Riddles in the Downs

[Urwen]

Red for fire, burning fierce
From forge to raging final cost.

Well, if these lines don't mean either Feanor or Maedhros, then what could they mean...?

Orodruin, perhaps...?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Red for fire, burning fierce
From forge to raging final cost.

Well, if these lines don't mean either Feanor or Maedhros, then what could they mean...?

Orodruin, perhaps...?

"For" does not mean what you think it does in this line (or the other comparable ones).

hS

[Urwen]

What else could it mean then? Some other meaning in another language?

[Urwen]

Oh, wait, something is nagging at my brain...

And I think I know what it is, thanks to your explanation of 'silver for gold' line to mean 'silver for Finarfin', and there is only one silver in Finarfin's life, his spouse. Feanor's spouse happened to have red hair, and Fingolfin's had black hair, presumably. But then, what was the choice? I know that all three chose to stay in Aman. Would that be the 'choice' you are talking about?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Oh, wait, something is nagging at my brain...

And I think I know what it is, thanks to your explanation of 'silver for gold' line to mean 'silver for Finarfin', and there is only one silver in Finarfin's life, his spouse. Feanor's spouse happened to have red hair, and Fingolfin's had black hair, presumably. But then, what was the choice? I know that all three chose to stay in Aman. Would that be the 'choice' you are talking about?

Correct! Red(dish)-haired* Nerdanel for - ie, marrying - Feanor, (probably) black-haired Anaire for Fingolfin, and silver-haired (per UT) Earwen for Finarfin. They each chose their spouses separately, but they all chose the same fate: to stay in Aman while their husbands and children departed.

Over to you!

hS

*Technically Nerdanel has brown hair - I think according to the Shibboleth - but I take that to be a reddish-brown or russet.

[Urwen]

I like that riddle. And now here is the one of my own


The sorrow of the Elves is they live beyond their time
Until the world forgets them, save in tales and rhyme
The sorrow of the Elves is that all they love must die
Time withers all about them, yet the Elves it passes by
The sorrow of the Elves made them seek another place
And I alone remain, on these shores, I am the last of my lost race
Now I, alone, remain to mourn and count the cost
Of wars fought and lives lost
The sorrow now is mine, and it cannot heal,
For how long will the pain remain real
And how long must I bear the stamp of sorrow’s seal?

[Huinesoron]

I keep coming back to this in the hopes of finding an answer that's not the obvious, but...

... is it just Maglor?

hS