Fall of Gondolin

[Urwen]

He seized him by that hand that held the knife, and broke the arm with a wrench...And then, taking him by the middle, leapt with him upon the walls, and flung him far out.....

When I read that part, I couldn't help but imagine something like this....

Tuor: Yeah, it was me who broke his arm. With a wrench. Specifically, this wrench.

And.....that is going to be my signature

[Huinesoron]

Haha.

It's actually remarkable how little Tolkien runs afoul of linguistic shift or variance ('wrench' as a tool isn't British English use; we'd say 'spanner' usually). There are other cases - Tom Bombadil springs to mind, with "soon you will be groping!", and then there's Sam describing Elves as 'gay and sad' - but by and large he's managed to avoid it.

hS

[Urwen]

You're not going to ask whose arm he broke?


Then again, I suppose you already know about that one.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

You're not going to ask whose arm he broke?

Then again, I suppose you already know about that one.

I'm pretty sure I've quoted that passage at you in full at least once, so yes, I know that part. Also, there's not that many people who get thrown over walls...!

hS

[Urwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I'm pretty sure I've quoted that passage at you in full at least once, so yes, I know that part. Also, there's not that many people who get thrown over walls...!

hS

Hm, I am not too sure about that. Let's see


Maeglin (obvious)
Gollum (also obvious)
Nienor threw herself from the cliff
Gandalf jumped from the wall of Orthanc and later fell off a bridge
Denethor, who - you guessed it - jumped from the wall to his death
And Aragorn was dragged off a cliff during the movie.


See? I bet that this is more people who fell from a cliff than you thought there would be.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Hm, I am not too sure about that. Let's see

Maeglin (obvious)
Gollum (also obvious)
Nienor threw herself from the cliff
Gandalf jumped from the wall of Orthanc and later fell off a bridge
Denethor, who - you guessed it - jumped from the wall to his death
And Aragorn was dragged off a cliff during the movie.

See? I bet that this is more people who fell from a cliff than you thought there would be.

I... concede the point. If we're counting the movies (for Denethor and Aragorn), I think we have to include Frodo's tumble after Gollum; and does Haldir go over the wall when he gets shot?

hS

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Hm, I am not too sure about that. Let's see


Maeglin (obvious)
Gollum (also obvious)
Nienor threw herself from the cliff
Gandalf jumped from the wall of Orthanc and later fell off a bridge
Denethor, who - you guessed it - jumped from the wall to his death
And Aragorn was dragged off a cliff during the movie.


See? I bet that this is more people who fell from a cliff than you thought there would be.

Note also that the leading cause of death among Balrogs (100% of known cases) is plummeting.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Then there's this classic: "Aragorn and Legolas went now with Eomer in the van." Specifically, a Ford Econoline Custom with shag carpeting and quadraphonic sound.

If we're doing vehicles, I find that both Nessa and Glaurung have trains: Nessa's is followed by deer, while Glaurung's is full of Balrogs (presumably hogging the dining car like they always do).

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Note also that the leading cause of death among Balrogs (100% of known cases) is plummeting.

Oh, come now! You can hardly count Gothmog falling into a fountain and onto a particularly pointy elf. So it's only 2/3.

Though we should probably add Turgon, who in the very book we're theoretically discussing in this thread dies in the fall of his tower.

Um... and Eol, I suppose!

hS

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Haha.

It's actually remarkable how little Tolkien runs afoul of linguistic shift or variance ('wrench' as a tool isn't British English use; we'd say 'spanner' usually). There are other cases - Tom Bombadil springs to mind, with "soon you will be groping!", and then there's Sam describing Elves as 'gay and sad' - but by and large he's managed to avoid it.

hS

Then there's this classic: "Aragorn and Legolas went now with Eomer in the van." Specifically, a Ford Econoline Custom with shag carpeting and quadraphonic sound.