RFV

[Plane]

http://www.goats.com/store/rfv.html

[The_Professor]

or this:

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/president/-/pv_design_details/pg_7/id_5746669/opt_/fpt_/c_360/

[Xavier_Onassis]

Is it still possible that the GOP could elect Sauron?

He's really mean and would be great in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he's thirty feet tall and wears size 93 sneakers.

True, he was killed when the Ring was destroyed, but still, the Eye woule make a great campaign logo...
...provided that CBS didn';t sue of course.

[Amianthus]

Is it still possible that the GOP could elect Sauron?

Why settle for Sauron? Why not go for Cthulu?

True, he was killed when the Ring was destroyed, but still, the Eye woule make a great campaign logo...
...provided that CBS didn';t sue of course.

Since Sauron was a Maiar, he can not be "killed", only banished from Arda. Note that when Olórin (another Maiar, called Gandalf by the mannish races) was "killed" he came back in another form. The Master Ring was a focus for his power, destroying it broke his link with Arda, thereby preventing him from reentering.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Since Sauron was a Maiar, he can not be "killed", only banished from Arda. Note that when Olórin (another Maiar, called Gandalf by the mannish races) was "killed" he came back in another form. The Master Ring was a focus for his power, destroying it broke his link with Arda, thereby preventing him from reentering.

===================================================
It seemed to me that Sauron was actually killed, and that Gandalf won the fight with the HFT (Huge Flaming Thing) that grabbed him in the Mines of Moria. I read the book a long time ago, and have seen the film numerous times.

Arda and Maiar do not seem familiar to me.

Was Saruman also a Maiar? Wasn he killed or banished?

I am tempted to ask you, "okay, Mr Smartypants, where did the Entwives go?"


If Sauron is not dead, then he could run for president. We should do all we can to prevent him from hitching up with Carl Rove.

[Amianthus]

Arda and Maiar do not seem familiar to me.

Read The Silmarillion and the various collected letters that Tolkien wrote on the subjects, plus the series of "Unfinished Tales". Basically, Maiar could be thought of as angels in physical form, and Arda is the world created by Ilúvatar (Tolkien's version of God in the mythology he created for his books).

Was Saruman also a Maiar? Wasn he killed or banished?

Yes, he's one of the five Maiar sent to Arda (collectivly known as the Istari) by the Valar to help guide Men. From Tolkien:

"Whereas Curunir (Saruman) was cast down, and utterly humbled, and perished at last by the hand of an oppressed slave; and his spirit went whithersoever it was doomed to go, and to Middle-earth, whether naked or embodied, came never back" - Unfinished Tales, Part Four, Chapter Two: The Istari

Interestingly enough, in the books he was betrayed and his physical form was killed by the "oppressed slave" Gríma Wormtongue on November 3. That day also happens to be my birthday. ;-)

I am tempted to ask you, "okay, Mr Smartypants, where did the Entwives go?"

Tolkien himself gave no indication. Actually, he wrote in one of his letters "I think that in fact the Entwives have disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance…"

If Sauron is not dead, then he could run for president. We should do all we can to prevent him from hitching up with Carl Rove.

I think a requirement to hold the office is to actually be capable of making an appearance.

[Amianthus]

I read the book a long time ago, and have seen the film numerous times.

I've seen every version done (the animated ones included) a number of times, and re-read the basic set every few years. I have also read most of the follow on works published by Christopher Tolkien (the "Unfinished Tales", the collected letters about Arda, and The Silmarillion).

Even my daughter has read the basic set of books 3 or 4 times now, the first time at 7. It's a staple in my household. When we went to see to see the movies when they first came out, she could pick out every difference between the movies and the books, even one that I missed (Boromir was not killed until the first chapter of The Two Towers).

[Xavier_Onassis]

Interestingly enough, in the books he was betrayed and his physical form was killed by the "oppressed slave" Gríma Wormtongue on November 3. That day also happens to be my birthday.

========================================================
I would have thought that in a fantasy world, the months would have different names, and be divided differently. They do in Iran, Arabia and Jewish tradition.

A year of 365 ¼ days, divided into between 12 and 13 lunar months does not seem to be the logical work of a perfect creator. There should be a more logical arrangement.

I would think Tolkein would have been more rational. I'm pretty sure even Slartlibartfarst could have done a superior job.

Beginning the year in the dead of winter seems to make little sense. The Romans at least began it in March, which is springtime in the N Hemisphere.

[Amianthus]

I would have thought that in a fantasy world, the months would have different names, and be divided differently. They do in Iran, Arabia and Jewish tradition.

Except that Tolkien's world of Arda is not a "fantasy world" - it's intended to be Earth of a long time ago. Indeed, his works are intended to be a "creation mythology" for the English peoples. The calendar used by other races are different, however, the tales we know of as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are supposed to come from The Red Book of the Hobbits, and the calendar used by the Hobbits is the familiar January - December one.

A year of 365 ¼ days, divided into between 12 and 13 lunar months does not seem to be the logical work of a perfect creator. There should be a more logical arrangement.

You expect Hobbits to be "logical"? Just because Spock admires them does not mean that they are "logical."

I would think Tolkein would have been more rational. I'm pretty sure even Slartlibartfarst could have done a superior job.

Perhaps you should complain directly to him?

Beginning the year in the dead of winter seems to make little sense. The Romans at least began it in March, which is springtime in the N Hemisphere.

Many of the concepts in the Middle Earth books are from Celtic and Anglo-Saxon sources. The Celts and Anglo-Saxons began their years at either the autumnal equinox or the winter solstice, depending on the time period you're looking at.