Abby Epplett, Historian

While talking with his friends at the Green Dragon , Sam mentioned his cousin Halfast Gamgee had seen a giant tree walking through the North Moors of the Northfarthing while serving his master, Mr. Boffin, who was out hunting. This brief aside, and the exchange that followed, gives the reader an enormous amount of information about hunting practices, social hierarchy, and folk belief in the Shire, which I will unpack in this essay.

Once more continuing my mini series within a series on the Appendixes at the back of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three: Return of the King , I move along to “Appendix A, I The Númenórean Kings, (iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion”. While last week’s section focused on the northern kingdom on Anor after the empire of the Númenóreans divided, this week’s section focuses on the southern kingdom, Gondor. Much like last week, this section is mostly about the Númenórean descendants having a rough time, often because of their own bad choices. Peoples opposing Gondor included the Black Númenóreans, the Men of Harad and Khad, Corsairs, Sauron and his orcs, Wainriders, and themselves, with each group paralleling people in real-world history and mythology. Fortunately, after pages of violent fighting, the conclusion of this section was satisfying and directly connected to the dialogue portion of the books. Color Symbolism, Black Númenóreans, and Men of Harad Black Númenóreans was...