[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

'Twas my favourite show - Mrs Popov, MacWitch etc., which one always failed to do the materialising properly though?

Wasn't that Timothy Claypole? Or perhaps Mr Davenport? I must watch my Rentaghost video again sometime. Ah, the nostalgia of tea-time children's television ...

Sorry. Blatantly off-topic for a moment there.

... or their skeletons would simply collapse under the weight.

Don't you mean that they would be crushed under the weight of their exoskeletons?

Isn't there some law of physics to the effect that any creature above a certain weight would be too heavy to fly. That would put paid to Dragons, Fell Beasts, Giant Eagles and (*ahem*) winged Balrogs. I realise that there were some pretty huge Pterosaurs around in prehistoric times, but I believe that they had hollow bones and were incredibly fragile. I can't imagine Dragons and Balrogs having hollow bones, and Dragons' scales must have been pretty hefty to afford such protection. And the Fell Beasts had to carry Ringwraiths (although, as they were dead, perhaps there weight was negligible).

In any event, I believe that Thorondor was supposed to be the size of a Lancaster Bomber. I can't see a creature that size flying without some kind of artificial thrust. He might be able to take off from the mountains, but if he ever made landfall, he could be in trouble ...

Then again, I am far from being a physicist. My worst subject at school by some margin ...