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Originally Posted by Bêthberry
Why get so riled up by different interpretations? Why does that idea of a literal meaning bother you so much?
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Good question, especially considering that I basically agreed with you,
MatthewM. Cool down, please.
What I meant was that IF it were blood alone that determined person's features, THEN any siblings would have been identical twins, as they share exactly the same blood. Yet, they are usually NOT identical: the fact that Gandalf was surely aware of. "Blood" that may or may not "run true" was simply a
figure of speech - before the mankind acquired knowledge about genes. It is the same as to say "I love you with all my heart", despite the fact that a heart as such has nothing to do with any emotions.
Bethberry - I have a feeling that humor directed on one's self and Bombadil-ish silliness were hardly desirable in leaders of men, like Aragorn and Boromir. Both were proud and deadly serious about their fate, their place and lineage.
Look like Aragorn bristled when Gimli asked him about his talk with Sauron:
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‘Did you say aught to - him?
‘You forget to whom you speak,’ said Aragorn sternly, and his eyes glinted. ‘Did I not openly proclaim my title before the doors of Edoras? What do you fear that I should say to him?"
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Rangers of the North were characterized as "grim" in general: even the nine nazgul showed more humor than they did.
Frodo by the end of the quest lost all his sense of humor altogether, as did Denethor by the end of the siege. And I can't really blame them...
