Also, my laptop's name is Estel. It's a Ranger. My desktop's name is Rosie, because she waits at home.

Okay, that's adorable.

I'm sure someone with a more comprehensive knowledge (::Cough::Jeff Mejia::cough::) will come along soon and correct us both. *grin*

There is some confusion whether the green stone that Glorfindel left behind at the Bridge was the same stone that Aragorn wore when he entered Minas Tirith to heal the sick. As John pointed out, the direct quote tends to contradict this (that the stone he wore was the one givne to him by Arwen). There is a mention of the Elf-stone in Unfinished Tales that goes into a much more extensive backstory for the object. IIRC, the stone was manufactured in the First Age (by Feanor himself?) and was in the posession of Beren and Luthien for a time, and it had some mystical healing properties. I don't remember how the stone passed to Galadriel. I'll dig up the reference when I get home tonight.

Okay, that's adorable.

Have I mentioned that I'm a big geek?

I'll dig up the reference when I get home tonight.

But not as big a geek as Jeff Mejia, whom I heart.

My mom just got back from visiting her best friend and her husband (who happens to be my godfather) in Dallas. Some of you might remember me posting about Vern--he's the Tolkien geek who has the first editions of both the British and American publications of all of his work (I've fondled his British Hobbit 1st edition, but kept the drool to a minimum). Before she went, I mentioned something about seeing RotK with him, and she just said that they had plenty of other things to do, and she was sure they wouldn't spend 3 1/2 hours watching a movie she's already seen.

Sure enough, Vern got the dvd the day it came out, and they ended up watching it on Thursday. I told her she wasn't going to avoid LotR while she was down there!

I don't remember how the stone passed to Galadriel. I'll dig up the reference when I get home tonight.

I hope I'm don't embarrass myself too badly here. I must admit that I don't have a great head for detail, and do find it somewhat difficult following things in the Silmarillion, where everyone and everyplace has at least three names, and sometimes five.

Here goes: I thought the green stone was one of four Silmarils, which I believe were created by Feanor, I think from the essence of the tree of light. I don't remember how it got to Galadriel either. I think that with all the wars over the Silmarils, the elves only managed to get back and keep one. I think it was the centerpiece of a great crown (or was it a necklace?) that was kept by a great king and queen who kept one of the last safe places in Middle Earth for elves. Was that Galadriel's parents? Ack. Now I'll have to go home and dig out the Silmarillion too. Hopefully you can get the answer faster than I can find the book, Jeff, as I must admit I'm not sure where I have it. It is getting to be time to read it again, I see.

Not quite right, there, libkitty. There were 3 silmarils that were forged by Feanor, capturing the light of the Two Trees before they were destroyed by Melkor aka Morgoth. After the Trees were destroyed, Melkor stole the Silmarils from Feanor's house, at which time Feanor named him Morgoth and swore the Oath of Feanor, which meant that he and his sons would pursue anybody who had the jewels, no matter who, and take them from them by any means necessary.

Because of that oath, the Elves went to war against Morgoth (there's obviously a whole lot more involved with this story), established kingdoms in Beleriand in Middle Earth, and eventually were defeated to utter ruin. Only through the pleading of Earendil and Elwing (representing the Children of Ea (Elves and Men) did the Valar arrive and defeat Morgoth. (Boy, that is summing up about a million words).

Anyway, the Elessar mentioned in Unfinished Tales was not as great an accomplishment as the Silmarils, since it didn't have the light of the Two Trees. In the published Silmarillion, mention of the Elessar was dropped, and any healing properties associated with it in the Tales were attributed to the presence of the Silmarils itself.

Most of this is from memory, with some help from the Encyclopedia of Arda. I'll update when I get to the source material.

(I think I may have broken the geek-meter with these posts).

ETA - Answering some of the questions in the libkitty's post:

The three Silmarils were taken by Morgoth and placed into the Iron Crown that he wore on his head, even though the purity of the jewels caused him great pain. When Beren and Luthien sneaked into his lair and Luthien's song bewitched Morgoth, Beren cut one of the jewels from his crown (he needed a jewel as the price that Thingol set for allowing him to wed Luthien). Beren tried to steal the other gems, but his sword broke when he tried to cut them out. The gem that he did capture was later set into a necklace called the Nauglamir, forged by Dwarves. After Beren and Luthien died (for the second time (another story)), the Necklace passed on to Dior, and then to Elwing. The Silmaril from this necklace was used by Earendil and Elwing to light the way to Valimar, so they could plead their case to the Valar. The other 2 jewels were eventually captured by the remaining Sons of Feanor (I don't remember the details), but they were so corrupted by the bloodshed by that time that they couldn't hold the jewels without great pain, so one dived into a chasm in the earth, and the other cast himself into the sea. Elwing and Earendil became a constellation in the sky.

I think I may have broken the geek-meter with these posts

Perfectly geeky enough for me. I'd be right there with ya if I had my copy of the Silmarillion to hand (and I'm out tonight, so I look forward to the cites.)

For Boston-area LotR fans -- make note of this:

News for Jun. 02, 2004 Boston Museum LOTR Exhibit Special Promotion 6/01/04, 11:58 pm EST - weetanya

The Boston Museum of Science is doing a special promotion, Ringer Anduinite writes: Sunday, August 1, from 12:01 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.: A Lord of the Rings ticket is $5.00 this one time ONLY. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed in costume, no weaponry please. Find out about the exhibit here.

I saw that exhibit in London, and it was fabulous.

(I have a ticket for October.) (I got it in April.)