Starfriend
New Member
I don’t think that the analysis of Galdors words during the last two classes hit the mark. It is true that Elrond could send the Ring to the Havens faster than Sauron could react, but in my mind that is only the easy part of plan Sea. The hard part is setting sail with the Ring on board and finding the Straight Road. I would be very surprised if that wouldn’t require a special ship long built just for this task. Building that ship would probably take a long time even for an elf (and certainly take lot of tra-la-la-lallying on the shores). As the council is certainly the first time this plan is conceived, there is no way that Círdan could have started the building. So discovery by the spies of the Enemy is a grave threat, as the Ring would be a sitting duck in the Havens.
What would Sauron do in the case of the Council opting for the plan Sea? He probably would do everything in his power to slow down the building the ship or its setting sail. Could he bring storms and make rough seas in Lindon? I don’t know, but I would at least consider the option.
I have always thought that the swifter steeds of the Nazgul Galdor talks about are the flying beasts they get after the incident in the Ford, and the only reason that they were on horseback was a compromise between speed and secrecy. Gandalf only learns that the Nine are on the move long after they have crossed the Anduin. If they were on flying mounts, there is no way that the Wise would have not been aware of them immediately.
But if Sauron learns that his enemies are taking the Ring to the Valinor and panics, what could he do? If he launches hasty campaigns against Gondor, Lorien, Mirkwood, Dale and Erebor just to tie them down and send all Nine literally on wings of haste over Anduin could he be stopped? If the Ringwraiths gather together a warband or multiple warbands of the orcs of The Misty Mountains, emptying every fortress in the area if necessary, and marches them west, there is nothing that can stop them, as Elrond can’t raise an army like he did in 1974 T.A. I’m not sure Galdor is aware of the situation in The Misty Mountains, but this could be the march he is worried about.
And now we get to Galdors comment about Gondors vigilance. In the session 179 it was thought that the comment about keeping back the Nine was unfair and that Galdor was moving the goalposts. I disagree, mainly because of the first speech of Boromir about 20 pages ago (in my Finnish translation). He opens it by claiming that Gondor has long kept the armies of the East and the horrors of Morgul, like the Nazgul, at bay (again, I only have my Finnish translation at hand and don’t remember the full quote in English). To be fair, Galdor implicitly agrees that Gondor has been successful until now, and Boromir did not know the whereabouts of the Nine when he made the boast.
So in the end, I don’t think Galdor is having a panic attack but that his comments are reasonable and insightful, like one would expect from the emissary of Círdan.
What would Sauron do in the case of the Council opting for the plan Sea? He probably would do everything in his power to slow down the building the ship or its setting sail. Could he bring storms and make rough seas in Lindon? I don’t know, but I would at least consider the option.
I have always thought that the swifter steeds of the Nazgul Galdor talks about are the flying beasts they get after the incident in the Ford, and the only reason that they were on horseback was a compromise between speed and secrecy. Gandalf only learns that the Nine are on the move long after they have crossed the Anduin. If they were on flying mounts, there is no way that the Wise would have not been aware of them immediately.
But if Sauron learns that his enemies are taking the Ring to the Valinor and panics, what could he do? If he launches hasty campaigns against Gondor, Lorien, Mirkwood, Dale and Erebor just to tie them down and send all Nine literally on wings of haste over Anduin could he be stopped? If the Ringwraiths gather together a warband or multiple warbands of the orcs of The Misty Mountains, emptying every fortress in the area if necessary, and marches them west, there is nothing that can stop them, as Elrond can’t raise an army like he did in 1974 T.A. I’m not sure Galdor is aware of the situation in The Misty Mountains, but this could be the march he is worried about.
And now we get to Galdors comment about Gondors vigilance. In the session 179 it was thought that the comment about keeping back the Nine was unfair and that Galdor was moving the goalposts. I disagree, mainly because of the first speech of Boromir about 20 pages ago (in my Finnish translation). He opens it by claiming that Gondor has long kept the armies of the East and the horrors of Morgul, like the Nazgul, at bay (again, I only have my Finnish translation at hand and don’t remember the full quote in English). To be fair, Galdor implicitly agrees that Gondor has been successful until now, and Boromir did not know the whereabouts of the Nine when he made the boast.
So in the end, I don’t think Galdor is having a panic attack but that his comments are reasonable and insightful, like one would expect from the emissary of Círdan.