[Breaking] Rise of Mordor: Release Date Hints and Speculations!

[Maestro1]

Release date: Rise of Mordor

Lately, Eönwë has made a prophecy in the dreams of our team. Being a direct messenger from the Vala Manwë, his word is to be trusted and we must all adhere to his announcement. Only Ilúvatar knows the exact date of Rise of Mordor, but if it is Eönwë to speak of it via such a dream, his words are true and hopeful!
He came this night as an emissary from Manwë and thus Ilúvatar. His words were recorded:


'From the earliest years of Arda
Before the days of the light of Varda
The revival of Arnor, the enduring of Gondor
The Guardian of the Wood, the Axe of Erebor.

The Demise of the Seed of lie, and deceit, the Banning of Gorthaur
The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!
By the Valar, thereupon, the key is no longer concealed!
Not by force, but by hope and loyalty, it can be revealed.

If lust for power and dominion reign,
Should knowledge attempt to delve too deep
Then hope and endeavour shall be in vain
And thy spirit shall wander, the Eldar, shall weep
When the Sun is gone, and the Moon is dead
No light on thy path. No more sign, to be read.'


And thus it is spoken. In our dreams, these were the words of Eönwë, herald of Manwë, servant of Ilúvatar

[Teutonic]

Is that a fancy way of saying "Don't pester us about the release date!"?

Anyway, the unfortunate spelling mistake in the title aside, it is amazingly good verse. It was well worth the read

[Maestro1]

Is that a fancy way of saying "Don't pester us about the release date!"?

Actually no. It is a hinting poem!
It is a message from Ëonwë. He made me so disillusioned that I made that error. But if you look closesly, maybe you can answer the riddle. The riddle in fact has an answer. Speculate around!

[♔atthias♔]

even I have no idea what this means
but it was worth the read great writing if this is only estimate how good the ingame texts are then I have high hopes for the quality of the ingame texts

[Maestro1]

Good. It is supposed to last.
But don't give up!

[Don Juan_de_Austria]

Ohh what a wonderful riddle! +1rep
I wish I could say I understand it´s meaning,... but I have no clue.
One question, are there hidden dates of middle-earths history, wich have to be transverted into our calendar to solve it?

[Maestro1]

Ask Ëonwë if you have his number

[Alkar]

Release date: Rise of Mordor

Lately, Ëonwë has made a prophecy in the dreams of our team. Being a direct messenger from the Vala Manwë, his word is to be trusted and we must all adhere to his announcement. Only Ilúvatar knows the exact date of Rise of Mordor version 1.0, but if it is Ëonwë to speak of it via such a dream, his words are true and hopeful!
He came this night as an emissary from Manwë and thus Ilúvatar. His words were recorded:


'From the earliest years of Arda
Before the days of the light of Varda
The revival of Arnor, the enduring of Gondor
The Guardian of the Wood, the Axe of Erebor.

The Demise of the Seed of lie, and deceit, the Banning of Gorthaur
The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!
By the Valar, thereupon, the key is no longer concealed!
Not by force, but by hope and loyalty, it can be revealed.

If lust for power and dominion reign,
Should knowledge attempt to delve too deep
Then hope and endeavour shall be in vain
And thy spirit shall wander, the Eldar, shall weep
When the Sun is gone, and the Moon is dead
No light on thy path. No more sign, to be read.'


And thus it is spoken. In our dreams, these were the words of Ëonwë, herald of Manwë, servant of Ilúvatar

Ahah, clever idea Maestro. Only time will tell the answer to this riddle.

[Maestro1]

One of you, must do this! Either unit or you will fall!

[Ngugi]

Well, at least it's more positive than The Doom of the Release Date, by Mandos:

"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Devs will fence mods against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the web.
On those Asking for Release Date the weariness of the Devs lieth from TWC unto the uttermost Mod DB, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also.
Their Question shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very answer that they have sworn to pursue.
To pointless end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by ignorance of poster unto poster, and the fear of misinformation, shall this come to pass. The Unanswered shall they be for ever. ..."

[Teutonic]

Haven't got a clue about the answer of the riddle. Will have to wait...

[raeldrikp]

From the earliest years of Arda- This is the period that is known as the Years of the Lamps. Lasts until Years of the Sun. All in all, lasts 15 331.2 Valian Years. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Years_of_the_Lamps

Before the days of the light of Varda- This is before the creation of Arda, during the Great Music. No idea how long this is. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Ainulindal%C3%AB


The revival of Arnor- May 1, 3019. Aragorn ascends the throne. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Arnor

The enduring of Gondor- Maybe referring to how Gondor endured through the War of the Ring? http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gondor#Th...ards_of_Gondor


The Guardian of the Wood- Ents? Appear at the end of the First Age. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Ents

