Split Personality?

[davem]

I suppose that the things that broke my 'Secondary belief' in the movie had more to do with the illogicalities than anything else - I could list Boromir being hurled a good twenty feet across the Chamber of Mazarbul into a stone wall & just being mildly stunned, Frodo falling from the Seat of Seeing on Amon Hen the equivalent (given his size) of about thirty feet for a man onto his back & just getting up & shaking his head, the Rohirrim charging down a 45 degree scree slope into pike (or the same suicidal manouvre carried out on the Pelennor Fields - Tolkien was well enough informed to know that cavalry never, ever, charge pike & so has the Rohirrim smash into the enemy flank without warning). I won't even go into Denethor's 3 mile run from the Hallows to the precipice while aflame (or the silliness of having no wall there - the Gondorian Health & Safety executive would have had apoplexy!) I could go on....

I think that that kind of thing, far more than the character changes, was what really made it impossible for me to accept the movies.

[Sir Kohran]

Originally Posted by davem

I suppose that the things that broke my 'Secondary belief' in the movie had more to do with the illogicalities than anything else - I could list Boromir being hurled a good twenty feet across the Chamber of Mazarbul into a stone wall & just being mildly stunned, Frodo falling from the Seat of Seeing on Amon Hen the equivalent (given his size) of about thirty feet for a man onto his back & just getting up & shaking his head, the Rohirrim charging down a 45 degree scree slope into pike (or the same suicidal manouvre carried out on the Pelennor Fields - Tolkien was well enough informed to know that cavalry never, ever, charge pike & so has the Rohirrim smash into the enemy flank without warning). I won't even go into Denethor's 3 mile run from the Hallows to the precipice while aflame (or the silliness of having no wall there - the Gondorian Health & Safety executive would have had apoplexy!) I could go on....

I think that that kind of thing, far more than the character changes, was what really made it impossible for me to accept the movies.

So? Tolkien does ridiculous things too. What do you make of Hurin, all alone and completely surrounded, killing *seventy* trolls?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

So? Tolkien does ridiculous things too. What do you make of Hurin, all alone and completely surrounded, killing *seventy* trolls?

No. That's typical of ancient heroes - Arthur is credited with killing five hundred men in one battle. Besides I don't think its logically impossible that Hurin killed 70 trolls. And logical impossibility is what we're talking here. Its also subjective. The capture of Hurin I, personally, found incredibly moving. The incidents I cited in the movies I found silly. If you didn't that's fine.

[Sir Kohran]

Originally Posted by davem

Besides I don't think its logically impossible that Hurin killed 70 trolls.

I cannot see how it is logically possible for a single man, who had been fighting all day and was armed with a borrowed orc axe and was completely alone and surrounded by opposing forces, to kill seventy enemies (and apparently more additional orcs). Heck, that's almost as many as Legolas and Gimli together killed during the entire battle at the Hornburg.

And there are other cases, too - six thousand Rohirrim, six or seven thousand men of Gondor and several thousand more reinforcements with Aragorn somehow manage to defeat a force of eighteen thousand Haradrim, countless thousands of orcs and trolls, and many other evil men. The victory at the Pelennor seems a miracle to say the least.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

I cannot see how it is logically possible for a single man, who had been fighting all day and was armed with a borrowed orc axe and was completely alone and surrounded by opposing forces, to kill seventy enemies (and apparently more additional orcs). Heck, that's almost as many as Legolas and Gimli together killed during the entire battle at the Hornburg.

Hurin was the greatest (human) hero of the First Age - which surely makes it entirely possible that he could kill 70 trolls - in fact, the killing of 70 trolls would be exactly the kind of thing that would beget, & confirm, such a reputation. Anyway, He killed 70 trolls because Tolkien says he did. Or do you have evidence to the contrary?

And there are other cases, too - six thousand Rohirrim, six or seven thousand men of Gondor and several thousand more reinforcements with Aragorn somehow manage to defeat a force of eighteen thousand Haradrim, countless thousands of orcs and trolls, and many other evil men. The victory at the Pelennor seems a miracle to say the least.

Many ancient battles were lost by superior forces to numerically inferior ones. And I think you're forgetting the morale destroying effect of the killing of Angmar. The point is the forces of Mordor went in expecting a walkover & found themselves being hit from all sides by forces they were not expecting. Add to that the death of the Witch King & consequent loss of a controlling hand, & its entirely likely that they would start to panic, become confused & go to pieces. At that point it would have become a walkover for an organised force under the command of experienced leaders like Aragorn, Eomer & Imrahil.

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by davem

the killing of Angmar.

Who is Angmar?

[davem]

Originally Posted by obloquy

Who is Angmar?

Bit like asking who is Wellington isn't it?

Originally Posted by StW

Isn't this some type of strange circular logic? Hurin is the greatest hero because of course he have killed 70 trolls. And of course he could have killed 70 trolls because he was the greatest hero.

No, its accepting the only source of evidence we have. If we accept that Hurin is the greatest warrior of the First Age then we'd expect him to be able to perform pretty spectacular feats. As there are no contradictory reports the incident merely has to be logically possible, which Formy has shown it to be. We know for a fact that it is logically impossible for a man on fire to run 3 miles - even one of Numenorean descent. I accept Hurin killed 70 trolls because its not logically impossible for him to do that. In fact, I'd suggest its actually more likely that he did it, given that if he hadn't done it no-one in their right mind would have believed the story that he had........

