would like to give a riddle then go ahead.

[WarBringer]

I think ill take you upon that-here goes...

SHarp as a Tack
Put in a stack
Conquers friend and foe alike
a type of sword
for a fell race
used in place
of a spear or mace
weapon of the mighty
and of the weak...

what am I

[Finwe]

The Daggers of Westernesse?

[WarBringer]

Nope- used by a fell race, which is just about the opposite of a hobbit, and that is more sinister than a man...

[Arestevana]

Are you talking about the morgul blade used by the lord of the Nazgul?

[Voralphion]

An orc scimitar?

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Gurthang, or Anglachel. It seems to fit pretty well.

SHarp as a Tack,
Put in a stack, Thingol's armouries
Conquers friend and foe alike, slays anything it pricks
a type of sword,
for a fell race, the Elves of Beleriand, or the Haladin
used in place
of a spear or mace, Turin chose it above other weapons in the end (though not these ones specifically. Oh well, I thought I might have had it perfectly there.)
weapon of the mighty, Turin's sword, the Mormakil, a famed warrior
and of the weak...; described, 'a stabber of foes unseen.'

Hmmm.... not perfect!

[Iarwain]

As is has been some thirteen days since the question setter last posted, I declare this thread stagnant, and place Gwaihir as the sole heir of riddle giving (unless, of course, he should refuse). smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

I wonder if I'll ever find out if I was right smilies/smile.gif. I'll be back to give a new one tomorrow.

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Ok sorry about the wait. Lets see if I can spontaneously come up with a suitable one.

They stand, while smitten by their foe
And fall only at the friendly, accidental blow.

[Iarwain]

That would be those funny little statues made by the Druedain.

Iarwain

[Iarwain]

Hm. Twice in a row, that's not good. It's been ten days, so anyone can continue now. I wonder if I will ever find out if I was right now.

Iarwain

[Iarwain]

Perhaps I will continue the thread myself.

Although I am, and yet do not,
exist within the world of thought,
for many men and elves and dwarves,
all lies within my open doors.
This "Ea", but a tiny fleck,
incomparable, even to my own neck.
And now I seem quite out of time,
because I cannot make more rhymes.

Iarwain

[NightKnight]

Would it be Eru himself?

[Iarwain]

Cograts, I hope you think of a better one yourself. smilies/smile.gif

Your go,
Iarwain

[NightKnight]

He chose the victorious southling, instead of the more legal northling.

Maybe not much of a riddle, but it's my first one. smilies/tongue.gif

[ November 01, 2003: Message edited by: NightKnight ]

[Finwe]

Pelendur, the Steward of King Ondoher of Gondor, and the Council of Gondor at the time.

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Bugger. Sorry Iarwain, try contacting me via PM next time. And you will find out, because I haven't abandoned the site; my answer was actually Thangorodrim...

[NightKnight]

Finwe is right, please continue...

[Finwe]

Kiss of steel,
Given to another,
Passed through my heir,
To one who left us,
Saved my light,
Saved my second light,
Wielded by light-silver,
Sparkling, sparkling light-silver.


Now this one is really obscure! But those of you who know what the translations of some of the Silmarillion names are just might get this one.

[Voralphion]

Is it something from Doriath, passed through my heir to one who left us could be Dior had it but was taken by Elwing when she escaped the sack of Doriath. Is it the sword of Thingol? (I can't remember its name)

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

I'm going to take a quick guess at Gurthang/Anglachel.

[Finwe]

Nope. I'll give you a hint

HINT: It belonged to a female.

[Evisse the Blue]

Telperion, the White Tree?

[Finwe]

Nope.

HINT: It isn't a living thing, but it's a thing.

[Arestevana]

A Silmaril?

[Finwe]

Nope. I'll give you an even bigger hint. It's a weapon.

[Usta Salque]

I'm probly wrong but... Hadhafang? You know Arwen's razor was the first thing that came to mind(not something she wants to cut her leg with). smilies/evil.gif

[Finwe]

Yes!!!! It was Hadhafang! Although Arwen's razor does seem to be a viable answer smilies/evil.gif, Hadhafang is indeed the right answer. Proceed!

[Finwe]

*bump*

[Finwe]

Since it's been a rather long time, I'm going to go ahead and post another riddle, if it's all right with you guys:


Swift as a bat,
Swift through the night,
I run, I run,
I'm a shadow,
I bore a great burden,
I am a hope that ceased to be,
Hope is me, yet I have none,
Royal am I, yet I have no throne,
Fated am I, fated am I.

[Evisse the Blue]

Aragorn aka Estel aka Wingfoot? (But I have a feeling it's not that simple smilies/tongue.gif )

[Finwe]

Actually, Evisse, it is. It is your turn.

[Evisse the Blue]

Ok here goes (first riddle in haiku form, I believe):

Man and woman share
what love and lust share
inside perilous beauty.

[Evisse the Blue]

So Finwe guessed Luthien and Beren, but that is not correct.

[Finwe]

The most that I can get out of it is that men and women share something, just as love and lust share something. In this case, lust is a much stronger form of love, so women have to somehow be much stronger than men. Would it be the power of foresight, since mothers/women had more foresight into the fates of their children?

[Evisse the Blue]

No - I have to warn you you're going about it the wrong way; the first part is more of a 'lingustic' clue, as close as I could get to a cryptic clue. I hope that'll put you on the right track : )

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

I think I've got it . . . we'll see though, won't we?

Man and woman share the root word 'man'.

Man____

Love and lust inside perilous beauty both seem to share one thing in common at least - devotion. The Numenorean word for devotion is Wendil. Therefore, I'd say the answer to the CC is;

Manwendil: The second son of Elros, first of kings, brother of Elrond, and all-around good guy.

[Evisse the Blue]

Unbelievable, you got it right! gee, I hardly expected someone to get it so soon! i was hoping to have lots of fun with this! But hey -congrats! : )

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Wow, ever the actions must be atoned for. I answered it and it was fun . . . but now I guess I have to think something up.

Prayer for evil,
looking . . . staring down,
a persistent buzzing in mourning ears . . .
the lands were filled with dark rumor.

I hope it's not too bad. . .

[Finwe]

Is it Sauron?

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Nah, not Sauron. But definitely something on the dark side of things. Maybe a category style hint should have been given, so I'll give one just because I feel like it;

It's an Event, not a Character, Place, Thing.

This is sort of cryptic clueish, like the question I answered, but it's definitely a riddle.

[Evisse the Blue]

Is it the Battle of Unnumbered Tears?

[Finwe]

Dagor Bragollach?

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

A more personal event, more 'intimate' as a director would put it.

[Finwe]

Hmm...

The capture of Maedhros?

[Evisse the Blue]

is 'prayer for evil' the cryptic one?

Is it Hurin''s being bound on Thangorodrim and being made to watch all that happened to his family?

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Prayer for evil is most certainly the cryptic part . . .

Here's a hint; give some thought to 'mourning ears'.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

^translation: A nuclear missile submarine from its port.

Ahem.

Right. Is it the departure of Amandil for Valinor, attempting to be the second Earendil?

Prayer for evil reminds me of Sauron's human sacrifices "to" Melkor. But it's probably wrong. So you may lief ignore this post.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Long time . . . no replies. It won't hurt to say that the riddle comes from some of the most entrancing, engrossing, captivating, utterly hypnotizing portions of the Silmarillion.

[Finwe]

Could it be the Slaying of Thingol in Menegroth by the Dwarves?

[symestreem]

Hurin's twenty-eight years of captivity by Melkor?

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Morgoth showing Haudh-en-Ndengin to Húrin?

EDIT: Message icon. Don't ask.