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Old 11-13-2003, 02:58 PM   #27
lindil
Seeker of the Straight Path
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: a hidden fastness in Big Valley nor cal
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Sting

We have brushed alongside this issue before, at the end of the principles thread, most recently, unless I missed something.

It is truly thorny. As Aiwendil pointed out the Fall of Gondolin was attempting to restore a compressed story with older directly related uncompressed material. The group has to function essentially as an updater/outdated-eliminator if you will.

The issue with adding to works like the Valaquenta from older non-directly related sources is very different.

IN the Valaquenta and anything else JRRT expanded upon or revised in the post LotR period, we can take that as a sort of last word as long as it does not contradict other established things. But I know I paused whether to add the Q37 reference to the horn of Salmar to a mention of the festival of the valar preceding the attack on the Trees.

JRRT had already in the 50's greatly expanded upon On the Darkening of valinor, and to drag
bits [interesting though they are] back in seems over bold in some senses, especially when we do not know why it was left out.

Adding so in the cases where JRRT clearly decompressed in the 50's and on, what are we to do?

For now I suggest 2 versions, with the Version #1 being primary and #2 optional:


#1 -In this primary version we always treat 'finished products' as wholes. Do not add ealier material to the 'primary version. Later material can be added to update any in accuracies. So, for example, Shibboleth could [in theory] be used to update any of the earlier material.

Thus we would NOT find a scrap from the 30's to put into 'Laws and Customs' or the 'Osanwe-Kenta' or 'Quendi and Eldar'. That sort of attempt would go into version #2

#2 - Where all is fair game anything can be moved from backwards forwards, so my example of the name of Salmar's horn would work, as would adding old details from say the Lay version of the Narn into the Narn.


If 2 comes into existence at all, it would depend on a given members willingness to do the work needed to try and bring it into the work under discussion.

This topic should probably have it's own thread if it grows at all.
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