Innocence
by Soledad Cartwright
Appendix B: About the Wandering Company
Originally, this Appendix was only meant to be a joke for people equally obsessed with insignificant details than your humble author. But in the meantime I came to the decision to write a lengthy story about Gildor Inglorion, too (I know, I know, I need a life!), and that arose the necessity to take a closer look at his people, especially at the Wandering Company.
In his article ''The Magic of the Minstrels'', Michael Martinez writes:
''One aspect of Elvish culture that remains largely obscure is the tradition of the Wandering Companies. Although Frodo, Sam, and Pippin encounter Gildor Inglorion and his people, they are Exiles, Noldor, who are returning from a sort of pilgrimage in Lindon to their homes in or near Rivendell. They are not greatly concerned with affairs in Middle-earth and keep to themselves.
In the early Second Age there were many Wandering Companies in Eriador, and these appear to have been composed mostly of Nandor. Their concerns would have been very different from those of Gildor's folk, who were only "tarrying" for a while before finally taking ship over Sea. The Nandorin Wandering Companies must have been integrated with the Eldarin civilization of Lindon eventually, either because the Elves of Lindon increased in population and spread eastward, or because the Nandor would have been forced to take refuge with the Noldor and Sindar in Lindon during the War of the Elves and Sauron.
The Wandering Companies may therefore have played a significant role in the greater culture of the Elves throughout much of the Second Age. They should have become conveyors of news and song. They could have become traveling entertainers. Although Tolkien never compares the Wandering Companies to gypsies or circus troupes, they must have shared some similarities to such cultures. Traveling families or clans develop their own customs and traditions. They may assimilate some aspects of the cultures they visit but they are often viewed as outsiders and their existence demands they maintain customs that a sedentary people don't possess.
And so it is reasonable to ask if the Wandering Companies did not, at some time, become the entertainers of Middle-earth. When the Eldar were the dominant civilization and the cities of northern Middle-earth spoke Sindarin the Wandering Companies would have provided an easy means of spreading new songs and stories throughout the lands. The Elvish minstrels need not have studied the great mining secrets of Aulë or learned the mysteries of the oceans from Ulmo and Ossë in order to compose and perform their magical songs. [...]
The Wandering Companies must eventually have become fewer in
number. The Dúnadan cities dwindled and vanished. Men became
fearful and mistrustful of the Elves, the Elves became wary of
Men, and time marched on toward the inevitable estrangement of
the races. The Elves who passed up and down the Anduin singing
songs about the Ents and Entwives proably vanished with the rise
of Dol Guldur. Thranduil led his people north and they lost
contact with the Elves of Lothlórien. The friendly Men of the
Vales of Anduin were gradually displaced by Easterlings brought
in by Sauron.''
Now, Gildor's Company is a fairly late one, and it is a mixed
bunch, as you'll see. I established that they are only part of
his people - and the minority, at that. The larger part of
Gildor's subjects would dwell permanently in Edhellond, the South
Haven of the Silvan Elves near Dol Amroth, for whose re-building
I gave Gildor the credit, without any canon fact to support this
idea.
This is about the Wandering Company alone, so I won't go into detail about Gildor's city here. All shall be said in the tale of Gildor, which - most likely - will be called ''Born To Rule, Born Too Late''.
You'll find two lists of the company members below. The first one is alphabetical Usave of Gildor and the Lady Aquiel, of course), and mentions to which Elvish people they belong too; also their likely occupation. The second one presents the family connections between them.
Alphabetical list:
1. Gildor Inglorion - Noldo
2. Lady Aquiel, aka Lalaith - Noldo, lore-master
3. Ariandir (= see-wanderer) - Teleri from the South Haven
4. Almáriel - Noldo, still under-aged
5. Bruithwir - Noldo, a sword-smith
6. Durithel - Nandor, archer
7. Denilos - Nandor, archer
8. Díriel - Noldo
9. Edrahil - Teleri
10. Eilinel - Noldo, a weaver
11. Egnor - Noldo
12. Enedrion - Sindar
13. Erellant - Silvan Elf of the South Haven
14. Erinti - Silvan Elf of the South Haven, a healer
15. Falathar - Noldo, a minstrel
16. Findóriel - Noldo
17. Findobar - Noldo, a crystal-cutter
18. Fuilin - Noldo, a swordsman
19. Gelmir - Noldo
20. Gethron - Noldo
21. Glorwendel - Noldo
22. Herendil - Noldo
23. Ilinsor - Silvan Elf
24. Ilien - Noldo
25. Isfin - Nandor, called ''the horse lady''
26. Maelor - Noldo
27. Mailwin - Noldo
28. Melthinorn (= ''tree of gold'') - Noldo, a minstrel
29. Meliloth - Noldo
30. Nuinor - Teleri, a female minstrel
31. Orgof - Silvan Elf from Doriath, a minstrel
32. Orontor - Silvan Elf of Lórien, an archer
33. Radhros - Noldo, a glass-blower
34. Rhiannon - Nandor, also called ''the horse lady''
35. Silivros (= ''glimmering rain'') - Silvan Elf
36. Thorndor - Noldo, an archer
37. Tinthellon - Sindar, a healer
38. Tinwelint - Noldo
39. Tinwiel - Noldo
40. Irilde - Noldo, still under-aged
Family relations:
Herendil (no wife) is the head of one of the Noldorin
families.
Findóriel is his daughter, married to Denilos, their only child
is a daughter, Meliloth, married to Fuilin.
Findobar son of Herendil is married to Glorwendel. They have two
children, a son Tinwelint, so far unmarried and a daughter,
Tinwiel, who is married to Radhros; her daughter, an under-aged
young gir, is called Irilde.
So, in Herendil's family there are four generations altogether. I
don't know (yet) what happened to Herendil's wife.
Bruithwir (also no wife) is the head of the other Noldorin
family.
His older son, Gelmir is married to Eilinel, they have a
daughter, Díriel, married to Thorndor. Their daughter,
Almáriel, is still under-aged.
Bruithwir's younger sonis called Gethron, his wife is Mailwin.
Their only child is a son, Maelor, whose wife's fate is so far
unknown. Maelor's son, Egnor is married to Ilien, but they
haven't any children yet.
In Bruithwir's family, there also are four generations. And I
have no idea what happened to his wife, either.
Orgof is married to his fellow minstrel, the Teleri Nuinor.
Their sons, Ilinsor and Silivros, have no families on their own.
This is a two-generation, mixed family, containing Nandorin and
Telerin family members.
Isfin, the Nandorin horse-lady (no husband - fallen during the
First Age somewhen) is the head of an even more mixed-up family.
Her only daughter, Rhiannon, is married to Durithel.
Their daughter, Erinti is married to her fellow healer, a Sindar
Elf named Tinthellon. They have several children, who chose to
dwell permanently in Edhellond, so they are not named here.
Their son, Erellant, is married to Orontor of Lórien. Yes, they
are both males, get used to it! And therefore they have no
children.
If we count in the children and grandchildren of Erinti and
Tinthellon (the nameless one who live in Edhellond), there are at
least five generations in this family - which is small wonder,
considering that Isfin is even older than Orgof, and belonged to
Pricne Denethor's people in the youth of Beleriand.
Company members without family ties:
Ariandir
Edrahil
Enedrion
Falathar
Melthinorn
Which doesn't mean they have no families at all - just that their familes chose to remain in Edhellond. Not everyone has the thing for a life in constant travelling. Falathar and Melthinorn, the two Noldorin minstrels, are not married yet, but they have been lovers for centuries, so there is still hope for them.