Riddles in the Downs

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Now, let's see... the talk of "harming" and "filling souls with fear" suggests something bad... but perhaps Urwen is being sneaky.

So perhaps it's the sword Glamdring, addressing the Great Goblin?

You and your companions are alarmed
Your soul is filled with fear -all the goblins in the cavern were freaking out
Only you shall be harmed
By me, ere I disappear. -Gandalf bisected the Great Goblin, before sheathing his sword.

No. The weapon in question actually disappears. As in, the majority of it ceases to exist. It is mentioned in one of Third age books.

[Nerwen]

Ah, then I think we're back to Weathertop, and it's the Morgul-blade that wounds Frodo?

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Ah, then I think we're back to Weathertop, and it's the Morgul-blade that wounds Frodo?

That's the one.

[Nerwen]

Dear me, what a lot of weapon-themed riddles we've had lately!

Anyway-

From the first descended
To one of the first I cleave.
That which my name resembles
My heirs will never need.

[Urwen]

Orcrist aka Biter aka Goblin Cleaver?

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Orcrist aka Biter aka Goblin Cleaver?

After I'd just guessed Glamdring? No.

"Cleave" is a funny word, almost a riddle in itself. "What word means its own opposite"?

[Urwen]

Anguirel?

[Nerwen]

No.

[Urwen]

Dragon-helm of Dor-Lomin?

From the first descended
To one of the first I cleave. - Maedhros, then Fingon, and then the house of Hador
That which my name resembles
My heirs will never need. - Glaurung the dragon

[Nerwen]

No. I get the reasoning, but if it was that I wouldn't have used "one of the first" to designate anyone from the second House of the Edain... and then, how does the Dragon-helm have "heirs"?

[Urwen]

From the first descended - From Barahir, the first bearer
To one of the first I cleave. - to Beren, a member of the first house, and the first man to marry an Elf
That which my name resembles - One Ring
My heirs will never need. - Aragorn

[Nerwen]

That's pretty good. Not the answer, though.

[Nerwen]

I should warn you that this one is less than serious and that the solution involves some rather silly word-play. The subject, meanwhile, isn't as well known as any of your suggestions, but has been brought up recently.

[Urwen]

Imrazor? He pretty much cleaved to one of the first-born (Mithrellas), he descended from Beren, the first mortal to marry an Elf, and his name resembles that of Er-Murazor, a non-canon name of Witch-King.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Imrazor? He pretty much cleaved to one of the first-born (Mithrellas) and his name resembles that of Er-Murazor, a non-canon name of Witch-King.

Imrazor is indeed the answer, but you've only got part of the explanation.

So-

From the first descended
To one of the first I cleave. Family were "first settlers", and he married an Elf. Okay.

But-

That which my name resembles
My heirs will never need. -As I said, wordplay is involved. And it may be silly, but it's perfectly canonical.

What don't Imrazor's heirs need?

Edit: I'm not sure if Imrazor could trace descent from Beren or not, though I guess it's not unlikely, but what I was thinking of was that his family had settled in Middle-earth before the Downfall.

[Urwen]

A razor?

Because Im-Razor

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

A razor?

Because Im-Razor

That's it! Like I said, silly wordplay. Over to you.

[Urwen]

In Blessed Lands I came to be
Yet I left them behind
Abandoned we were
In our hour of need

Through impossible odds
We finally arrived on these shores
Where darkness dwelt
We won't forget

A binding oath
A promise to be kept
Those things spurred me on
To the place where darkness slept

They picked us off as time passed
They wanted to save me for last
But I couldn't let him die
So now I say goodbye

[Nerwen]

It... it can't be Fingon again... can it?

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

It... it can't be Fingon again... can it?

Nope, not Fingon, but still a Fin.

[Nerwen]

Actually, I was just kidding- but now it occurs to me that the answer might fact be Fingon's cousin Finrod.

Edit: and that was before you edited in "still a Fin", but thanks anyway.

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Actually, I was just kidding- but now it occurs to me that the answer might fact be Fingon's cousin Finrod.

Edit: and that was before you edited in "still a Fin", but thanks anyway.

Yes, it's Finrod, the goodiest goody-two-shoes who ever did good in Beleriand

(and the greatest wingman of the greatest couple too, but don't tell him I've said that)

[Nerwen]

Explanation-

In Blessed Lands I came to be
Yet I left them behind
Abandoned we were
In our hour of need

Through impossible odds
We finally arrived on these shores
Where darkness dwelt
We won't forget -Flight of the Noldor, burning of the ships, passage over the Helcaraxë.

A binding oath
A promise to be kept -The oath he swore to Barahir.
Those things spurred me on
To the place where darkness slept -Tol-in-Gaurhoth.

They picked us off as time passed -wolves ate the prisoners one by one (just like in a certain game).
They wanted to save me for last
But I couldn't let him die
So now I say goodbye -Finrod, left for last, killed the wolf that came for Beren but was mortally wounded.

Edit: okay, I won't, then.

[Urwen]

By the power vested in me by the Wrench, I yield the turn to thee.

[Nerwen]

All hail the mighty Wrench!

Poison's son
In sunless place
Under his mother
Poison faced.

[Urwen]

Bilbo is literally poison's son, so he is my first guess.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Bilbo is literally poison's son, so he is my first guess.

Very good! Bilbo, son of Belladonna, is the answer. Can you explain the rest of it?

[Urwen]

Well, sunless place probably refers to Mirkwood/Moria, but as for the rest of it, nothing comes to mind.....

[Nerwen]

There's more than one play on the name "Belladonna".

[Urwen]

The only other meanings I could find are 'deadly nightshade' and 'beautiful lady'. Now, nightshade could refer to 'sunless place'

[Nerwen]

Well, then... the place in question has more than one name... and it can't be Moria, since he was never there... so...?

[Urwen]

Did nightshade grow on the Misty Mountains?

[Urwen]

Ah-Hah. One of the names of Mirkwood is 'Forest Under Deadly Nightshade'.

[Nerwen]

And what kind of poisonous threat did Bilbo encounter in Mirkwood, aka Taur-nu-Fuin, the Forest under Nightshade?

[Urwen]

Spiders.

[Nerwen]

Yep! Attercops galore!

Your turn.

[Galadriel55]

Not la familia again? Except if so they are out of order for both birth and death.

The first one - Lalaith, laughter, the happy sibling who died in childhood.

The second one - Turin, carrying the curse, who will also defeat Morgoth.

The third one - Nienor, who threw herself into Teiglin.

[Urwen]

You replied too early.....I was in the process of scrapping that riddle.

ETA: Actually, whatever. You answered the most important part of both the scrapped version and the new version I was about to make, so you can go.

The new version, for posterity's sake:

I am the Wrestler
A prelude to defeat
To weaken the enemy
So he could be beat

I am the Champion
Of light
I will arise again
Against the darkness I will fight

I'm the Breaker
And I shall pay the cost
In order to restore
That which was lost

(If you want to solve this one as a bonus challenge, you're more than welcome to try, but the turn is yours regardless.)

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Urwen

You replied too early.....I was in the process of scrapping that riddle.

ETA: Actually, whatever. You answered the most important part of both the scrapped version and the new version I was about to make, so you can go.

Well, let's solve the new one anyway. I feel like the middle paragraph (Champion) still refers to Turin, but the other ones are less obvious.

[Urwen]

Yes, the middle one is still Turin.