Thanks for the help!
Turns out it was a hardware issue - I eventually found that I couldn’t connect to Wi-Fi in my mint live usb or Windows 10 on that computer either after a bit more testing. A full power off and unplug seems to have reset whatever was wrong with the Wi-Fi adapter and all is working again, thank goodness.
Thanks again for taking the time to help! It’s what I’ve come to love about this community in the two months I’ve been in it!
One of my biggest problems with the movies is that they made Elrond (and all of the other elves) so angry and stodgy, and completely ignored all of the joyful aspects of his character from the books. The elves, especially the Noldor, are a people defined by the way their joy for life is inextricably mixed with sorrow as they fight the long defeat, which is part of what makes them so compelling.