Talk:Ælfwine (Tolkien)

Inaccuracy in the 'Frame story: early links with Britain'

The current text has:

In The Book of Lost Tales, begun early in Tolkien's writing career, the character who becomes Ælfwine was named Ottor Wǽfre (called Eriol by the Elves), and his tale serves as a frame story for the tales of the Elves. He set out from what is today called Heligoland on a voyage with a small crew but was the lone survivor after his ship crashed upon the rocks near an island. The island was inhabited by an old man who gave him directions to Eressëa.

The part I bolded concerns Ælfwine, a framework character that was created by Tolkien as a replacement for Ottor, with his own backstory (one that dates c. 5 centuries after Ottor) - yet this text conflates the two.

I would go out of my way to cite a source but the source for the bolded part is self-evident: "Ælfwine of England" ("The History of Eriol or Ælfwine"), The Book of Lost Tales Part II (pp. 312-7).

Seeing how I'm quite new to wikipedia, I'll refrain from editing as yet. IvarTheBoneless123 (talk) 05:28, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Many thanks for asking. Yes, something has got tangled up here and the sole ref is wrong. I've tweaked the text, added a brief account of Ottor, and added refs for both Ottor and Ælfwine. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:36, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

I just changed 'Vala Vaire' to just 'Vaire', since the two aren't the same. IvarTheBoneless123 (talk) 11:26, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

Ah, Tolkien's constant recycling of names. Chiswick Chap (talk) 14:44, 26 November 2024 (UTC)