[Kalimac]

onewhitetree - so, it is revealed! The agelong conspiracy by the victors at the end of the Third Age, blackening Sauron's reputation and concealing his many virtues, among them a lack of sexism and equal opportunities for all creeds and colors to join his conquering armies! That Gandalf was a sly propagandist indeed. Do you think Rosie (not to mention Diamond and Estella) would have been so thrilled about their menfolk's deeds if they knew that their husbands had just set the cause of women's lib back to the First Age?

Of course, it's not like Sauron offered a great health plan ("burial provided if necessary" seems to have been about it) and somehow it's hard to see him adhering to FMLA in giving the Nazgul time off, so maybe he wasn't that great after all. Oh well.

BTW I do think they were all male. They're consistenly referred to with "he" (granted it's hard to tell, but presumably Aragorn and Gandalf know the truth, and they never bother to correct the hobbits, who always say "he"). Sauron maybe just wasn't into corrupting Queens - or considering what Tolkien's female nobility seem to be like (except for Tar-Ancalime, but she's the one exception) maybe none of the Queens were promising enough - read greedy and malicious - to be worth investing one of the nine rings in.

Helkasir - I always thought it was a long U, as it 'ghoul'. Mostly because long U's seem to be the rule everywhere else (as in Dunedain).

[ November 04, 2002: Message edited by: Kalimac ]