User:Aranel/Guidelines for Middle-earth articles

The intention of this document is to provide a set of guidelines for standardization and improvement of Tolkien and Middle-earth articles. Individuals are free to disregard them, of course. If you disagree with a point, let's talk about it! Anyone is welcome to edit, as well. (This is a work in progress. A mere proposal, really.)

Cite your sources

This is Wikipedia policy, but it's something that Middle-earth articles tend to be lacking. It's especially important for us to state where we are getting our information, since often different sources will contradict each other.

Most of the relevant books actually have their own articles. You can link to them. The exact format is not important, as long as the source of the information is clearly presented. A "References" section may be appropriate at the end of some articles.

This is less important with material that is commonly known or unlikely to be controversial. ("Frodo was actually Bilbo's cousin.") If, however, you are correcting something that is published in The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion, it's extremely important to say where you are getting it.

The Middle-earth canon

See Middle-earth canon for a discussion of what has been considered "canon" by Wikipedia editors. If you disagree about what we should be doing, take it up on the Talk page.

If you haven't memorized all of the available source books, you can still edit articles: just edit with what you know. If you are careful to cite your sources, it will be easy for others to add what they know. For example, if you start an article on Celeborn and say that he is a Sindarin Elf, that's a good beginning for someone else to come along later and clarify that in later writings he is said to be from Valinor.

In instances where this is particularly sticky, you can add the code {{mecanon}} to the top of the article. Then, at the bottom, add a section entitled "==Other versions of the legendarium==", in which you discuss the differences between the canon version in the article and older material.

Take care regarding movie material

Be careful not to state as fact something that you learned from the movies (or the radio adaptations, the roleplaying game, etc.), unless you have support from the book. If you haven't actually read the book, it is probably better to spend your time proofreading existing articles and helping to locate potential points of confusion.

Explain your dates

You need to specify First Age, Second Age, Third Age, or Fourth Age (or sometimes link to Shire Calendar for explanation of Shire Reckoning). It's best to do this with a link, since the reader may not know what these terms mean in Tolkien's world.

The format used by Tolkien in the Appendix on dates and calendars at the end of The Lord of the Rings is "T.A. 3019", where the abbreviation for the Age goes before the year. If one hasn't previously spelled out "Third Age" with a link, "T.A." should be linked to the Third Age article. (Note that without the link, one cannot distinguish between First Age and Fourth Age.

The calendars of Númenor (during the Second Age), Gondor (during the Third Age), and the New Reckoning (during the Fourth Age) should be assumed. When referring to Hobbits, it is appropriate to also use Shire-reckoning dates.

Some suggested possibilities:

T.A. 3019, S.A. 156, F.A. 98, F.A. 500
S.R. 1419 (note that here the link is to Shire Calendar)
Third Age 3019
3019 in the Third Age

Explain your languages

Especially, don't just say "Elvish" when referring to language. Most names are Quenya or Sindarin. This information should be provided when available. If it's in The Lord of the Rings and you don't know which Elvish language it came from, it was probably Sindarin. Other possibilities include Westron (the Common Speech), Khuzdul (the language of the Dwarves), and Valarin (the language of the Valar).

Capitalize consistently

The following terms should be capitalized when referring to a race or a member of the race:

Valar (singular Vala)
Maiar (singular Maia)
Istari (singular Istar)
Nazgûl, Ringwraith(s)
Hobbit(s)
Dwarves (singular Dwarf)
Elves (singular Elves)
Men (singular Man)
Orc(s)
Balrog(s)
Warg(s)
Eagle(s) (especially when referring to the Eagles of Manwë)

These are proper nouns and ought to be capitalized whenever they appear, including in titles of articles. The exception is men, which can be used to refer to a male of any race. (Lowercase men, for example, could include both adult male Elves and adult male humans.) Capitalized Men refers to human beings and is represented by a completely different word in Tolkien's languages.

Associated adjectives (Dwarven, Elven) are also capitalized, but some words like wolves and dragons usually are not.

There are other words that are usually capitalized within the context of Middle-earth (but not elsewhere), such as "Trees" when referring to the Two Trees of Valinor.

It is especially important to be consistent within an article.

Formatting: bold and italics with names

This seems to come up more with Middle-earth articles than in many other areas, probably because so many characters and places have multiple names.

Anything that would normally be italicized should generally be italicized in Wikipedia articles. (For Middle-earth articles, this especially includes book titles. Segments of the various The History of Middle-earth books should generally go in quotes.)

It is 'not necessary to italicize the first appearance of a name within an article. ("Beren was the son of Barahir.") It is a good idea to italicize words when they are referred to as words. ("The word athelas means...") Sometimes quotation marks help to keep long phrases connected in a translation, however.

Bold text should be used, as per Wikipedia convention, for the first appearance of the article title within the text. (It's also good to avoid putting any links in this first appearance, although with the sort of names we end up with it's often tempting.)

Bold text should also be used for any alternate names or terms that refer back to the title of the article. It should not be used for unrelated names. ("Beren, the son of Barahir, was later called Erchamion." rather than "Beren, the son of Barahir...")

Again, what is important here is some degree of consistency, both within an article and so that others can more easily understand our articles.

Consider significance

If there isn't enough information to make a decent article, don't create the article. Consider adding to an existing article. Consider merging a Tolkien stub into an existing article.

If you know that a subject is so minor that it's never going to deserve an article, don't link to it, either. Linking encourages someone to come along and fill the gap - is it a gap that needs to be filled? (If so, link away! But we don't really need an article about Beren's mother, do we? All that we know each other is likely already in the articles about Beren and Barahir, and if it's not, we can add it there.)

Tiny, stub-like articles on inconsequential Middle-earth figures or topics don't really accomplish anything other than to annoy other Wikipedians who are less interested in Middle-earth than we are. The information is also more useful if it is contained in the relevant "parent" articles. I might want to look up the name of Beren's mother, but I'm probably not going to be searching for Emeldir.