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Old 02-27-2005, 06:55 AM   #3
Estelyn Telcontar
Princess of Skwerlz
 
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles)
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Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!Estelyn Telcontar has reached the Cracks of Doom and destroyed the Ring!
This is an interesting question, Makar! The word sounded so strange and unfamiliar to me at first glance that I thought it was another of those D&D type game inventions. However, looking it up in my Index to HoME, I found that it refers to The Book of Lost Tales (HoME I and II). In an early version of the Legendarium, Tolkien used the word. In BoLT 1, CRRT's notes at the end of the chapter 'Gilfanon's Tale':
Quote:
This might be thought to be a name for the Kaukareldar or 'false-fairies', but in the Gnomish word-list Gong is defined as 'one of a tribe of the Orcs, a goblin'.
In BoLT 2, there are a few usages of the name and another note at the end of the chapter 'The History of Eriol or Aelfwine':
Quote:
Gongs: these are evil beings obscurely related to Orcs.
Since the word is not used in any later versions of the stories, it appears to have been rejected by JRRT; however, the 'Gongs' are a genuine invention of his!
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'
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