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1500 questions
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Have any Elves explored Rhûn or the lands to the east?
According to The Silmarillion and Tolkien's legendarium as a whole, the Elves first awoke in Cuiviénen, by a gulf in the Sea of Helcar. We learn that in The War of Wrath (Chapter 3, Quenta Silmarillion) and the times afterwards, many parts of the…
HDE 226868
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Why are Drizzt's eyes purple?
In R. A. Salvatore's books The Legend of Drizzt series, the main character Drizzt Do'Urden is a Drow, a species in Forgotten Realms that live underground and far cousins to elves. Drow have characteristically red eyes. However, Salvatore decided…
DForck42
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14
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Is "The Ice Dragon" set in the same universe as "A Song of Ice and Fire"?
The Ice Dragon is a children's book by George R. R. Martin, about a girl born during the long winter. The universe shows some similarities to the main universe of ASOIAF, but is it the same universe?
user72
14
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4 answers
What is the purpose of all the lists in chapter 12 of Joyce's Ulysses?
Chapter 12 of James Joyce's Ulysses, Cyclops, consists mostly of a first-person comic narrative of men drinking in a pub. The conversation is frequently interrupted, however, by a number of deadpan pastiches of varied style and length.
Some of these…
Matt Thrower
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14
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How does interrupting Kubla Khan save humanity?
In the finale of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the protagonists release the Salaxalan ghost (in Wenton-Weakes' body) in the primordial past, to go fix his ship, when they realize this will doom humanity.
Their solution is to go interrupt…
Standback
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How did the authors of The 39 Clues decide on a plot outline?
The The 39 Clues series is written by a whole lot of authors, like Rick Riordan, Gordan Korman, Jude Watson, Margaret Peterson Haddix, etc. Each person writes a book, and then someone else writes the next book, with some authors coming back to write…
Mithical
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What happened to the epic poem?
It's so strange to me that we all praised and adore things, but would never consider supporting them in a modern setting. There are many examples of this: poetry (very unpopular nowadays; not in the amount of it, but by the respectability of it),…
user31078
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Did James Bond ever experience doubts about having to end people's lives in Fleming's novels?
Did James Bond ever experience doubts about having to end people's lives in Fleming's novels?
I'm talking about doubts in general, existential, level, regarding the fact that he had to end lots of people's lives regularly as part of his job; not a…
DVK
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Which German book was Poe referring to?
The opening line of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Man of the Crowd" is as follows.
It was well said of a certain German book that "er lasst sich nicht lesen"- it does not permit itself to be read. There are some secrets which do not permit…
Rand al'Thor
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14
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Is Macbeth or Lady Macbeth the real villain in Shakespeare's play?
In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, it is Macbeth himself, the eponymous antihero, who meets the witches upon the heath and first conceives the idea to murder his king. It is he who kills Duncan, seizes the throne, has Macduff's family and his friend…
Rand al'Thor
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1 answer
What's the point of the hen in Juan Rulfo's "They Gave Us the Land"?
The short story "Nos han dado la tierra" ("They Gave Us the Land") is a dismal portrayal of the Mexican government's land reform in the mid-20th century. A group of men are given a barren wasteland by an official, and as they walk through it they…
Nathaniel is protesting
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How and why did the story of King Cnut change?
The 11th-century king Cnut/Knut/Canute of Denmark, Norway, and England is today best known for the story of how he sat on the beach commanding the waves to turn back. The original account of this story, written in the 12th century by Henry of…
Rand al'Thor
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14
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2 answers
Why don't the modern printings of Campion novels use the original artwork?
Youngman Carter painted beautiful bespoke art for the covers of Margery Allingham's mystery novels, and his style became associated with her work. Why don't the modern reprints of the Campion novels use her husband's art?
BESW
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Why are manga panels read differently than Japanese text?
Japanese is traditionally read in an up-to-down column, then jumps right-to-left to the next column. But all the manga I've ever seen reverse that order for panel flow, so we go from panel to panel across a row right-to-left and then jump to the…
BESW
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Why do some books warn that books with missing covers may be unauthorised?
I've noticed that a lot of my books contain a warning that if the book is missing a cover, it may be unauthorized. For example, the copyright page of my copy of George R R Martin's Clash of Kings reads:
Sale of this book without a front cover may…
user111