Time to fix Gandalf versus the Witchking - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Sauron the White · 12-12-2007, 10:34 AM

Thank you to both alatar and Quempel for the kind words on the dioramas.

There are those who may argue that because the genre is fantasy, anything goes no matter how improbable or other impossible. If an author wants to have an air force of 400 pound warthogs flying to Venus to do battle with blue six armed amazons, well, that is the authors right. I would say only if those several components are part and parcel of what the author has established for the norms of that world and has laid a proper foundation for such events and creatures.

One of the things that makes LOTR such a great book is the level of superb writing and craftmanship that went into it. It seems that JRRT labored and slaved over every word choice and went much much further than even the most diligent of authors in constructing a world which may be fantasy but also makes perfect sense.

And there is the problem of ultra marathoning dwarves. It even defies the foundations of Tolkiens own world. Nowhere does it say that dwarves are natural distance runners despite the author giving them a physiology that completely defies such abilities. Nowhere does it say that Dwarves - unlike the chief of the mearas - can run and run and run and do so on a regular basis which would train them for such achievements. Tolkien does not lay that foundation.

One can make a case for both Legolas and Aragorn as several here have done in the previous discussion and I say the wisdom of their reasoning and conceded the possibility of their achievement in Middle-earth. With Gimli, Tolkien simply pulled this out of thin air and wrote that Gimli did it despite all reason, logic, physiology, experience and even his own mythology saying there is no foundation for it.

"Its only a fantasy" is not a blank check for clumsily including a poorly researched passage that just does not make sense in the confines of the world JRRT himself created.

12-12-2007, 10:34 AM	#11
Sauron the White Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 903	Thank you to both alatar and Quempel for the kind words on the dioramas. There are those who may argue that because the genre is fantasy, anything goes no matter how improbable or other impossible. If an author wants to have an air force of 400 pound warthogs flying to Venus to do battle with blue six armed amazons, well, that is the authors right. I would say only if those several components are part and parcel of what the author has established for the norms of that world and has laid a proper foundation for such events and creatures. One of the things that makes LOTR such a great book is the level of superb writing and craftmanship that went into it. It seems that JRRT labored and slaved over every word choice and went much much further than even the most diligent of authors in constructing a world which may be fantasy but also makes perfect sense. And there is the problem of ultra marathoning dwarves. It even defies the foundations of Tolkiens own world. Nowhere does it say that dwarves are natural distance runners despite the author giving them a physiology that completely defies such abilities. Nowhere does it say that Dwarves - unlike the chief of the mearas - can run and run and run and do so on a regular basis which would train them for such achievements. Tolkien does not lay that foundation. One can make a case for both Legolas and Aragorn as several here have done in the previous discussion and I say the wisdom of their reasoning and conceded the possibility of their achievement in Middle-earth. With Gimli, Tolkien simply pulled this out of thin air and wrote that Gimli did it despite all reason, logic, physiology, experience and even his own mythology saying there is no foundation for it. "Its only a fantasy" is not a blank check for clumsily including a poorly researched passage that just does not make sense in the confines of the world JRRT himself created.