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Old 06-07-2017, 06:40 AM   #22
Inziladun
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuruharan View Post
The Ring didn't serve any purpose in the story except as a big red button to terminate Sauron's effective existence.
Well, it was only the centerpiece of the tale, and what bound LOTR to The Hobbit as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuruharan View Post
Regarding Sauron's possession of the Ring, it really was irrelevant to his victory. He would have won without it, at least according to the belief of the Wise.
As Gandalf noted in The Last Debate, Sauron's victory would have been 'complete' with his possession of the One, meaning he would have had the power to utterly crush the West, instead of just beating it down. As long the One continued to exist apart from Sauron, his own power was fragmented; he was 'incomplete'. Not an ideal existence. That's also, of course, another reason his 'rings' plot was ill-advised.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuruharan View Post
As Lush might have said, "Why couldn't the Free Peoples ever get around to reproducing adequately?" They were always in a constant state of dwindling. I under stand that it is at least partially thematic with Tolkien, but it is one of the aspects of Middle-earth that I have the hardest time suspending my disbelief. Vast usable swaths of Middle-earth just sat as desolate wilderness for very little reason. Even the larger numbers of the evil folks seem small compared to the great emptiness of the land.
That's probably a topic for another thread, but concerning Arnor and Gondor at least, I think their slow procreation was attributable largely to their desire to keep their Númenórean blood as pure as possible, and not 'pollute' it with the blood of lesser Men.

Rohan, though it seemed to have a sizable population, seems to have also been afflicted with some racist tendencies: looking down on their Dunlending neighbors and looking warily at those without the coveted golden hair.

Orcs, and Men from Rhûn and Harad might not have been so self-constrained.
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