Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

No not Olórin. This is not a person.

Onodrim?

No, not Onodrim. It is not any type of being.

My guess would be the Nindalf, which rhymes with Gandalf, but does not rhyme in its common tongue name of Wetwang.

And if it's not that, then I'd guess the answer would come from a similar line of reasoning.

You are absolutely correct, Dwim. You win a stuffed Orc! Have fun kicking it around .*grin*

Can someone explain the sinewy part?

I am not sure where the word sinewy came from, Li..

What, in the Common Tongue, does not rhyme with Gandalf and is quite sinuous?

What happened there was I thought sinuous was the property of having sinew. Now I've googled it, the riddle makes far more sense

A stuff orc? That is a nice prize! *boots it*

Thanks Drifa! Here's a new one:

My name describes a sound
Which tends to stick around.
Return to earthly lands from sea
By passing through a part of me.

What's my name?

Small clue to break the silence: this is a natural place.

Is it Lammoth, the Great Echo?

@drifa, well done! I actually had Ered Lómin (the Echoing Mountains) in mind as the answer, but Lammoth is so close to the answer anyway that I have to give you the points. Of course, the "by passing through a part of me" line refers to the Firth of Drengist.

Your turn!

Oh, thanks! My line of thought was that Fëanor landed in Lammoth, the Great Echo and made his way to the Firth of Drengist. So he passed through a part of Lammas to get to the Firth of Drengist. But I understand your line of think too. "Under the cold stars before the rising of the Moon the host of Fëanor went up the long Firth of Drengist that pierced the Echoing Hills of Ered Lómin, and passed thus from the shores into the great land of Hithlum;" . I should have stuck with that quote , seeing as it was my first choice, but I changed my mind.

Follow two roads in the East I say
Go toward the Northern one a way
Towards a pass, a bloody causeway
Where near to this, one would stay
To chat and pass the time of day

Near to what I pray?

Is it, perhaps, the valley through which the road in Ithilien ran, where Faramir ambushed the Haradrim?

Follow two roads in the East I say -- Two roads, perhaps the roads which meet at the Crossroads? They are near enough to Mordor
Go toward the Northern one a way -- north from the crossroads is the spot I've described
Towards a pass, a bloody causeway -- This place could be called a pass, and is certainly a bloody causeway
Where near to this, one would stay -- This and the next line, could reference...
To chat and pass the time of day -- ...Frodo and Sam's stay in Henneth Annûn

This is a very good guess, Androthelm, but not what I was looking for. The 'near to this' place is specifically what I am looking for. It is a place in a different Age. Try again!! *grin*

Hint: The bloody causeway does have an actual name which means 'bloody'.

Another hint seeing it has almost been a week. The chats took place between two unexpected groups

Looks like I broke the riddle thread. The answer I was looking for was Nan Elmoth.

Now the traffic of the Dwarves down from the Blue Mountains followed two
roads across East Beleriand, and the northern way, going towards the Fords of
Aros, passed nigh to Nan Elmoth; and there Eöl would meet the Naugrim and hold
converse with them.

Found a coin!

* bump for the gold-guard* Emoclew kcab, @Chrysophylax Dives

Afird Splitax wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 2:56 pm * bump for the gold-guard* Emoclew kcab, @Chrysophylax Dives

Uoy knaht, Afird Splitax. Staring at this I feel time has caught me in a trap and I never left. It is as opaque to me as was your confounded Hobbit riddle. And once again, it seeps into my brain and I find it hard not to think about it... Still, I see no one else has got it either.

I was not idle though all the shadows haunted me
I ran fast - out, through and over
I arrived - slumped, sobbed and blathered
No! No! No! I cried
Who am I?

Here is a hint. Dwarves were not the only ones to suffer from corpulence. Oh, and by the way, this is Middle-earth related.

Here is a riddle to puzzle out . Have a go!

o! i know the answer :)
and i would have got it without the fat hint! (i think)

alright Drifa. i was waiting till i had thought of a riddle before answering: Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger?

Correct you are, Mr. The Thrush! Please amuse us now with a riddle. Thanks!

Alright! But... give me a day or two please. Sorry, i know i said, and it would be a good riddle, but just with all the recent discussions you will get it in 0.0003 seconds. So actually, i still need to think up a riddle.

This being in Fangorn helped. I need to connect again with my inner Tree. Try this:

I came from outside,
Snow white, I was, in appearance,
As a radiant cloud in a blue sky.
I ended by the door.
Like grey smoke from a fire in disappearance,
Vanishing with the cold wind and a sigh.

Middle-earth related.

Hmmm, this has a familiarity to it. Are you Saruman?

For crying out loud Drifa! You got to at least make it look difficult.
Yes. Saruman it is.

Alright, technically it is your go @Drifa. But for the meanwhile, here is the one that i did not do because you will guess in 2 seconds. M-e related.


