[The Saucepan Man]

Actually, I thought the analogy between Birnham Wood in Macbeth and the Ents attack on Isengard to be quite a good one. It had not occured to me before.

Macbeth is told that he will not be deafeated until Birnham Wood comes to his catle, so he thinks he cannot be defeated because woods don't move. But the wood does move in the sense of each man in the army advancing on his castle carrying a branch - this fulfills the prophecy paving the way for Macbeth to be defeated.

I was always struck by the similar nature of the prophecies concerning the deaths of Macbeth and the Witch King. The Witch King could be killed by no man, and so he was killed by a woman, Eowyn. Macbeth was told that he would not be killed by "man of woman born". But Macduff, who kills him, was not born as such, but removed from his mother's womb by Caesarian.

I am sure, however, that Shakespeare, like Tolkien, drew on older sources for these kinds of themes.

[ January 11, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]