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On dragons

Gwenhwyfar
The Shire


Jan 17 2013, 8:30pm


Views: 550
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On dragons [In reply to] Can't Post

I may be missing something obvious due to the lack of recency in my readings, but I never thought of dragons as inherently evil -- at least not in the same sense as Morgoth and his perversions. Is that clearly stated? (If so, my apologies! Please ignore this paragraph.) I viewed dragons as natural predators whose wicked ways are on a similar moral level to a cat that teases a mouse before eating it; it may not sound very nice to us, but the creature can't be blamed for being what it is. Tolkien doesn't seem to spend much time writing about non-corrupted predatory animals and, if he does (as in the case of the eagles), it is without sentimentalizing them (i.e. Bilbo worries, with good reason, that the eagles could eat him, but that doesn't make them evil, even if they do think he looks like a rabbit and they admit to eating human farmers' sheep sometimes). Dragons, like spiders and wolves, have natural tendencies that could be of value to evil people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the whole species was bred as a corrupt life-form.

I suppose my question is: How do we tell the difference between the moral standards that do or should apply to "people" and "animals" in Tolkien's work? If a fairy story can have talking animals, it seems like a fair question.

Subject User Time
Origin of Orcs Eowyn3 Send a private message to Eowyn3 Jan 16 2013, 1:37am
    I'd be interested to know why that bothers you. Ataahua Send a private message to Ataahua Jan 16 2013, 2:51am
        Origin of Orcs Eowyn3 Send a private message to Eowyn3 Jan 16 2013, 3:56am
            Well, Melkor and Sauron started out as pure, higher beings... CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 16 2013, 4:49am
        immortal orks Elthir Send a private message to Elthir Jan 16 2013, 4:21pm
            Add Orcs to the Bombadil and other origin mystery list. Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Jan 16 2013, 5:48pm
    I think it's really disturbing that Orcs may be descended from Elves DanielLB Send a private message to DanielLB Jan 16 2013, 9:51am
    I actually like it! Súlimë Send a private message to Súlimë Jan 16 2013, 10:05am
        Welcome to TORn! sador Send a private message to sador Jan 16 2013, 3:38pm
    I agree, the elvish origin idea has too many problems Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Jan 16 2013, 3:22pm
        However, if the orcs are like dwarves as first made by Aule Eruonen Send a private message to Eruonen Jan 16 2013, 3:37pm
        Perhaps trolls could not reproduce? Otaku-sempai Send a private message to Otaku-sempai Jan 16 2013, 3:48pm
            Treebeard said that trolls were made in mockery of Ents CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 16 2013, 7:29pm
                If Morgoth used Ents as a "template" for Trolls, Aragalen the Green Send a private message to Aragalen the Green Jan 16 2013, 7:56pm
                That doesn't mean that Ents were corrupted to become trolls... Otaku-sempai Send a private message to Otaku-sempai Jan 16 2013, 8:17pm
                    Trolls and Ents and Orcs CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 16 2013, 9:23pm
    Orcs from Elves Fredeghar Wayfarer Send a private message to Fredeghar Wayfarer Jan 17 2013, 4:56am
        Great points// CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 17 2013, 12:55pm
    It may interest you to know Roheryn Send a private message to Roheryn Jan 17 2013, 8:44am
        Ooops! Channelling my better half! Sorry.\\ NZ Strider Send a private message to NZ Strider Jan 17 2013, 9:11am
        But then there is the problem of chronology.... Otaku-sempai Send a private message to Otaku-sempai Jan 17 2013, 4:45pm
            Chronology Elthir Send a private message to Elthir Jan 17 2013, 4:56pm
            Certainly; however, Tolkien was always obsessively NZ Strider Send a private message to NZ Strider Jan 17 2013, 8:45pm
                You raise a good point... Otaku-sempai Send a private message to Otaku-sempai Jan 18 2013, 3:31am
    Origin of Orcs Eowyn3 Send a private message to Eowyn3 Jan 17 2013, 2:09pm
    orcs from elves andwise Send a private message to andwise Jan 17 2013, 2:24pm
        "The Kinslaying", over and over again CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 17 2013, 4:14pm
            Men... the' final' idea? Elthir Send a private message to Elthir Jan 17 2013, 4:39pm
                dogs from wolves elevorn Send a private message to elevorn Jan 17 2013, 5:20pm
                    If you as I take Orcs corrupted from Elves as canon Asger Send a private message to Asger Jan 17 2013, 8:16pm
    made in mockery Elthir Send a private message to Elthir Jan 17 2013, 4:08pm
        Back to dragons CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 17 2013, 4:23pm
            There is something almost 'saurian' about dragons... Otaku-sempai Send a private message to Otaku-sempai Jan 17 2013, 4:55pm
            On dragons Gwenhwyfar Send a private message to Gwenhwyfar Jan 17 2013, 8:30pm
            Dragons Fredeghar Wayfarer Send a private message to Fredeghar Wayfarer Jan 18 2013, 1:54am
                Fast forward to "Of the Return of the Noldor" for dragon origins CuriousG Send a private message to CuriousG Jan 18 2013, 7:15am

 
 
 

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