Those who know.

The world of Arda is full of fascinating characters and creatures not found in other tales or mythologies or, in any case, not in the same form J. R. R. Tolkien envisioned them in his books. Owing to a well-developed system of languages, it was possible for the Professor to use precise words in his invented tongues, for example in Quenya or Sindarin, to name those characters whose identities it was not always possible to render accurately in English. In a letter Tolkien mused that he was “under the difficulty of finding English names for mythological creatures with other names”. He did it so as not to shower his readers with “a string of Elvish names”, but some interpretations were false, according to Tolkien himself. One of the most interesting examples of this is Istari or the Wizards.

Goldwood the Great.

It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn grew.

(Fellowship of the Ring, p. 457)

While there are still Elvish realms like spots of light in Middle-earth of the Third Age, none of them is so Elvish as Lothlórien is. Legolas refers to the Golden Wood as to «the fairest of all the dwellings of my people» (Fellowship of the Ring., p. 438), which captures Lórien’s aura perfectly.

Fëanor and Melkor: so different, so alike.

When we talk about the cruelest villain in the whole Middle-earth – Melkor (or rather Morgoth) that is – we might be inclined to think that he is one of a kind in the whole of Ёa. However, if you take a closer look, it’s not exactly so. Melkor is indeed a mighty evil spirit that virtually no one can rival, but a lot of his traces can be surprisingly seen in the eldest son of Finwё and the greatest of the Noldor – in Fëanor. A careful look will reveal that these two have more in common than seems at first sight.