[Sauron the White]

from davem

Hurin was the greatest (human) hero of the First Age - which surely makes it entirely possible that he could kill 70 trolls - in fact, the killing of 70 trolls would be exactly the kind of thing that would beget, & confirm, such a reputation.

Isn't this some type of strange circular logic? Hurin is the greatest hero because of course he have killed 70 trolls. And of course he could have killed 70 trolls because he was the greatest hero.

What came first the chicken or the egg?

This is exactly the type of thing I come back to again and again. When its in the books everyone reads it and says "okay". But put this in the movies and its page after page of contemptuous posts showing how it is impossible by all the known laws of man and nature.

That's typical of ancient heroes - Arthur is credited with killing five hundred men in one battle.

I hope that happened in a book so its accepted as believable. If you put that in a movie, of course it would be ridiculous and attacked to no end.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by davem

Hurin was the greatest (human) hero of the First Age - which surely makes it entirely possible that he could kill 70 trolls - in fact, the killing of 70 trolls would be exactly the kind of thing that would beget, & confirm, such a reputation. Anyway, He killed 70 trolls because Tolkien says he did. Or do you have evidence to the contrary?

Tsk, tsk!

Davem, you cannot argue from the authority of Tolkien, when Tolkien's right to authority is being called into question. That simply won't do.

There are ways to argue how this may have been possible for Húrin--some more spectacular and others not. First of all, trolls are not necessarily particularly fast-moving, and Húrin would have the advantage there. Secondly, he may have been better armoured. Thirdly, given the size of the trolls, it may have been impossible for more than three or four to get close to him at the same time, so he wouldn't have been fighting off seventy SIMULTANEOUSLY. Fourthly, we don't have exact details about terrain and where the bodies of his kinsmen and former enemies fell. Those trolls are big guys, you kill a couple and you've got some decent cover.

Certainly a spectacular feat, but not necessarily an impossible one. I would say that killing seventy orks would have been a greater feat, provided one had the strength and knowledge of how to properly kill trolls, which it would seem inductively that Húrin had.

Now, whether or not one finds Húrin's feat worthy of automatic belief or not is another matter--this may be rather subjective. Personally, I think that Davem is getting close to an important issue in saying that Húrin was the "greatest hero of the First Age". The manner in which the Silmarillion is presented affects the way it is received. The remoteness of the events written about, and their presentation as legends rather than the more immediate view of the Lord of the Rings can lead to easier acceptance and belief, or so I have found.

Originally Posted by davem

Many ancient battles were lost by superior forces to numerically inferior ones. And I think you're forgetting the morale destroying effect of the killing of Angmar. The point is the forces of Mordor went in expecting a walkover & found themselves being hit from all sides by forces they were not expecting. Add to that the death of the Witch King & consequent loss of a controlling hand, & its entirely likely that they would start to panic, become confused & go to pieces. At that point it would have become a walkover for an organised force under the command of experienced leaders like Aragorn, Eomer & Imrahil.

I would also add that we are not given much comparative literature regarding the training, discipline, and equipment of the forces--though what we are given would indicate that the armies of the West had, in general, higher quality soldiers. Certainly, the soldiers of Gondor, particularly those of Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth, with the legacy of Númenor, have reason to be thought as having the superior arms and armour--certainly we are told that the enemies of the West did not have comparable cavalry. With regards to discipline, the West similarly has the upper hand after the fall of the Witchking, since Sauron's armies are held together primarily through fear, and the removal of the Witchking is the removal of central order.

Of course, that merely speaks as to whether the Battle of the Pelennor is plausible. I think it is quite clear that it is. The matter under discussion here is immediate believeability. Like Davem, I had absolutely no trouble reading about the battle and the victory by the smaller force, since apart from numbers it seemed apparent to me that they had advantages in many other respects.

[obloquy]

I am glad to have the opportunity to link to one of my favorite articles on this site.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Back to Tolkien and the film rights- I do recall, but can't locate, the reminiscence of one friend just after JRRT sold the film rights- the old boy was positively gleeful, convinced that no film could ever be made at least in his lifetime, and grinning like the cat who ate the canary (or sold it some worthless swampland).

So he had his cake and ate it too. Is this a problem?

What hasn't been brought up is that Tolkien was very unlikely to have agreed to the sale given his druthers. The fact was, he had just purchased a pricey house in the toney resort town of Poole, and then, after tying up all his liquid assets, was hit with an enormous tax bill at the confiscatory rates of 1960's Britain. He needed ready money and needed it fast.

[Sauron the White]

WilliamCH .. if you do find the support that goes with that story I would be most interested in reading it.

So he had his cake and ate it too. Is this a problem?

Only if you see the selling of something you think is worthless swampland for a good amount of money as possibly unethical or at the very least questionable.

[Morwen]

Back to Tolkien and the film rights- I do recall, but can't locate, the reminiscence of one friend just after JRRT sold the film rights- the old boy was positively gleeful, convinced that no film could ever be made at least in his lifetime, and grinning like the cat who ate the canary (or sold it some worthless swampland).

So he had his cake and ate it too. Is this a problem?

I don't see why it should be.

The purchaser bought the film rights of a published work. Presumably, someone would have read it before money changed hands. If that's the case, Tolkien could not misrepresent what was being sold nor could the purchaser claim to be mistaken about the nature of what was being purchased. Tolkien may have thought the film rights were worthless but he isn't guilty of duping anyone. If people know that you are selling swampland and they agree to purchase it anyway, then good luck to them.