tolkien - How long did it take Fëanor and his sons to sail from Valinor to Beleriand?

Some sweet maps

I'll try to explain this with maps. Yes, maps. I've found them. Thanks Google.

This is the map of Tolkien's creation made by Karen Wynn Fonstadt:

In the far left, you can see Valinor. If you want to go Beleriand by sea, you have to cross Belegaer and reach Bay of Balar (most optimistic approach).

And this is the map of Beleriand:

It must have been around 19 years (solar years). Too long? Must explain.

Explanation

In The Silmarillion, there is almost no hint of a passage of time
between the departure of the Noldor from Tirion, and their arrival
in Middle-earth. The only point where the length of the journey is
mentioned is in ch. 9, Of the Flight of the Noldor, where we're told that
they had 'marched for a great while in the unmeasured night' (this
was after the Darkening of Valinor, so 'night' here just means that
they were marching in darkness).

The Noldor set out from the central regions of the World, and a very large number of them had to travel thousands of miles into the far
north. It's reasonable to assume that this journey must have taken
at least several years.

In fact, we have the Annals of Aman to give us some insight into
this matter (in Morgoth's Ring, volume 10 of The History of
Middle-earth). There, the departure of the Noldor is dated 1495,
and their arrival in Middle-earth is dated 1497. These dates are
given in Years of the Trees from their first planting, with each
Year of the Trees being equivalent to about 9½ solar years. The Flight ofthe Noldor from Aman into Middle-earth, then, took
very roughly nineteen years to complete.

Whether the journey of the Noldor was a 'flight' or a 'return' is
a matter of perspective. To the Valar, and the Elves they left
behind in Aman, the Noldor were fleeing into the dark east of the
World. To the Sindar and other Elves who had remained in the
Hither Lands, it was the return of long-sundered kin out of the
unknown west.

Also take a look at Shadowy Seas.

Also related: Nienna.

Bonus Information >> The only hint is in Quenta Silmarillion ch. 9, Of the Flight of the Noldor, where she 'cast back her grey hood'. Given that Gandalf was her student, this might (though somewhat doubtfully) have some relevance to his title, the Grey.

a song of ice and fire - Which book and chapter match with episode 8 season 3 from Game of Thrones TV Series?

I would offer to say that you not jump ahead. Sure the major events are more or less the same in the book and the series, but they are not identical. Also, the books are far more nuanced and character rich than the TV series is. If you do jump ahead you'll find yourself more confused than relieved. Just off the top of my head you'll start wondering who the heck Asha is, or Jeyne Westerling, or Strong Belwas ... etc. You'll find yourself slogging through a several dozen new characters (or characterizations) just to get by. It's doable with a bit of Googling, but I really do advise you to read the books from the beginning. You'll get a much better understanding of the history of Westeros that led to the current crisis, and a deeper outlook into the motivations of the characters.

Edited to add, there are several extremely interesting and cool scenes that had to be cut out of the TV series due to budget or time constraints. The famous Tower of Joy comes to mind. If you skip the books you miss out on some very important events that get mentioned later on.

story identification - What movie features an abandoned spaceship with English and alien writing on it?

I am looking for a movie I saw the beginning of when I was a kid. I remember astronauts boarding what seemed to be an abandoned spaceship (I think it had the NASA sign on it) but when they board the ship they find both English and some kind of alien writing in the ship. I think they show a shot of a trashcan with the word 'trash' and then the alien word for it...

That is all I remember, it seemed a very cool beginning, anybody have any idea?

story identification - A builder of metal birds who lived in a tower; post-apocalyptic world with people scavenging for old technology

"Fear the geteit chemosit"

This is from M. John Harrison's The Pastel City (1971), part of the Virconium series. The Wikipedia article summarizes the plot nicely:

The Pastel City concerns the defence of the eponymous city against northern "barbarians" by a melancholy swordsman and poet, 'sometime soldier and sophisticate' Lord tegeus-Cromis. tegeus-Cromis is the hero of the Methven but believes he has finished soldiering forever - until the mercenary Birkin Griff brings dire news of the war between the two queens and the hazard facing the Pastel City. They must travel to the Great Brown Waste to find Tomb the Dwarf, and join forces to fight for Queen Jane and Viriconium - for Canna Moidart and the Wolves of the North have awoken the geteit chemosit, alien automata from an ancient science, which will destroy everything in their path.

The message delivered to tegeus-Cromis by the bird:

"Tegeus-Cromis of Viriconium should go at once to the tower of Cellur which he will find on the Girvan Bay in the South, a little east of Lendelfoot. Further, he is advised to let nothing hinder that journey,
however pressing it may seem: for things hang in a fine balance, and
more is at stake than the fate of a minor empire. This comes from
Cellur of Girvan."

star trek ds9 - At what point was Betazed re-taken in the DS9 Dominion war?

In the episode just before the series finale (DS9 : Dogs of War) Sisko, Martok, Admiral Ross and Velal mention that the Dominion forces have completely withdrawn into Cardassian space.

