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Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

So whatever treasures the Noldor took with them on their long journey must have been precious indeed. I'm sure the crafters would have taken such tools as they felt would be necessary for continuing their works in Middle-earth. Smiths would have to take hammers and tongs, anvils, and other tools. The Noldor had horses but they seem to have lost the majority of their herds either in the storm raised by Uinen or in crossing the Helcaraxe. Perhaps only the horses carried by ship made it to Middle-earth. Miners would have to take their axes and hammers, their stone-cutting tools, and other implements. Hammers, saws, chisels, knives, scythes, sickles, pincers, picks, axes -- everything required to build a civilization would have to be carried by the Elves, or hauled in carts (but there is no mention of carts or wagons). They really had no idea of where they were going, or how they would get there. Feanor had a vague plan, but he didn't share it with anyone. He just tried to get everyone to hurry up and go. And most of the Noldor wouldn't have listened to him anyway. They had decided to leave, but they wanted Fingolfin to be their leader. Less mundane treasures would have included harps, trumpets, weapons, scrolls or books, flutes, and objects for carrying food and water, and probably corn. The special corn the Valar gave the Eldar for their journey across Middle-earth. Although Araman may have been completely lifeless I suspect that it must have supported plant and animal life of some sort. But could it really have fed all the Noldor? Fingolfin led them in the wilds for the equivalent of nearly fifty years. My guess is the Noldor must have been baking a lot of lembas in those years. They would have to stop somewhere along the way, plant some corn, raise it, harvest it, and then make a lot of lembas before setting out again. Moses and the Hebrews at least only had to go out and scrape up manna from the ground six days a week. They pretty much had it made, although they probably got as tired of manna as the Elves must have become of lembas. Lembas-corn (if I may call it that) was pretty special stuff. It would grow by starlight (since in the original conception of the world Tolkien decided that only the stars gave light to Middle-earth for many ages after Melkor destroyed the lamps of the Valar). And the corn would also, apparently, grow in a variety of climates. But it's doubtful the Noldor would always have a piece of lembas to chew on if they grew bored. The journey through the wilderness was a hard one. The crossing of the Helcaraxe was miserable. Fingolfin probably stopped to grow one last crop of corn before setting out across the ice.

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