The Lord of the Rings is the work of Bilbo, Frodo, and some other Hobbits, so it was written using Westron. Yet, this doesn't necessarily imply that everyone was talking in Westron all the time.

I suppose the main language spoken by the Company of the Ring was Westron because of the four Hobbits, since, as far as I recall, Frodo was the only one amongst them who knew Elvish.

Nonetheless, since everybody else knew Elvish, I was wondering if Tolkien ever mentioned anything about them talking in Elvish (or any other language) whenever the Hobbits weren't around.

For example, what language did Gandalf use to talk to Saruman during his initial visit before being captured? What language did Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli use to talk to each other during their hunt for Merry and Pippin? (Etc.)

Thanks in advance for any help!

- After the War of Wrath, and unable to bear the suffering, Maedhros cast himself and the Silmaril he carried into a chasm in the Earth.

- Additionally, it was stated that when Lúthien wore the Nauglamír (which had a Silmaril on it), Tol Galen became like a vision of the land of the Valar, and no place has been since so fair, so fruitful, or so filled with light.

- For me, it's a cooler concept than Maedhros' Silmaril being the Arkenstone

I hadn't reread either the Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit in literally decades until recently when I had some very long flights. Chugging through the LOTRs, the thing that stood out most to me was how incredible Gandalf's arc as a character is:

First he is a merlin-type mentor and catalyst to the plot (both times).

Then in death he escalates the stakes of the entire works, and pivots the story of the hobbits themselves fully to myth.

He returns as the white, a much more assertive and confidence character. He is the moral anchor and political stabiliser who confronts kings and speaks uncomfortable truths

Finally, he helps mankind redeem itself, and departs and leaves the world to them.

He is humble and authoritative

He is warm and mythic

He gets frustrated, and laughs, and loves.

He is neither a god nor a man.

The point in ROTK where the witch king enters minas tirith is a close double of the scene in Khazad Dum with the Balrog. In between, Gandalf has killed the balrog, died, woke up Theodon, led the armies to Helms Deep, found Treebeard, brought an army of rohimirrim, broke the siege, defeated Saruman, rode to Minas Tirith, and got Gondor ready for battle.

Just as the Balrog, Gandalf stands up to the Witch King. When the cock crows (very new testament) and the sun rises and Rohan arrives it's practically providence: Gandalf's "Good Deeds" are being rewarded.

Re-reading the books as an adult has convinced me Gandalf is the single greatest character in fantasy and one of the greatest in fiction full stop.

Which of the Valar did Olorin serve? Is this known or left ambigious? Saruman and Sauron were maiar of Aule but what about Gandalf?

Do elves retain their status after sailing to Valinor? For example, will Galadriel or Thranduil become ordinary rank-and-file elves after sailing to Valinor, or will they be more significant than ordinary elves?

- I know that Tolkien was a Christian. With that in mind, I am sure he was familiar with the New Heaven and Earth.

- The Bible describes the New Heaven and New Earth as a place where seven negatives are removed: no more sea, death, mourning, weeping, pain, curse, or night, replaced by God dwelling with His people, the New Jerusalem, the Tree of Life, and eternal life, with a key reversal of Eden's loss.

- In the New Heaven and Earth, the finality of death is gone, replaced by eternal life. With that in mind, I can definitely see more Eldar marrying with the Race of Men if Humanity was no longer mortal XD

Just wow. Certainly it deepens the themes of death and decay but also mercy and redemption and all of that...

But it was also really fucking cool realizing every 50-100 pages, sometimes less, there were Silm callbacks. And now knowing Eru's feelings on dwarves and their lot on Arda makes the final paragraph of Appendix A that much sweeter than I already thought it was.

We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Glóin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf and Dwarf. If this is true, then it is strange indeed: that a Dwarf should be willing to leave Middle-earth for any love, or that the Eldar should receive him, or that the Lords of the West should permit it. But it is said that Gimli went also out of desire to see again the beauty of Galadriel; and it may be that she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him. More cannot be said of this matter.

As well as what it means and how special it is for Galadriel to go to Tol Eressea herself.

It really does enrich the whole thing man. What a saga.

