Collapsing Barrows

[JJ48]

I've been thinking a bit about the collapse of the barrow after Tom's arrival. It was mentioned that normal barrows (such as, say, those in which Rohan's kings were buried) would not likely be as spacious and labyrinthine as those in LotRO. Could it be, however, that the wight's power has made the inside of the barrow larger as a sort of macabre palace, or theater, or whatever it's supposed to be? It would not be quite illusory, but rather other-worldly (a sort of dark Faerie).

If this were the case, then the collapse is explained by the wight's spirit leaving, and the enchantment (of the barrow itself, not of the hobbits) being broken. Since the interior of the barrow is then only collapsing back to its proper form, it would not necessarily be accompanied by a significant change in the external structure.

I'm still working on why the hand continues wriggling, however.

 

[Lincoln Alpern]

This idea of the wight's influence transforming the interior of the Barrow is pretty interesting ... but all I can think of is that you're describing it like an evil TARDIS.

 

[SteveR]

Maybe the wight can cast an undetectable extension charm, and his departure breaks the spell?

 

[JJ48]

This idea of the wight's influence transforming the interior of the Barrow is pretty interesting ... but all I can think of is that you're describing it like an evil TARDIS.

Fair enough, but I'd just point out that it's an idea found in more than just science-fiction. I mean Lewis put an entire world inside of a wardrobe.

 

[Lincoln Alpern]

Did he? I thought the wardrobe was a portal to Narnia, not that Narnia was, like, a pocket dimension existing inside the wardrobe.

 

[JJ48]

Did he? I thought the wardrobe was a portal to Narnia, not that Narnia was, like, a pocket dimension existing inside the wardrobe.

I'm not convinced that the difference between the two is as big as it may appear. With a little different techno-babble, the interior of the TARDIS could just as easily be a fixed point somewhere with the door of the exterior being a portal connecting it.

However, I think discussion of the specific mechanics involved somewhat misses the point. I'm just saying, there seems something rather odd and unusual about the barrow, and I don't see any reason to think that the interior (under the wight's influence) need necessarily be constrained by the exterior.

 

[NotACat]

Did he? I thought the wardrobe was a portal to Narnia, not that Narnia was, like, a pocket dimension existing inside the wardrobe.

Indeed, and there was at least one other portal between our world and Narnia through which the ancestors of the Telmarines arrived (hence Caspian being qualified to rule Narnia).

 

[Halstein]

The passage grave Mårhøj on Funen, Denmark, has a spacious burial-chamber.
http://www.vikingemuseetladby.dk/planlaeg-besoeg/kalender/2017/maarhoej-jaettestue/ (Scroll a bit down for an inside picture.)
It is of a type of passage-graves called "Jættestue" in Danish, which can be translated as "Giant's-hut". They started building this type of grave in about 3250 BC, which is part of the Neolithic period in Denmark.