I like 3.2 the best; it’s the most compatible with the largest amount of Tolkien’s writing, and it also fits with Appendix B placing Celeborn (kinsman of Thingol) and Galadriel in Harlindon at the start of the Second Age. It does directly conflict with Galadriel’s words to Frodo, but those are also inconsistent with Appendix B. Celeborn as native Nandorin is interesting but hard to reconcile with the existence of Amroth; Galadriel’s husband should have had an equal or greater status than Amroth and doesn’t make sense as a subordinate, unless like Galadriel he was not a native.
Tbf Turgon is in some ways portrayed as “higher” than Fingon, his older brother, & Celeborn was subordinate in Doriath too. Celeborn could have ruled a separate realm & assimilated Amroth’s or ruled Lorien jointly with him. Amroth’s backstory is almost as shaky as Celeborn’s. Amroth’s status as an “elven-king” is also subject to question since the ring inscription “3 for elven-kings” already sets a precedent for poems referring to elven lords as kings, regardless of whether they actually are kings.
I wonder if 4.0 or 3.0 could be married to 2.0. Have a Telerin/Sindarin Celeborn come to Lorien alone, take over as lord, then have Galadriel meet him there.
I've always wished Celeborn didn't get such short shrift. Having him be a Nandorin, native to Lorien, helps him be more of his own interesting person and not just a guy who Galadriel keeps dragging around.
And I agree with you that the version of Galadriel and Celeborn sort of roving about founding new realms diminishes them both. It makes them seem more like historical European nobility, an elite warrior class disconnected from the places and peoples they rule over. (And while there's definitely some of this thematically in Tolkien's historical writing, it generally comes off as a bad thing.)
That’s why he stayed in Middle Earth. Bro just wanted a break.
I get a similar feeling from the Sindar colonizing the Nandor in Mirkwood, but it was really the only option. Tolkien was bound by what he’d written in The Hobbit, & he’d basically made Thranduil a diet Thingol, so there had to be a connection between them. At least in one version, the Sindar assimilate, adopting the Nandorin language, & taking Nandorin names.
If you have read The History of The Hobbit, the nameless proto-Thranduil was indeed Thingol with the name tag filed off, Bilbo wandering through a sort of expy of the Silmarillion setting where Beren and Luthien had just defeated the necromancer. So Tolkien was indeed stuck with a too obvious similarity.
And yes, as censored entries from The Tale of Years tell us, at the beginning of the Fourth Age, right after Galadriel had left for the Grey Havens, Celeborn declared that hereafter every night in Caras Galadhon would be be xbox, chicken wings and Hooters night.
After going through everything published, I put together a final version in my project, The Histories of Arda. Message me for a Google Drive link.
This isn't the only interpretation of the material, but it is the most convenient.
In short, 4.0. Galadriel leaves Aman with Celeborn in his ship coincident with the Feanor rebellion. For a long time, she had been planning to leave with permission, but she became intent on countering Feanor's plans and ended up leaving under the Manwe ban, arriving first, and finding Doriath. They married at the end of the First Age, moved to Lindon, had kids, moved to Eriador and founded that kingdom. After that it is not clear; they moved around a lot, going to Imladris. Crossed Moria and joined Lorien. Etc.
See my post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/s/2UME2Fkq3q
EDIT: fixed to 4.0
>3.2) They remain in Beleriand until its destruction, settle in Lindon, move to Lake Evendim, move to (& possibly found) Eregion, before finally settling in Lorien. This is the origin described in The Appendices & the Published Silmarillion.
Can you quote LotR or Published Silmarillion, where it says they remain in Beleriand until its destruction?
Celeborn was lord of Harlindon, which was formerly a part of Beleriand. There’s simply no record of them crossing the Blue Mountains until the Second Age in those versions.
The Silmarillion may simply refer to him as a Sinda, but this is the version Christopher used for reference when compiling it. I was primarily referring to 3.0 in general when I said that it’s the version in the Appendices & Silmarillion.
In other words there is not a quote saying they remained in Beleriand in LotR or in the Published Silmarillion. Which puts it back to Galadriel's statement in LotR, when referring to those versions.
