Posted: May 23, 2000 at 10:39:41: by Wibstap
: I was thinking about the suite 101 article "Introducing Middle-Earth Group Entertainment." It occured to me that a good candidate for "Ship Trek" would be the round-the-world voyage sponsored by the Kings of Gondor, to see whether one could reach what was left of Numenor and the Undying Lands. We`re told at the end of the Akallabeth that they made such a voyage, went on all the way round the world, and reported to the kings that "all paths are now bent." It reminds me a little of the Phoenician voyage round Africa that Pharoah comissioned.: I wonder why they didn`t return when they found the new lands instead of Valinor? Was it their mission, or a sense of adventure? Or were the winds simply contrary? Also, under which kings was this enterprise launched? I had supposed it was under the ship kings, but could it have been that Elendil, eager to be certain what had happened - although I suppose it wasn`t neccessary if he had the westward-looking palantir. On why they did or didn't stay in the New Lands: maybe some of them did and became the ancestors of the Native Americans?
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