Enchanted Stream

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

But Tolkien himself says that there were more things that he has written about! So that fits.

Yes, he did say that, but we don't know what he had in mind for those creatures that were in his head, but he didn't tell us about.

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

And for multiple River-daughters, well, I always thought about it that way that she was just one of many daughters of her own mother, and in any case, if we take her mother as a real character, as specifically said especially in the Adventures of Tom Bombadil, that would imply that there is just a "race", we could say, of these river-sprites, who procreate and therefore one could assume there being more of them.

I've certainly heard of nymphs and sprites like that in other stories. My interpretion of 'River-daughter' has been that Goldberry was 'the daughter of the River', the river being the Withywindle specifically, and that she was attached to that place in Middle-earth. Tom said he 'found' her at that particular river, so it seems clear she was connected to it somehow. That could indeed fit the criteria for her being a sprite or something similar. Or maybe she was a daughter of another Maia. Yes, I know. The tendancy to go back to the Maia well for explanations can be tiring.

I've always seen Goldberry and Tom as both being unique in Middle-earth, a matched pair, and without further evidence in the books, there being a race of similar beings is difficult for me to accept. As much as we do get to hear of legends and myths held by the denizens of ME, I just have to think there would be a mention of other Golberries somewhere if they were around. I have the Adventures lying around here somewhere, but it's been missing for quite a while, and I don't remember the reference you cite.