Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel
Though I must admit, I don't exactly understand how they do it, but the fact is they do. After all, how do you make a blade glow when enemies are near? That's some serious craftsmanship; either that or magic. And Elves (dear Lord I am repeating myself) do NOT use magic.
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This has been discussed elsewhere, most recently in
this thread.
To repeat
myself: magic vs craftmanship in Middle-earth is a complex knot, and perhaps one it's not really possible to unravel, as much of the time they seem to be the same thing. That is, sufficient knowledge and understanding will enable a person to perform what
we (and the hobbits) would call magic, even though the Elves probably wouldn't– the distinction being, I think, that they are working
with the laws of nature rather than
against them. To repeat myself again, though, I would be careful about reframing the story as straight science fiction, or trying to explain everything in terms of real-world physics. You may end up having to do some
serious mental gymnastics.
