[Pervinca Took]

Sorry for the delay. I think the website was down for a short time, and then I was too busy to look in.

I think that between you you've guessed them all, but I'll go through them one by one.

Originally Posted by Ardent

Is it Fundin? Funding loses the G to become Balin's father.

Perfectly correct.

Odo (Proudfoot) + R (Radagast's initial) + ruin (destruction) = Orodruin (where both Smeagol and Sauron finally fell).
Not sure where the erstwhile comrade comes into this though unless it's a reference to the kinship of the Hobbits and Smeagol's people.

Correct answer. As for the reasoning:

Odo, as you rightly point out, is a palindromic hobbit name (the only other hobbit palindrome I know of is Bob, one of Barliman's assistants). You are correct about mingling this with Radagast's initial and joining it with "ruin."

ERSTWHILE COMRADE / ODO:

It was a different Odo that I had in mind.

- Orodruin was where FRODO finally fell to the power of the Ring.
- ODO was the prototype of MERRY in the early drafts of LOTR, where FRODO was the prototype of PIPPIN.
- So Frodo was the erstwhile comrade of Odo, either because Odo was the comrade of Bingo, the character who became Frodo, or because Odo was the comrade of Frodo, who started as Pippin but became the Frodo of the final, finished LOTR.

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Ah well I stymied myself thinking of pubs in Gondor (not a fruitful search) but with that encouragement I wonder if it is Gondolin which sounds like Gondal-inn.. and the fall of which is an Unfinished Tale?

Indeed! Gondal Inn sounds the same as Gondolin. "Unfinished demise" because Tolkien never finished the Fall of Gondolin.

And now I am in sound alike mode, I will try Rath Dinen for 3 Wrath and din, Rath dinen means IIRC the Silent Street but I can't quite get the last clause to fit.

3. We hear anger and noise in the quiet place, but note the direction.

Your answer is correct. Rath Dinen is the Silent Street, and hence the quiet place. "Rath" sounds like "wrath" and "din" is "noise." Then add a note - E - and a direction - N.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

4. Lathspell - halt mixed up and a spell (as in spell of bad weather) for a title that's not that false if you think about it.

Correct. "For a spell" means "for a while," although perhaps the phrase had its origin in weather terms. And Gandalf does often bring bad news, so one could argue that the moniker is just, even if it does seem mean (and is meant very meanly).

All of which gives us:

FUNDIN - Finance loses note for the father of a lord.
ORODRUIN - Palindromic hobbit mingled initially with Radagast, before meeting destruction at the place where his erstwhile comrade finally fell.
RATH DINEN - We hear anger and noise in the quiet place, but note the direction.
LATHSPELL - Stop around a while for an (arguably) unjust moniker.
OIN - All-Father loses note for a debt-ridden dwarf (we hear).
NOBOTTLE - Teetotal Shire village.
GONDOLIN - A hostelry from Brontë country, we hear, inspired an unfinished demise.

As I like composing cryptic clues, I actually have another couple of password puzzles all ready. Would you like me to post one of them, or would one of the winners like to do the next one?