Riddles in the Dark

[Drífa]

What about Minhiriath ? The land that the pre Númenórean and generally unfriendly people lived, UT, Appendix D, The Port of Lond Daer?

[Aranadhel]

Not Mount Gundabad nor Moria, my friends.

Innlandshjarte - The heat is now more intense! Burning my skin a bit lol

Drifa - close but not quite

[The Good Hunter]

I'll go ahead and guess Cardolan then, and if that's wrong everyone ought to know the answer

[Aranadhel]

Innlanxshjarte - Minhiriath is in Cardolan, hence why I'd said close but not quite.

[Drífa]

How about, The Weather Hills? TROTK, Appendix A

[Aranadhel]

Drifa - You're getting nearer but not quite as you're still in Cardolan. Innlanxshjarte's previous answer before Nemroth's is a hint... hehehe...

Attention everyone, follow where Drifa is going...

[Drífa]

The Weather Hills border more so on Rhudaur than Cardolan and were not specifically in Cardolan.

How about, Fornost?

[Aranadhel]

Drifa - Now you're going farther than before lol

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Angmar

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - You're too far North. Drifa and Innlax almost got it but not yet. Not yet.

[The Good Hunter]

@Aranadhel, whilst I am still mulling over my next guess I would like to point out my name is currently Innlandshjarte, not Innlanxshjarte. Frost also does in a pinch

[Aranadhel]

Didn't you have an Arabic name before?

[Chrysophylax Dives]

I was wondering if the x in Innlanxshjarte indicated an Arabic or Scottish pronounciation.

the Barrow-downs?

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - I kept saying it's not in Cardolan ehehehe

[Eldy Dunami]

So it's a location that is close to Rhudaur and the Weather Hills, but south of Angmar, and it's closer to the Weather Hills than Fornost. And it's not Arnor as a whole, nor is it anywhere in Cardolan. That ... leaves very few options that haven't already been guessed, but I'll put out the Lone-lands? Under the assumption that this term refers to a subregion of Eriador in the formerly disputed region east of Bree-land, not Eriador as a whole.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

And that was Lore in action with a capital L! Way surpassing my knowledge levels.

[Aranadhel]

Eldy - Bravo, finally someone who understand where the riddle is headed and the geography of Arnor.

Getting much much hotter now like the sun in the afternoon but still not there yet hehehehe

[Eldy Dunami]

Heh. Thanks, Aranadhel, though unfortunately I'm not feeling very confident in any of the ideas now occurring to me. The South Downs are pretty firmly within the borders of Cardolan and the Chetwood was still inhabited by native Eriadorians (Bree-landers) into the Fourth Age. The Midgewater Marshes are the only other named topographical feature in the immediate vicinity that's coming to mind at the moment, though it feels like a long shot.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Wait, someone said Annúminas?

[Aranadhel]

Eldy - Yup, its neither the South Downs nor the Midgewater Marshes

Chrys - You're in Arthedain now lol!

[Eldy Dunami]

Is it the Forsaken Inn?

[Aranadhel]

Eldy - Nope... I

[Chrysophylax Dives]

We gotta go back to the riddle. What is this "as one became three"?


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.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Need a better map...

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - It was already mentioned by Eldy... He/she has got the right idea hehehehe

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Hills of Evendim?

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - and you're back in Arthedain

[Chrysophylax Dives]

sigh.

[Eldy Dunami]

Chrys - It was already mentioned by Eldy... He/she has got the right idea hehehehe

If it's something I mentioned, then it must be the Chetwood? Or Bree/Bree-land in general, more likely? Though I'm not sure how that accounts for the "Yet I am now empty" bit of the riddle.

(And I am a she, for the record; thanks for not assuming otherwise! )

We gotta go back to the riddle. What is this "as one became three"?

I'm virtually certain that refers to the division of Arnor.

[Aranadhel]

Eldy - You are certainly on the right track but you have to read more carefully on how I wrote the riddle *hint hint* and it's not Chetwood or Bree... Hehehehe prego by the way!

And yes you are correct when answering Chry's question!

[Eldy Dunami]

I'm really drawing a blank here. I would guess Fornost or the Barrow-downs based on the part about this place being filled with foul creatures (Barrow-downs are obvious; Fornost was briefly the seat of the Witch-king in T.A. 1974–75), but since others have already guessed those and they weren't correct, I'm not sure where to go from here. Could you perhaps offer a hint?

In the meantime, I might as well guess Weathertop. I know you already said the Weather Hills isn't the answer, but I'll take a shot in the dark with the more specific location. It was something "the conquerors bickered over," anyway.

[Aranadhel]

Eldy - Neither Fornost nor Barrow-downs or Weathertop.