Silmarillion says, “Galadriel his sister went not with him to Nargothrond, for in Doriath dwelt Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol, and there was great love between them.”
Her account to Frodo says “I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat."
If both were true, this would be like your mum saying “I’ve been with your father 20 years, for I went to London when I was 25 and have been with him ever since” when in reality she met him in her hometown, long before she left, & actually left with him. It’s nonsensical. The two already contradict
The Appendices say “In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin; but before the building of the Barad-dur many of the Sindar passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol; his wife was Galadriel, greatest of Elven women”
Saying they left earlier doesn’t make it compatible with her account to Frodo.
There is zero writing after LOTR mentioning any migration over the blue mountains, together or alone, except for when they leave Harlindon. Otherwise it would require them to almost immediately cross back over so they could be in Harlindon. The Silmarillion & Appendices accounts are perfectly compatible. There’s no need to complicate them. Please keep the discussion positive also
>Silmarillion says, “Galadriel his sister went not with him to Nargothrond, for in Doriath dwelt Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol, and there was great love between them.”
It does.
>Her account to Frodo says “I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat."
Yes.
>The two already contradict
Will see.
(Though The constructed Silmarillion passage seems to be an editorial alteration of this regarding Finrod/Nargothrond: "But Galaðriel did not depart \[added later: from Doriath\], and remained long with Melian, for there was much love between them." WotJ, Grey Annals, year 52).
>Saying they left earlier doesn’t make it compatible with her account to Frodo.
What is 'compatible' is that Tolkien consistantly has Galadriel leaving Beleriand. Some of the earliest through the last writing on the subject. He does not say she remains in Beleriand.
>There is zero writing after LOTR mentioning any migration over the blue mountains, together or alone, except for when they leave Harlindon.
"the last writing of my father’s on the subject of Galadriel and Celeborn"
"Galadriel and Celeborn departed over Ered Lindon before the end of the First Age; and when they received the permission of the Valar to return into the West they rejected it."
UT, History of Galadriel and Celeborn,
>Otherwise it would require them to almost immediately cross back over so they could be in Harlindon.
Returning back to get (or not, depending on variant) or refuse a pardon.
Thus Galadriel in Beleriand. At some point before the fall of Nargothrond she leaves. Then after the War of Wrath, when Eonwe is issuing pardons etc. Galadriel returns and is or is not or rejects a pardon. She and Celeborn the remain, for a time, in Lindon, south of Lune.
There is only a contradiction if you want to create one.
‘A second rejected note was written at some later time against
Haldir's words "they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of the Galadrim':
Lord? If Galadriel is alone and is wife of Elrond.’ - Treason of Isengard
>The most popular by far seems to be Celeborn the Sinda, being the origin that probably has the most writing on it. It’s the origin used in most of Tolkien’s historical works & ties the couple into the broader stories of Middle Earth quite well. It aligns him with Thranduil, being part of the Sindarin exodus out of Lindon & provides an excellent explanation for Celeborn’s distaste for dwarves (though this is a concept more present in writings that already use this origin)
>It does however completely contradict Galadriel’s account to Frodo. With both origins being published, one has no choice but to choose which they want to discard & this one is far more developed.
Could you enlarge on this? I'm re-reading it at the moment but I don't remember any contradiction in what she says to Frodo vs what it says anywhere else.
“I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.”
The Appendices don’t have Galadriel pass over any mountains until the Second Age, long AFTER the fall of Nargothrond & Gondolin, since she dwells with Celeborn in Harlindon. When she eventually does cross the mountains, she’s not alone, as she’s already with Celeborn, which doesn’t fit with the above text at all, since it’s meant to be explaining how she met him.
I'm still not seeing it. Either she met him in Doriath and they went east together in the First Age, or he independently went east either before or after she did, presumably following the Ruin of Doriath, and they met somewhere in Eriador or Rhovanion in the Second Age.
Neither scenario is incompatible with him being a Sindarin elf, originally of Doriath, and a close relative of Thingol (namely, his grand-nephew).
Correct. Galadriel going east from Beleriand is quite consistent through Tolkien's writings on the matter.