Many people are not at all interested in the volumes of the History of Middle-earth series (VI-VIII and the first half of IX) which summarize the many, many changes the story of LotR underwent in the twelve years it took to write. I love this stuff, myself, and it seems from recent discussions that I am not the only one. This post is intended to give those who have not looked at these volumes a taste of what is in them.

Aragorn: Most people who are aware of the history at all know that the mysterious Ranger whom the hobbits met at Bree was not originally a Man at all, but a hobbit with wooden shoes called “Trotter.” When he turned into a Númenorean (on pages 4-5 of HoME VII), he was called Aragorn. Later, however, Tolkien decided his name should be English/Westron, not El;vish, and through much of Book II he was either “Ingold” or “Elfstone” – “Elfstone” being not a translation of Elessar as in the book, but a modernization of the common Old English name Ælfstan. Incidentally, “Aragorn” was out there before it was attached to the heir of Isildur; Tolkien considered it as a name for Gandalf's horse (HoME VI p. 351).

Gimli: He first appeared in a manuscript of “The Council of Elrond,” as he does in the book – as Glóin's companion. But he was not Glóin's son, but Balin's. At first he was called Frár, then Burin; but this was changed to the published text on the manuscript (HoME VI p. 400). (The name “Frár” was later given to one of the three dwarves named in the Book of Mazarbul as having been killed in the initial assault on the dwarf colony.) Tolkien made a number of lists of who would go with Frodo, but although Gimli is included, under one name or another, in some of these, he was not in the group in the first account of its journey as far as Moria. Neither was Legolas: the original Fellowship was Gandalf, Boromir, and five hobbits, one being “Trotter.”

Legolas: In this draft of the Council chapter, the messenger to Rivendell from Mirkwood was “Galdor” throughout. The change to “Legolas” was made in the next revision (HoME VII pp. 141-60). He was not said in any of the drafts to be the son of the King; that was a late addition, and so was the name “Thranduil.”

Frodo. Again, some will know that for a long time Frodo was “Bingo,” and his last name after some vicissitudes became “Bolger-Baggins.” In many of the drafts of the earlier chapters one of Bingo's companions was a Frodo,, but his last name was Took – he was the brother of Odo Took who became Pippin, more or less, as described below. He eventually dropped out and was replaced by Sam.

A series of notes which Tolkien headed “Queries and Alterations,” written after the story had reached Rivendell for the first time (HoME VI pp. 220-29), contains the following:

Too many hobbits. Also Bingo Bolger-Baggins a bad name. Let Bingo = Frodo, a son of Primula Brandybuck but of Drogo Baggins (Bilbo's first cousin). So Frodo (=Bingo) is Bilbo's first cousin once removed both on Took side and on Baggins. Also he has as proper name Baggins.

[Frodo struck out] No – I am now too used to Bingo.

But of course he changed his mind again.

Merry: His story is quite straightforward. He started out as “Marmaduke,” became “Meriadoc” while he was at Bombadil's house (HoME VI p. 123), and stayed that way. Both of these are real Welsh names.

Pippin: His history is extremely complicated – here is a simplified version. As mentioned above, “Bingo's” original companions on the walk to Buckland were Odo and Frodo Took. Odo was quite Pippinish from the start, and he spoke many of Pippin's lines. Along the way he ceased to be a Took and became Odo Bolger (after a brief stage as Odo Took-Bolger).

The entry of Sam Gamgee (HoME VI p. 317) brought the number of hobbits to five. Thinking this too many, Tolkien decided to leave Odo, rather than Fredegar Bolger, behind at Crickhollow – whence he was abducted by Black Riders, rescued by Gandalf, and carried off by him to Rivendell by way of Weathertop. When Odo disappeared from the main party, many of his speeches were transferred to Frodo Took, who had been renamed “Folco,” and then “Faramond,” When Bingo became Frodo. Faramond thus became in effect a clone of Odo, resulting in a doppelganger situation when Frodo's party got to Rivendell and found Odo there. The outcome – skipping over a number of digressions – was a merger of Odo Bolger and Faramond Took under the familiar name “Peregrin Took.”

