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Old 08-07-2001, 02:58 PM   #75
Aiwendil
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Miscellaneous comments

Well, it's certainly been quiet here lately.

Elemmakil/Ecthelion
The question is: who replaced the captain of the Guard from the Lost Tales, Elemmakil or Ecthelion? I would submit that it was Elemmakil, though the question obviously does not have so simple an answer. There are points in favor of each:

1. Ecthelion is clearly the highest ranking Noldo in the scene; the captain of the Guard in LT is likewise the highest ranking Noldo on the scene. However:

2. a. Elemmakil is referred to as 'captain of the guard' and
b. Ecthelion already existed when the LT was written; he is therefore clearly NOT the same person as the captain of the guard from LT. 'Elemmakil' could easily be the name of that person, though.

I think overall, 2 is the stronger argument. This is probably a matter for a vote, though.

Elemmacil vs. Elemmakil
We should probably lay down some kind of guideline for all c vs. k issues. We clearly (I think) intend on keeping Melkor and Tulkas, whereas I think we equally clearly intend on replacing Menelmakar with Menelmacar, for instance. Elemmacil/Elemmakil falls somewhere in between; Elemmacil is, as far as I know, unattested, but it does seem likely that it would have changed.

Further names to consider
Just a few stray thoughts on some names not covered by jallanite's (very thorough) list:

Othrod, Balcmeg, Lug, and Orcobal: These are the names of Orcs slain in the battle. It seems inadvisable to tamper with them, but I think they do need a little a thought. First of all, what language are they? 'Othrod' and 'Lug' do not appear in the name-list for the Fall of Gondolin. 'Lug' certainly sounds Orcish rather than Elven, and Othrod has no likely Elvish etymology save perhaps oth + rod = 'round cave'! However, Balcmeg and Orcobal are given in the List, and seem to be Gnomish. It seems unlikely that four Orc names given in such proximity would be given so inconsistently that some are in Orcish and some in Gnomish (Sindarin).

So, we have two choices here: try to update 'Balcmeg' and 'Orcobal' into later Sindarin, and assume that 'Lug' and 'Othrod' are given inconsistently in Orcish; or leave all four names exactly as they are, and assume either that they are all Orcish, or that there are fairly bizarre Sindarin etymologies for them that we can't even guess at. I'd probably favor the latter, but it needs thought.

Dramborleg: The name of Tuor's axe, said to mean &quot;Thudder-sharp&quot;. There seems to be no later Sindarin etymology for it, though. Should we keep the name, assuming an unknown etymology, or delete it? (This problem is similar to that of 'Rog').

One final, very miscellaneous, idea: just after Tuor reaches the Square of the Folkwell, in the paragraph beginning, &quot;There were the scatterlings . . .&quot;, there is mention of oak and poplar trees. As far as I can tell, this is the only mention of these trees in the tale. The Tuor outline in UT mentions mounds of mallorns, birches, and evergreens, but CRT notes that mallorns were never elsewhere connected with Gondolin. Hence, I am extremely tempted to replace 'oaks and poplars' with 'mallorns and birches', though this is of course extremely dubious.


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