Beren IV
Gondor
Nov 8 2008, 10:42pm
Views: 6553
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People get angry with me over this
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1. So, if I do the math correctly, there are approximately 60,000 to 70,000 Mordorion troops ringing Aragorn's 6,000 (actually 'less' than 6,000); thus, outnumbered and in a hostile land far removed from any aid, the Lords of Gondor face annihilation. This in fact is where one could say Tolkien deviates into utter fantasy, and that no army could sustain combat against such odds. However, there are many instances in 'real world' history that show a small, disciplined army can outdo a much larger force: at Bannockburn and Agincourt the odds were approximately 4-1; the Spartan '300' (which was, of course, more than 300, but let's not mess with legend) faced similar odds to those Aragorn encountered; and let's not forget the Alamo! Aragorn chose high ground (always sensible for a defensive position), and the orcs were 'hindered by the mires that lay before the hills'. A prime set-up for a eucatastrophe, wouldn't you say? The whole point is that this battle is unwinnable. That was the intent from the get-go - this is a suicide mission, unless the Ringbearer comes through in the nick of time. 2. ... Would you prefer a more in-depth description of combat? Sometimes I would, and sometimes I'm glad he didn't. I've argued with many people on the abundance of magic in Middle-Earth, and the fact is it's really quite ambiguous. Most fantasy games out there today feature wizards who are capable as functioning as artillery pieces, hurling fireballs and other such magical spells as weapons. Because these things are not actually described by Tolkien, many assume M.E. to be "a low-magic world", but that's really not true. Tolkien does list some of the weapons in use by various armies, and it's conventional stuff like spears and arrows and swords with, yes, the occasional use of magic (or gunpowder or Greek fire or somesuch). There might still be fireball-wielding wizards in the battle, they just aren't important enough to mention. If Tolkien actually described his battles in more detail, then there would be no room for interpretation. In my opinion, this would weaken his story. But it would also answer the magic question one way or the other, and people would no longer get mad at me because I present an interpretation they view as heretical, even though it is perfectly justifiable in the text. 3. ... We know that Trolls were made in mockery of the Ents, but of what stock were they derived? Or is this yet another enigma Tolkien never wholly explained (in all my research I could never find a thorough explanation)? Honestly, I think trolls almost have to be stone, because that's what they turn into when exposed to sunlight (unless they are under the dark dominion of Sauron, of course). I don't think they're modified Ents; Ents are made of wood. 4. ...do you feel Tolkien overdoes the incessant amount of 'saving' the Eagles manage throughout the Silmarillion, The Hobbit and LotR? Do you consider this repeated plot contrivance a deus ex machina of legendary proportions? There is someone I know who cannot appreciate the physics or the fantasy of movies (I'm sure she's never read the book), and does not see why the Fellowship didn't just use eagles to fly to Mordor and drop off the Ring in the first place. This is the danger of having the Eagles in the first place. This same person has problems with Star Wars Episode IV: why did not Vader just use the Death Star to blow up Yavin, so that they could get to the moon where the rebels were hiding, instead of waiting for the moon to come into line of fire from its orbit? From a physics prospective, the answer is straightforward: the Death Star is quite capable of blowing up an Earth-sized rocky planet, but not a Jupiter-sized gas giant like Yavin. Some people appreciate a deeper logic or symbolism into things and others just don't. Myself, I don't have any problem with the Eagles here: I can think of several possible reasons why just flying into Mordor on an Eagle's back might have been a very bad idea, even if Tolkien never explicitly tells us about them. I also don't have any problems with the Eagles being the servants of Manwë - Manwë isn't all-powerful, and Evil has an adversary for Him still. It's the destruction of Númenor that bugs me.
Once a paleontologist, now a botanist, will be a paleobotanist
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