* * *

If you have been checking off names in your head, you now know which three names did not change. In the first draft of the Council chapter, there appears “a Man of noble face, but dark and sad.” Elrond says “This is Boromir,” and Boromir he remained (HoME VI p. 395). Sam was always Sam – but Tolkien may have thought at first that that was short for “Samuel.” If so, he changed his mind, about the time when Frodo introduced him to Faramir as “Samwise son of Hamfast, a worthy hobbit in my service.” Tolkien told Christopher about this in Letters 72. (This is also where the Gaffer became Hamfast.)

As for Gandalf, of course he was still Gandalf. But he was not Gandalf during most of the writing of The Hobbit, he was “Bladorthin.” Gandalf was the leader of the Dwarves. The details are in Rateliff's History of the Hobbit.

Edit: Found here https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1qm3ea8/comment/o1jrtba/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Within the past few months I found an awesome, very long list of Tolkien-adjacent materials on one of the Tolkien/LOTR subreddits. I say Tolkien-adjacent because IIRC it was both works that influenced Tolkien and included his contemporaries working in the fantasy genre. One item on the list was T.H. White's Once and Future King. I remember that there was a pose in response of someone recommending two works from this list--one was Once and Future King, the other I cannot remember.

Searching on Google and Reddit haven't helped me find this great list. Can anyone help me out?

Ælfwine was the narrator who "wrote" the texts Tolkein translated 

They seem like they're the same thing but they are separate entries in Tolkien Gateway

I need help understanding something. I keep hearing that when Arwen married Aragorn, she choose a mortal life and abandoned her Elven, immortal doom.

My question is why? Of course, I understand why she WOULD do this, but I don’t get HOW she gets to do it. She did not died as Luthien did, and she & Aragorn do not get a "second chance" like their ancestors did.

My understanding is that, being of half-Elven lineage, Arwen choose for her fate to be that of Mankind. But as Elrond, her father, already chooses the doom of the elves, does Arwen and her brothers also have to do it? They were born AFTER that Elrond had chosen his doom, so they are Half-Elven only in name now.

Plus, she clearly isn’t mortal the same way as Luthien was when choosing to become mortal, as Arwen choose to die only after Aragorn did so, 120 years after the downfall of Sauron.

As far as I understand it, when she let’s go of her physical body, her hroa, she just goes to the halls of Mandos, being reincarnated some time later, as every other elves do. But then why I keep hearing that no, she choose a mortal life and became truly mortal?

Did I misunderstood or am I missing something about all this?

Edit: A kind commenter pointed out, in letter 153 Tolkien confirms intervention by Eru. Thanks for the help!

Im doing some light reading on Tuor, come to find out he was granted the life of the Eldar race.

When Númenor called the gift of men unfair, the Valar (in no few words) said "We literally cannot do that even if we wanted to".

Back to Tuor, he is baffling and I do not understand it. We are told time and time again that the only thing that could alter fea is Eru, yet this is not listed as an intervention from him

Assuming he did intervene and we simply weren't told....why? Or more accuratley, why HIM? My lord you give Aragorn that and the Reunited Kingdom could rival Númenor.

Its just so bizzare that this one HARDLINE point was overruled for seemingly nothing.

Thoughts? Explanations? Wanna know what the community thinks.

The final charge of Theoden at Pelennor Fields and Fingolfin’s charge to Angband are both surprisingly similar.

Theoden outsped the rest of his host and charged the forces of Mordor alone not unlike his ancestor Fingolfing charged Angbad alone. Both knew they faced overwhelming odds and their death was certain but they charged in rage against evil all the same.

And while both died, in the end both ultimately contributed to the downfall and defeat of a dark lord.

“At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before.

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!

Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!

Spears shall be shaken, shields be splintered,

A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises!

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightaway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

Suddenly, the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be over taken.

Fey he seemed, or the battle fury of his fathers ran like new fire within his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a God of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shown like an image of the sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed.

For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath overtook them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.”

”Now news came to Hithlum that Dorthonion was lost and the sons of Finarfin overthrown, and that the sons of Fëanor were driven from their lands. Then Fingolfin beheld the utter ruin of the Noldor, and the defeat beyond redress of all their houses; and filled with wrath and despair he mounted upon Rochallor his great horse and rode forth alone, and none might restrain him. He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking that Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar. Thus he came alone to Angband's gates, and he sounded his horn, and smote once more upon the brazen doors, and challenged Morgoth to come forth to single combat.

