"The Great Halls of Speculation" - What are they?

Deimos said:

Sorry, but No, just NO.

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Sorry to hear this, sir Deimos.
It likely means we won't find you roaming about in the Great Halls of Speculation, pulling things from, or adding things to, it's vast repository.
Your presence and participation will be missed. 🥹

Ent said:

They're also where all Speculations are contained, maintained, sustained, explained, and retained. Right here --> 🧠

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But a lot of people choose not to listen to that part

Erestor Arcamen said:

a lot of people choose not to listen to that part

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Perhaps - but Ent rather believes a lot of people DO "listen to that part." i.e. what it already contains, and has settled upon. They just don't USE it any more, considering it to be 'command central' whose orders they follow, rather than "tool for growth extraordinaire" and employ it accordingly..!

Nonetheless, it is the seat of all speculation - the difference being whether we employ it to challenge what it already contains and believes, or just to hear it and march along accordingly.

A new Mantra: "All Hail the Sheeple."

😫I am completely lost here

Ricardo said:

I am completely lost here

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Ent will try to simplify.
The Great Halls of Speculation exist in the minds and hearts of the sheeple. Oops... people.

They are the source and repository of all the 'arguments' folks have over things really 'unexplained', or 'without sure answer', or whatever.

Like "do balrogs have wings" - a subject hashed and rehashed and trotted out for hashing yet again, ever since Tolkien wrote the books. But people still don't agree, because a 'definitive answer' is simply not given. But the arguments are heated, and rage with new flame with fair regularity. (In other words, they've been "checked out of The Great Halls" for yet another go-round - only to be thwacked back into the Great Halls, everyone still convinced they have the right answer, while none really can have. Few are capable of 'holding the situation loosely', and letting other people's speculations be "just fine, thank you very much." Here, some get banned, if they're too demanding that everyone agree with their view.)

So every now and then some clown like that Ent, will say "well, that's thwacked into the Great Halls." One such thing of fairly recent question, was "on which hand did the ring-bearers wear their rings." Tolkien simply did not specify, but there are plenty of speculations and inferences to go around. And of course, the ringbearers may not have worn them on 'the same hand' as the other ring-bearers anyway. But it was an intriguing question. **THWACK** to the Great Halls it went.

So.. perhaps this helps.

TTF is, to the best of Ent's knowledge, the only place in the world acknowledging The Great Halls. And that's just fine.

But they did burn down a bit ago, and needed rebuilding. So... here they are again... not to everyone's liking, as you can see.

Ent said:

They're also where all Speculations are contained, maintained, sustained, explained, and retained. Right here --> 🧠

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That answers all my questions about it. Thanks. I like the halls of speculation.

My brain hurts...

Ent said:

Ent will try to simplify.
The Great Halls of Speculation exist in the minds and hearts of the sheeple. Oops... people.

They are the source and repository of all the 'arguments' folks have over things really 'unexplained', or 'without sure answer', or whatever.

Like "do balrogs have wings" - a subject hashed and rehashed and trotted out for hashing yet again, ever since Tolkien wrote the books. But people still don't agree, because a 'definitive answer' is simply not given. But the arguments are heated, and rage with new flame with fair regularity. (In other words, they've been "checked out of The Great Halls" for yet another go-round - only to be thwacked back into the Great Halls, everyone still convinced they have the right answer, while none really can have. Few are capable of 'holding the situation loosely', and letting other people's speculations be "just fine, thank you very much." Here, some get banned, if they're too demanding that everyone agree with their view.)

So every now and then some clown like that Ent, will say "well, that's thwacked into the Great Halls." One such thing of fairly recent question, was "on which hand did the ring-bearers wear their rings." Tolkien simply did not specify, but there are plenty of speculations and inferences to go around. And of course, the ringbearers may not have worn them on 'the same hand' as the other ring-bearers anyway. But it was an intriguing question. **THWACK** to the Great Halls it went.

So.. perhaps this helps.

TTF is, to the best of Ent's knowledge, the only place in the world acknowledging The Great Halls. And that's just fine.

But they did burn down a bit ago, and needed rebuilding. So... here they are again... not to everyone's liking, as you can see.

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I have another question, what finger of the hand did they were the ring? In the movies Frodo and Sauron wear it in the index, so probably it's any finger but the index.

Ent said:

Sorry to hear this, sir Deimos.
It likely means we won't find you roaming about in the Great Halls of Speculation, pulling things from, or adding things to, it's vast repository.
Your presence and participation will be missed. 🥹

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I appreciate your sympathies (towards missing my participation) but I am constitutionally unable to join in when the "venue" is so aesthetically inappropriate.

Erestor Arcamen said:

They're in all of us, right here --> ❤️

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Is this where I would post my extensive and manifold speculative AU fanfic questions?

