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Old 07-04-2018, 03:51 PM   #183
ArcusCalion
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Having looked at the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen again, I have found that it can be inserted into the last two chapters of my original outline. Looking again at the other three 'tales' (Battles of the Fords of Isen, Hunt for the Ring, and Quest for Erebor) I think perhaps that The Hunt for the Ring can also be included. However, this may result in strange tonal shifts where Frodo is named without any explanation and highly specific dates are given where before there were only years denoted. I am happy to leave it out, as I think it works well (along with the other three) as supplemental material to Lord of the Rings, and would not work as well if worked into the historical narrative. Even so, I thought we should discuss it, since we are coming to the end of the entire narrative of the History of Middle-earth.

Here are my thoughts on each 'tale':
1) The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen: This tale is told as a self-contained narrative, with a similar historical tone to Appendix A and the Silmarillion in general. Thus, it makes no unexplained references to events not inside the tale, and all characters are either introduced in the narrative, or have already been introduced in the Silmarillion as we've created it. Thus, to insert it into the main narrative is not difficult, and although it must be broken up into pieces to fit the chronology, it is not spread out very far and is easy to follow. Therefore I think it should be added into the main narrative.
2) The Quest for Erebor: This tale is told as a fist person narrative by Frodo about a conversation between Gimli, himself, Pippin, and Gandalf in Minas Tirith. Therefore, to insert it into the tale we would need to remove the authorial first person from the writing, as well as the very situation in which it is presented, which would cause it to lose a lot of its structure. It also references Pippin as a character without introducing him. Therefore I think it is ideal to leave this tale separate as an appendix.
3) The Hunt for the Ring: This tale is told as a historical narrative analyzing the movements of people over a span of a few months. It makes heavy use of specific dates (something almost unheard of in our narratives outside of the Atanatarion) as well as references characters like Frodo and the events of LotR without giving explanations. For instance, it assumes the reader knows the plot of LotR in that we know that Bilbo gave the ring to Frodo and that he was entrusted to carry it secretly to Rivendell, of which there is never made explicit mention, either in this narrative or in our own historical narrative. Therefore I think it would work ideally as an appendix, although it is possible to insert it, despite the odd references.
4) The Battles of the Fords of Isen: This tale is told assuming the reader already knows the events of LotR. It references specific movements of the characters, refers to 'the narrative' of LotR, and mentions many many characters without giving them any introduction. Thus, to include it into the main narrative would be very jarring and would have very little context, so I think it is better to keep it separate as an appendix.

Last edited by ArcusCalion; 07-04-2018 at 04:05 PM.
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