A Note on Names

[Voronwë the Faithful]

In Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, The Hall of Fire was a room in the Last Homely House of Elrond Halfelven in Imladris (Rivendell) where, as the Wizard Gandalf tells Frodo, "people come ... who wish for peace, and thought." We thought that was an apt title for a place where we seek to engage in serious discussion about Tolkien's works and other subjects in a courteous and respectful environment.

In a spirit of fun and respect, many of the names we have chosen have a Tolkien theme. This includes most of the forums, and an explanation for why the particular name was chosen for that forum is included in the Announcement threads about each forum.

The name that we chose for our governing document, "Laws and Customs in the Hall of Fire," is taken from an essay of Tolkien's printed in Morgoth's Ring, called "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar." "Shirriffs", the name that we call our administrators, is taken from the nearest equivalent that the Hobbits of the Shire had to police (but who would be more likely to drop in the nearest pub to share a mug of beer or a glass of Old Vinyards with a friend then anything else).