Riddles in the Downs

[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?

[Urwen]

Take a crack at this one


I had love once, I've had joy
I've had everything I needed
And now I realize, that at that moment
I should've done as they had asked

I'm no hero
No songs will sing about me or mine
I am the one who started it all
For better or for worse

I've wanted revenge
I've wanted what should be mine
Yet in the end I got neither
Instead I got to die

It's too late now
And I can't go back
For I've given up everything
So I could have this one thing


I would say 'good luck', but you don't need it, and you'll probably give the answer soon.

[Huinesoron]

Moving on to this one:

Originally Posted by Urwen

Take a crack at this one


I had love once, I've had joy
I've had everything I needed
And now I realize, that at that moment
I should've done as they had asked

I'm no hero
No songs will sing about me or mine
I am the one who started it all
For better or for worse

I've wanted revenge
I've wanted what should be mine
Yet in the end I got neither
Instead I got to die

It's too late now
And I can't go back
For I've given up everything
So I could have this one thing


I would say 'good luck', but you don't need it, and you'll probably give the answer soon.

'No songs' &c is ringing a faint bell, but I'm not sure it's a Tolkien bell.

A lot of this has a Gollum feel to it, but of course, he did get what he wanted in the end.

hS

[Huinesoron]

One last post from me for Nerwen's:

Uh-oh.

So... is Faramir talking to Turin Turambar? They are both of the House of Hurin (they 'share a name'), and Turin has people that fit in all those slots, like Faramir.

• On a rock - Hurin
• Beloved sibling - Lalaith
• Died by fire - Aerin
• Like-named - Finduilas
• Stern - Morwen
• Gold - Nienor Niniel
• Monster-slayer - Beleg, who killed a whole bunch of wolves to save Turin.
• Warden - Mablung, who after losing Morwen and Nienor devoted his life to finding them.

But though Turin's line died out, as Faramir says, "I have a son..."

hS

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

One last post from me for Nerwen's:

Uh-oh.

So... is Faramir talking to Turin Turambar? They are both of the House of Hurin (they 'share a name'), and Turin has people that fit in all those slots, like Faramir.

• On a rock - Hurin
• Beloved sibling - Lalaith
• Died by fire - Aerin
• Like-named - Finduilas
• Stern - Morwen
• Gold - Nienor Niniel
• Monster-slayer - Beleg, who killed a whole bunch of wolves to save Turin.
• Warden - Mablung, who after losing Morwen and Nienor devoted his life to finding them.

But though Turin's line died out, as Faramir says, "I have a son..."

hS

Exactly right (except Túrin himself is the "monster-slayer"- remember I said some characters appear twice and Beleg the "faithful warden").

Well done, both of you! (Edit: and Pervinca, who guessed most of the Túrin answers immediately).

[Galadriel55]

Ohh, so "we" is Faramir and Turin Turambar? I was confused about what tied the characters together. They actually do share a lot of character names among related people. That's a very clever observation and riddle!