The Axe of Erebor- Erebor is the Sindarin name for the Lonely Mountain. This was where Durin’s Folk resided, and was considered the greatest of the Dwarven kingdoms. Not sure what the “axe” is referencing. Could be the LOTR online weapon “Great Axe of Erebor” carried by the Orc Grim Ongburz. Or it could be the weapon from the TCG, “Axe of Erebor” which is a weapon Gimli carries. This seems to make more sense, as he’s known to carry only a single axe. Gimli was born in 2879 of the 3rd Age, and would later become the “Lord of the Glittering Caves.” Probably referring to Gimli somehow. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gimli http://lotrtcgwiki.com/wiki/lotr04041 https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite..._Axe_of_Erebor


The Demise of the Seed of lie, and deceit- Melkor is the one who introduces lies/deceit (leads to all sorts of problems with the coming of Man). He is first defeated in the War/Battle of the Powers. Later is defeated in the War of Wrath- First Age 587. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Melkor#Years_of_the_Trees http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/War_of_Wrath

The Banning of Gorthaur- Gorthaur was an alias of Sauron (Melkor’s lieutenant). He got this name from the Grey-elves who called him “Gorthaur the Cruel.” This name is Sindarin in origin. Name also means the “dread abomination,” seems to share common etymology with Sauron. Name is eventually not used anymore, and Sauron overtakes the name. Not sure what the “banning” is referring to, especially since it uses Sauron’s old name. Maybe its referring to the period when we stopped referring to him by that name (real or fictional date, maybe). Sauron wasn’t banned or banished, as far as I can recall, he was defeated a few times. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron#Origin http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron#Etymology


The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!- Hm… this is presumably a day when the forces of evil are defeated. Devour seems to be the key word? Which battle could this be referring to. Is it a battle when all of middle-earths good races come to face evil? That seems to narrow it down. This would be the Last Alliance of Elves and Men? But again, this doesn’t involve the dwarves (but dwarves did famously fall to devour, see Balrog and Erebor). The war in the north was never against something that we would consider to be so powerful as Sauron or Melkor. The battle at the black gates, sounds a bit like this, but it’s a Peter Jackson invention, IIRC and doesn’t say “devour” or anything like it. Maybe its referring to gluttony, I mean its one of the sins and Tolkien was pretty obvious on the Christianity. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/War_of_the_Last_Alliance


By the Valar, thereupon, the key is no longer concealed!-So the first stanza will tell us the date when the mod will be released, or at least be a hint.


Not by force, but by hope and loyalty, it can be revealed.-?


If lust for power and dominion reign,-?


Should knowledge attempt to delve too deep- Balrog and Erebor reference? Dwarves were prettty greedy (see "fall to devour") http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Lonely_Mountain http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Durin%27s_Bane


Then hope and endeavour shall be in vain-?


And thy spirit shall wander, the Eldar, shall weep- The first bit seems to refer to the fate of Melkor after his “final” defeat. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Melkor#Final_defeat


When the Sun is gone, and the Moon is dead- This fits with the whole prophecy given by Mandos, about the Final Battle, i.e. “he shall blacken the Sun and the Moon.” http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Dagor_Dagorath


No light on thy path. No more sign, to be read.'-Doors of Durin reference?


And thus it is spoken. In our dreams, these were the words of Ëonwë, herald of Manwë, servant of Ilúvatar-Not much on Ëonwë, was a Maia, and herald/banner-bearer of Manwë. Maybe we read the lines in reference to things that would make sense to Ëonwë http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/E%C3%B6nw%C3%AB


This prophecy was recorded by Maestro1-Prophecy, makes me think of Mandos prophecy. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Dagor_Dagorath http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Doom_of_Mandos


Personally, I think it's just a message from the dev team saying, “stop asking for ETA, it's coming when its coming, in the meantime take the time to appreciate the wonderful world Tolkien made.” The last stanza sort of supports this idea? First I’m taking the mod-team to be the Eldar. The Eldar were placed upon Arda sleeping. And they were the ones to have the most contact with the Ainur and would reasonably be the ones that Ëonwë or Manwë would contact with any sort of prophecy.


Lines 9-14 read as sort of warning. Take lines 9-11, they read as a warning against reading this with purely the motivation for “power and dominion.” Presumably, this lust is for the release date, the key. Line 12 tells us that if we do this we’re likely to just wander about not finding what we seek. The Eldar (read:mod-team) will be kind of sad/disappointed that we’re being this “brutish” about things.


Admittedly, Line 8 seems to avoid the type of hasty looking for references that I am guilty of, see above. But it does say that by “hope and loyalty, it can be revealed” I’d imagine this means- “hey check up on us on ModDB and TWC, and help us out if you can, don’t just visit us for the release.”
Lines 13 and 14 make me think of eclipses. Presumably, by the time of the eclipse(s) the date won’t be relevant? On Sept. 1, 2016, we got our annular solar eclipse, and on the 16th we got our penumbral lunar eclipse. BUT- the big one is probably the Total Solar eclipse on the 21st of August 2017. But I think this might just be completely me misreading this, as the spelling of “endeavour” makes me think they’re used to “Queen’s English” (i.e. not going to be using US references) and the August 2017 date is far too off.


Anyways, that’s me speculating. Hope this helps someone.