Last hint for everyone - read through the last line of the riddle

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Tharbad? (the Rohirrim are said to settle it in the early 4th Age - bit odd place for them if you ask me, but there you go)

[Chrysophylax Dives]

So it's a location that is close to Rhudaur and the Weather Hills, but south of Angmar, and it's closer to the Weather Hills than Fornost. And it's not Arnor as a whole, nor is it anywhere in Cardolan. That ... leaves very few options that haven't already been guessed, but I'll put out the Lone-lands? Under the assumption that this term refers to a subregion of Eriador in the formerly disputed region east of Bree-land, not Eriador as a whole.

Closer to the Weather Hills than Fornost. There is the nub. The maps are just blank on the space between the Weather Hills and Deadmen's Dike.

[Aranadhel]

Chrys - Nay, not Tharbad. You just need to read the map closer lol.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

The Angle?

[Drífa]

How about, Deadmen's Dike?

[Drífa]

Oh, wait! I know, now I am further than before.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Wtf Drifa? Spit it out, dwarf!

[Drífa]

Hahaha, I am going further away again with Deadmen's Dike as an answer, is all I was trying to say.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Deadmen's Dike = Norbury of the Kings = Fornost, right? So it cannot be Deadmen's Dike.

I still have this notion the Angle might also match the one becomes three bit.

But what i cannot do is 'read through the last line'!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Maybe it is not Arnor at all but the history of the plaza, old and new?

[Aranadhel]

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.

Arnor was founded with the coming of the Dunedain in Exile by Elendil and drove out the Hill Men who have been there before Numenor drowned.

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.

Arnor split into three when the 3 princes disputed over the land and Rhudaur in particular were wiped out completely of its Dunedain heritage by the avenging Hill Men who had allied with the Witch King of Angmar.

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

For many years Arthedain fought vs Angmar as both fell Rhudaur and then Cardolan also were wiped out clean of its Dunedain heritage. Then the combined forces of Lindon + Arthedain + Rivendell + Lorien won the Battle of Fornost and Arnor as a whole was restored of Evil.

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.

Yet after the victory Aranarth did not rebuild his kingdom and forsook the Arnor Crown and instead became a chieftain and the Dunedain of the North lived in the woods and they ironically by the time of Aragorn II made their settlement between the rivers of Hoarwell and Loudwater, near Rivendell.

Where am I?

The Angle.


@Chrysophylax Dives guessed correctly in the end. By the way can I know your reasoning behind this on how you suspected it was the Angle?


The floor is yours now, mate.


Apologies anyway to everybody who guessed 'almost' correctly and what not. I gave so many hints lol. The Angle is indeed in Rhudaur but I wanted the place and not the region.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Wow. I feel like i stumbled exhausted and mindless over the finishing post. So, first of all, @Aranadhel, i thank you for pushing me to learn more about Arnor. To be honest, I'd never even got my head around the names of the three regions, let alone their history.

My guess was prompted by three factors, the first two of which may well have been red herrings.

1. The one became three - i just felt in my bones that this was more than just the division of Arnor and it fits the Angle where, on the map, you see three rivers that begins as one.

2. Angle in the primary world is the place (border of Denmark and Germany today) where the ancient English lived, and as their story is one of conquest and settlement and natives i sensed a connection (which i think now was not intended on your part). There is also an Angle in Lorien - Tolkien liked pointing out that the name arises as a description for a place where rivers meet.

3. Yesterday night i read over all relevant parts of Appendix A and Angle was the only name given in Rhudaur that had not already been guessed!

So, as you see, more luck than talent here. I am embarrassed to say that when i guessed Annuminas above i was so certain i was right that i composed a riddle, partly with you in mind - it has not one but two biblical references and the answer is not in Middle-earth! Gotta get the last two kids off to school but I'll post it once that is done.

[Aranadhel]

Glad to be of help, Chrys.. You're a good sport.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

So, welcome to a new week and a new riddle. No doors, hidden or otherwise in this one. I will say that despite the two biblical references you will not find my name in the Bible. You will find my name in Tolkien's essay 'On Fairy-stories' but you will not find it in any story of Middle-earth. And that is all the help i'm gonna give on this one!

mene mene tekel upharsin
That was my position too,
Though rather perched above,
Balancing as it were on a knife edge:
Sway but a fraction, and all is lost…
A doom like the first couple, who
Enchanted by the wormtongue,
Ate the bitter fruit.

The muster of Rohan stood with the King,
Aye, and all the brave men of Gondor.
But the miracle of Mithrandir was not for me.
No red dawn that day;
'Twas a golden sun that broke in a white sky.
O women of Gondor, will you pick up the pieces?

Say my name!

[Aranadhel]

Oberon

[Drífa]

Tricky riddle, Aranadhel! Any place in Arnor could have fit it.

As to the new riddle, is it Elfland?

[Aranadhel]

You were close, Drifa but you kept going farther into Arthedain ahahahahaha!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

No and no.

Henceforth, assume the answer is 'no' unless i post 'yes'; it will save my fingers.