Helm's Deep Query

[davem]

Originally Posted by Jandar Trublade

Speaking of technology, does anyone think it strange that in the three thousand or so years between the battle of the last alliance and the war of the ring, no one had invented anything? Elves still use bows and arrows, men still swing swords , dwarves still can't see over small walls etc. i.e. in only the last one hundred or so years men have taken to the skies and developed the a-bomb... or am I just taking things too seriously.....?

Technological development isn't inevitable, but driven by necessity. Hence, one has to ask whether there was any need for an 'improvement' in weaponry. It could be argued that Men, Elves & Dwarves had superior weaponry to Orcs, whereas Orcs had superiority in numbers, hence, both sides could hold their own - so, no need to improve weapons technology.

Of course, one cannot rule out Elvish influence on the thinking of the other races. Elves are basically a backward looking race - the past for them was superior in every way than any possible future. They did not think in terms of 'evolution' towards a better future, but of 'devolution' from a better past - the further one moved away from the past the worse things got. Hence, the weaponry & technology of the past was, to their minds, innately superior to anything that could be developed in their own time. Even the 'technology' they did invent - Rings of Power principally - was designed to preserve the past, not to move them forward as such, because moving 'forward' was 'A Bad Thing' & took you further & further from 'perfection'.

Of course, going back to my initial point, it could be argued that it was the innate superiority of weapons technology among the 'good' side, particularly during & after the War of the Ring, that 'forced' the 'bad' side to develop more destructive technology - Saruman's (offensive) use of Gunpowder (as opposed to Gandalf's more 'creative' use of it) is one example, the statement in TH that Orcs were responsible for the invention of destructive weaponry being two examples.

In short, there was no need for any development to take place till one side found itself in desperate straits, so none did.

That said, Tolkien was not a fan of modern technology, & probably did not want such things included in his Legendarium. Of course, he toys with the idea of technological advancement among the Numenoreans - their 'flying ships' for example - but I think he decides against it for aesthetic reasons - he didn't want guns & aircraft in his secondary world anymore than he wanted them in the primary one.