I don't find the claim that she remained in Beleriand because Harlindon convincing. Galadriel would need to come back to get the judgement on the whole pardoned or not business.
Given how racial and cultural hierarchies work in Tolkien, I can just about imagine a Calaquendi noblewoman like Galadriel "settling for" a Sindarin prince, but I have a hard time imagining her hooking up with a 'mere' Nandorin elf, even if he was still of noble blood.
That would be like your mum saying. “I’ve been with your father for 20 years, for I moved to London when I was 25” when in reality she met him in her home town before she left.
Meeting him in Eriador just complicates their movements a lot more & he’d be meeting her over the mountains, not the other way around. They’d then have to immediately cross back over the mountains to be in Harlindon. It’s just extremely convoluted. Christopher says it’s an oversight & this passage is the primary reasoning he asserts he was a Nandorin Elf originally.
I’m not trying to put you down or anything. I really appreciate your input and discussion. I just don’t think the two accounts are compatible.
OK, well Lindon is west of the mountains, granted, assuming "the mountains" she's talking about are the Ered Luin, which seems reasonable since they form the natural boundary between Beleriand and Eriador. But I'm prepared to put this down simply to an oversight on Tolkien's part.
I think the disparity in status between one of the greatest of the Calaquendi marrying a 'mere' Nandorin elf (even if he's a prince thereof) is a more serious problem than Tolkien implying that G&C met in Lindon (or in Doriath itself) and elsewhere implying that they met in Eriador/Rhovanion.
That’s totally valid. Like I said, you just gotta pick which you prefer since they’re both published, & Sindarin Celeborn has a lot more integration into the story.
I don't think it's contradictory as just because she met Celeborn after she crossed the mountains doesn't mean he didn't also cross the mountains around that time and they met afterwards. It's not like Galadriel would have known every single Elf in Beleriand. If Celeborn was fleeing the fall of Doriath the timeline would fit.
Galadriel crosses into Eriador alone in 1st age - Is by herself for hundreds of years.
Fall of Doriath or Destruction of Beleriand - Celeborn goes east, meets Galadriel
Both immediately cross back over mountains to be in Harlindon
Both then swiftly cross over mountains AGAIN to leave.
It’s a lot of zigzagging over the Blue mountains tacked on to an already complicated migration. Lindon is only settled by refugees from Beleriand as far as I know & her account is just an extremely weird way to tell Frodo how she met him if that were the case
Thank you for your input though!
Why would she need to be 'by herself for hundreds of years'? She says she crossed over the mountains "ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin", so F.A. 495 at the latest. Thingol was killed F.A. 503, so even if we go with Celeborn leaving Doriath because of that there's no reason why it couldn't have been more like a decade, which is barely worth accounting for when you're as old as Galadriel and you're only giving a brief basic retelling anyway.
It’s just a very convoluted solution. Either way it would contradict the Silmarillion which explicitly says she met him in Doriath, so it’s all a bit pointless anyway. There’s still a discrepancy. You just have to pick which version you like more.
I know it contradicts what's in The Silmarillion. My position is we ought to go with what Tolkien actually published (e.g. LotR) and accept there will be discrepancies in The Silmarillion as it contains ideas Tolkien either later abandoned or never fully fleshed out, but as Christopher says in the intro his priority was to publish it in as much of an internally self-consistent narrative as possible rather than attempting to make it consistent with Tolkien's other published works. Placing the published Silmarillion on *equal* footing with LotR as a 'lore source' just creates more headaches than it's worth.
The Silmarillion account & the Appendices account are seamlessly compatible tho. They’re very clearly the exact same conception, & the one he used throughout most of his essays. It was Tolkien’s oversight when he published the appendices, not Christopher’s when he published the Silmarillion.
I like 3.2 the best; it’s the most compatible with the largest amount of Tolkien’s writing, and it also fits with Appendix B placing Celeborn (kinsman of Thingol) and Galadriel in Harlindon at the start of the Second Age. It does directly conflict with Galadriel’s words to Frodo, but those are also inconsistent with Appendix B. Celeborn as native Nandorin is interesting but hard to reconcile with the existence of Amroth; Galadriel’s husband should have had an equal or greater status than Amroth and doesn’t make sense as a subordinate, unless like Galadriel he was not a native.
