I Found the Entwives!

[The Saucepan Man]

Phantom, central to your theory is the proposition that Haldir would not have been able to resist showing off Elven magic - technology - whatever you want to call it, to the Fellowship on the journey through Lothlorien.

Even were it not for the fact that he is a member of a notoriously secretive Elven society whose laws would not even allow those travelling through their realm know the route to its capital, that is pure speculation.

Seems like your on pretty shaky ground to me.

Oh and ...

Originally Posted by the phantom

Yeah, and you're also the guy who believes he was just as good a reader when he was five years old as he is now.

Actually, my position was that my experience of LotR was just as valuable, albeit different, when I first read it (aged eleven) as when I read it now. Indeed, perhaps more so for being all the more magical and enchanting.

Other than that, I note that you failed to address my original points:

Originally Posted by me

I am afraid, phantom, that I do not find your proposition convincing in the least. In a fantasy world like Middle-earth, I have no difficulty in believing that an Elven rope could “magically” untie itself if truly willed to do so by its bearer. Moreover, there is nothing in the passage that you reference which could specifically relate to Entwives, save for the presence of gnarled trees. And Middle-earth is hardly devoid of trees, gnarled or otherwise.