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Monthly Archives: July 2015

Slings and Arrows

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ollamh in J.R.R. Tolkien, Military History of Middle-earth

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Tags

Charles Goodyear, Civil War soldiers, Dwarves, Gandalf, Goliath, Industrial Revolution, Isengard, Mr. Baggins, Ori, Pipeweed, Potatoes, Sling, Slingshot, The Hobbit, Tolkien, Tomatoes, Vulcanized

Dear Readers,

“Cold chicken and tomatoes!” shouted Gandalf in 1937 to a flummoxed Mr. Baggins.

“Cold chicken and pickles!” shouted Gandalf in 1966 to a still-flummoxed Mr. Baggins.

Something has happened in those 30 years– and it isn’t just a change in the Hobbit menu.

It’s about anachronism– what is appropriate within a time period and its place– and how Tolkien, in retrospect, came to believe that tomatoes didn’t grow in Middle-earth.

This is odd, one might think, because potatoes and tobacco (only called such in The Hobbit and always “pipeweed” in The Lord of the Rings) do grow there. (Although perhaps only in the Shire? Gollum, a one-time resident of the banks of the Anduin, certainly doesn’t recognize potatoes.)

We’ll never know why the tomatoes disappeared, while the other two remained, they all, being products of New World exploration and importation. After all, all three are agricultural produce and, depending on climate and soil, equally possible.

But then, there’s that slingshot. 

It’s not in The Hobbit, but in P. Jackson’s The Hobbit. Ori the Dwarf is armed with it, we suppose in an attempt to differentiate him from the other Dwarves, and to suggest his age in relation to them (although he appears to be perhaps 150 years old, more or less– see the Tolkien Gateway citation for “Ori” for further information).

OriSlingshot

Consider, however, what gives a slingshot its zing: a big rubber band.

Slingshot_(weapon)

This rubber band is a strip of vulcanized rubber, the process for making such rubber only being patented in our world in 1844 by Charles Goodyear.

Goodyear

(A process which allowed Civil War soldiers to wear rain ponchos.)

Poncho

Unlike tomatoes, vulcanization represents a further idea in the ongoing Industrial Revolution– an event which did not take place in the Third Age of Middle-earth. (We might see events at Isengard as perhaps signaling pre-industrialization, of the sort one saw in the earlier 18th century in western Europe and particularly in Great Britain.)

Bell Making, from the 'Encyclopedia' by Denis Diderot (1713-84) 1751-72 (engraving) (b/w photo)

Instead of a comparatively recent slingshot, why not use a well-known missile weapon of the ancient world, the sling?

Slingweapon

Instead of the tension of vulcanized rubber, this uses arm muscle and physics to propel its deadly ammunition– just ask Goliath. 

David-and-Goliath-vba

(For any number of examples of the sling in action, just google ‘sling” on YouTube.)

For us, then, this seems to be a choice. And maybe a significant one. Either, like Tolkien, to consider and reconsider carefully each item and to decide for or against, or simply to grab something convenient and use it, apparently not caring if it were appropriate for Middle-earth or not.

It’s easy to see where we stand on this, so we leave it to you, dear readers: which would you choose?

Thanks, as ever, for reading,

MTCIDC,

CD

The Two Sieges

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ollamh in Heroes, J.R.R. Tolkien, Military History

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Tags

Agincourt, Aragorn, English Longbowmen, Faramir, French Knights, Gondor, Grond, Hoth, Jan Sobieski, Lithuania, Minas Tirith, Mumakil, Nazgul, Orcs, Ottoman, Peter Jackson, Poland, Rammas Echor, Rohan, Rohirrim, Siege Towers, Stone Throwers, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, Vienna, Winged Hussars

Welcome, as always, dear readers!

In this posting, we’re going to make another suggestion about a model for something in Tolkien’s work.

If you read us regularly, you know that our favorite part of P. Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is anything to do with the Rohirrim. When we rewatch favorite scenes, the charge against the Orcs outside Minas Tirith is always first on our list (and high on our general list of cavalry charges—more on those in a future posting).

