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Old 11-13-2003, 02:06 PM   #56
Aiwendil
Late Istar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,224
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Sting

Quote:
to my mind it [forces] has less juvenile associations as well.
A perfect example of why personal likes and dislikes cannot be the basis of a group effort like ours. I rather like "monsters". Tolkien uses the word elsewhere. Indeed, it's a perfectly respectable word that has, thanks to fantasy's long exile in the realm of children's literature, come to be associated with childish tales. Rather a bit like "Elves".

If it must go in this case, it's because elsewhere it is used with the clear meaning "dragons".

But the point about "forces" not conveying the right meaning has nothing to do with the intermediate "monsters" suggestion. The original was "balrogs" and thus the ambiguity idea is to retain the implication that these may not be just ordinary soldiers (leaving whether they are balrogs, boldogs, trolls, or what have you, unsaid).

But since it appears that there is not word capable of expressing quite that, I lean toward "forces".
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