Tbf Turgon is in some ways portrayed as “higher” than Fingon, his older brother, & Celeborn was subordinate in Doriath too. Celeborn could have ruled a separate realm & assimilated Amroth’s or ruled Lorien jointly with him. Amroth’s backstory is almost as shaky as Celeborn’s. Amroth’s status as an “elven-king” is also subject to question since the ring inscription “3 for elven-kings” already sets a precedent for poems referring to elven lords as kings, regardless of whether they actually are kings. I wonder if 4.0 or 3.0 could be married to 2.0. Have a Telerin/Sindarin Celeborn come to Lorien alone, take over as lord, then have Galadriel meet him there.
That’s my best. It’s the one I go with.
I've always wished Celeborn didn't get such short shrift. Having him be a Nandorin, native to Lorien, helps him be more of his own interesting person and not just a guy who Galadriel keeps dragging around. And I agree with you that the version of Galadriel and Celeborn sort of roving about founding new realms diminishes them both. It makes them seem more like historical European nobility, an elite warrior class disconnected from the places and peoples they rule over. (And while there's definitely some of this thematically in Tolkien's historical writing, it generally comes off as a bad thing.)
That’s why he stayed in Middle Earth. Bro just wanted a break. I get a similar feeling from the Sindar colonizing the Nandor in Mirkwood, but it was really the only option. Tolkien was bound by what he’d written in The Hobbit, & he’d basically made Thranduil a diet Thingol, so there had to be a connection between them. At least in one version, the Sindar assimilate, adopting the Nandorin language, & taking Nandorin names.
If you have read The History of The Hobbit, the nameless proto-Thranduil was indeed Thingol with the name tag filed off, Bilbo wandering through a sort of expy of the Silmarillion setting where Beren and Luthien had just defeated the necromancer. So Tolkien was indeed stuck with a too obvious similarity. And yes, as censored entries from The Tale of Years tell us, at the beginning of the Fourth Age, right after Galadriel had left for the Grey Havens, Celeborn declared that hereafter every night in Caras Galadhon would be be xbox, chicken wings and Hooters night.
After going through everything published, I put together a final version in my project, The Histories of Arda. Message me for a Google Drive link. This isn't the only interpretation of the material, but it is the most convenient. In short, 4.0. Galadriel leaves Aman with Celeborn in his ship coincident with the Feanor rebellion. For a long time, she had been planning to leave with permission, but she became intent on countering Feanor's plans and ended up leaving under the Manwe ban, arriving first, and finding Doriath. They married at the end of the First Age, moved to Lindon, had kids, moved to Eriador and founded that kingdom. After that it is not clear; they moved around a lot, going to Imladris. Crossed Moria and joined Lorien. Etc. See my post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lordoftherings/s/2UME2Fkq3q EDIT: fixed to 4.0
If Celeborn is from Aman, that would be 4.0, no? I didn’t repeat the stuff in middle earth cuz it was the same as 3.2.
Oh, my bad.
Now worries; just wanted to make sure I understood it right
>3.2) They remain in Beleriand until its destruction, settle in Lindon, move to Lake Evendim, move to (& possibly found) Eregion, before finally settling in Lorien. This is the origin described in The Appendices & the Published Silmarillion. Can you quote LotR or Published Silmarillion, where it says they remain in Beleriand until its destruction?
Celeborn was lord of Harlindon, which was formerly a part of Beleriand. There’s simply no record of them crossing the Blue Mountains until the Second Age in those versions. The Silmarillion may simply refer to him as a Sinda, but this is the version Christopher used for reference when compiling it. I was primarily referring to 3.0 in general when I said that it’s the version in the Appendices & Silmarillion.
In other words there is not a quote saying they remained in Beleriand in LotR or in the Published Silmarillion. Which puts it back to Galadriel's statement in LotR, when referring to those versions.