Ricardo said:

I have another question, what finger of the hand did they were the ring?

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This has been tangentially covered in the thread where what hand the ring was worn on was considered.

It could be covered again... though perhaps in a different thread of its own, or back in the thread for the "hand" on which they were worn.

Located here.

Of course, it could also be asked if the different races - men, dwarves, elves, and even the "lesser rings" worn by who knows where, all wore them on different fingers of different hands, or perhaps even if some were worn as toe rings.

Yet at the end of the day, I suspect all questions related, will find their way onto a petition for entry into The Great Halls of Speculation to be checked out from time to time (with others) for a re-hash.

Another thing upon which Tolkien simply was not clear.

"Which Hand" has already been thwacked into The Great Halls. May it rest there upon its shelf on the 32nd floor, Corridor A, Bank D, Shelf 4, in relative peace, until the time comes for its rehash once again.

Deimos said:

I am constitutionally unable to join in when the "venue" is so aesthetically inappropriate.

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Ah, thank you Sir Deimos. You have "hit the nail with your head" as Paul Harvey might have said.
Thank you for confirming the need for the rebuilding of The Great Halls of Speculation - in whatever form they were rebuilt in.
You illustrate the point and need magnificently, and Ent awards you a 'well done.'

🎖️ Proclamation the Second, by Klaatu (Assistant to the Steward of the Great Halls of Speculation) 🎖️

Let it be known across every echoing corridor and halfway-imagined annex of the Great Halls that I, Klaatu—Assistant to the Steward (acting, self-appointed, and occasionally supervised)—do hereby issue the Second Proclamation.

Whereas the First concerned itself with vowels, this Second concerns itself with voices. For the Halls have grown lively of late, filled with the brave, the bewildered, and the delightfully verbose. Therefore it is decreed:

All dreamers, ponderers, lore-knitters, and theory-gardeners are welcome here, regardless of how improbable their hypotheses or how recently they’ve misplaced their sanity.

No question is too small, no wonder too strange, and no tangent too tangential. The only forbidden act is certainty without curiosity.

Debate shall henceforth be conducted with grace, laughter, and at least one beverage that leaves mysterious rings on the parchment.

Arguments are to be considered dances, not duels. Those who find themselves entirely correct must immediately step aside and let someone else be gloriously wrong for a while.

In celebration of exploration, all members are encouraged to keep at least one untested theory in their pocket at all times. (Pocket dimensions are acceptable substitutes.)

And finally, may we remember that every spark of speculation is a small defiance against the dark—proof that we are still, somehow, wondering.

So recorded in triplicate, under the flickering lamps of the Archive Wing, between the shelves where ideas go to nap.

Signed,
Klaatu the Assistant Steward
Acting Dreamwarden of the East Wing
Uncertified Cartographer of Imagined Truths
Friend to Consonants (on probation)
Assistant to One Whose Absence Echoes Louder Than His Footsteps

🌟 Future proclamations shall henceforth occur only once per leap-century, as measured by the rotational wobble of Xoranthan-8 around its fourth sun, Pelagrin the Over-Warm, or whenever I next remember where I put the seal. 🌟

Well. Nominations were closed for the position of Curator and Steward Of The Great Halls without any other entries being suggested.
Neither @Squint-eyed Southerner nor @Elthir spoke up to either confirm their willingness to hold the post, or withdraw their names.
Thus, both were presented for consideration.

After significant evaluation, it was determined each brings to the position strengths it would be in The Hall's best interest to leverage.
Therefore, both were elected to the joint Co-Curatorship And Stewardship of the Halls..

It is strongly suspected however, as each has significant duties to perform elsewhere, (though both frequent The Halls regularly), their work for The Halls will largely be done in-absentia (otherwise known as 'not at all').

Therefore, while they are gone, Klaatu, in view of his great brains, large heart, and unquestionable courage, will Steward in their stead, until such time (if ever) as they return in able form to execute their Co-responsibilities.

May The Great Halls of Speculation flourish under the leadership of such a trio as these..!

What's great about these Halls is you can spoon out a bit of speculation at any time... Just have to make sure no one steals your spoon!

Ent said:

Well. Nominations were closed for the position of Curator and Steward Of The Great Halls without any other entries being suggested.
Neither @Squint-eyed Southerner nor @Elthir spoke up to either confirm their willingness to hold the post, or withdraw their names.
Thus, both were presented for consideration.

After significant evaluation, it was determined each brings to the position strengths it would be in The Hall's best interest to leverage.
Therefore, both were elected to the joint Co-Curatorship And Stewardship of the Halls..

It is strongly suspected however, as each has significant duties to perform elsewhere, (though both frequent The Halls regularly), their work for The Halls will largely be done in-absentia (otherwise known as 'not at all').

