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I would think Gandalf might have learned some Ringlore somewhere, perhaps long ago; even now, he may largely trust anything Saruman told him before his treason. Maybe this information comes from another source than personal observation. I like Flammifer's theory that it is the storyteller's...

I have long thought these points to be evidence that Orcs are immortal, like Elves. It is not widely accepted, though.

I'm still not explaining it clearly, I'm afraid. We also get hail - icy balls usually associated with thunderstorms: generally falls in the summer, not winter. "the smaller lighter version" we call graupel: it falls in winter when temperatures are moderate. Happens when snow falls through a...

I'm afraid that "powder snow" in English probably means many different kinds of snow in different contexts. Here, near the Great Lakes, the powder we get most often is lake-effect snow, which does not require particularly low temperatures and falls as big clumps of many large snowflakes...

I have a definite feeling that if JRRT had ever taken it into his head to explain Legolas' snow-running ability it would have been an explanation that would have made St. Thomas Aquinas proud. And that I wouldn't have understood one word of it.

I've been waiting years for this passage! Running back and forth over a rope strung between trees is an example of physical prowess and control. It is something that even Men can accomplish. The main bar to gaining this skill is, in fact, psychological: in the movie "The Walk", about Phillipe...

Clap! Snap! the black crack! Grip, grab! Pinch, nab! And down down to Goblin-town You go, my lad! Nevertheless, marching to a 5/4 drumbeat could present some difficulty for two-footed creatures... I suspect Jackson &co were using this to emphasize how Orcs are "off", like horribly damaged...

Ooh: I didn't know there even was a series. I've watched the movie "The Golden Compass", which covers most of the first book (it leaves off the cliffhanger ending). It's a pretty good adaptation. They got Mrs. Coulter's evilness just right, also Iorek's nobility, and the general weirdness of...

I seem to hate the Jackson movies even more every time I watch; only got halfway through RotK recently. But I laughed out loud at the Orc armies advancing on Minas Tirith to the beat of a drum -- in 5/4 time!

Corey often devotes an episode or two to adaptations at the end of a book series, and even before that there is often some compare and contrast between the book and the adaptation(s). But as far as I can recall, the ONLY work where he explicitly prefers the movie is "The Princess Bride", which...

That's what bothers me about the magic system in Harry Potter: Will is almost entirely missing. You have to aim a spell by pointing your wand; the will to "hit the target" doesn't seem to matter at all. (As far as I can recall, there is no example of a Wizard casting a spell on anything that's...

As the editor of my wife's podcast, who occasionally has a guest with the same habit, I can verify that these are almost impossible to remove in post-processing. I like your suggestion of using a microphone that is not physically connected to the desk: that will help (but not eliminate the...

And don't forget the party, where it "snowed food and rained drink" and they were all left at the end "filling up the corners" with their favorite dainties...

Heinlein "The Man Who Sold the Moon" -- leadership via deception, bribery, and general finagling. You know; the usual. Renault "The King Must Die" -- Theseus leading his fellow bull-dancers at the Minotaur's court Anthony "Macroscope" -- Ivo has to lead his little band of exiles/explorers...

I love it when authors do this; David Brin is another expert at it.

First take: "huh? Could that be an autocomplete error?". Second take: LOL!! Third take: "not very PC. Should really not be laughing when Great Evil is referred to." I think this is an example of a joke that Manny would tell Mike "is funny once" and Wyo would say "not funny at all".

Illuvatar is far more subtle and far-seeing than the Valar, and can change fates with the lightest touch. The Valar are rather clumsy at this (c.f. all the physical destruction it took for them to defeat Morgoth). But also, it seems to me that Illuvatar's plans -- unlike the Valar's! -- have...

The zodiac is high in the south *at midnight* in the winter. Of course, the zodiac is at its lowest at noon in midwinter (the sun never gets high in the sky). It lifts up from noon to midnight, then falls back low in the sky as midnight progresses towards noon. What time of day did Frodo see...

Lois McMaster Bujold (author of many science fiction and fantasy novels, most of them multiple-novel series) has written that her writing process often begins with the question "what is the worst thing that can happen to this character?"

I believe you are limiting your thinking about music too much to the western classical tradition. Many folk traditions commonly use patterns of stress outside the simple marches and dances of 4/4 and 3/4 time. I've been listening to some Celtic music in common time but stressed 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4...