Enchantment or advancement.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

All that said, I do love and appreciate mythology and fantasy to the fullest. I just think science is not a threat to it but a well from where our imagination can replenish itself to become even more fantastic.

Oh, I agree. But I have always felt that scientific explanation often feels very out of place in fantasy. For me, science fiction and fantasy are two different things and I do get annoyed when they are lumped together. I don't deny their similarities, but I do think they work in different ways.

To some extent, science often is the discovery of things ancient and unknown. Especially in terms of cosmology and quantum physics. These are things that have always been true and we are only now learning. But in terms of stories science works in a very different way, I think.

If the Lord of the Rings had been more science fiction based, it would not surprise me if, when considering how to defeat Sauron, they analysed his giant flaming eye (if this were Sci-fi, I doubt it could be seen as metaphoric... just go with me on this. ). Having done this, they'd probably gather some big buckets of water and construct some way of flinging them at him.

Magic and enchantment works on a slightly different plain. The rules that govern it are much less bound to reason, you could argue. The ring is not a physical part of Sauron, and yet its destruction can cause his death (or however you want to say it). The only thing binding Sauron to the Ring is his life-force, power or will. This is a much stranger thing and not so easily dealt with.
Again, in a science fiction arena, I suspect that the Ring would hold Sauron's 'psychic imprint' or some such and that reversing the polarity would cause feedback and so blow him up. All of which is done in the safety of the lab.
The magical connection between Sauron, the Ring and Mount Doom are what drive the story on. They give the journey a focus.

Perhaps I'm talking nonsense. I usually am.