Talk:Middle-earth

The last entry in the revision history for this talk: is dated October 2, 2002. That's almost seven months ago. How about we just delete the whole kit and caboodle and start talk:ing from scratch? Smack 03:50 30 May 2003 (UTC)

Done and done. john 06:16 31 May 2003 (UTC)

Ah. Stan just got done telling me to copy and paste it into an archive file.

First of all, I want to organize the Characters list by Race. Of course, there would be a category for beings of dubious or uncertain race, such as the Nazgûl, but I think it would be useful.

Second, I want to create a page called Chronology of Middle-earth[?] or something to that effect (to distinguish it from the History of Middle-earth, which is a book). I'm not entirely sure what it would hold, because it does seem reasonable to have five separate pages for the Years of the Trees and the four Ages, but I'm sure we can come up with something.

Also, for someone who really, truly knows what's going on - is there such a thing as the Years of the Lamps, or is that time of history considered unimportant?

Try searching for "timeline" - there seem to be lots of articles that have it, either as separate articles or as sections. Or you could be stylish and call it "Tale of Years" :-) (but no, "timeline" is encyclopedically humorless). And there are "Years of the Lamps" but basically no info on how long it lasted (the absence of sun and moon making it difficult to tell time!) Stan 07:43 31 May 2003 (UTC)

Hmm, about the racial discrimination in the list of characters ;), a separate sub-list for half-elves, or put Elros with Men and Elrond with Elves? And what of Eärendil, if so? -- John Owens 07:50 31 May 2003 (UTC)

I think that the Half-elven should be listed with the races that they chose to belong to, with a little note that they are Half-elven. Eärendil seems to have opted for the Elder Kindred - he's still alive, isn't he?

Ah, Tolkien fans... ;)

OK, I have my copy of the Tolkien companion, and it's got dozens of pages just of history and timelines... let me dig up the ISBN so you can go grab a copy...

Crud, I lent it to a friend. Give me a few hours, I'll get you the ISBN number. This is official straight up stuff from Tolkien's notes and so forth, so it's reliable as a source. --Dante Alighieri 20:51 31 May 2003 (UTC)

Here's something interesting, it's almost like the Wikipedia, but it's for Middle-Earth: Encyclopedia of Arda (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/). Also, the name of my book is Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia by David Day. I have the hardcover, but it's available in paperback (ISBN 1857323467). --Dante Alighieri 09:11 1 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Yeah, that's the "competition" that Wikipedia should improve upon. When I add to a Wikipedia Tolkien article, I try to make sure that it has more and better detail than EoA. Now, how to get atmospheric backgrounds for just the Tolkien articles in Wikipedia?... 1/2 :-) Stan 13:24 1 Jun 2003 (UTC)

The difference between EoA and Wikipedia is that EoA is not a wiki. I think that we have at least as much information as EoA, even if that's just because we draw from more sources that contradict each other. Smack

Umm, you do know that there is a specifically Tolkien Wikipedia, right? http://www.thetolkienwiki.org/ It's an old version of the software, though; for instance, I can't seem to get it to accept my identity more than one session at a time. :p But it is Wiki, unlike the above. -- John Owens 09:11 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

No, I didn't know about it! I looked at it a bit - seems more concentrated on arcane points than anybody would want for a general encyclopedia, for instance by the extensive use of lengthy quotes. Stan 12:56 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

And it's much, much too small to do that. Gotta have the basics covered before you can start talking about whether Balrogs have wings (EoA) (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/balrogs.htm). Smack