Six Quotations of Separation
Inspired by @Silky Gooseness who recalled a thread from OP called “6 degrees of separENTation” which I couldn’t find in the archive but which sounds like it might have gone something like this.
The idea is to take two proposed characters and string together a sequence of quotations where two characters interact with each other where each quotation contains one character from the previous quotation and which eventually connect the two proposed characters. Similar to six degrees of Kevin Bacon the idea is to do it in 6 steps or fewer.
Example
Proposed Characters: Túrin Turambar and Tom Bombadil
1. Túrin speaks with Meilan
“Then Túrin said: ‘Beren my kinsman did more.’
‘Beren, and Lúthien,’ said Melian. ‘But you are over-bold to speak so to the father of Lúthien. Not so high is your destiny, I think, Túrin son of Morwen’” (The Unfinished Tales, The Tale of the Children of Húrin)
2. Melian speaks with Galadriel
“Then Galadriel spoke to Melian of the Silmarils, and of the slaying of King Finwë at Formenos: but still she said no word of the Oath, nor of the Kinslaying, nor of the burning of the ships at Losgar. But Melian said: 'Now much you tell me, and yet more I perceive. A darkness you would cast over the long road from Tirion, but I see evil there, which Thingol should learn for his guidance.'”(The Silmarillion, Of the Noldor in Beleriand)
3. Galadriel speaks with Frodo
“With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. ‘Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,’ she said. ‘I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.’ The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside him was tall and pale. ‘What shall we look for, and what shall we see?’ asked Frodo, filled with awe.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mirror of Galadriel)
4. Frodo speaks with Tom Bombadil
“‘Help!’ cried Frodo and Sam running towards him with their hands stretched out. ‘Whoa! Whoa! steady there!’ cried the old man, holding up one hand, and they stopped short, as if they had been struck stiff. ‘Now, my little fellows, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Do you know who I am? I'm Tom Bombadil. Tell me what's your trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!’” (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Old Forest)
Rules
- The two proposed characters must be connected by a sequence of at most six quotations starting with one of the characters and ending with the other.
- Each quotation must contain one of the characters from the previous quotation (or in the case of the first quotation one of the proposed characters) and must have two characters interacting directly in some way (e.g. talking, fighting, etc.) or a statement connecting them*
- The first person to match the two proposed characters in six quotations or fewer proposes the next pair and can do so immediately without need for verification.
- Proposed characters must either feature directly in a narrative or be referred to in one. So characters who only exist in genealogical tables for example are ineligible.
- All of the Middle-earth books containing writings by Tolkien are fair game (E.g. HoME, Fall of Gondolin, Nature of M-e. etc. )
- To score your posts start with 10 points and subtract 1 for each quotation used and add back 1 for each quotation which involves direct dialog or interaction between the two characters.
In my example above the score would be 10 - 4 + 4 = 10. So that you’re not punished for additional links as long as they are direct interactions. I will periodically update a list of the top total scores in the OP.
High Scores
@Boromir88 10
@Eldy Dunami 10
@Romeran 10
N.B. I'll kick off the first two characters in the next post.
