500 Unanswerable Questions About Middle-earth

I thought it might be fun (and hopefully start a bit of discussion) to
compile a list of questions which, to the best of our knowledge,
cannot be answered (either because Tolkien never mentioned it or ever
thought of the matter.) Duplicate questions will eventually be weeded
out and the list will, if he agrees, be added to Troel's website in
the future. If we discover that a question has actually been answered
by Tolkien, then it will be removed from the list.

I'll launch the list with five questions. Feel free to add as many as
occur to you!

1. What were the names of Queen Beruthiel's nine cats?
2. How many levels did Moria actually have? (Only seven levels are
mentioned, but it seems to be implied that many more were delved.)
3. How many years did it actually take to build and delve Menegroth?
4. What sort of boats did the Brandybucks use? (Only the raft on
which Frodo and his companions crossed the Brandywine is actually
described. Were the other boats skiffs, rowboats, or barges?)
5. How many Eagles actually fought in the Battle of Five Armies?

Morgoth's Curse

Morgoth's Curse wrote:

> 4. What sort of boats did the Brandybucks use? (Only the raft on
> which Frodo and his companions crossed the Brandywine is actually
> described. Were the other boats skiffs, rowboats, or barges?)

According to Thor Heyerdahl, there are various kinds of primitive boats
such as:

(a) bundled reeds
(b) logs
(c) rafts made out of (b)
(d) hollowed out logs
(e) framework covered in wood/fabric/hides

I think (a) can be ruled out. There's no equivalent to Lake Chad
or Titicaca in the Shire.

(b), (c) and (d) -- maybe this is why the Old Forest is so upset;
its trees were cut down for boats.

That leaves (e). Maybe the Brandybucks use a smaller version
of this boat:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:JWW_TheLadyOfShallot_1888.jpg

SQ