Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarumian
It seems to me that similar to Balrogs, who possessed right weapons to fight against Ungoliant, Melian was endowed with specific mental ability to penetrate Morgoth's thought and to prevent him from reading her own mind - despite the fact that his overall might was greater and he had many other capacities in which Melian could hardly compete (such as shaping landscapes). Still it seems she was very close to Sauron as one of the mightiest maiar.
|
Again I see a parallel in Galadriel vs. Sauron: Good more easily comprehends evil, than the reverse. Melian and Galadriel gain a fair amount of understanding of their more innately powerful adversaries, while the latter remain relatively blind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarumian
There is also a feel that if a great power stayed in the same place for a long time in Tolkien's universe, it could achieve a tremendous level of control over the territory - some kind of symbiosis, so the place also contributed into the enhancement of the power. Valar in Aman, High Elves and Elrond with his Ring in Rivendell, Galadriel in Lorien, Sauron in Mordor, Saruman in Isengard, Balrog in Moria, Bombadil in his "country", Radagast in south Mirkwood and, may be even Gandalf in the Shire demonstrate such effect. Some disadvantage is that localising powers, a great spirit could often loose his/her interest and influence in everything beyond. Sauron and Gandalf, each in his own way, were able to overcome such limitations.
|
Though Gandalf took a special interest in the Shire, and visited it somewhat regularly, I don't think one can say it was any sort of "fortress" of his. The North in general was his province. The "power" in the area was clearly Bombadil, who took your theory of localization to its extreme. The Old Forest and the Barrow-downs certainly recognized him as what Goldberry called "the Master". Perhaps Bombadil was there indeed to safeguard the Shire in preparation for its future importance in conjunction with the Ring. Gandalf could have recognized that, and maybe that accounts for his visiting Tom after Sauron's defeat: the "rolling-stone" and the "moss-gatherer", two opposite cogs in a machine working for a common goal?