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  1. ForthDauntless3

    Evil cannot create; How were dragons made?

    This is an endlessly fascinating question to which, regrettably, even Tolkien himself never came to a satisfactory resolution. The nature of orcish souls especially vexed him. We had an extensive discussion of the nature of orcs, the relationship of elvish minds and bodies, and Tolkien's later...
  2. ForthDauntless3

    "To try to" vs "to try and"

    I grew up in eastern PA. For me, "try and" is okay if you're speaking colloquially, but if I heard someone say it during a presentation or saw it in written communication, it would imply poor education. I was therefore really surprised to see it in Tolkien, who's notoriously fastidious. My...
  3. ForthDauntless3

    Concerning Old Gamgee

    In Episode 170 [I've gotten out of sync again. :-(], the class discussed the events in which Gaffer Gamgee grumpily dismisses the Black Rider asking for news of Baggins. In my head canon, the Gaffer follows, "Good night to you" by shutting his door in the astonished Rider's face. In the...
  4. ForthDauntless3

    Indis and Finwë

    I missed Morgoth's Ring #13, so I didn't get a chance to raise this point live. Upon reading the revised and extended version of Indis and Finwë, I was struck by parallels with Beren and Luthien. Indis, like Luthien, is the daughter of a great king among the elves. The two seem to have been...
  5. ForthDauntless3

    Homework: Estel vs. Amdir

    Yeah, just realized that I was writing too fast and thinking too slow when I ended my original post. Obviously, Aragorn's only name is Estel. I meant the two forms of hope.
  6. ForthDauntless3

    Homework: Estel vs. Amdir

    In the homework assignment from last week, we were asked to think about the effect of the "All that is gold..." poem. Specifically, why did the publishers allow Tolkien to get away with inserting the poem not once but twice. To try to answer that, I've been thinking about the effect it has...
  7. ForthDauntless3

    Boromir as Horatius Cocles?

    In our discussion from 4 February, I was struck by a parallel I had never noticed before. Boromir and Faramir made a heroic stand to hold the last bridge over the Anduin. They then swim the river—in the company of two others—once the bridge has been brought down behind them. I can't help but...
  8. ForthDauntless3

    Meter of Frodo’s song in Bree

    If I recall correctly from the Mythgard Academy class on The Return of the Shadow, Tolkien was actually intending the original version of The Man in the Moon poem to be the mythic origin of the modern "Hey, diddle diddle". If I'm wrong about this, I hope that someone with a better memory or a...
  9. ForthDauntless3

    Catching up: Seven Stars of Arnor

    I've always wondered about the seven stars of Gondor, so well done in finding an answer! I've never read the index from front to back, so I never noticed this bit of lore. Congratulations on finding an answer. That being said, as answers go, this is pretty un-satisfying. It's strange that 2...
  10. ForthDauntless3

    Ring-Induced Rationalization

    During class, I very much agreed with you NotACat. I started writing this post with the assumption that I was going to articulate an argument that we'd gone too far in the "Ring causes all events, ever" direction. Instead, I ended up arguing myself into the position that I took. I don't think...
  11. ForthDauntless3

    Black Riders and the Ring

    During last week's class (#109 if memory serves), we had a spirited argument about whether Frodo's reluctance to reveal the nature of his quest was due to the influence of the Ring or due to simple caution. This got me thinking about how the Ring acts on Frodo's will, and I wrote a long post...
  12. ForthDauntless3

    Ring-Induced Rationalization

    During last week's class (#109 if memory serves), we had a spirited argument about whether Frodo's reluctance to reveal the nature of his quest was due to the influence of the Ring or due to simple caution. I think there are two factors we ought to consider if we're trying to analyze which of...
  13. ForthDauntless3

    Further musings on Tom Bombadil

    At the risk of picking nits, we should remember that Tom and probably Goldberry are Maiar of some type, or they are at least very closely related to Maiar. They'd have no more need for physical clothes than they have need for physical bodies. They could simply will the clothes into existence...
  14. ForthDauntless3

    The Madness of the Horses

    I think a big part of the issue is the idea that Glorfindel might have used the horses to attack the Nazgûl—instrumentalizing the horses—rather than simply attacking the horses directly. It's one thing to kill a soldier, or even a support animal, during battle. It would be something quite...
  15. ForthDauntless3

    The Madness of the Horses

    I advocated for this explanation in the Discord chat, though it didn't seem to catch on. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking in this direction.
  16. ForthDauntless3

    No new Exploring LOTR on iTunes?

    I've just noticed that the Tolkien Professor feed does not seem to contain any episodes more recent than mid-2010. Is anyone else having this issue? Know what it's about?
  17. ForthDauntless3

    Frodo Fadin, Fadin away

    That's a good question. I have a guess, which is somewhat in line with your proposal A. Gollum spent 500 years building up an ability to be sneaky and secretive. It's gotten to the point that keeping secrets has become second nature to him. I believe it's Faramir who later describes Gollum...
  18. ForthDauntless3

    Frodo Fadin, Fadin away

    It's certainly an interesting possibility that Frodo babbled and Gandalf put events together, but we shouldn't simply discount Gandalf's words. There's a big difference between protecting Frodo by omitting troubling information during his recovery and outright lying to him. Faramir later...
  19. ForthDauntless3

    Frodo, your sword is broken

    That's an excellent point. I wonder why he didn't attack Asfaloth. I would guess that either 1) Asfaloth has some intrinsic ability to resist sorcery or 2) the Witch-King has some specific affinity for weapons that is a reflection of his power. I regard the first as being rather unlikely...
  20. ForthDauntless3

    Celebrimbor and the Making of the Rings

    Yes, I did mean Thranduil. I suppose that's what I get for trying to type a coherent post and listen to class at the same time. Thanks for catching that.
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