a SURVEY - if you can spare a moment

[lindil]

I think I overstated the case re: the '4th age loremaster' bit. What I was really getting at is that of a 'guide/enyclo.' written from a position of knowledge equivalent to that of a loremaster of the 4th Age, not from a fictional perspective that would be an 'active fictional perspective'.

Sorry for the confusion Bill.

There will inevitably be some things included in the entries such as Valinorean info on Gandalf, that won't be able to be explained very well by saying, Galadriel told Arwen and Arwen told Frodo that Olorin used to hang out in the Halls of Lamentation.

Many things such as that will be presented instead as if a the books we have [minus the many conflicting versions ]were more or less in the hands of the those in M-E who compiled it.

The main entries will as far as possible have an 'written from within M-E' perspective. While the sub-entries at the foot of the main entries will be in essence a summarizing of CJRT's HoME and UT notes. The mythological notes will also obviously be from a non-ME perspective.

Would there be more of how the character was created? (i.e. the picture on the postcard that Tolkien describes as the "origin of Gandalf"?)

Beren, I thought about that very point, but as interesting as it is, it feels very strange to me to go there. It could happen but i think alot of the more biogrphical and analytical books on the Prof. cover that kind of thing better.

[ February 22, 2003: Message edited by: lindil ]