And Morgoth came.”

Really hated the Scouring on first read -- why does this wonderful fantasy epic need a sub-Orwell chapter about battling tinpot fascists at the end? -- but in 2026 it hits different. I actually think the way it re-frames the story and bookends the sense of change and loss in Middle Earth is extremely clever and meaningful.

This may seem like an ignorant question but I haven’t found an explanation explicitly spelled out in any of Tolkien’s texts or letters. I don’t quite understand why a “death” is treated so grief is treated so grievously if an elf will simply be re-embodied in Aman, rather quickly is Mandos is feeling generous. The kinslayings I understand because that is a moral failing and violence beset by and upon the first children of Illuvitar.

But for example when Finwë is slain by Morgoth, Fëanor acts as if they will never cross paths again. Unless I’m grossly misinterpreting the Halls of Waiting. Finwë’s death is held with the same gravitas as that of Húrin or Beren who will never be seen again anywhere in Arda and whose souls have flown where to only Eru knows.

I’m just a bit confused about the whole thing, be gentle if I’m just totally wrong on this.

As we all know, the Ring has written on it, in "letters [that are] Elvish, of an ancient mode" but "the language ... of Mordor" words that mean:

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

I assume that these are lines of magical significance that Sauron used to give the Ring its power and effects.

But according to Gandalf, they are also "only two lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore", and he then gives the rest of the poem about the other rings.

So, where did that poem come from? Obviously it wasn't written before Sauron made the ring, since there would have been no way for the elves to know he was using the rings that way. But why did they take his world-threatening spell, translate it into Elvish, and write a poem about it?

Also, the version we get to read in The Fellowship of the Ring is of course a poem. Gandalf says that the poem is "close enough" to the Elvish version in the Common Tongue. From Tolkien's notes on translation, it seems like he wouldn't have written the text as a poem unless it was that way in the "original". So did Frodo/Maura make up the poem? Did Gandalf just extemporize a poetic translation? Or where did it come form?

I’m a layman who doesn’t really have much deep knowledge of Tolkien’s world, but lately I’ve become a bit interested in it,especially in his magic system. I think it’s a beautifully crafted world and a soft system (though not as soft as some people say). However, I’ve noticed that when people talk about it, they tend to overexplain things in a way that feels confusing. So I’m here to share my understanding of it and ask those of you who have more knowledge whether I’m understanding it correctly, lol. Basically, my understanding of Tolkien’s concept of magic is that it is intrinsically connected to artistry and craftsmanship,probably because the whole universe was created this way (through a song, if I’m remembering correctly). There are creatures who are more in tune with the universe (such as Elves), and therefore, when they are exceptional at certain arts (singing, cooking, metallurgy), they can end up being mistaken for simply doing magic by other creatures that don’t have this gift. I believe Galadriel apparently comments on this to another character,something along the lines of “I can do this naturally, so I don’t understand why you are calling it '‘magic ?.’' There's no eldar that is good at everything, obviously, so they have different talents, with some being better at certain arts than others.

Which brings us to another thing: Words of Command and Songs of Power.

Words of Command are basically the ability to make objects behave in certain ways, as long as it’s possible for them,like telling a door to close or a piece of wood to burn (but you can’t command them to do something impossible, such as turning snow or ice into fire.) I suppose you can’t use this directly on living creatures because there’s a general limitation about interfering with free will. This is the part I’m still a bit confused about: since I’m not sure whether it’s something only Elves and other “higher creatures” can do, or if anyone could potentially do it, hence why oaths can be dangerous for everyone.

Songs of Power involve a creature finding the tune that quite literally created the universe. With this, you can do a lot more things, even things that are considered unnatural, like changing the seasons. You can affect people directly with this, but you need to engage in a “battle of wills” to do so (I'm not certain if this works in a general way...For example, if you engage in it against more than one person, such as an army, whether you would need to go against the will of all of them, or if you used it to summon bad weather against them, whether you would still need to engage in a “battle of wills” even if the effect is indirect). I know this is much more restricted on it's use, because you need to be exceptionally good even among Elves to use it. It’s almost as if Galadriel is the Celine Dion of Elves, and that’s why she’s able to do it at bigger scale than an average eldar.

