[Mithalwen]

I have a feeling that I have misread that as "a hard life and long" for years but now I look at it it does seem a bit peculiar - if you use the substitution trick - the first thing that came to mind was "I have had a red sweater and a blue"...... then it seems clear that two separate thigs are referred to as opposed to I have had a red and blue sweater. Now obviously it is far more likely that my grammar is at fault than the Prof of Philology's but it still seems peculiar.