Denethor's plunge

[Celegost]

He's wearing a full chainmail hauberk so maybe that offered some protection

[radagastly]

Denethor's accuracy seems even less plausible to me than the distance. I suspect if you were engulfed in flame, even if you kept your wits about (an unlikely prospect, even for a "pure Numenorean,") you would simply find it hard to see through the flames and smoke. And that's assuming that your eyes were not yet damaged from the heat, cooked through or whatever. And yet Denethor manages to make his way across the courtyard, avoiding the tinder-dry White Tree, not to mention the quenching pool of water over which it hangs, and acheive a perfect launch off the exact prow, like an out-take from "Titanic:"

"I'm flying, Jack! I'm f . . aaaaaagh!"
Cue the Canadian singer.

Still, I have to admit that the long shot of him falling into the battle as the Rohirrim gathered on the hilltop was very dramatic.

[FeRaL sHaDoW]

funny how none of the gaurds even tried to stop and put him out.

[ninja91]

Are we going to have to do an experiment? If you guys pay me $100, you can light me on fire and see how far I can go.






























I'm joking.

[Folwren]

Hm. I never considered the distance he'd have to run. I never liked the part in the movie. When he does it in the book, he's so cool about it... Not cool, wrong word, I mean, he's so brave about it.

I would probably say that it was impossible. Have you ever burnt your finger on a stove or something? I don't know about you, but I hop around the kitchen, waving my hand in pain, and after ten seconds, have the wits to run to the sink and stick it under the faucet. Okay, okay, okay, so maybe that's a little bit exagerated, but it's tough to move sensibly. I can't imagine what my body would be doing while my mind was consumed in pain while I was fully engulfed in flames.

But, really, I know nothing about it. That's only my opinion, and it may not be very intelligent.

[alatar]

The first few layers of skin burnt from the Steward rather quickly, leaving him in so much agony that the pain center in his brain shut down and went home for the day. Purportedly there is evidence that when an animal (and possibly human) is in pain and about to die that the body can shut off the pain (why bother sending the message) or send in enough endorphines to smooth things over.

Also, we may want to test the effect of a large intact of tomatoes has on one's flame retardance and running speed (Don't be stupid, by the by). And, one may think that the flames reduced the Steward's mass, making it a little easier to run, and the flames surely gave some lift as well (hot air rising and all).

But in the end methinks that, at that last moment, Denethor finally came to his senses, left despair behind and ran out to due his duty, diving for a Battle Troll.

[Celegost]

If youve got a chainmail hauberk and a life-sized replica of Minas Tirith,
yeah!

[Knight of Gondor]

Your post is a delightful mix of reason and insanity. I would agree that our mind may not process the pain if we're experiencing it to extremes, but that doesn't undo the actual damage done. Flames severe enough to burn away layers of skin would be severe enough to be incapacitating.

I assume you're kidding about Denethor trying to take on a troll?