[continued from previous message]   
      
   revealed their existence by mentioning "the rods of the Five Wizards"   
   in /The Two Towers/.   
      
      In another passage, Tolkien gives other names for the Blue Wizards,   
   "Morinehtar" and "Romestamo" ("Darkness-slayer" and "East-helper"), and   
   suggests that the Blue Wizards came to Middle-earth in the Second Age   
   (much earlier than the other Istari) in the company of Glorfindel (for   
   which possibility see question III.B.7).  In this writing, he is   
   considerably more optimistic about their success:   
      
      They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second   
      Age and Third Age in weakening and disarraying the forces of East   
      ...	who would both in the Second Age and Third Age otherwise have   
      ...	outnumbered the West.   
   -------   
      
   8. Who was aware that a Balrog lived in Moria?   
      
      Sauron almost certainly knew of the Balrog, at least through his   
   Orcs and very possibly more directly.  The Dwarves knew that "Durin's   
   Bane" was still in Moria when Dain saw it inside the gate at the battle   
   of Azanulbizar, but they may not have known what it was: at the Council   
   of Elrond, Gloin calls it simply "the nameless fear."   
      
      In "Lothlorien", Celeborn tells the Fellowship, "We long have feared   
   that under Caradhras a terror slept."  This indicates that he wasn't   
   sure anything was there, and suggests that he did not know the nature   
   of the "terror".  Similarly, in "The Bridge of Khazad-dum", Gandalf   
   clearly does not know what to expect: after confronting the Balrog   
   through the door of the Chamber of Mazarbul, he says, "what it was I   
   cannot guess".  When the company finally sees it, he says, "A Balrog.   
   Now I understand."  If neither Gandalf nor Celeborn knew of its   
   presence, it seems unlikely that any of the White Council did.   
   -------   
      
   9. Did Elves and Dwarves generally get along?   
      
      In general, Elves and Dwarves were allies against Morgoth and   
   Sauron.  However, their attitudes toward each other seem to have varied   
   substantially at different times and places.  In some cases, they were   
   great friends, while in others they viewed each other with substantial   
   mistrust.  There are indications of the latter in the Sindarin/Silvan   
   kingdoms at the time of the War of the Ring, while something   
   approaching the former held in Rivendell, where Gloin and Gimli were   
   warmly welcomed.   
      
      Opinions on the frequency of each attitude cover the entire   
   spectrum.  When Bilbo first meets Elves in /The Hobbit/ ("A Short   
   Rest"), we read that "They were elves of course. ...Dwarves don't get   
   on well with them", but that statement is certainly a broad   
   generalization.  One of the more direct statements on the issue can be   
   found in the introduction to the Second Age in Appendix B of LotR:   
      
      The Noldor were great craftsmen and less unfriendly to the Dwarves   
      than the Sindar; but the friendship that grew up between the people   
      of Durin and the Elven-smiths of Eregion was the closest that there   
      has ever been between the two races.   
      
   In general, this passage seems to imply that unfriendliness between   
   Elves and Dwarves was common and that true friendship between them was   
   relatively rare.  However, it also demonstrates that such friendships   
   did exist.   
   -------   
      
   10. Where was the Ring when Numenor was destroyed?   
      
   [This updates question V.E.3 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.]   
      
      This question is answered in detail in Letter #211.  Tolkien says   
   that when Sauron was taken to Numenor as a prisoner, "he naturally had   
   the One Ring".  He goes on to say that at the time of the Akallabeth,   
   "Though reduced to 'a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind', I do not   
   think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon   
   which his power of dominating minds now largely depended."  We know   
   that Sauron could (eventually) rebuild a physical body even in spirit   
   form, so carrying the Ring to safety seems plausible as well.  (In   
   fact, the Valar and Maiar must have used this sort of ability to shape   
   the world in the first place.)   
      
      A passage from "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" in /The   
   Silmarillion/ is sometimes cited as evidence that, contrary to the   
   statements above, Sauron left the Ring in Mordor before going to   
   Numenor.  In that essay, after Sauron returned to Middle-earth and   
   rebuilt his body, "He took up again the great Ring".  However, this is   
   not a contradiction: according to the Oxford English Dictionary, one   
   definition of "take up" is   
      
      c. With special obj., implying a purpose of using in some way: as,   
      to take up one's pen, to proceed or begin to write; to take up a   
      book (i.e. with the purpose to read); to take up the (or one's)   
      cross (see CROSS n. 4, 10): to take up ARMS, [etc.]   
      
   Some have also argued that Ar-Pharazon would have demanded that Sauron   
   give him the Ring, but (again in Letter #211) Tolkien says that "I do   
   not think Ar-Pharazon knew anything about the One Ring."   
   -------   
      
   11. Who was the oldest inhabitant of Middle-earth?   
      
      The answer depends on exactly what the question means.  Below are   
   listed a number of possible answers (as of the end of the Third Age),   
   starting from the oldest.   
      
      1. Eru Iluvatar, the Creator... but he never inhabited Ea itself.   
      
      2. The Ainur (including Sauron, Gandalf, etc.): they existed before   
          the Music that gave Middle-earth form.   
      
      3. Tom Bombadil.  In addition to his direct claim that he is   
          "Eldest" (confirmed at the Council of Elrond), he says that he   
          "was here before the river and the trees", and that he   
          "remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn".  If he is   
          one of the Ainur, this implies that he was the first of them to   
          enter Middle-earth; if not, it probably means he was the first   
          "native" inhabitant.   
      
      4. Some trees in Fangorn (and maybe elsewhere): Treebeard says that   
          in some parts of his forest, "the trees are older than I am."   
      
      5. Treebeard.  Gandalf tells Theoden that he is "the eldest and   
          chief of the Ents, and when you speak with him you will hear the   
          speech of the oldest of all living things." (Given #4, Gandalf   
          must actually mean something like "speaking living things", and   
          given #2 and #3 he must be using a specific definition of   
          "living".)   
      
   If any of the Fathers of the Dwarves were alive (having been   
   "reincarnated"), they might fall between #4 and #5.  As any living Elf   
   would certainly be one of Gandalf's "living things", all of them must   
   be younger than Treebeard.  (Although the Ents awoke only after the   
   Elves, this does not prove that none of the "First Elves" remained   
   alive: Treebeard could conceivably have existed as a normal tree before   
   awakening as an Ent.)   
      
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------   
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------   
      
   IV. EXTERNAL RESOURCES   
      
      While this FAQ is intended to provide a complete introduction to   
   discussions of Tolkien and his works online, there is clearly far more   
   information available than could be recorded in a single document.   
   Some frequently asked questions require a more substantial answer that   
   could possibly be given here.  In this section are collected a few   
   resources that address such questions.  (Only resources that address   
   specific questions asked frequently in the newsgroups are included   
   here: this is not an attempt to list all of the excellent Tolkien web   
   sites in existence.)   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)