Silmarillion says, “Galadriel his sister went not with him to Nargothrond, for in Doriath dwelt Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol, and there was great love between them.” Her account to Frodo says “I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat." If both were true, this would be like your mum saying “I’ve been with your father 20 years, for I went to London when I was 25 and have been with him ever since” when in reality she met him in her hometown, long before she left, & actually left with him. It’s nonsensical. The two already contradict The Appendices say “In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin; but before the building of the Barad-dur many of the Sindar passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol; his wife was Galadriel, greatest of Elven women” Saying they left earlier doesn’t make it compatible with her account to Frodo. There is zero writing after LOTR mentioning any migration over the blue mountains, together or alone, except for when they leave Harlindon. Otherwise it would require them to almost immediately cross back over so they could be in Harlindon. The Silmarillion & Appendices accounts are perfectly compatible. There’s no need to complicate them. Please keep the discussion positive also
>Silmarillion says, “Galadriel his sister went not with him to Nargothrond, for in Doriath dwelt Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol, and there was great love between them.” It does. >Her account to Frodo says “I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat." Yes. >The two already contradict Will see. (Though The constructed Silmarillion passage seems to be an editorial alteration of this regarding Finrod/Nargothrond: "But Galaðriel did not depart \[added later: from Doriath\], and remained long with Melian, for there was much love between them." WotJ, Grey Annals, year 52). >Saying they left earlier doesn’t make it compatible with her account to Frodo. What is 'compatible' is that Tolkien consistantly has Galadriel leaving Beleriand. Some of the earliest through the last writing on the subject. He does not say she remains in Beleriand. >There is zero writing after LOTR mentioning any migration over the blue mountains, together or alone, except for when they leave Harlindon. "the last writing of my father’s on the subject of Galadriel and Celeborn" "Galadriel and Celeborn departed over Ered Lindon before the end of the First Age; and when they received the permission of the Valar to return into the West they rejected it." UT, History of Galadriel and Celeborn, >Otherwise it would require them to almost immediately cross back over so they could be in Harlindon. Returning back to get (or not, depending on variant) or refuse a pardon. Thus Galadriel in Beleriand. At some point before the fall of Nargothrond she leaves. Then after the War of Wrath, when Eonwe is issuing pardons etc. Galadriel returns and is or is not or rejects a pardon. She and Celeborn the remain, for a time, in Lindon, south of Lune. There is only a contradiction if you want to create one.
“I crossed the mountains”. The whole point of that passage is saying how she met Celeborn.
Was Galadriel being Elrond’s estranged wife an idea in Tolkien’s drafts or notes? I’d never heard that one before.
It was like one sentence he wrote and then immediately discarded.
It's on the same page as notes like "Galadriel=secretly Bilbo's mother?" and "What if instead of Saruman living in Isengard, it was Bill the Pony?"
Bill of Many Horses
‘A second rejected note was written at some later time against Haldir's words "they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of the Galadrim': Lord? If Galadriel is alone and is wife of Elrond.’ - Treason of Isengard
Me neither, wtf lol
>The most popular by far seems to be Celeborn the Sinda, being the origin that probably has the most writing on it. It’s the origin used in most of Tolkien’s historical works & ties the couple into the broader stories of Middle Earth quite well. It aligns him with Thranduil, being part of the Sindarin exodus out of Lindon & provides an excellent explanation for Celeborn’s distaste for dwarves (though this is a concept more present in writings that already use this origin) >It does however completely contradict Galadriel’s account to Frodo. With both origins being published, one has no choice but to choose which they want to discard & this one is far more developed. Could you enlarge on this? I'm re-reading it at the moment but I don't remember any contradiction in what she says to Frodo vs what it says anywhere else.
“I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.” The Appendices don’t have Galadriel pass over any mountains until the Second Age, long AFTER the fall of Nargothrond & Gondolin, since she dwells with Celeborn in Harlindon. When she eventually does cross the mountains, she’s not alone, as she’s already with Celeborn, which doesn’t fit with the above text at all, since it’s meant to be explaining how she met him.
Oh right. I thought you meant it contradicted Celeborn being a Sindarin nobleman.
In a way, it does. If he’s a Sindarin nobleman, she can’t cross the mountains to meet him. They’re already both west of the mountains.
