Aragorn swoon thread!

[Luthien_ Tinuviel]

My friends, I present you with a quote from the Tale of Beren and Lúthien:

Now Beren lay in a swoon within the perilous Gate.....

Here we must wonder at the contextual meaning of "swoon." Does this erefer to the nautical definition? If so, it may be supposed that Beren fell into a seafaring way of life, which may explain the later swooners of his line, Elrond and Aragorn among them. Earendil by marriage to Elwing completes this lineage of mariners. Where, then, does the "perilous Gate" come in? The quote is taken from the passages directly following Beren's unlucky confrontation of Caracaroth, so perhaps it is meant to mean the Gate between death and life. Thus Beren was on the brink of death, as is supported in the text. This brings us back to our other primary definition, that of unhoused spirits. So we could take the quotation to mean either that Beren became a voyager on sea-vessels, and was on the brink of death, or that he became as a swooning spirit and was about to die. This second option seems rather redundant, but both are plausible. There is, however, a third possibility, which we must not forget. It may be that the "swoon" refers indeed to such a banner as was given to Aragorn, in which case he lay within the Gate wrapped about in a banner.

One must also wonder about Roggie - if he had been gifted with a banner, seeing as "swoon" appears to be widely used in a watery sense, would it not have quenched his flame? This may have rendered him easily defeatable by Feanor, and things may indeed have run in quite a different course. And is it not fitting that Aragorn displayed at last his swoon while he swooned, or in this case, his banner gifted to him by Arwen throught Halbarad as he sailed in the fleet of Black Ships?

[mark12_30]

Roggie - if he had been gifted with a banner, seeing as "swoon" appears to be widely used in a watery sense, would it not have quenched his flame? This may have rendered him easily defeatable by Feanor, and things may indeed have run in quite a different course

The quantity of water represented by a banner would have evaporated into steam. A more pertinent question, perhaps, is what if the battle itself had been a swoon battle, taking place in a seafaring atmosphere. For instance, what if the battle had taken place in a river? The heat of the balrog would have evaporated mass quantities into steam, and visibility would have been reduced to feet or inches. How would that have affected the outcome?

Or, in a true seafaring sense, what if the swoon battle had taken place on board a sailing vessel? The vessel would perforce have ignited on contact with the balrog, and the flames would no doubt have consumed the elf; Roggie could have merely played for time.

Of course, once the boat was consumed, we know that Roggie is still a formidable foe. And he can swim, too. But he would have created quite a fog on his initial immersion!

[Luthien_ Tinuviel]

Perhaps these Balrogian powers of evaporation are the reason that swooning as applies to houseless spirits and those who have fallen unconscious is so often related to a misty or foggy state of being?

[Lady Snickerdoodle]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

The quantity of water represented by a banner would have evaporated into steam.

In which case, dearest Roggie would indeed be a very eligible swoon candidate, as not only would the steam be swooning about, but would create an optical illusion of him swooning.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

So much swooning.

Anyway, to the part I just spotted and want to touch on; a minute of your time, please:

Since when was this part of a Tolkien "Scene" on the internet? When I first got started, back when Fellowship was barely opened in theaters and I had read the books only four times, Barrow Downs was part of the Tolkien Underground. Boom, one movie and a cult classic becomes a scene. It was this 'scene' that made swooning acceptable. Anyway, the Downs, as said somewhere earlier, is about the Lord of the Rings books by JRR Tolkien, and as far as I know, the books are still mostly an underground thing.

Of course, the movies served to turn on the masses to Tolkien's world . . . that's good I guess. It helped renew the popularity of the book, although the number of people absolutely obsessed with it doesn't seem to have jumped nearly as high as you'd think it would have. I'd guess quite a few people just read it as a companion to the film now, which is sad because of how much better the book is.

I just wish they'd cast ugly parts. Not movie ugly, not even tv ugly. Ugly ugly, as Moe Seizlak once said. Curse Hollywood. Why do PJ's movies have to be so awesome? Why?

Anyway, I'm glad the Downs have barely even permitted such things (except maybe the occasional instance of a crazed fan mentioning it). Our Downs, are clean of that fan-girl (mostly) filth. Haha! You don't see us nerds posting Miranda Otto or Liv Tyler swoon pages, now do you girls? I'd like to see some control shown by the Orlyboppers and the "Viggonites". (See, now the roles of guys and girls have been reversed, clever aye?).

[Lady Snickerdoodle]

Originally Posted by Keeper of Dol Goldur

Haha! You don't see us nerds posting Miranda Otto or Liv Tyler swoon pages, now do you girls? I'd like to see some control shown by the Orlyboppers and the "Viggonites". (See, now the roles of guys and girls have been reversed, clever aye?).

As a matter of fact, the guys in one of my classes recently had a very heated discussion on who was hotter, Liv or Cate, which subsequently ended in the guys splitting into Arwen/Galadriel factions. Sad but all too true.
thats a score for us girls!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

The problem, Snick, is the number of points against us. Example: I saw with my own eyes, not a week past, a girl who's never read the books, nor will she ever, specifically forbid her mother from changing the desktop on their family computer. It was a picture of MovieLegolas in I'm-about-to-shoot-something mode. But then again, that point can be cancelled out by the group of boys I saw, not a week past, argue about whether Liv Tyler is hotter than Keira Knightly... Sad, isn't it?


Fea

[Lady Snickerdoodle]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

The problem, Snick, is the number of points against us. Example: I saw with my own eyes, not a week past, a girl who's never read the books, nor will she ever, specifically forbid her mother from changing the desktop on their family computer.

*hastily tries to muffle Fea* Oh.. wait, you say it cancels out, nevermind. *lets go*