[Bêthberry]

Legolas skate-boarding down the stairs was another miscue for me. Perhaps I can turn to some of Tolkien's words in an effort to explain what, for me, is missing in The Battle of Helm's Deep.<P>The battle is not supposed to be fun for the participants, particularly the leaders. Here is what Tolkien says about the incursion of the chivalric ideal into the heroic ideal. I think it works equally for this intrusion of comedic moment.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>... he (Beorhtnoth) was responsible for all the men under him, not to throw away their lives except with one object, the defence of the realm from an implacable foe....It was heroic of him and his men to fight, to annihilation if necessary, in the attempt to destroy or hold off the invaders. It was wholly unfitting that he should treat a desperate battle with this sole real object as a sporting match, to the ruin of his purpose and duty. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><I>The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth</I><P>Bethberry