Sometimes I’m torn, because I really don’t feel that unfinished side-projects should be required reading for a published and widespread text, but …

Well, my favourite Tolkien work is LOTR. But my understanding of LOTR has a lot of influence from Tolkien’s later work, and I feel that it’s not quite fair to talk about what he was doing while ignoring large of swaths of what he did.

And yet, people shouldn’t need to read ancillary material to come away with a valid reading of a text.

Then again …

(This touches a lot of discussions for me, but especially takes on Isildur that ignore "Gladden Fields.")

An anon on Tumblr asked:

What do you think of 'Elrond should have pushed Isildur into the lava' debates? I mean obviously it's silly and people have posted all the different reasons why he wouldn't, but which was the main reason? That he wasn't inside the mountain, he and Círdan didn't know the Ring was that dangerous, they didn't want a fight between the Elves and the Númenórians, Isildur was his comrade, Isildur was his family? I'm curious what you think the characters were thinking (and also what about Círdan?)

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