Riddles in the Dark

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Nah. It was way easier than the horse of Eorl, and easier for that matter than @Ercassie (i think) on the elf-stone that was two and with wings and all that. I have a half done riddle from my covid week; I'll polish it up and post later.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

So, I found two half made riddles from my fevered days, one easy and one (perhaps) not so easy. Here is one of them (apologies for the lack of rhythm in the rhyme).

The hidden door I never saw,
'Twas the other door that I made sure:
Twice I marked a mark and marked many more.
Once I heard a voice in a jar - through the door had come what I feared;
Next morning in the garden 37 holes appeared and disappeared.
I danced before I slew my last foe,
That nameless thief who did not know,
To raise his eyes to see the trees,
Before he used the magic key.
Say my name!

[Aranadhel]

Treebeard

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Not Treebeard (i see where you are coming from). But i believe that i have been amiss. Looking back over this thread (which i joined only recently) i see that it is proper convention to note if the answer is or is not Middle-earth related. Sadly, this takes the sting out of this riddle because the whole idea was to boil Drifa's brain with lots of pseudo M-e references (not only Drifa, but mainly Drifa, who has now baked my brain beyond endurance). So, I think it only right and fair that I state:

You will not find the answer in Middle-earth.

[The Good Hunter]

Given this new information, I feel obligated to at least try and steer the ship in a direction though I will doubtlessly be wrong: Baba Yaga?

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I can see how one can arrive at Treebeard out of the riddle, but by what reasoning on this earth or under it did you arrive at Baba Yaga?

Still, at least I can now write (instead of read): Try again!

[Aikári Salmarinian]

Oromë?

[Aranadhel]

Melkor

[Chrysophylax Dives]

No and no.

Let me clarify, not only is the character you are looking for outside of Middle-earth but this character was well known (and still is) long before Tolkien was ever born.

[Aranadhel]

From the Bible?

[Chrysophylax Dives]

nope.
give me a moment and i will give another clue...

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Here is a pointer, with credit to the metaphysical poet John Donne:

If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride one thousand and one days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And be sure,
That you saw
The woman who guards the other door.

[Aranadhel]

I think you better stick to ME stuff.

This is already way off topic and I'm not even a Christian

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I think you better stick to ME stuff.

This is already way off topic and I'm not even a Christian

Huh? This riddle has nothing to do with the Bible or Christianity or any other religion. Probably i should stick to ME stuff, but i've seen riddles in this thread that have the answer 'a stapler' so clearly the riddles do not have to stick to ME stuff.

[Aikári Salmarinian]

Chrys: Outside ME is not my expertise at all. I keep at all times to something inside the Tolkien storyline, so people can find the answer. Or you have to switch either Star Wars or Harry Potter. But more realms I don't know. The OP says 2) The riddle does not have to be Tolkien or Middle-earth related. You're doing nothing wrong. But this I have to forgo.

[Drífa]

Patience, grasshoppers, stop complaining! Read and learn and let the clues help you find your way.

I am still looking!

[Aranadhel]

I think you better stick to ME stuff.

This is already way off topic and I'm not even a Christian

Huh? This riddle has nothing to do with the Bible or Christianity or any other religion. Probably i should stick to ME stuff, but i've seen riddles in this thread that have the answer 'a stapler' so clearly the riddles do not have to stick to ME stuff.

Then what does your riddle points to?

Speak frankly for goodness sake!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I think you better stick to ME stuff.

This is already way off topic and I'm not even a Christian

Huh? This riddle has nothing to do with the Bible or Christianity or any other religion. Probably i should stick to ME stuff, but i've seen riddles in this thread that have the answer 'a stapler' so clearly the riddles do not have to stick to ME stuff.

Then what does your riddle points to?

Speak frankly for goodness sake!

Wow. I am rapidly coming to regret ever posting this riddle. Frank speaking is precisely not what should be on a riddle thread. But for you: in the second rhyme, the pointer, i have altered the words of the original to provide a reference to where this character may be found.

[Aranadhel]

Still doesn't make sense

[Ercassie]

Opening it up to a not-explicitly-Middle Earth subject certainly does broaden the options of what it could be. But that doesn’t mean the riddle doesn’t make sense, @Aranadhel. It just means it’s harder to guess. But don’t panic. It’s not like Gollum is going to eat you if you can not give an answer.

[Aranadhel]

I'm frustrated because I've been wanting to guess right for once and have a go at giving a riddle but it's all nonsense at the moment.

I can never know when it'll be my turn. It's not fair

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I'm frustrated because I've been wanting to guess right for once and have a go at giving a riddle but it's all nonsense at the moment.

I can never know when it'll be my turn. It's not fair

Got to say that I've been looking forward to a riddle from you for a while myself, Aranadhel. I apologize for the present nonsense, which has taught me (a) it is better to guess than to ask a riddle, and (b) never to ever think of challenging Drifa aka Lord of the Riddles.

[Eldy Dunami]

Is it Morgiana from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves? She never saw the hidden door to the cave, but she marked the doors to houses with chalk to fool the thieves. She killed thirty-seven thieves who were hiding in jars (who were then buried in the ground) and killed the thirty-eighth after dancing before him. And Ali Baba is usually included in Western editions of the One Thousand and One Nights, the title of which is mentioned in the follow-up riddle.

