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The One Ring Forums:
Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Ents, eagles etc.:
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Oct 2 2024, 3:00pm
Views: 42822
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While you are correct that numbers are on Saurons side, attacking fortifications and better quality troops (don't forget ents, eagles etc) and generals such as Aragorn and Gandalf, makes it more difficult.
To recap, I do realise that the nature of this 'What If?' is to turn Tolkien's fairy tale into a wargame-as-thought-experiment. Within those premises, then I suppose it is natural to imagine any people or forces that have come into the story as now available to the armchair general - the fun of these things is presumably to imagine the biggest and bestest battles.
But I'm once again struck by how Not Like That Tolkien's story is.
Gandalf's speech to The Last Debate points out how narrowly our lot have survived the defence of two of their best fortifications (Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith). He could go further and point out that those defences only survived at all due to a whole lot of unexpected goings on of an eucatastrophic nature which were not in any way part of the plan or calculations of the defending generals.
Maybe everyone knows the book well enough to realise what I mean, but just in case:
Helm's Deep is relieved not only by the scattered Rohirrim forces Gandalf has rallied overnight but (crucially) any retreat is cut off by the terrifyng Huorns who 'disappear' all the orcs. It's that which turns a relief-of-seige battle into a rout and immediate victory. Those Huorns have not turned up because Theoden or Gandalf have entered into an alliance with General Treebeard - and nor have the Ents joined in because Elrond or Galadriel have pleaded with them. A much longer and stranger chain of events explains their coming as a total surprise to everyone at Helm's Deep. IT's Saruman's own plan blowing up in his face by inadvertently causing Treebeard to meet a couple of hobbits (as Gandalf specifically points out).
Similarly, one of the things that makes Tolkien's account of the defence of Minas Tirith exciting is the see-saw between imminent victory and defeat. Tolkien's Battle of the Five Armies does this too, but on teh Pellenor, it's the repeated entrance of the unexpected:
The defence is crumbling when Rohan turns up in the nick of time and under sunrise brought to you by a backing wind. Rohan has been brought to you by the unexpected intervention of Ghan-buri-ghan, allowing them to bypass Sauron's forces sent to guard against any re-inforcements.
Just as that advantage is being reversed by the arrival of endless further troops of Sauron, we have a second set of odd occurences, involving a Shieldmaiden and a hobbit who has accidentely* brought the perfect anti-Nazgul weapon from the North.
That advantage is being reversed yet again (still more endless troops) when along come the sails of the Corsair fleet - but of course it's really Aragprn, and a force of Men who weren't originally going to be available, because they had to defend against the Corsairs. They have been brought to you courtesy of Isildur and an oath some folks unwisely swore to him and broke, thus enabling Aragorn to become the Temporary Necromancer. Aragorn has additionally needed to have braved teh Paths of teh Dead, whic hhe knew to do because he obtained a palantir to see the danger the Corsairs posed, which he got because Wormtongue accidentely* threw it out of....which happend because Saruman miscalculated how much he could annoy the Ents... who might have remained patient for too long iof it weren't for Saruman's own backfiring kidnap-the-hobbits and get the Ring plan.
...you get the picture.
The Eagles are not coming. The Eagles are one of those things that Tolkien keeps on getting irritated about in Letters: in his mind they can't be used as general troop transports, attack helicopters, air superiority forces or for any other predictable thing. Eventually they become a sort of indication of divine grace, I think; turning up only when the hero has done all that can be expected. ( I do think Tolkien brought these 'why can't the eagles' queries on himself - it does look like he can call up an Eagle whenever he fancies, and while they end up as visible agents of divine grace they did start out in The Hobbit as something simpler.)
As to the unexpected forces that have turned up in the story already by the time of the Last Debate, the Dead have been released, the Ents haven't come to relieve Minas Tirith, and nor have Ghan-buri-ghan. They seem to be one-shot plot items It's a significant further 'What If?' to make them available for any kind of Post-Last Alliance Alliance.
I suppose that one other way of continuing the War of the Ring for your additional enjoyment, whilst carrying on Tolkien's pattern would be to have new surprise forces turn up each time our hereoes are yet again about to be overwhelmed. But there would be a danger of it getting cheesy pretty soon. That's one reason that writing books is hard, I expect. Or hard unless you pay someone else to do it for you like, say, Brittney Spears, Prince Harry, Michelle Obama or Donald Trump**.
--
*If there are such things as accidents in these matters - I expect we're not intended to see it as mere chance
--
** And I'm not sure how good an idea that is anyway -- asking Brittney Spears, Prince Harry, Michelle Obama or Donald Trump to write your fan fiction for you, I mean. Probably the only worse idea would be to get them to do it together in committee.
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
(This post was edited by noWizardme on Oct 2 2024, 3:05pm)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Oct 2 2024, 3:01pm
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Oct 2 2024, 3:03pm
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Post edited by noWizardme
(Gondolin) on Oct 2 2024, 3:05pm
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