Suggestions and collaboration

A curated collection of some of halfir's many contributions to the Tolkien scholarship on the Plaza.
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Master Torturer
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Welcome to the halfirian archive!

This is an ongoing archive, which is augmented if and when individuals provide html pages of threads. In the meanwhile we are attempting to list and link Old Plaza posts accessible on the internet archive's WayBackMachine, which will provide the raw materials for New Plaza html archive pages.

So let's get digging!

Also please ask any questions or give suggestions in here as well, thanks!

Guardian of the Golden Wood
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Best wishes to all and sundry (the latter those who come in twice). Don't leave the path!

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High Lord of Imladris
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I know this is probably a right SILLY question... But has anyone thought to reach out to the initial writers of the articles of the Scholars Forum to see if they've maintained a copy that they would be willing to let us repost in memorial to halfir? We won't ever get the original discussions back again, (Unless someone has them tucked away with the original articles somewhere)

Master Torturer
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@CHAOS It was talked about here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31 but I dont think someone actually reached out to anyone just yet?
Troelsfo wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 6:33 pm
As has been demonstrated by @Lirimaer above, the Scholars' Forum threads can be dug out using the Internet Archive on archive.org, and I think that the old lore team (Saranna, @Lord of the Rings, @Dorwiniondil, @geordie, and myself) are, one way or another, in contact with all or most of the authors, and I would expect that most of them would be happy to let us re-post their content on this new Plaza.

Here are some suggestions already made in another thread, so we don't do double work (closing the other thread and we can continue here):

Curunder wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 2:12 am Hands and Breath of a Healer thread: https://web.archive.org/web/20071103153 ... 14936&PN=1

Norse Imagery thread: https://web.archive.org/web/20071103152 ... 06422&PN=1
Dimcairien Luiniel wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:56 am
Here are some results I got from going to halfir's profile and selecting "view 10 last posts"

You can click through the different snapshots of his profile. A handful are preserved here and I've linked the working threads I could find. Note, this is from the "archives" of the Archives. I'll find halfir's profile in a non-archive way later and see if there is anything different to be viewed there.

Some of these are way more halfir intense than others, but I think they all have at least one long post from him. Threads that I've titled tend to be ones where he was more involved.

http://web.archive.org/web/200403041348 ... Position=1

http://web.archive.org/web/200403041353 ... Position=1

http://web.archive.org/web/200403041639 ... Position=1

Letters of JRR Tolkien - 3

http://web.archive.org/web/200410151637 ... Position=1

Tolkien’s intention for Dec 25 and March 25

The Hall of Fire -a speculation -2

(not a thread, but one of the posts here [thread isn't preserved] contains several links to different Tolkien societies. I didn't check them all, but they seem to still work. Or at least exist on the wayback and could probably still be found on the regular internet.
http://web.archive.org/web/200412101259 ... sp?id=2701

The Letters of J.R.R.Tolkien -4

The Dunsinane Dilemma - Tolkien and Shakespeare

I wrote the OED - halfir boasting about getting a copy of George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer

Does Tom Bombadil exist in both worlds?

EDIT: and the capture dates of the "archive" Archive profile and the "archive" profile are the same, so I think that's all I can find that way. I guess now it's a matter of trying to click on every possible thread.
Dimcairien Luiniel wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:57 am Here's a few more things I found. I'll admit that I have not really been reading these threads, but simply copying links to ones where halfir either started or seemed to have several posts.

Now I really should go to bed. :D It is far too easy to get sucked into the wayback.

Various threads from Advanced Lore I think I clicked on most of the threads.

http://web.archive.org/web/201002021158 ... TID=229281

I'm not sure if you said you have "Peeling the Onion" or not, but here you go. This capture of the same thread loads all the pages. It also contains what is likely one of halfir's last posts - April, 2012
Peeling the Onion

Nature of Goldberry

Color Symbolism in Tolkien's Legendarium

Hands -and breath- of a healer -Aragorn a - only the first 2 pages load


Learning Lore -1: LOTR's Minor Characters
- Pages 1-3 load


Tolkien and Hindu Mythology
- not a halfir thread, but he has a few posts that might be of interest

Had each their proper gem

Master of Words by Words Mastered - formatting his horrid, but you might be able to make sense of it

Creation and "The Word" - not a halfir thread, but he has a few posts that might be of interest

And these three were found via the plaza homepage

Kingship: Visual and Communicative Iconography all three pages load

A Creative Triumvirate

Soria Moria Castle

Also, on a much more somber note, I found the thread that announced his passing. Only the first page loads, but it is something that ought to be saved with any threads of his.

http://web.archive.org/web/201210152255 ... all-please
Boromir88 wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:23 pm
Thanks to KingODuckingham's basic lore archive I added 'Hands and breath of a Healer' to do after proper gems.

High Lord of Imladris
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I actually haven't seen any discussion on reaching out to the original scholars aside from the fact they would be bored bringing up their old work once more - we aren't asking them to rewrite their essays though just resend them to us if they still have them - as much as the Road Goes On and On, there is the need to wander back home and to bed after discovering some new road or secret gate.

I do like the idea of reaching out to newer scholars and creators without even the slightest hesitation but I would love to see about getting a hold of some of the older essays that we don't have to be put into some sort of archived section so we can read them, after all while they are not by halfir, they most certainly are one of his greatest legacies to the Plaza and all of us. Most of them were only on the Plaza and no where else that I have found (Wayback machine being the exception for a few) And I am probably less likely to get a response from a good many as I am well outside any academia for being a scholar. (In fact most days I feel dumb as a rock) But I am quite willing to see if I can find contact information for people on the main team that would probably elicited a much better response than myself.