[The Good Hunter]

Gotta agree with Drifa here, stop complaining like children because the riddles hard, it's completely fair and adds extra dimensions of fun into the game. Granted, I shouldn't have guessed Baba Yaga because there was not a single reference to chicken legged houses in the woods so that one's on me

"37 holes" makes me think of the book "Holes" and the only character I remember from that one is Zero so that's my guess, another stab in the dark but it might move the guesses in the right direction

<Frost Edit> Cripes, I need to read all the replies, the secondary riddle seems to negate my guess entirely, I think Eldy might be headed in the correct direction

[Aranadhel]

Why in God's name are we playing Ali Baba and the 40 thieves in a LOTR forum?

[Romeran]

Why in God's name are we playing Ali Baba and the 40 thieves in a LOTR forum?

From the OP:

"2) The riddle does not have to be Tolkien or Middle-earth related."

This is Riddles in the Dark, recall that none of the riddles from that chapter in The Hobbit were specific to anything in Middle-earth, they were all rather generic riddles.

It just so happens that as of late most of the riddles have been about some sort of M-e Lore but that's not actually required nor truly the spirit of this thread.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Is it Morgiana from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves? She never saw the hidden door to the cave, but she marked the doors to houses with chalk to fool the thieves. She killed thirty-seven thieves who were hiding in jars (who were then buried in the ground) and killed the thirty-eighth after dancing before him. And Ali Baba is usually included in Western editions of the One Thousand and One Nights, the title of which is mentioned in the follow-up riddle.

OOOhh! Perfect. Yes, the one thing you do not mention is the Chief Robber speaking the magic password without looking carefully first - which is how Ali Baba - hiding in a tree - obtains the password.

When I thought of this it seemed so deliciously horrible because the hidden door and marked door are replicated in The Hobbit (actually, even the thieves in the jars is mirrored in the dwarves in barrels). But somehow the execution did not quite work.

Eldy Dunami, I am very glad to pass the torch on to you.

[Eldy Dunami]

Thanks, Chrys! I wouldn't have had a clue without the "one thousand and one" in the second poem, but even then I had to think on it for a bit and double-check the story to make sure all the clues lined up.

I'm garbage at poetry, so have this corny limerick. It's Middle-earth related.

I am an abhorrent courier
When I take to the air, I'm furrier
Try me and find
I'm not very kind
And my boss will make you a scurrier

[The Good Hunter]

Limericks for the win!! My guess is the good ol' vampire lass, Thuringwethil?

[Eldy Dunami]

Got it in one! You're up, @Ligeia! Ligeia!

[The Good Hunter]

'Twas a lovely limerick Eldy!

I existed, and then I didn't
Sadly, didn't fit the blueprint

I once had a mighty child
Wanton, wrathful, and wild

My blood is scattered on mountains
And across the bottom of the fountains

Middle-earth related, but if I get another one, I'm warning you now it's gonna be horror related

Frost Edit: fixed a grammar error in line 2

[Romeran]

Would this be Eöl the Dark Elf? He argued against the Noldor claiming the lands, he had a mighty son Maeglin who is blamed for the fall of Gondolin. He was cast over the cliff of Caragdûr for his crime of killing Aredhel (although he had intended to kill his own son).

[The Good Hunter]

A good guess, but alas, not correct

[Aranadhel]

Ancalagon

[Ercassie]

Are you Míriel Serindë ?

[The Good Hunter]

Sadly, neither Ancalagon or Míriel Serindë are correct, but I will say that Aran is moving closer to the right track

[Aranadhel]

Smaug

[Drífa]

Are you, the ogress Fluithuin?
Gothmog 'was a son of Melko and the ogress Fluithuin and his name is Strife-
and-hatred, and he was Captain of the Balrogs and lord of Melko's hosts ere fair
Ecthelion slew him at the taking of Gondolin. Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2

[The Good Hunter]

Well slap my butt and call me Sally, I thought I had been quite clever in picking my subject but Drifa came along and said "no, this is easy"

You are quite correct @Drifa, Fuithliun is the answer.

The floor is once again yours, the terror of all of us gathered here

[Drífa]

*swats Sally's butt*. Thanks Sally!
I am going to turn the floor over to @Aranadhel ! Hit us with your best shot, young elf!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Yay! Good for you Drifa. I'm looking forward to a no-nonsense riddle @Aranadhel!

[Aranadhel]

Damn I was thinking about Ecthelion regarding the Fountains but I was wrong, as always lol.

Thank you @Drifa for giving me a chance.

Here it goes. It's ME related and it's not hard.

It's a place.
-----------------------------------------------

Once I was a part of a big land and filled with lives,
The conquerors came and drove out the natives,
Mighty it was in its heyday,
Such was the power of victory.

Then I became smaller as one became three,
The conquerors bickered over us,
Then the natives retook from the conquerors,
Dark was the land as far as I can see.

Miserable I was filled with foul creatures,
Yet hope won over despair,
They sought to repair,
And I was free at last from blackness.

Yet I am now empty, bereft of hope,
The victors stayed not as they left me,
Irony in the end the natives have gone,
And the conquerors came back and resettled here.

Where am I?

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Mordor?

[Ercassie]

Arnor ?

[Aranadhel]

Nay to Mordor. Sorry Chrys

Ercassie is getting hotter... Oh my I can feel the heat.. like the morning sun lol

[Chrysophylax Dives]

So, while tidying i had an inspiration: Eregion?

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - Not this time, bro....

[Rior Laegiel]

Mount Gundabad?

[The Good Hunter]

Based on Cassie's guess and Aran's response, I'm going with Rhudaur?

[Nemroth]

Moria?