Riddles in the Dark

[Chrysophylax Dives]

We got to get this riddle, if only to stop Drifa showing off his new quote-arrow trick!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

i have taken to the nulibrary seeking inspiration. what about this (from a long absent @Woggy Hardbotom)?

‘Farewell!’ he said to Gandalf. ‘I go to find the Sun!’ Then swift as a runner over firm sand he shot away, and quickly overtaking the toiling men, with a wave of his hand he passed them, and sped into the distance, and vanished round the rocky turn. p 292-293, The Ring Goes South, FotR (HarperCollins 50th Anniversary Edition 2005)

[Drífa]

Hahahaha.

Okay, I am not sure if my hint is coming across unclearly, but it states it is a man and a horse, albeit the wrong man and horse. A man and a horse are what the riddler seeks.

[Aikári Salmarinian]

There is one other combination not mentioned, Glorfindel and Asfaloth. A man (gender) and a horse On the plains with the nine riders right before Imladris.

[Aranadhel]

Orome and his steed

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Theoden and Snowmane, Theoden putting his faith in Gandalf?

[Drífa]

Nope, nope and nope! We shall run out of men and their horse at this rate. Keep trying!

[Romeran]

Answer: You are Eorl and you placed your faith in Felaróf

Source:

"As they drew nearer they saw that the white mist was driving back the glooms of Dol Guldur, and soon they passed into it, riding slowly at first and warily; but under its canopy all things were lit with a clear and shadowless light, while to left and right they were guarded as it were by white walls of secrecy.

"The Lady of the Golden Wood is on our side, it seems ,” said Borondir.

"Maybe," said Eorl. "But at least I will trust the wisdom of Felaróf. He scents no evil. His heart is high, and his weariness is healed: he strains to be given his head. So be it! For never have I had more need of secrecy and speed."

Then Felaróf sprang forward, and all the host behind followed like a great wind, but in a strange silence, as if their hooves did not beat upon the ground.

[Drífa]

*bows low* 'That is indeed the correct answer and quote! Well done, Romeran!

[Romeran]

Well you narrowed it down to basically the only remaining man and horse

Fair I am, but cold,
Trapped between shadows and an echoing cry
I sit in mists and look upon a verdant wold
At least until it went awry.

M-e related.

Let's see if I did any better or if people immediately guess it.

[Ercassie]

Are you Hithlum ?

[Romeran]

I shouldn’t even bother Maybe I put too many direct hints in my riddles

Yes. Go ahead @Ercassie

[Ercassie]

My apologies @Romeran, but I think I had an IC advantage this time, if there is such a thing. Several of the Elves whom I RP on Plaza spent most of the First Age in Hithlum, so I have perhaps over-read and written much of that particular setting in various RPGs over the last ten years and several of the points made in your riddle were thus familiar to me. Else I'm sure I would never have guessed it so quickly.

Congratulations are in order for yourself regardless, in having guessed @Drifa's challenge !

And seeing as I can not possibly compose something as difficult as that, here is a new offering :

One of but two who were willing
I released the light and the lost
A witness to hurt and to hatred
I failed to counter the cost.
My word cast a pall of great sorrow
The truth is as bad as a lie
I was bid her very last errand
but all too soon after did die.

[Aranadhel]

Telperion

[Ercassie]

Nope. Sorry @Aranadhel

[Aranadhel]

Maedhros before he cast himself into the chasm

[Ercassie]

Closer than your last guess, but still not there. Sorry.

[Aranadhel]

Maglor then

[Romeran]

Hmm what about Dorlas one of the two companions of Túrin as he went to find Glaurung?

[Ercassie]

No to both, but @Romeran is another step closer.

[Aranadhel]

Finduilas?

[Ercassie]

Also no.

[Aranadhel]

Gelmir?

[Drífa]

Not sure if Gelmir died shortly after. But what about Brandir?

The last two lines of the riddle seem to fit. Brandir led Niënor Níniel to Túrin and was shortly after that killed by him?

[Ercassie]

Not Gelmir, nor Brandir. But there is a link to the Children of Hurin.

[The Good Hunter]

Just to cover the bases and make sure he's ruled out, Hurin himself?

[Ercassie]

Hurin is not the answer.

[Aranadhel]

Gwindor

[Drífa]

I have not figured out how all the lines of the riddle fit, but is it, Mablung of the Heavy Hand?

One of but two who were willing -

Then Thingol fortified the marches of his realm, and went not to war, nor any out of Doriath save Mablung and Beleg, who were unwilling to have no part in these great deeds.

I released the light and the lost -

Then Mablung took a knife and ripped up the belly of the Wolf, and within he was well nigh all consumed as with a fire, but the hand of Beren that held the jewel was yet incorrupt. But when Mablung reached forth to touch it, the hand was no more, and the Silmaril lay there unveiled, and the light of it filled the shadows of the forest all about them.

A witness to hurt and to hatred - ?
I failed to counter the cost. - ?
My word cast a pall of great sorrow - ?
The truth is as bad as a lie - ?

I was bid her very last errand -

Thereafter Melian spoke to none save to Mablung only, bidding him take heed to the Silmaril, and to send word speedily to Beren and Lúthien in Ossiriand;

but all too soon after did die. -

Thus it was that the host of the Naugrim crossing over Aros passed unhindered into the woods of Doriath; and none withstood them,...There fell Mablung of the Heavy Hand before the doors of the treasury wherein lay the Nauglamír, and the Silmaril was taken.

