[NeumeIndil]

Alright. Here goes.

I'm 80+ pgs. (hand written) into a fan fic set in Minas Tirith beginning after the Battle of Pelennor Fields through the march to the Black Gate of Mordor and ending sometime at the top of the fourth age. I've found some postings in the forum that have helped immensely, but I hate to pawn all my questions off on others when I am capable of researching on my own. So, since it seems many of you know these books like the backs of your insanely creative and artistic little hands, can you recommend to me the best quicky resources for finding specifics of different characters, races and geneologies? Books, essays, websites, indexes, I don't really care what media, as long as they are generally accepted for accuracy.

I should state now that I own the Silmarillion and have won the Hobbit and Trilogy on Ebay, but they're not here yet. I plan to re-read them all at least once before I edit. I also own all three movies (Aragorn = yummy!). I haven't finished the story yet and am tired of getting on a good writing roll and suddenly having to stop b/c I can't remember where the heck Gimli was before the War of the Ring or what the Rohirrim called Minas Tirith in their tongue (Mundburg, I just remembered that).

One question I am going to post here is going to be a bit of a bugger according to my web research thus far. Lothiriel, wife of Eomer of Rohan, was the daughter of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth and might have had 3 older brothers according to the Histories of Middle Earth. At Encyclopedia of Arda, no mother's name was given for any of them and there were no dates, plus footnotes claim that since a lot of their sources were never published or finished in Tolkien's time, the information may not be entirely accurate.

Questions: What else, if anything is known of that family? Were they descendents of Numenor (this is specifically for an athelas usage question) and would/could Imrahil or one of the boys have taken the throne had the line of Stewards failed? Any clue what they looked like save claiming to have elvish blood and thus probably being black haired and blue eyed? Can we figure approximate ages for any of them?

Any other advice about writing fic greatly appreciated as I'm starting to go nutty. I have never liked flying by the seat of my pants.

Thanks in advance. (Scurries off to steal her notebook back from the cat.)

[dolarabee]

This site gives the dates of birth of Imrahil's children and also tries to explain this claim that Princes of Dol Amroth could be descendants from elven blood. As far as I know, Imrahil's wife is not named anywhere.

http://www.tuckborough.net/imrahil.html

Hope this helps,

do.

[NeumeIndil]

Thanks much Do. It is indeed a help.

[krazykataave]

I have never been able to find a site or reference that mentioned the name of Imrahil's wife. He did have three sons with the daughter being the youngest.

As for taking the throne, Imrahil was related to Denethor by his sister's marriage. So if Aragorn had not become king, Farimir did not survive then Imrahil could, and actually did, take over the role.

In the books Imrahil rules MT while Faramir is recovering and Dnenthor and Boromir are dead. But he gladly gives up the role to Aragorn.

For looks i would think what ever you wished them to look like would be acceptable. Some write of them as darked complected some don't, it seems to be preference.

Hope that helps and is not too late.


Kat

[NeumeIndil]

Not too late at all and many thanks. Can anyone tell me the titles of books or URL's addys that can help me find similar info for other characters? I asked about them to first time around, too, but in my spasticism (not a word in English but in mine it counts) the request got buried. Thanks so much again to both of you.

[Leaward]

I hope you know about the Encyclopedia of Arda already ... it's a very handy tool. http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.asp

It has a listing of all the different characters and who they are, as well as illustrations and an interactive calendar. I use it constantly -- but try to quote the books rather than the site if you leave author's notes.

If you're looking for language help, then go to Ardalambion: http://move.to/ardalambion

For some things NOT to do when naming females for Middle-earth, try: http://oddlots.digitalspace.net/rawaths/names.html

And for trying to figure out how long it took to get from one place to another pretty much anyplace in ME ... you MUST have the Travel Times page bookmarked. It's a fantastic effort by some LOTR enthusiasts: http://www.theoriginalseries.com/traveltimes.htm It will give you the minimum time it would take to reach a place by horseback as well as average times, how often you'd have to take a break for your horse, how long it would take to travel by wagon, as well as comparisons to what Frodo and the fellowship did, and the travellers from the Hobbit. (Tolkien apparently didn't have the use of such a wonderful resource and his times are often quite inconsistent.)

Another useful resource is Tinni's site -- she's taken a lot of misconceptions that have popped up throughout the fandom and researched them. (Do elves have perfect memory, for instance? Answer: Nope, but she backs it up with quotes.) It's a handy reference so you can tell if you're staying to 'canon' or simply following what she calls 'fanon'. http://www.tinni.100megsfree5.com/canonNOfanon/menu.html

[SilverMoonLady]

Another excellent resource is the Thain'sBook

http://www.tuckborough.net/imrahil.html

And no, it isn't hobbit-centric; it covers all characters/places/events in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; includes quotes, genealogies and even art & pics for some of the characters and places...
Link is direct to Imrahil's page:) Enjoy!

[Leaward]

Oooh, I've never seen that site before, SML! Thanks for that link!

*happily bookmarks for future use*

[NeumeIndil]

Ahh. Those were exactly the things I was looking for. I know about Encyclopedia of Arda from a quick web search but so much that came up was fanon I didn't know what to trust. Thank you both muchly.

[AngmarianRose]

a book i find helpful when i'm researching anything Lord of the Rings is The Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler. it lists everything mentioned in the books in alphabetical order and gives very helpful descriptions. it also describes where to find things in the Appendixes. i dont know where you would find a copy though, as the one i have was my father's, but check around online. its an invaluable resource when i need to find something fast.

[NancyBrooke]

[nienor]

The lexikon entries are a bit short, but useful things can be found on www.councilofelrond.com.

A RPG site has lots of very good essays on various subjects: http://www.merp.com/essays/MichaelMartinez

A collection of essays ("Parma endorion") by the same man (pdf file) can be downloaded from various sites for free. One link is:
www.ebookbroadcast.com/ebooks/parma_endorion_esp.pdf

Hope this comes useful

[NeumeIndil]

I actually have the Tyler book on loan from the library. Tripped over it while skimming bibliographies of other sites. You have good taste AngmarianRose. The websites are new to me and I'll peruse them at my earliest chance. Thanks very much for your help.