(ALTHOUGH, the 'hello I am a dumb rock, I remember your essay on LOTRPlaza but it seems to have gone down permanently and I can't find it else where and would like to discuss it on the revitalized plaza with some of the more knowledgeable members, is there a chance you still have a copy that you would be willing to share on the new Plaza?' may work)

Master Torturer
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It was never said not to contact them or that we shouldnt. Just no one did, so by all means contact them. If you could please put who you contact in here, so that we dont all do the same ones.

Master Torturer
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Just want to make things clear about this subforum. It's an archive for HALFIR's work. Not other scholar's or other interesting lore threads. It might extend to include threads halfir contributed a lot to, but mostly we are looking to preserve what halfir worked on from the wayback machine or what people have managed to save. If you want anything else preserved or done, please make a request in the admin forum's request thread <3

So if we are contacting people, it will be in regards to halfir and the potential work they might have available to them.

Guardian of the Golden Wood
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Hi @CHAOS,
For what it is worth, here is my own take. It would probably not be too difficult to get some of those old scholars forum essays from their authors. Also, from my own experience, writing as a member of the public (rather than an academic) is a good move (because academics know that only other academics read their works and wish it were otherwise).
When @Troelsfo floated the idea (as quoted above), both @Saranna and myself were hesitant because we were putting all our efforts into the archive. Personally, I really liked the old scholars forum. And I'd be happy to see it back.
But my own worry is that if we revive the old scholars forum as a tribute to halfir then that begins to turn the new plaza into a sort of museum or mausoleum to the old plaza. I think it could only work if we did not only restore the lost old essays but also started to garner new ones.
But then my worry is that we - the new plaza - are not ready for that yet. Discussion on the Lore threads is a bit... well, slow. It does not feel like we have the 'lore-power' to initiate a new scholars forum.
-- sorry if this is a bit disconnected. i wanted to post so you know you are not alone in thinking about the scholars forum, but also to indicate some of my own hesitations and uncertainties.
Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water.

Newborn of Imladris
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@Chrysophylax Dives @Troelsfo @CHAOS

Yes to CD's post on the whole - the Scholars' forum on the old Plaza came along at a very late stage in the life of the site, with a ridiculously high roll of members and some very high-class stuff in AdLore. However, If we did bring back the idea of a Scholars' forum it need not be as a tribute to halfir since we already have a tribute in the archive. True, the Scholars' forum was his idea but it would be best to move along I think. No reason not to use the existing papers (here's permission for mine!) but it would be a big job with the dual threads etc (one for posting the papers/another thread for comment and discussion). Plus the work of acquiring new papers. I'd like to see it happen but the note of caution as to when may be wise.
Remembering halfir by learning something new each day

Guardian of the Golden Wood
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Just to wrap up the Scholars' forum suggestion. I think that what we, the archive team, are saying is: nice idea, good luck and let us know if we can help, only please set the project up as something separate from this archive.
Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water.

Guardian of the Golden Wood
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Archivists Bulletin No. 1

Greetings plaza readers, members old and new, and guests. The archivist team is pleased to announce that from the top of the halfir archive it is now possible to see the sea. Unfortunately, the route through the archive to the top is very difficult to follow and, without the official archivist's guide, near impossible to find. We hope to publish the official guide at some future date.*

*Official warning: rumours of a leak from our secret archives are ill founded. Any copies of the official guide (as also the apocryphal 'unposted teachings of halfir'), currently circulating in Mordor and other plaza sub-forums, are spurious. We strongly advise caution in handling them and warn that they are treacherous as a guide to the top of the archive. Follow them at your own peril!
Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water.

Chief Counsellor of Gondor
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@A Son From Amazon, here is the wayback link for the thread, Hands -and breath- of a healer -Aragorn:

https://web.archive.org/web/20071103153 ... TID=214936

I'll probably be getting the intro written for it soon. If you're able to work your coding magic to convert to html that would be wonderful. And take all the time you need. :grin:
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Black Númenórean
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@Boromir88 - noted, and will do! I'll try to do some work on this while I'm still on my break from work.
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Master Torturer
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Ooooooo do you knoooow what I just realised?? I can now trib you for it! MUAHAHAHA!

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Black Númenórean
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:lol:
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Master Torturer
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@Chrysophylax Dives and everyone else, the PDFs should now work, if Narv missed one, please let us know and I will pass it on to him asap <3

Guardian of the Golden Wood
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Thank you very much, Admins.
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New Soul
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Has anyone run into Halfir's old "Who Slashed the Bolsters" discussion? I was thinking about that topic the other day, and wished I could find the text of it.

Master Torturer
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Bearamir wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:52 am Has anyone run into Halfir's old "Who Slashed the Bolsters" discussion? I was thinking about that topic the other day, and wished I could find the text of it.
Looks like it was lost to the Void I'm afraid :( http://lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229051 so heartbreaking how much was lost :(

New Soul
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Winddancer wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:41 am
Bearamir wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:52 am Has anyone run into Halfir's old "Who Slashed the Bolsters" discussion? I was thinking about that topic the other day, and wished I could find the text of it.
Looks like it was lost to the Void I'm afraid :( http://lotrplaza.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=229051 so heartbreaking how much was lost :(
I am sorry to hear that...it was a brilliant discussion.

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