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Re: A project ? - revising the Fall of Gondolin
Overall, I agree with most of what you've done, jallanite. Good work. A few notes:
C01 - Migth we also consider making this into one balrog instead of deleting them entirely?
C09 - My understanding of CRT's note in 'Wanderings' is that he believes that the story of the Fire-drake waiting for them outside was abandoned, and replaced with a story where the Way of Escape somehow collapsed. I'm not sure if I agree with this, but we will have to agree with 'Wanderings'. Somehow the Way of Escape must be closed. But I don't see any indication that NO ONE tried to use the Way of Escape.
C10 - I think I'm missing something here. Why do we need to get rid of 'the plain was full of mists'?
C11 - I wonder if this addition is really necessary. I think it makes the prose slightly more awkward, though it's really pretty trivial.
C18 - If the fall of Gondolin occurred at midsummer, then a year and a half could pass before the arrival at Sirion. I think that gives us room to keep the year of wandering and the arrival at Nan-tathren the following summer.
C23 - I like this idea a lot, but I don't know if it's appropriate for this project. I suppose this is a matter for some consideration, and it bears on the question of our ultimate objective.
C25 - Same as above; though we know that the song should be here, I don't know if we should take the liberty of altering it.
C31 - I think this would be the best place to add the Elfstone. At any rate, it should be mentioned along with the Silmaril as a cause of prosperity.
C33 - Are the Mermaids really appropriate? I think this is one element we can be virtually certain would be removed.
C34 - This is good, if we assume that there are stylistic changes still to be made. Otherwise, I think the choppy, outline-style is inappropriate, and I'd suggest relying more on Q30 and QS77.
On the Eagles: I don't think it's necessary to change the role of the Eagles. True, they were dedicated to the protection of Gondolin; but I think this had more to do with killing the occasional Orc that came near it than with engaging in a full-scale battle. They didn't help in any other battle except the War of Wrath.
I agree with most of your changes to the alliterative fragment of Earendil and to the Horns of Ulmo; I personally like the idea of their being included, but I'm not sure if it's within the scope of the project.
On stylistic changes: I really think these are necessary. At the very least, we should eliminate the present tense that occasionally appears in the Lost Tales.
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