3 + 9, x (7+12) Divided by Eleventy-one... oh dear

[Angry Hill Troll]

On a more serious (and slightly more related) note... there were eight palantirs!?! Are you sure? I always thought... "seven stars, seven stones, one white tree". Did I miss out on something?

Well, seven or eight palantiri could be considered canonical. In the Palantiri section of UT, CT notes that in some of his father's manuscripts on the subject, it is mentioned that there is a Master Stone in Tol Eressëa. Presumably this was used by the elves to communicate with the Faithful of Númenor. Also, since it was Fëanor who made the palantiri, and having seven sons, it seems logical that he would have had one for himself as a sort of family intercom system.

But, CT mentions that in other of JRRT's manuscripts, there is no mention of the Master Stone. So it's back to the old question of which unpublished manuscript which Tolkien left should be considered Canonical. In any event only 7 palantiri ever came to Middle-earth.