Notions that dispel a lot of the romantic ideas in Middle-Earth

[The Saucepan Man]

I'm not particularly squeamish about such matters, but it seems to me that Lily Bracegirdle hit the nail on the head when she said:

Seriously, I think bodily functions weren't included because they didn't advance the plot or themes at all.

Do we really need to know about it when the protagonists feel the need to answer nature's call? Had it been necessary to the plot, then I am sure we would have been given sufficient detail, although I cannot really see Tolkien being inclined to include a plotline that required that such detail be given. So, I think that we can quite reasonably assume that the characters relieved themselves when necessary without having to be told all about it.

As for the mechanics of relieving oneself in full armour, well I am sure that the said armour would have been designed to take this into account. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Interesting that the first section of Knight's post has generated so much discussion, while the latter section has gone unremarked upon. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Another question one that occurs is the ideas of trade and society.

Here are a few old threads on money and trade in Middle-earth:

Money !

Did Hobbits have Money?

M.E. Currency

Money in ME

Coffee!

Do Elves butcher meat? They eat it, obviously, but it just doesn’t sound like an elf to kill an animal and cut it up.

I don't see why not. Undoubtedly they hunted (I believe that there is a reference to the Mirkwood Elves at least doing so), and they probably also reared livestock themselves or traded with nearby livestock-owning communities (Rivendell and the Grey Havens particularly).

While we may prefer to buy our meat nicely packaged and not think about how it got there, I can't imagine Elves having such qualms. Being in tune with nature doesn't mean not eating meat when it is a natural part of your diet. And since Eru created them as beings who required meat as part of their natural diet, it cannot have been against his will to kill and eat animals. They would have recognised the cyclical nature of the natural world, even if it did not apply to them. Many more ancient societies (such as Native Americans) recognised this balance and held the animals that they hunted and killed in great reverence. It is only when that balance is upset, by hunting animals to the point of extinction (such as our more "civilised" societies have done), that the propriety of the process might be called into question.

And what do they burn for fires? Don’t they love nature, and not wish to harm the trees?

Agian, the same principal applies. Elves undoubtedly burnt wood and used it in building and craftsmanship. I don't see iron chairs or beds being particularly common. Again, Eru created them as beings who would need to use wood to survive, so doing so cannot have been against his will. I cannot, however imagine them clearing large tracts of forest. They would simply have taken just what they needed, no doubt preferring to use wood from trees/branches that had already died/fallen where this was sufficient to meet their needs. There is, after all, a lot of dead wood lying around when you live in a forest.

Of course, Elves using wood does make Yavana's "creation" of the Ents (in the sense of willing their creation), in response to Aule's "creation" of the Dwarves, seem slightly odd. Why the need for beings to protect and guard trees specifically in response to the existence of Dwarves when Eru had already created beings (Men and Elves) that would be cutting down trees for their wood? Perhaps it was because the Dwarves needed more wood for the purposes of working metal and the like. But then again, the Noldor were pretty handy at crafting metal too, weren't they?