Marielle
Well-Known Member
(of course I miss the session on 6/16 where we actually talk about archives and archival preservation!)
Catching up on this week's session, Corey spent a brief moment discussing the likely condition of Isildur's scroll and, as I am professionally interested in such matters, I'm going to throw in my own two cents here. And I've got to admit, the survival of this text seems unlikely, to say the least.
Firstly, and obviously, the manuscript would likely be in pieces, and if not would certainly be in an extremely delicate condition, requiring care in handling (and yes, I am horrified at PJ's Gandalf's poor archival practices), but I am "hesitantly* willing to believe that it is *just* possible that enough would survive for Gandalf to read the all-important section about the Ring's writings.
Assuming the scroll is on parchment (Faramir, I believe, specifically mentions things written on parchment when discussing lore in Gondor) the scroll is going to be a LOT more stable than modern paper, which is made of wood-pulp and drowned in chemicals to bleach it white; such paper is highly acidic and becomes fragile very quickly in its life-cycle. Parchment, on the other hand, holds up pretty well so long as the basics of archival preservation are taken, these including:
1) limiting exposure to light
2) maintaining a moderate and consistent temperature and humidity
3) preventing exposure to moisture
and
4) preventing damage by insects or other vermin.
This is less daunting, however, than first might appear. The great archives of Gondor wouldn't have centralized climate control, but if the weather in Minas Tirith is temperate (like, say, San Diego), the roofs don't leak, and the archivists keep a few good mouser cats around, the basics could be pretty satisfactorily kept and the parchment remain in decent condition for a thousand years or so. Problem is, we're speaking of 3,000 years old. I don't believe we even have any parchment from that long ago in human history -- at least not in Europe or the Mediterranean. Herodotus mentions some peoples writing on animal skins in the 5th century BCE, but I'm not aware of any surviving examples from before the 3rd century CE. But no city in Europe or the Mediterranean has stood for the last 3,000 years without being sacked or hit by a natural disaster or somehow otherwise damaged and set on fire, so I'm willing to concede that the archives of Minas Tirith would fair better than any earthly collection has managed.
There's another complicating issue: Gandalf specifically refers to Isildur's writings as being on a scroll. Scrolls have whole other issues of preservation, especially as the edges are very easy to damage: if you roll a scroll too tightly, the innermost section will often crack and crumble; and the outermost section, being exposed to the elements, is frequently frayed or stained or otherwise damaged by its environment. But presuming that Isildur's account does not likely begin or end with the relevant Ring passage, that text might be salvageable if located near the middle. Still, the find is rather miraculous.
Frankly, Gandalf should have waxed poetic on his good fortune in finding a manuscript in fair enough condition to read, rather than sniped about Denethor's attitude!
Catching up on this week's session, Corey spent a brief moment discussing the likely condition of Isildur's scroll and, as I am professionally interested in such matters, I'm going to throw in my own two cents here. And I've got to admit, the survival of this text seems unlikely, to say the least.
Firstly, and obviously, the manuscript would likely be in pieces, and if not would certainly be in an extremely delicate condition, requiring care in handling (and yes, I am horrified at PJ's Gandalf's poor archival practices), but I am "hesitantly* willing to believe that it is *just* possible that enough would survive for Gandalf to read the all-important section about the Ring's writings.
Assuming the scroll is on parchment (Faramir, I believe, specifically mentions things written on parchment when discussing lore in Gondor) the scroll is going to be a LOT more stable than modern paper, which is made of wood-pulp and drowned in chemicals to bleach it white; such paper is highly acidic and becomes fragile very quickly in its life-cycle. Parchment, on the other hand, holds up pretty well so long as the basics of archival preservation are taken, these including:
1) limiting exposure to light
2) maintaining a moderate and consistent temperature and humidity
3) preventing exposure to moisture
and
4) preventing damage by insects or other vermin.
This is less daunting, however, than first might appear. The great archives of Gondor wouldn't have centralized climate control, but if the weather in Minas Tirith is temperate (like, say, San Diego), the roofs don't leak, and the archivists keep a few good mouser cats around, the basics could be pretty satisfactorily kept and the parchment remain in decent condition for a thousand years or so. Problem is, we're speaking of 3,000 years old. I don't believe we even have any parchment from that long ago in human history -- at least not in Europe or the Mediterranean. Herodotus mentions some peoples writing on animal skins in the 5th century BCE, but I'm not aware of any surviving examples from before the 3rd century CE. But no city in Europe or the Mediterranean has stood for the last 3,000 years without being sacked or hit by a natural disaster or somehow otherwise damaged and set on fire, so I'm willing to concede that the archives of Minas Tirith would fair better than any earthly collection has managed.
There's another complicating issue: Gandalf specifically refers to Isildur's writings as being on a scroll. Scrolls have whole other issues of preservation, especially as the edges are very easy to damage: if you roll a scroll too tightly, the innermost section will often crack and crumble; and the outermost section, being exposed to the elements, is frequently frayed or stained or otherwise damaged by its environment. But presuming that Isildur's account does not likely begin or end with the relevant Ring passage, that text might be salvageable if located near the middle. Still, the find is rather miraculous.
Frankly, Gandalf should have waxed poetic on his good fortune in finding a manuscript in fair enough condition to read, rather than sniped about Denethor's attitude!