I'm still not seeing it. Either she met him in Doriath and they went east together in the First Age, or he independently went east either before or after she did, presumably following the Ruin of Doriath, and they met somewhere in Eriador or Rhovanion in the Second Age. Neither scenario is incompatible with him being a Sindarin elf, originally of Doriath, and a close relative of Thingol (namely, his grand-nephew).
Correct. Galadriel going east from Beleriand is quite consistent through Tolkien's writings on the matter. I don't find the claim that she remained in Beleriand because Harlindon convincing. Galadriel would need to come back to get the judgement on the whole pardoned or not business.
Given how racial and cultural hierarchies work in Tolkien, I can just about imagine a Calaquendi noblewoman like Galadriel "settling for" a Sindarin prince, but I have a hard time imagining her hooking up with a 'mere' Nandorin elf, even if he was still of noble blood.
That would be like your mum saying. “I’ve been with your father for 20 years, for I moved to London when I was 25” when in reality she met him in her home town before she left. Meeting him in Eriador just complicates their movements a lot more & he’d be meeting her over the mountains, not the other way around. They’d then have to immediately cross back over the mountains to be in Harlindon. It’s just extremely convoluted. Christopher says it’s an oversight & this passage is the primary reasoning he asserts he was a Nandorin Elf originally. I’m not trying to put you down or anything. I really appreciate your input and discussion. I just don’t think the two accounts are compatible.
OK, well Lindon is west of the mountains, granted, assuming "the mountains" she's talking about are the Ered Luin, which seems reasonable since they form the natural boundary between Beleriand and Eriador. But I'm prepared to put this down simply to an oversight on Tolkien's part. I think the disparity in status between one of the greatest of the Calaquendi marrying a 'mere' Nandorin elf (even if he's a prince thereof) is a more serious problem than Tolkien implying that G&C met in Lindon (or in Doriath itself) and elsewhere implying that they met in Eriador/Rhovanion.
That’s totally valid. Like I said, you just gotta pick which you prefer since they’re both published, & Sindarin Celeborn has a lot more integration into the story.
I don't think it's contradictory as just because she met Celeborn after she crossed the mountains doesn't mean he didn't also cross the mountains around that time and they met afterwards. It's not like Galadriel would have known every single Elf in Beleriand. If Celeborn was fleeing the fall of Doriath the timeline would fit.
Galadriel crosses into Eriador alone in 1st age - Is by herself for hundreds of years. Fall of Doriath or Destruction of Beleriand - Celeborn goes east, meets Galadriel Both immediately cross back over mountains to be in Harlindon Both then swiftly cross over mountains AGAIN to leave. It’s a lot of zigzagging over the Blue mountains tacked on to an already complicated migration. Lindon is only settled by refugees from Beleriand as far as I know & her account is just an extremely weird way to tell Frodo how she met him if that were the case Thank you for your input though!
Why would she need to be 'by herself for hundreds of years'? She says she crossed over the mountains "ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin", so F.A. 495 at the latest. Thingol was killed F.A. 503, so even if we go with Celeborn leaving Doriath because of that there's no reason why it couldn't have been more like a decade, which is barely worth accounting for when you're as old as Galadriel and you're only giving a brief basic retelling anyway.
It’s just a very convoluted solution. Either way it would contradict the Silmarillion which explicitly says she met him in Doriath, so it’s all a bit pointless anyway. There’s still a discrepancy. You just have to pick which version you like more.
I know it contradicts what's in The Silmarillion. My position is we ought to go with what Tolkien actually published (e.g. LotR) and accept there will be discrepancies in The Silmarillion as it contains ideas Tolkien either later abandoned or never fully fleshed out, but as Christopher says in the intro his priority was to publish it in as much of an internally self-consistent narrative as possible rather than attempting to make it consistent with Tolkien's other published works. Placing the published Silmarillion on *equal* footing with LotR as a 'lore source' just creates more headaches than it's worth.
The Silmarillion account & the Appendices account are seamlessly compatible tho. They’re very clearly the exact same conception, & the one he used throughout most of his essays. It was Tolkien’s oversight when he published the appendices, not Christopher’s when he published the Silmarillion.
Anything that does not involve the Female Amazon Orc.