[raeldrikp]

I'm not sure how much we're supposed to use information outside of the provided poem, and what 1.0 refers to. I mean a month or two back, the closest milestone that members of the mod team were talking about was an Alpha, but that's normally not designated 1.0, right? But using the idea of an eclipse for a rough date, it sort of makes sense with the idea that its a pushed back (from August) release of the alpha, probably around early-mid September? And, I just read Maestro's response saying that this poem actually does contain a release date, so ignore my bit about it just being a way of saying "there is no release date."

[raeldrikp]

The Banning of Gorthaur- Gorthaur was an alias of Sauron (Melkor’s lieutenant). He got this name from the Grey-elves who called him “Gorthaur the Cruel.” This name is Sindarin in origin. Name also means the “dread abomination,” seems to share common etymology with Sauron. Name is eventually not used anymore, and Sauron overtakes the name. Not sure what the “banning” is referring to, especially since it uses Sauron’s old name. Maybe its referring to the period when we stopped referring to him by that name (real or fictional date, maybe). Sauron wasn’t banned or banished, as far as I can recall, he was defeated a few times. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron#Origin http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron#Etymology

Gave some more thought to this. Gorthaur might be considered his older name, given to him by the elves of Beleriand. We more commonly refer to the remanents of this place as Lindon, and perhaps its best-known area "The Grey Havens." The Grey Havens serves as the last place for an elf to decide to stay in the mortal lands or to transition to Valinor. Similarly, Gorthaur is the name for the Maiar who has been corrupted (thus no longer Mairon), yet retains his "fair form" (thus not Sauron), see his time as Annatar and even the Numenoreans. His name seems to mark a transition also, of course in the books it's not quite so significant, IIRC (although maybe..? I mean one of his greatest strengths was the ability to deceive, and he seems to have lost this power). The only time I can think of a sort of banishing that would apply to Sauron would be when he's defeated in Dol Guldor. He's basically chased out, and the White Council knows he's not truly defeated but are satisfied in merely kicking him out. I haven't seen the Hobbit Trilogy, but I'm told there's a similar scene, but it has Galadriel banishing him. Anyways, this happens in 2951 of the Third Age.

The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!- Hm… this is presumably a day when the forces of evil are defeated. Devour seems to be the key word? Which battle could this be referring to. Is it a battle when all of middle-earths good races come to face evil? That seems to narrow it down. This would be the Last Alliance of Elves and Men? But again, this doesn’t involve the dwarves (but dwarves did famously fall to devour, see Balrog and Erebor). The war in the north was never against something that we would consider to be so powerful as Sauron or Melkor. The battle at the black gates, sounds a bit like this, but it’s a Peter Jackson invention, IIRC and doesn’t say “devour” or anything like it. Maybe its referring to gluttony, I mean its one of the sins and Tolkien was pretty obvious on the Christianity. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/War_of_the_Last_Alliance

Should knowledge attempt to delve too deep- Balrog and Erebor reference? Dwarves were prettty greedy (see "fall to devour") http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Lonely_Mountain http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Durin%27s_Bane

Need to correct some things here. Confused Erebor with Moria. The Balrog known as Durin's Bane was an issue with Moria, not Erebor. Also, there is a named battle where the dwarves stand with the elves, "The First Battle of Beleriand." But I'm pretty sure Men are in the picture yet, as this is still prior to the First Age.

Thought a bit more about "devour." It seemed to remind me of something, and it hit me. Its a part of Gollum's riddle, the one whose answer is "Time." Specifically, it reads "
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down."

Ok so its not really too relevant, but it is a riddle, which is basically what the poem is. So there's that.... yeah I know...

[Maestro1]

Good start!

C'mon guys. First you asked everyday for the release date, and now Ëonwë has answered the call and you are silent

[♔atthias♔]

The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!
I think this sentence is a reference to the last battle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagor_Dagorath

[chriskourou]

Challenge accepted !

[wolfBTM]

'From the earliest years of Arda
Before the days of the light of Varda
The revival of Arnor, the enduring of Gondor
The Guardian of the Wood, the Axe of Erebor.

The Demise of the Seed of lie, and deceit, the Banning of Gorthaur
The Day all Middle-Earth, does not fall to devour!
By the Valar, thereupon, the key is no longer concealed!
Not by force, but by hope and loyalty, it can be revealed.

If lust for power and dominion reign,
Should knowledge attempt to delve too deep
Then hope and endeavour shall be in vain
And thy spirit shall wander, the Eldar, shall weep
When the Sun is gone, and the Moon is dead
No light on thy path. No more sign, to be read.'

Is there any particular reason that words like "Demise" and "Seed" are capitalized or are they actually proper nouns?
I'm probably looking too deep into it. I tend to overthink riddles.

[Maestro1]

No more answers and hints from me guys

[Northern-Ranger]

Well, at least it's more positive than The Doom of the Release Date, by Mandos:

"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Devs will fence mods against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the web.
On those Asking for Release Date the weariness of the Devs lieth from TWC unto the uttermost Mod DB, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also.
Their Question shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very answer that they have sworn to pursue.
To pointless end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by ignorance of poster unto poster, and the fear of misinformation, shall this come to pass. The Unanswered shall they be for ever. ..."

in other words 7