You as the last steward...

[afro-elf]

I think that might be a typo in your book. When I receive my books from the states, I check and see what it says.

As for sandcastles they is the result of THEIR policies that is why I would have had different ones.

[afro-elf]

Dear Lady of Itilien,

I regret to inform you that your book has a typographical error. I was able to secure a copy from a colleague here and it says Elrond THE Halfelven in his copy. Also, why would there be someone named Half Elven as a personal name. It would be strange for there to be a persons named Gloin and Half Dwarf. I hope this clears up your confusion about Denethor lore. He was a great leader before his mental collapse.

Regards,

Afro-elf, Lord of Typing Errors

[afro-elf]

no reply

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Good research, A-E! Tolkien's grammar was truly awful (as he himself admitted) but I've also spotted a very few (count 'em on one hand) typos in this edition. This would be a glaring one that he would have likely noticed, but it can be easily verified if it's a typo: my copy is the Houghton Mifflin hardcover copy, second edition, fourth printing, with the 1965 copyright (Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-12275 - no ISBN back then); it's in The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond," page 259, 12 sentences up from the bottom, as quoted.

Which copy are you looking at? Maybe somebody out there can verify each of these: we might have discovered something here!

As for sandcastles they is the result of THEIR policies that is why I would have had different ones.

If Sauron would have let you.

That's what everybody seems to be overlooking here -- the presence of palpable, strong Evil right next door who's constantly interacting with your world, whether you want Him to or not, and with a winning sales pitch that has brought uncounted Men, who altogether far outnumber even the combined present forces of Gondor and Rohan, into his ranks. And that's not counting the orcs, trolls, etc., and Nazgul.

Tolkien really had Denethor boxed into a corner. Really, I don't know that my policies of treating with Saruman (two Palantirs in the hands of a Maia and a Numenorean -- not a weak combination, that); marginalizing Gandalf with the Elves, who were fading; and denying Aragorn's claim to the throne, if it came to that, would have worked, either. I just tried to put myself in his position.

About the only thing I might also have done to break out of the "sandcastles" mentality, if Saruman was agreeable and untouched by Sauron's influence (a big 'if'), would have been to occupy the lands between the Gap of Rohan and the sea, with the help of the Rohirrim, as Sauron very well could have marched up the coast. That would have possibly drawn off some of his forces that were threatening Gondor, though it would have opened up another front far from home, too.

[afro-elf]

I'll give you the exact info tomorrow. { HOPEFULLY}

I THINK its is DELL Balintine edition.

[afro-elf]

The copy that my colleague has is a del rey ballantine edition

the passage is on 276

isbn is 0345339303

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Good -- next weekend, hopefully, will be able to look around for a copy. I may be the lucky owner of the "Elrond and Halfelven" version of the LOTR.

I've been reading The Silmarillion again, too, and it does seem strange that Denethor or any Dunadan would forget Elrond, considering that his brother was the first king of Numenor.

[afro-elf]

I checked out an English langauge bok store here and most copies had THE. However, there was ONE copy with AND.

So I guess it was a typo that escaped tha edition.

I agree that it would be QUITE odd to forget Elrond.