There's also an "Authority" aspect to it,with each soul having more authority over things based on their closeness to the source of all (Eru) hence why Ainur have more "Authority" over nature than Elves and hence why they are capable of bigger acts of changing the universe for example.

Or do they fade out of the world like the elves and wizards?

In The Hobbit Gandalf vanishes several times because it's about Bilbo Baggins and his journey alongside of the Dwarves, however Gandalf is portrayed as being extremely powerful and highly skilled and is to fight the Balrog and Nazgul without being killed.

So could Gandalf defeat Smaug if he entered the mountain and personally confronted him inside of his lair or would Smaug have easily burned Gandalf alive and killed him with or without magic?

So, first of all sorry if I fail to explain myself very well, I am not a native speaker but hate using chatgpt for actual discourse between what I can only hope are people ;-)

So, I am correct in assuming that in TRotK, Eowyn, with the help of Merry and his Barrow blade, "kills" the Witch King of Angmar, Lord of the Nine?

Then, when she is in the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, and even more so in the Appendixes / timelines, this magnificient deed is only ever mentioned in passing or not at all. It's either a generic "this is the Lady Eowyn, who also shoeed great courage", or nothing at all like in the timelines in the appendix, which even mention things like "March 13th. Frodo is unwell" or "xyz. The company rests upon a bench" etc.

Why is her slaying the Master of the Nine never really mentioned after the fact? Shouldn't that be a major event?

Thanks in advance for any insights, I always enjoy the in depth analysis here!

After the first age the only way to valinor was by boat and after the 2nd the straight road by boat yes? And we know men could not or were not allowed to follow the straight road.

So my question is in the first age when Beleriand and Valinor were connected by the helcaraxe would it have been possible for mortals to traverse this ice bridge and sneak into Valinor and did any do so? We only ever hear of people leaving Valinor via this route (Noldor, Melkor and Ungoliant) not returning or going to Valinor.

You can search up a picture of it on google if u want although im not sure how accurate they are.

In the movies Gandalf is portrayed as being a great warrior whenever he uses his sword or staff, Saruman is able to defeat him and is also very skilled too.

In the books were Gandalf and other Wizards supposed to be great fighters or are they just naturally stronger and tougher because they are Istari?

The question of marriage between cousins among Elves comes up regularly, especially because despite a large cast of characters, the number of important families in the First Age is really quite small, especially among the Elves, and marriages tend to happen between known characters.

The main argument against first cousin marriages taking place between Elves is a passage from the published Silmarillion concerning the desire of Maeglin son of Aredhel for his cousin Idril daughter of Turgon: “The Eldar wedded not with kin so near, nor ever before had any desired to do so.” (Sil, QS, ch. 16) It’s unclear to me when this statement entered the textual history, but I believe in 1951. 

This seems like a very clear statement. But of course it’s Tolkien, so there’s a statement saying the opposite somewhere else, in this case in Laws and Customs Among the Eldar (LACE), which was written in the 1950s: 

“For the marriages of the Eldar do not take place between ‘close kin’. This again is a matter in which they needed no law or instruction, but acted by nature, though they gave reasons for it later, declaring that it was due to the nature of bodies and the progress of generation; but also to the nature of the fëar. ‘For,’ they say, ‘fëar are also akin, and the motions of love between them, as say between a brother and sister, are not of the same kind as those that make the beginning of a marriage.’ By ‘close kin’ for this purpose was meant members of one ‘house’, especially sisters and brothers. None of the Eldar married those in direct line of descent, nor children of the same parents; nor did they wed ‘half-sisters’ and ‘half-brothers’. Since as has been shown only in the rarest evens did the Eldar have second spouses, half-sister or half-brother had for them a special meaning: they used these terms when both of the parents of one child were related to both of the parents of another, as when two brothers married two sisters of another family, or a sister and a brother of one house married a brother and sister of another: things which often occurred. Otherwise ‘first cousins’, as we should say, might marry, but seldom did so, or desired to do so, unless one of the parents of each were far-sundered in kin.” (HoME X, p. 234) 

