Thank you for adding that reference,
Legate! I do appreciate thoughtful and knowledgeable readers! I did miss that orc passage and have noted it for future use.
It's a dangerous business, Esty, stating conclusions in a published work. You write them in a book, and if you don't keep your head, there is no knowing what you might miss.
As to the bells, I left them out deliberately. I could find no passage (prove me wrong!
) that states their usage as anything other than a signal.
More when I have time to do your post justice...
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth..
.'