[Ercassie]

But of course the wily Dwarf has it. Congratulations again, @Drifa

As to the gaps in your understanding; perhaps this will help :

‘A witness to hurt and to hatred’ because Mablung was a witness to the hatred that arose between Saeros and Turin, and to the hurt which was the result of that hate. ..

‘Then Túrin in great anger took up a drinking-vessel, and cast it at Saeros; and he was grievously hurt. On the next day Saeros waylaid Túrin as he set out from Menegroth to return to the marches; but Túrin overcame him, and set him to run naked as a hunted beast through the woods. Then Saeros fleeing in terror before him fell into the chasm of a stream, and his body was broken on a great rock in the water. But others coming saw what was done, and Mablung was among them;’

‘I failed to counter the cost’ refers to Mablung’s failure to protect the Children of Hurin against the curse of Morgoth. The cost being that delivered to Hurin and his kin for defying Morgoth. For though Mablung attempted to protect Morwen, Nienor and Turin, he failed on all counts. Both of the women flee from or defy his attempts to protect them, and then in the end ..

‘they learned the reasons of Túrin's madness and death, they were aghast; and Mablung said bitterly: 'I also have been meshed in the doom of the Children of Húrin, and thus with my tidings have slain one that I loved.'

‘My word cast a pall of great sorrow’ is because several times did Mablung serve as the bearer of bad news. Not only in the quote just given, but also ..

‘Alone of the messengers Mablung, chief captain of the King, escaped, and he brought the dread tidings to Thingol.’

‘And at last Mablung in despair returned to Menegroth and told the tidings. Then Thingol and Melian were filled with grief;’


And finally, The truth is as bad as a lie – Well it was the truth that Mablung revealed, which sent Turin to take his life, just as he had previously taken the like of Brandir, due to the latter’s ‘lie’. ..

‘Turambar was wrathful, and believed that all Brandir said or did was done in malice towards himself and Níniel, begrudging their love; and he spoke evilly to Brandir, calling him Club-foot. Then Brandir reported all that he had heard, and named Níniel Nienor daughter of Húrin, and he cried out upon Turambar with the last words of Glaurung, that he was a curse unto his kin and to all that harboured him. Then Turambar fell into a fury, for in those words he heard the feet of his doom overtaking him; and he charged Brandir with leading Níniel to her death, and publishing with delight the lies of Glaurung, if indeed be devised them not himself.’

‘Mablung was dismayed, but needs must tell to Túrin how Morwen was lost, and Nienor cast into a spell of dumb forgetfulness, and how she escaped them upon the borders of Doriath and fled northwards. Then at last Túrin knew that doom had overtaken him, and that he had slain Brandir unjustly; so that the words of Glaurung were fulfilled in him.’

All quotes taken from the Silmarillion. And that said, the floor very rightfully returns to you. Enjoy.

[Drífa]

Thanks for allowing me to exercise my noggin', Ercassie! That was a challenging riddle! I enjoyed it very much.

I am not a poet; I know it, but try this one! Good luck!

Whose memory ran doused
by rill and crick and fount
that he had ever seen:
under verdant shades of dancing
rippling and twinkling torment
behind his eyes unseeing; at his side,
companions who frolicked by water.

[Aranadhel]

What's this, Drifa? A person or a place? I can't understand

[Drífa]

Corrected my grammar - Whose memory ran doused

Aranadhel - Well, the third line does refer to he.

[Aranadhel]

This is Beren

[Drífa]

For some reason, I can not picture Beren frolicking with his companions. No, it is not Beren.

[The Good Hunter]

Old Man Willow, perchance? The companions mentioned aren't necessarily his companions and there's a lot of green/nature imagery to suggest

[Drífa]

No, not OMW. The last two words of this attempt at a poesy-type riddle are a clue when you put them together.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Bywater! Its a hobbit answer...

[Aranadhel]

Cirdan

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Tom Bombadil enchanting the hobbits as he talks them back in time to before the Dark Lord came from outside.

[Aranadhel]

Sauron came from outside where? Lol

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Sauron came from outside where? Lol

Aranadhel, it is indeed a most curious line, but it is what Tom Bombadil says:

When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless – before the Dark Lord came from Outside. (Fellowship, House of TB)

[Aranadhel]

Indeed you are wise as you are perceptive, mellon nin.

The floor is yours

[Drífa]

Bywater! Its a hobbit answer...

It is indeed! Keep trying!

[Nemroth]

Is it Peregrin Took? I don’t have it all but the line “rippling and twinkling torment” reminded me of the Palantír. Under that chapter in the Two Towers I found:

Soon all the inside seemed on fire; the ball was spinning, or the lights within were revolving. […] [Gandalf] knelt by Pippin’s body: the hobbit was lying on his back, rigid, with unseeing eyes staring up at the sky.

It would fit with the hobbit hint and Pippin is certainly the frolicking type!

[Rior Laegiel]

Gollum? His memory ran doused and he remembered some things while playing a game of riddles with Bilbo.

[Drífa]

No, not OMW. The last two words of this attempt at a poesy-type riddle are a clue when you put them together.

No, not Pippin nor Gollum! Try again!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Sam Gamgee!

He went without himself; and now as once more the night of Mordor closed over them, through all his thoughts there came the memory of water; and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen, under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes. He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their sister Rosie.

[Aranadhel]

Deagol!

[Drífa]

Correct, Monsieur @Chrysophylax Dives! Thanks for solving this. I fear I went overboard with my twisting of the quote to make it seem poetic.