Quote:
Originally Posted by alatar
And just where would you think those nutrients come from? Circle of life and all of that. And not that this is conclusive evidence, but note the correlation between elven deaths and the size of forests. Wasn't the Old Forest much larger in the past, back after the days of Nirnaeth Arnoediad? By the end of the Third Age the elven losses were slight, and the size of Mirkwood and Fangorn significantly smaller. Hmmm...just what was in the box Sam got from Galadriel? 
P.S. It's even more probable. When the Fell Beast dies, doesn't it leave a 'stain' where nothing grows? Aren't there other examples where evil creatures die and their rot becomes a herbicide? Now, take something that spent some time in the Blessed Realm. How much more likely would its 'dust' impart some good effect on whatever was grown from it?
2+2=22 |
Do the Elves actually have enough corpses to sustain all those crops? I mean, that works well for a fruit tree, maybe, but it won't take care of an orchard, and you'd need a whole cemetery to grow grain for lembas. Sure, after the Last Alliance there might have been a burst of Elven agriculture, but there would not have been a good supply of fertilizer thereafter.
Furthermore, by implication you are suggesting that the food in the Blessed Realm was nothing as good as the stuff out of Rivendell, since the corpse supply there was precisely two... Míriel and Finwë.
And... what about the Wandering Companies? If someone dies, do they haul the corpse back to the Grey Havens for fertilizer?
Very importantly:
What about the Dead Marshes? Are you suggesting there's some really awesome watercress waiting to be harvested there?