Quote:
Originally Posted by Macalaure
Keep in mind that it took humanity about 4000 years from the first Pyramids in Egypt (27th century BC) to the use of gunpowder in Europe (about 13th century AD). With the first three ages lasting about 7000 years, that makes Middle-earth only about twice as stagnant as reality.  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bêthberry
The other point to consider is the stagnation of elven culture and the possibility that this influenced the cultures of Men and Hobbits and Dwarves. We don't hear of compasses or printing in Middle-earth and while hobbits and men do have books, we don't know what the pages consist of. Certainly the inferrence is that they are hand printed. All in all, Middle-earth is a world very circumspect of technology, as was Tolkien himself. It could possibly be argued that it is an alternate world view, just as we now have the genre of alternate histories.
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Yes, yes...I am aware of the approximate differences in Middle-earth history as opposed to real-world history; however, the Elvish Culture, no matter how conservative and stagnant their society, should've blundered on inventions merely by continuous observation (a building block of the scientific method), that would be unavailable to pre-literate or early literate civilizations (such as the Sumerians or Egyptians), where the lifespan of a man/woman probably did not exceed 40 years (except for mythic 900 year-old biblical patriarchs). Additonally, the Elves, particularly the Noldor, had advanced training in Valinor very early on in their history (it's not like a centuries-long hit or miss method of discovering cuneiform for Hammurabi). Also, the dwarves, whose lifespans often hit the 300 mark, and were well known for their craftsmanship, commerce and business acuity, actually had their skills retard over time and continued puttering with mail.
All I'm saying is that one of Tolkien's strengths -- a great, sweeping panorama of time -- is also one of his weaknesses from a storyline perspective: an immense amount of time where basically nothing happens. Personally, I think a bit of time compression would have suited the plot better, or at least it would not have hurt the story and gave it more of a sense of believable continuity.