[Iluventi]

Hey I have a question about the RotK movie...

When you see the Witch-King being readied for battle, helmet being placed on his "head" etc....then the camera goes back to Pippin and Gandalf talking on a balcony in Minas Tirith. They look towards Minas Morgul, and a Huge green "beam" thingy shoots upwards... You also see it upclose when Sam, Frodo and Gollum have just started climbing the Endless Stairs etc...

My question is....what the heck is this big green thing!?

Dave

[_DMKW_]

i just figured it was a signal to the baddies that the war is about to begin like "Get Ready Men!" ..kinda thing

[TheDeadTree]

Ok,

In the Two Towers, the chapter "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol," and in my copy, page 355 describes what happend.

What the movie didn't show, was that a red spike of fire had first shot up from Mordor, and then Minas Morgul answered with it's own signal. Basically Mordor was giving the go ahead to release the Morgul forces, onto the Plennor, and the tower signaled back with an 'Okie Dokey.'

[Ancalagon]

...what he said

Basically, a flashier way of 'lighting the beacon', Mordor style.

(Though I heard Sauron was considering doing a Starbucks promo with the Beacon of Minas Morgul, you know the whole flashing 'Starbucks sign in the sky' sort of deal, but it fell through on acount of the Orcs killing the deals negotiators at the luncheon meetings. Those Orcs and their crazy ass appetite! Always eating God-knows what...maybe McDonalds should have the Orcs for promos, since the Orcs don't seem to care what it is they eat in regards to health and such <_<...)

[Iluventi]

Ooooh I see, thanks heaps people.

I suppose it is another example of the non-existent magic? ^_^ just kidding...I suppose it's got something to do with the Witch-King's Ring of Power?

[TheDeadTree]

No, if I remeber correctly, the nine surendered their rings back to Sauron, after they fell.

And as for 'non-exsistant magic,' I always took it that there wasn't magic in Middle-Earth like we think of it, which is something from absolutly nothing.

The skill of the elves was so refined, that it did appear to be 'magical' when it was only really practice. Practice that took thousands of years..

When it comes to that green thing, though, I dunno. Maybe they were just firing off alot of bottle-rockets out of one really large 7-up bottle.

[Kethruch]

When you look at the land of Middle Earth, as we see it in the LotR and The Hobbit think of everyone in them that does magic. Of course there's Gandalf, Saruman, some of the baddies, theoretically Radagast, Galadriel, Elrond, (though their magic can be seen as just being extraordinarily wise), and you may make a case for Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. What do all of these have in common? They are members of extraordinarily rare races/peoples, who are, for the most part, in possession of special items.

Besides that, the magic that is used by all of these is substantially different and more subtle than the gaming magic that people are used to. Does Gandalf throw fireballs and death spells? Even the Witch King of Angmar uses force rather than magic to kill. The magic of Middle Earth seems to rest much more in the items that are made than in the hands of "magicians". In effect, the true magicians are those very rare crafters who can create items such as the Rings, Grond, Anduril (though whether it is magical is up to debate), the wizard's staves, etc.

That would be my take on the magic in ME, and why mages and the like, as we perceive them in the gaming world wouldn't exist in any significant numbers.

[Iluventi]

Mmm..good post

I think you could also say that the Witch-Kings "Magic" is his/its power to strike absolute primeval fear into it's enemies..?

[SimVig]

Kethruch, on Jan 9 2004, 05:46 AM, said:

In effect, the true magicians are those very rare crafters who can create items such as the Rings, Grond, Anduril (though whether it is magical is up to debate), the wizard's staves, etc.

Disclaimer: what follows is my understanding of things only.

These items in Middle-Earth are what I would call artifacts - not necessarily magical in our sense, but legendary and powerful. Anduril for example is Narsil reforged. It is the sword that wounded Sauron and thus it is what he fears. Same would be the case of Frodo and the witch-king's blade. The rings also basically contain the essence of the Maia Sauron - his will and power, and also the 'magic' of Celebrimbor.

That's how I understand the magic of Middle-Earth. Open to opinions.

[Jesugandalf]

I agree with SimVig about Anduril, but Kethruch is right: all magic is on the "artifacts" themselves. Apart from the Istari and Sauron, I doubt there are people in Middle-Earth at the end of the Third Age who could perform magic. And the magic of Elrond and Galadriel is maybe gifted to them through their rings.

But what is beyond doubt is that there is no magic characters D&D-style in Middle-Earth, which, to my reckoning, makes the world invented by Tolkien a low-fantasy fantastic world, a more realistic one, and it's easier for the readers to be involved in it.