Either side I am down, and then down again,
But not down below.
Nor am I more up than down.

What am I?

I have looked at this from both sides now, from up and down, and still, somehow, the answer escapes me. I imagine structures or stairs or towers. Hmm..

Hi Drifa, this is music to my ears. Would you like a hand?

Let us have some guesses first, precious. Are you the goblin tunnel leading to the lake where Gollum lived?

no. i would like to do the 'you are so close' thing, but cannot. i would like to do the 'what a good guess' thing, but alas, also cannot.
Try again.

I had a strange dream in the wee hours this morning. I heard whistles, and I was running around in circles repeating like a mantra - Either side I am down, and then down again, But not down below. Nor am I more up than down - yo-ho-ho. Over and over and the persistent whistle.

Are you Bilbo's kettle?

Is it a well???

No and no.

Dear Goose, I appreciate very much your willingness to dip a toe into this little hidden hole of the Shire and try your hand at something a bit new. As a newbie you do not (yet) fall into the category of the one who answered 'kettle', and so are spared the lash (for the time being). But please note that the purpose of this thread is basically humility, reinforced by the lash.

Dear Dwarf, as we have some company down by these dark waters cold i will this time spare you either of the two lashes. Indeed, in this new spirit of togetherness i ask you again, would you like a hand?

Edit. I appear to be in the wrong hole. But be the hole in Fangorn or the Shire, it appears that the fish whose fathers swam into our cold lake have precisely the same bulbous eyes, and much the same taste too.

Is it -- and this might be silly -- but could it be a hobbit hole, curving down on every side but built all on one level as it runs into the hill?

Androthelm wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 2:53 pm Is it -- and this might be silly -- but could it be a hobbit hole, curving down on every side but built all on one level as it runs into the hill?

OK. I have to be honest, both the kettle and the well might well be inspirational, only it is going to take weeks for me to bring these images into line with the correct answer and the form of the question, so i can for these days make no comment.

Here, by contrast, we have one mighty lightening strike of inspiration - ZWAKK! ... BOOOM! The thunder that cracks the sky above is echoed and answered by the green earth on to which the toppled tree falls.

Androthelm, my fellow Ent, that is so, so, almost right, and yet completely wrong. So once again, no lashes, bear or other, indeed some fluffy icon for you that i will find in a minute. nevertheles...

guess again.

Are you offering a hand or a hint?

Are you the Prancing Pony?

I was offering two hands, of course.

And no, i am not the Prancing Pony.

Are you the water-gate by which Bilbo and the Dwarves escaped the Halls of the Elvenking?

No.

For the present use of the lash is suspended when i am asking the riddles. i have come to suspect that some answers given here that appear, well simply absurd, may be correct answers to riddles elsewhere. and so i am keen to encourage guessing.

i would of course apply the lash to you in any case, Dwarf, but i want to see what you do with my guess on the other thread.

Why are lashes involved at all??

Silky Gooseness wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 10:57 am Why are lashes involved at all??

Dunno. I learned it from Drifa. But when you have been lashed into the water all the way to the slimy island and back and, out of the blue, unexpectedly, get an answer, and so get the lash in your hand... well, all i can say is that personally i no longer felt the need to ask your question.

imo, lashes are therapeutic. they help remind one that in answering a riddle wrong you (one, each of us) have again demonstrated that we are out of synch with existence.

its a personal choice, but each one of us here has to reconcile our souls to the bleak reality that we evidently have no clue.

Edit. But, conversation here without at least a token guess at the riddle on the table is strictly forbidden. And Goose or not, this is your final warning on that score.

The lash makes one search/think harder for an answer to the riddle, Sil. No harm done. I especially, like all my kin, have thick skin. Also, one must ignore the cranky dragon.

I am having trouble with either side. Is it both sides or one of two? The Prancing Pony has sides. As does a kettle. But that was yesterday's guess. How about this?
Are you Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass?

This was Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass, the entrance to the land of the Enemy. High cliffs lowered upon either side, and thrust forward from its mouth were two sheer hills, black-boned and bare. Upon them stood the Teeth of Mordor, two towers strong and tall.

Drifa wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 11:07 pm I am having trouble with either side. Is it both sides or one of two? The Prancing Pony has sides. As does a kettle. But that was yesterday's guess. How about this?
Are you Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass?

This was Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass, the entrance to the land of the Enemy. High cliffs lowered upon either side, and thrust forward from its mouth were two sheer hills, black-boned and bare. Upon them stood the Teeth of Mordor, two towers strong and tall.

Dwarf, I've copy-edited your post as it should have been done by you. Basically, i really like your answer and once again would spare the lash, were it not that i read desire between the lines of your answer. So:

"Are you Cirith Gorgor, the Haunted Pass?"
No.

"one must ignore the cranky dragon"
Wrong again!

Damn! A good riddle, sir. I will be back with another guess.