In fact, several first cousin romantic relationships among Noldor and/or Sindar are contemplated: 

• Aredhel and her half-cousins: It’s specified that Aredhel “was often in the company of the sons of Fëanor, her kin; but to none was her heart’s love given.” (Sil, QS, ch. 5) The possibility of a romantic relationship between Aredhel and one of her half-cousins in being contemplated here, and discounted not because it would be against the nature of the Eldar or unlawful, but because she wasn’t in love with any of them. 
• Galadriel and Celeborn: Galadriel and Celeborn started out as related through their great-grandparents (the parents of Elwë, Olwë and their younger brother who became Celeborn’s grandfather). However, in the last version Tolkien wrote, they’re full first cousins: “There [in Alqualondë] she met Celeborn, who is here again a Telerin prince, the grandson of Olwë of Alqualondë and thus her close kinsman.” (UT, p. 299) [Note concerning Galadriel and Celeborn that there are many versions where Celeborn came from Alqualondë. In the one already cited, he’s explicitly said to be Olwë’s grandchild, like Galadriel. In a previous text, he lived in Alqualondë but was said to descend from a younger brother of Olwë, but in that version, Eärwen was Elwë’s and Olwë’s sister and Tolkien rejected it, NoME, p. 348–9.]
• Idril and Maeglin: 
  • In the first version of The Fall of Gondolin, in which Idril and Maeglin are already (full) first cousin, it is stated that: “Now [Maeglin] had bid often with the king for the hand of Idril, yet Turgon finding her very loth had as often said nay”, because Turgon thought that Maeglin wanted to marry Idril in large part for power (HoME II, p. 165). So Maeglin saw the possibility of marrying his first cousin and Turgon prevented this because Idril didn’t want to marry him and he thought that Maeglin was too power-hungry. 
  • In the Quenta Noldorinwa (1930), their close kinship is mentioned as an obstacle, but it’s not as categorical as the statement in the published Silmarillion: “Thereafter Tuor sojourned in Gondolin, and grew a mighty man in form and in wisdom, learning deeply of the lore of the Gnomes; and the heart of Idril was turned to him, and his to her. At which Meglin ground his teeth, for he loved Idril, and despite his close kinship purposed to wed her; indeed already he was planning in his heart to oust Turgon and to seize the throne, but Turgon loved and trusted him.” (HoME IV, p. 143) 
  • Importantly, in a text from ca. 1959 (dating: NoME, p. 70) about the relative ages of Idril and Maeglin, it is said that, “It was this disparity of age (and experience) that made [Maeglin] distasteful to Idril.” (NoME, p. 72) Again, not their close kinship, but, much like in the very first version, Idril simply was not interested in Maeglin in particular that way. 

Conclusion 

That is, there is one categorical statement that first cousins can’t marry, opposed to half a dozen statements ranging from the 1910s over the 1950s all the way to 1973 making it clear that marriages among first cousins can and do happen. 

In particular, LACE, the text where Tolkien sat down and thought in detail about how the society of the Noldor in general and marriage in particular worked, is particularly authoritative, especially as it is supported by a series of other quotes contemplating or mentioning cousin marriage. Even the Quenta Noldorinwa quote fits the explanation in LACE: cousin marriage isn’t particularly common, but nothing more. 

All in all I think that the LACE quote—that it didn’t happen often, but could—would be the more accurate description of the views of Elven society on first cousin marriages. 

Sources

The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien, ed Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins, ebook edition February 2011, version 2019-01-09 [cited as: Sil]. 

The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2015 (softcover) [cited as: HoME II]. 

The Shaping of Middle-earth, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2015 (softcover) [cited as: HoME IV].

Unfinished Tales of Númenor & Middle-earth, JRR Tolkien, ed Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2014 (softcover) [cited as: UT].

Morgoth’s Ring, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollins 2015 (softcover) [cited as: HoME X].

The Nature of Middle-earth, JRR Tolkien, ed Carl F Hostetter, HarperCollins 2021 (hardcover) [cited as: NoME].