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| Scholarly Pursuits by Antane | 2 Review(s) |
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| sue | Reviewed Chapter: 15 on 6/29/2020 |
| I have so very many questions that need scholarly exploration: LOTR Culture Questions: Why has the material culture not advanced in thousands of years? Many of the warriors - esp Rohirim - have horns (and LOTS of leather), but there is not a SINGLE mentioned cow in ME. How is it that half elves can reproduce? Cross species matings -when they work - have offspring that are 'sports' ie - sterile. Why do elves not practice animal husbandry? How is the population fed? Settled civilization depends on agriculture. Where does their silk come from. Linen? Cotton? Why do the Rohirrim not herd sheep or cattle? Why are there no antelopes on the plains? Why don't elves have dogs? Hunting hounds? Falconry? Why hasn't anyone discovered papermaking. With all the parchment they use, who has the sheep& goats? If they have glass (glazed windows) why not optics? If the elves have such great healers, why is their medicine so primitive? Where do they get the tallow and beeswax for all the candles? Who grows the grapes and barley for all the alcoholic drinks. And what about mead - that takes a lot of honey. And by the way, tastes more like champaign not sweet For all the burning of orc's bodies, where do they get the fuel? It takes a lot of wood and several days to cremate ONE human body...and high heat. Experimental archaeology at Hadrian's Wall cremated a pig - Roman fashion - and it took nearly 2 days and hundreds of pounds of wood. When stories speak of a "few" elves who have not yet passed to Valinor, why are there almost always servants , cooks, chamber maids still around to take care of the nobles? What triggers elves to stop aging… they DO start out as infants and children but at some point it would become difficult to tell how old an elf is. When Elrond or Aragorn make a salve - what carriers are they using. Usual is fat (lard, oil etc) and wax - usually beeswax. Do orcs have congenital hip dysplasia so that the move with such a shuffling gait? Some repeats here...I make notes as I think of them Questions on ME Economics Where does the silk come from...fibers...yarns...weaving...brocade? Where are the sheep...processors...spinners...weavers? Flax...same as above...although more likely to be a cottage industry How advanced is the technology? Spinning wheels? Obviously jacquard=type looms for brocades. There must have been some very odd cloth woven during and just after the Ring-War years. All or most of the sheep were probably killed/eaten. Flax crops were over trodden, retting ponds polluted. Silk trade from more sub-tropical countries was certainly interrupted. So weavers must have been using up the yarns on hand. Ramifications of immortality: Its all well and good if you are noble, like most of the characters, but how does an elf find him/herself as the one who cleans the privies in Rivendell? Eww. (One writer solved this handily by positing that elvish alimentary systems were very efficient and so they pelleted - like deer, rabbits, llamas.) Or any of the myriad other servile jobs. Is there a cash economy? Completely feudal trickle-down. Are there elvish paupers? Is there a middle class? Why, in the thousands of years, over 3 ages, has there not been an industrial revolution? I can see hundreds of years or even two thousand. If elvish society is so static - where are architects, engineers, etc educated. There seems to be a 'parlor school' for young noble elves. How is everyone else educated. Are they mostly illiterate. Why are there no universities? Or even trade schools...oh yeah, apprenticeship system. They knew about gunpowder - fireworks, bomb under Helm's deep why not guns? They knew enough complex chemistry for ale, beer and wine; steel and glass, though, escapes them. Gold, silver and mithril are sought after enough to be mined yet not in circulation as cash Fashions never change If ME uses oil lamps - where do they get the oil...is there whaling? It seems as if only the Hobbits have a complex agrarian society based on barter and small cash. So where do they get that cash? Why do wildfaring hunters only hunt rabbits and sometimes deer? There are a lot of other small game to be had and eaten. Thanks for reading and maybe addressing some of my questions. Author Reply: Hi, sorry, can't answer your answers - hobbits were my love but perhaps those who love elves and men as their speciality could at least speculate - look for those who write about them as their focus and maybe you'll get some ideas - though Middle-earth does have many mysteries. Namarie, God bless, Antane :) | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 15 on 6/20/2020 |
| In the end, pity and mercy save Middle-earth. It is pity that comes from the wisdom of the heart that transcends logic and reason. ...he learned instead at the feet of Nienna. And that made all the difference. What a beautiful essay! Author Reply: Le hannon! I liked that ending myself. ;) It was fun to research and write. Glad you liked so much, my dear! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) | |