quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: What are some other examples of a device where someone puts their soul/essence/power (or part of it) into an object, making them stronger/immortal/etc.?
The One Ring from Tolkien
Horcruxes from JKR
in the book Taran Wanderer, a magician put his soul in his finger, then cut off and hid that finger.
In D&D, there's a spell called Magic Jar which lets you put your soul into a jem.
What are some more examples?
The Red Crown of Omadon from "Flight of Dragons".
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The Frodoverse. It actually has a well-constructed background and magic with some semblance of rules.
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quote:Originally posted by anti_maven: The Orcs of Moria vs. The Goblins of Gringotts?
It depends. With the exception of a few subtypes, Tolkein's orcs tended to be pretty weak and stupid. However, there were pretty much always a lot of them, so numbers might tip the scale.
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posted
What I find interesting is that Rowling used the bastardized idea of the Elves as short things with little power. One thing Tolkien despised was the fall of the perception of the Elves of mythology to diminutive silly sprites, and even went as far as voicing his anger with Shakespeare with contributing to this idea in “Midsummer Night”. Tolkien said that another place the trend began was in “Canterbury Tales” when one of the characters was talking about the Fair Folk and how they have “diminished” in the face of Christianity. What was meant that the belief in them was dying out, or that the Elves’ influence was fading, but readers took it as the Elves shrank in stature.
Hence we go from tall, powerful beings living in hills or in the train of the Gods, blessing swords and whatnot, to Santa’s helpers, the Keebler elves, and now house elves, etc…
Granted Rowling isn’t an anthropologist and was just using the myths as they are popularly thought of, as apposed to the real sources of that myth. Another example is how she used the Goblins instead of the Dwarves/gnomes. As far as I am aware the root of the word goblin means demon, however many translators in olden days would group dwarves, gnomes, and goblins as the same thing. This inaccuracy would have then spread to the general population and thus giving the goblins the same characteristics as the dwarves.
Of course, on second thought, she might very well know all this and decided to use the versions that she did on purpose. Not the choice that I as a Tolkien sympathizer and Elf lover would have chosen, but heck, it's not my story.
[ August 06, 2007, 05:11 AM: Message edited by: Telperion the Silver ]
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*stones AFR for using the abominable word "Frodoverse"*
You're just answering my question. Notice how you didn't get up in arms about "Potterverse" because it's a universe you don't care about. So nyah.
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quote:Notice how you didn't get up in arms about "Potterverse" because it's a universe you don't care about. So nyah
"Potterverse" accurately identifies the milieu of that story. "Frodoverse" is demeaning because it implies that Middle Earth is simply Frodo's story. Not true. Not even remotely true.
The Harry Potter books, on the other hand, exist to tell Harry's story, so "Potterverse" is accurate. Middle Earth does not exist to tell Frodo's story however, there are many powerful, deep, rich tales set in Middle Earth that don't involve Frodo at all.
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posted
Middle Earth is actually a little too specific to mean the entire sphere of Tolkien stories set in that (this?) universe. The undying lands, sometimes called Valinor, are outside ME, of course, and much of the cycle is set there.
Arda is the word that means the whole world, and Ea (with dots over the a) designates the entire material or physical universe, which was created with the song of the Ainur. There's no word, as far as I know, for the whole of everything including the realms in which Eru Illuvatar dwelt before the Ainur were created out of this thought, and where they were when they sang Ea into being.
Ea means "it is" or "that which is". That's probably the closest translation of "universe" that exists in the languages of Arda.
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posted
Illuvatar and the other Ainur reside in the "Timeless Halls" (strangely which is what the palace of Manwe & Varda at the summit of Taniquetil, Ilmarin, is called at times) and Eä is Everything else.
So Eä and the Timeless Halls. Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Or just Middle-Earth. It's not technically correct, but it's a heck of a lot better than Frodoverse.
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And while it isn't technically correct, most people will know what you're referring to if you call it Middle Earth. Eä and the Timeless Halls--not so much.
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quote:Originally posted by Telperion the Silver: Illuvatar and the other Ainur reside in the "Timeless Halls" (strangely which is what the palace of Manwe & Varda at the summit of Taniquetil, Ilmarin, is called at times) and Eä is Everything else.
posted
OK, how's this.... Tolkien Orcs v.s. Klingons (TNG or later editions).
OK, easy. Klingon's.
So what would happen if we put up a couple Klingon's VS a Tolkien Troll...
(well, for one thing, the Klingon's would have an instant Wargasm and begin hacking away to their own delight.)
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posted
I think the Uruk-hai would be about even with Klingons. The troll would squash the Klingons. Then again, I'm not including phasers and similar technology.
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posted
Klingons, both times, against both opponents, with or without phasers.
And I'm not a fan of Star Trek. But Klingons are smarter and much stronger than orcs; and are smarter than trolls.
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