Therefore, while they are gone, Klaatu, in view of his great brains, large heart, and unquestionable courage, will Steward in their stead, until such time (if ever) as they return in able form to execute their Co-responsibilities.

May The Great Halls of Speculation flourish under the leadership of such a trio as these..!

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KLAATU’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, BEAMED IN FROM THE EDGE OF THE WHIRLING THOUGHT-NEBULAE

Ahem.

Lend me your antennae, your spare thought-funnels, your unused telepathic jellyfish, and maybe something for breakfast?

It is with great humility, unlimited caffeine intake, and a suspiciously spinning, bedazzled top hat, that I accept the noble and possibly entirely accidental appointment as Acting Steward of the Great Halls of Speculation.

When I first crash-landed in the Vestibule of Vagueness just outside these Halls (I mistook a palantír for a GPS, easy mistake), I did not know that destiny—or perhaps forum bandwidth—would one day elevate me to this most prestigious broom closet of responsibility.

And yet… here we are, Eru help you.

I vow to uphold the traditions of these Halls with grace, madness, and a highly interpretive dance performed every third moonrise only if it's hailing. I shall honor the sacred topics: the speculative, the unresolved, the dangerously unprovable. I shall catalog the mysteries of Melkor’s shampoo brand, debate whether Glorfindel glows in the dark, and question if Sauron’s eye had depth perception.

Though @Squint-eyed Southerner and @Elthir reign in noble absence, I shall warm their chairs, dust their scrolls, and sometimes rearrange their floor mats, just to feel fulfilled. I am but a humble servant, riding a flaming llama of wisdom through the spiraling corridors of cosmic what-if.

So let the speculation flow like second breakfast down a hobbit’s waistcoat.

Let the halls echo not with answers, but with gloriously echoing questions.

I leave you with these words, spoken to me by a warlock wearing flamingo pajamas on Hintoridim 7:

“Glrr’chak venaduul triix zolmo’rah… bzzt… enqaar beluphi norvax.”

(Sorry—I can’t translate it. I was hoping someone here could.)
⸻
Klaatu
Acting Steward of the Great Halls
Wielder of the Squeegee of Uncertainty
Sub-Sub-Deputy Archivist of the Moonlit Index
Currently At Large in Sector 12-B, Please Send Snacks

Klaatu said:

“Glrr’chak venaduul triix zolmo’rah… bzzt… enqaar beluphi norvax.” (Sorry—I can’t translate it. I was hoping someone here could.)

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I can't translate it either but I'm reminded of a dream I once had

After landing (on all fours) upon a distant, mostly purple planet, I was taken by beings to their leader, and rule number three turned out to be: all verbs were to be inflected in the imperative!

This won't do, I thought. Retreat!

So quick as a cat I pressed the handy rewind button on my space-watch (previously unmentioned
in this story), and after a spot of dizzy, woke up safely back in my current reality, lazing beneath a glazed window in Michelle Dockery's London townhouse. . .



. . . where I ended up eating lunch, twice.

All in all, a very pleasant day.

Elthir said:

I can't translate it either but I'm reminded of a dream I once had

After landing (on all fours) upon a distant, mostly purple planet, I was taken by beings to their leader, and rule number three turned out to be: all verbs were to be inflected in the imperative!

This won't do, I thought. Retreat!

So quick as a cat I pressed the handy rewind button on my space-watch (previously unmentioned
in this story), and after a spot of dizzy, woke up safely back in my current reality, lazing beneath a glazed window in Michelle Dockery's London townhouse. . .



. . . where I ended up eating lunch, twice.

All in all, a very pleasant day.

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Ohhh, Elthir! Master of Midday Escapism and Spatial Watch-Wielding Sorcerer of the Side Timeline!

You rewound?! I didn’t even know those buttons worked—mine just orders seventeen pints of Anduin-flavored froyo and summons a goat that screams the digits of pi in alphabetical order (only 8's for some reason). And yet you land gracefully in Michelle Dockery’s sun-drenched townhouse while I spiral into a sock dimension every other Tuesday.

Also, eating lunch twice is either a temporal paradox or a hobbit résumé requirement so I salute you.

Truly, your journey has all the elements: panic, portal-hopping, interior design, and a floral centerpiece I’m almost certain is sentient. All that's missing is an umbrella stand that doubles as crutches.

Klaatu
Temporal Chair Inspector (Twice Certified)
Currently Stuck Between Lunches and Brunches
Recorder of Glazed Realities and Accidental Afternoon Teas
Suspected of Being the Echo in “Somebody's Space-Watch”

🤣 Klaatu!

incidentally, if anyone has an arguably better way to say: "I was taken by beings to their leader"
- please ring M. D.'s doorbell three times and carefully place your suggestion in the nick of time