INT. WARDROOM : Where Sisko is meeting with MARTOK (wearing his
chancellor's cloak), Ross and the Romulan Commander last seen in "When
it Rains" -- who we'll call VELAL. They're all looking over a wall
MAP.

ROSS : -- according to our intelligence reports, the Dominion has
completely withdrawn from Klingon, Federation and Romulan space. They
seem to be forming a new defense perimeter within Cardassian
territory.

You can see some in-universe tactical reasons for this, but most likely it was also a way for the writers to tie up loose ends like liberating Betazed.

story identification - Need Help Identifying SF Book About Magic

I am trying to find a book I read many, many years ago.

The book starts with a princess, from a world with magic, coming through a rift into our world, without magic. She discovers, however, that one person in our world can "channel" magic to her, so that she can use magic in our world.

In the scene where this is discovered, the princess is attacked in the mundane-protagonists' house by assassins who also came through the rift. The mundane protagonist accidentally channels magic to the princess, resulting in an explosion that blows a hole in the floor.

That's all I remember... if you can help, I'd be very appreciative!

Edit: The mundane protagonist doesn't really know what she is doing, and has no fine control over the magic. I believe she started out, in the mundane world, performing general charms and cantrips and mystical-type stuff that doesn't actually work. (Similar to palmistry, etc.) However, the princess can sense that the mundane protagonist's spells actually DO have power. The mundane protagonist, however, has no idea what she is doing and no control - she cannot cast spells, and can't really "feel" any magic.

The princess's world is filled with magic that can be sensed all around, and used for spells. However, on Earth, no magic is available in the air and the princess cannot cast spells.

After discovering that the mundane protagonist has access to magic, even though she can't use it for anything, the princess asks her to "share" the magic, or feed it to her, so that the princess can use that magic to cast a spell. They try this, and the mundane protagonist pushes so much power to the princess that it supercharges the small spell that the princess cast, and blows a hole in the floor of the mundane protagonist's house.

Later in the book, the assassins arrive to try and kill the princess. The mundane protagonist and the princess are attacked in the front yard of the mundane protagonist's house. In desperation, they try the same channeling, and the princess is able to use the magic channeled by the mundane protagonist to defeat the assassins. Similar to the first try, this channeling results in a large explosion/damage to the front yard.

I hope that helps. Those scenes are really all I remember.

star wars - Why has Jango Fett been cloned?

The Mandalorian Jango Fett was cloned because his genetic material was able to be manipulated by the Kaminoans to create an utterly loyal, fearless, and aggressive soldier. They did not want force-sensitive soldiers because it would take even longer to train them and they might be less tractable. Force sensitives would need to be strong-willed, the last thing you want in your slavishly obedient army.

He was chosen specifically because he was Mandalorian and would be bringing both this genes and his warrior culture ethos to the clones during their training. In addition, with time constraints, it is far easier to work with a genome you are familiar with and modifying it for desirable traits.

Before the gestation process began, the Kaminoans tampered with Fett's DNA to ensure that the clones were primarily dominated by behavioral genes that emphasized certain qualities such as loyalty, aggression, independence and discipline in order to guarantee that the army would be more docile and less independent than their template. Kal Skirata, a former Mandalorian warrior who had been brought to Kamino to assist in the training of a special unit, concurred with the Kaminoans' rationale behind "modified" troopers; an "unaltered" Jango Fett was not the ideal infantry soldier. - Republic Commando, Triple Zero

• It is far easier to do significant manipulations on a single genome than to work with thousands of genomes for selective engineering of a better soldier.




• Even if the engineers thought they could create something significantly better, it would take both time and significant research to accomplish with no guarantees of quality, ability to control, tendency toward cooperation or other unexpected side effects from merging such varied genetic characteristics.




• The genetic potential for a superior soldier was clearly within Jango Fett and with the alterations which included a slavish devotion to the Sith, enabling the execution of Order 66, were included in their genetic make-up. I believe this is the real reason they choose to use the Mandalorian DNA.




• As soldiers, the Clone Army (at least as depicted in the televised Clone Wars series) seemed quite effective, especially when augmented with Republic Weaponry, tactics and the superior leadership of their Jedi leader/handlers. The reduction in their capability as soldiers lacking in intuition, versatility and somewhat in reduced intellectual capacity is offset (somewhat) by their ability to coordinate and understand each other's thinking.




• And while there is some risk at using a single genome as a template, at no point in the Clone Wars do we see any technology which attacks at a cellular or genetic level making such worries apparently less of an issue.

Another reason biogenic weapons were not used is even as the Republic is working with the Jedi, the Sith knew eventually the Clone Troopers would be working for them. They would not allow such technology to be used, if it could be helped. Facilities which could create such things were likely to be the first places destroyed or blockaded.

At a logistical level, there is the added benefit of having only one specification for all equipment, all tools, all armors and weapons. Facilities producing these materials could create millions of units, quickly and relatively cheaply in comparison to an army with differing anatomical needs.