[Diane C]

I know I'm raking up an old thread here, but this particular scene has always bothered me. In fact the whole funeral pyre thing was just too clumsy & ill conceived in my eyes, right the from the moment Gandalf enters on Shadowfax.

He rides up and manages to knock Denathor flying off his pyre, but then rather than worrying about Faramir, who is also on the bonfire and unconscious Gandalf continues to faff about with Denathor, leaving it to Merry do somehow jump on the stack and push Faramir's dead weight from the burning pile. And then Shadowfax rears up and knocks Denathor back onto the fire, who then legs it all the way down the Silent Street and off!

I just found the entire scene contrived and not at all believable, sorry