Proposed reconciliation of the Mîm timeline
I've been thinking about Mîm for a bit, and his scattered story throughout the various parts of the legendarium. I'd been considering how it could be made cohesive, but the main problem was always the timing. It just didn't really add up how he could be present in early days at Tarn Aeluin and Nargothrond, and then so much later with Túrin.
Something that clicked into place for me though, was this passage from The Peoples of Middle-earth:
>The Dwarves add that at that time Aulë gained them also this privilege that distinguished them from Elves and Men: that the spirit of each of the Fathers (such as Durin) should, at the end of the long span of life allotted to Dwarves, fall asleep, but then lie in a tomb of his own body, at rest, and there its weariness and any hurts that had befallen it should be amended. Then after long years he should arise and take up his kingship again.
Which can combine with this part from The Compliant of Mîm the Dwarf:
>The great lid was shut and my tired eyes too. Long I would sleep, with my tired head laid upon my treasure-chest, my hoard of memory and vanished years.
I.e. the Complaint of Mîm, rather than producing a third, further contradictory biography of Mîm, I think actually provides the mechanism to both join them and narrow the time range.
It's a bit long for Reddit, but I've got my sources and inferences cited: https://tolkiendil.substack.com/p/reconciliation-the-story-of-mim-the