Riddles in the Downs

[Urwen]

Faramir as the speaker?


Hurin, Morwen, Rian, Turin, Turgon, and Finduilas are all in his ancestry, which counts for six people who share the name with first age characters. He lost Boromir, and he has a son.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Faramir as the speaker?

Yep! Faramir it is. (The son is named as Elboron in unpublished material, but at any rate we know he had descendants, which is the important thing.)

Boromir and Finduilas are correct, but not the others, or rather not for the reasons you're suggesting.

[Urwen]

I believe I edited that post to include my explanation.

[Nerwen]

Yes, and I edited mine to reflect your edit.

So, it's like this, Urwen: you guessed the actual answer, so you get to set the next one- however, you haven't worked out all the reasoning yet. Do you want me to explain it, or would you like to keep guessing?

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Yes, and I edited mine to reflect your edit.

So, it's like this, Urwen: you guessed the actual answer, so you get to set the next one- however, you haven't worked out all the reasoning yet. Do you want me to explain it, or would you like to keep guessing?

I will keep guessing, however, if it's not explained correctly by this time tomorrow, I'll take the riddle.

[Nerwen]

Okay.

Hint: Boromir, obviously, is Faramir's "beloved sibling lost"... but there is no First Age Boromir at all, so...?

[Urwen]

So how about this


Boromir - beloved sibling lost, his name means 'beloved jewel', if I remember correctly


Finduilas - The like-named maiden


Denethor - The one who died in a fire


Eowyn - The golden girl woken from sleep (and she could also be the monster slayer, in case the guess below doesn't work)



Merry - The Monster slayer


The faithful warden - Bergil


The one trapped on rock - Beregond (gond means rock)


The 'stern one hiding grief' could also refer to Denethor.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

So how about this


Boromir - beloved sibling lost, his name means 'beloved jewel', if I remember correctly


Finduilas - The like-named maiden


Denethor - The one who died in a fire


Eowyn - The golden girl woken from sleep (and she could also be the monster slayer, in case the guess below doesn't work)



Merry - The Monster slayer


The faithful warden - Bergil


The one trapped on rock - Beregond (gond means rock)


The 'stern one hiding grief' could also refer to Denethor.

Almost all correct, including the fact that some characters appear twice- and you've identified all of them.

I may as well give you the whole thing, or rather Faramir's half of it:

The one trapped on a rock -Finduilas of Dol Amroth, who "withered in the guarded city, as a flower of the seaward vales set upon a barren rock."
The beloved sibling lost -Boromir.
The one who died by fire -Denethor.
The like-named maiden -Finduilas, again.
The stern one, hiding grief -Denethor, again.
The gold girl, waked from sleep -Éowyn.
The monster-slayer -Éowyn, again.
And the faithful warden. -Beregond.

[Huinesoron]

Well done, Urwen!

Eowyn's grandmother is named Morwen, and I note that Finduilas of Dol Amroth is the younger sister to Ivriniel, which is a name derived from the same source as Faelivrin; what I'm getting at is that Finduilas and her sister were both named for the same person ('like-named').

... okay. If Boromir and Finduilas are correct, that makes 8 (since neither of them had been previously mentioned); so we have the full list somewhere.

Guesses before the 6/8:

• On a rock - Maedhros, Hurin
• Beloved sibling - Lalaith
• Died by fire - Aerin
• Like-named - Arien, Rian (stated to be wrong)
• Stern - Morwen
• Gold - Nienor Niniel
• Monster-slayer - Turin
• Warden - Mablung, Huor

I think #4 has to be Finduilas - we know she's a correct answer, and I don't think she fits anywhere else (plus we don't have a valid answer there). And #2 is confirmed as Boromir (who is named after Boromir, 1st Lord of Ladros, great-grandson of Beor, thank you very much ).

Hurin the Tall was Warden of the Keys during the War of the Ring; Faramir would have known him in his childhood.

hS

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Well done, Urwen!

Eowyn's grandmother is named Morwen, and I note that Finduilas of Dol Amroth is the younger sister to Ivriniel, which is a name derived from the same source as Faelivrin; what I'm getting at is that Finduilas and her sister were both named for the same person ('like-named').

... okay. If Boromir and Finduilas are correct, that makes 8 (since neither of them had been previously mentioned); so we have the full list somewhere.

Guesses before the 6/8:

• On a rock - Maedhros, Hurin
• Beloved sibling - Lalaith
• Died by fire - Aerin
• Like-named - Arien, Rian (stated to be wrong)
• Stern - Morwen
• Gold - Nienor Niniel
• Monster-slayer - Turin
• Warden - Mablung, Huor

I think #4 has to be Finduilas - we know she's a correct answer, and I don't think she fits anywhere else (plus we don't have a valid answer there). And #2 is confirmed as Boromir (who is named after Boromir, 1st Lord of Ladros, great-grandson of Beor, thank you very much ).

Hurin the Tall was Warden of the Keys during the War of the Ring; Faramir would have known him in his childhood.

hS

And this list, also, is nearly all correct. In fact, you're only missing one person.

But... how can this be???

[Nerwen]

My apologies to Boromir of Ladros... but clearly I couldn't have been thinking of him, could I?