First, we see that massive Orc army marching up to the walls. (In the book, this is more dramatic: the Orcs blow two holes in the Rammas Echor, outflank the defenders, and drive them into retreat, which is where Faramir is badly wounded by an arrow.)

minas-tirith

Then they begin to attack with stone-throwers,

siege1

siege towers,

lotr-siege-towers

and, eventually a giant, flame-filled battering ram.

grond1

Things look increasingly desperate for Gondor as the Orcs press their attack, led by the Chief Nazgul.

witch_king_of_angmar_ii_by_dudeskindasketchy-d4d6uvd

And that’s when the Rohirrim appear.

rohirrimabouttocharge

And move to strike the Orcs from behind.

Charge_rohirrim

When the Orcs realize what’s happening, they try to stop the attack with bows.

archery

This immediately reminded us of the 1415 battle in which English longbowmen and their clever use defeated an army of brave French knights, Agincourt.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Unlike Agincourt, however, arrows didn’t stop the Rohirrim, who sweep through the enemy—but are brought up short by the sight of a row of mumakil—giant war elephants—bearing down on them.

img-2845793-1-charge-1024x425

Seeing this scenario made us think of another attack by huge, lumbering things in a galaxy long ago and far away—

Battle_of_Hoth

The film goes on from there, including an attack by a ghost army, instead of by the actual forces brought from southern Gondor by Aragorn, but we want to back up a bit to the actual siege and another one which bears a strong resemblance to it.

For centuries, the Ottoman Turks had been expanding their dominions.

Ottoman_Empire_Map_1359-1856

They had first reached Vienna in 1529,

Siegeofvienna1529

but had given up the siege. Now, however, in 1683, they were back.

Battle_of_Vienna_1683_map

Their attacks against a dwindling number of defenders in a crumbling town

1-vienna-1683

had brought them to the edge of conquest when an army of reenforcements, including cavalry from the army of the combined state of Lithuania/Poland, had appeared. Some of the cavalry were the famous Polish winged hussars.

Battle_of_Vienna_1

Just as the Rohirrim are led by their king, Theoden, so are the Poles led by their king Jan Sobieski—

bitwa-pod-wiedniem-obraz

The reenforcements, Poles in the lead, rush upon the Turks and drive them back through their camps and out of the siege entirely.

Atak_husarii

Battle_of_Vienna_1683_11

So similar, isn’t it? No giant war elephants, ghost armies, or Nazgul, but the basic elements of siege, relieving army with cavalry led by a king attacking an unprepared enemy, and chasing off the besiegers, is nearly identical.

Tolkien was an extremely well-read man, with a strong interest in history. Was the siege and relief of Vienna somewhere in the back of his mind when he began to plan the siege of Minas Tirith?

Thanks for reading!

MTCIDC

CD

Trading with the Enemy

15 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ollamh in Economics in Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, Maps

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bree, Cross-Roads, Gandalf, Gimli, Great East Road, Greenway, Isengard, Laketown, Legolas, Marxist Critics, Merry and Pippin, Middle-earth, Mirkwood, North-South Road, Peter Jackson, Pipeweed, Roads, Roman Roads, Rome, Saruman, Sauron, South Farthing, Swanfleet, The Lord of the Rings, The Shire, Theoden, Tolkien, Trade, Transport

Dear Readers,

In a recent posting, we opened with the image of Merry and Pippin happily feasting among the ruins of Isengard as Gandalf, Theoden, and company ride up to meet them.

“…suddenly they were aware of two small figures lying…at their ease…there were bottles and bowls and platters laid beside them, as if they had just eaten well, and now rested from their labour. One seemed asleep; the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, and little rings of thin blue smoke.” L543

MandPIsengard

We, as the readers, may be just as taken aback as the company; we’re joining the Hobbits again for the first time since Isengard’s demise, and it’s natural to ask: where, in the midst of all of this ruin, did they find this stuff? Gimli doesn’t hesitate to ask for us.

“’Where did you come by the weed, you villains?’” L544

Of course, he’s talking about pipeweed, something common, yet treasured, in the Shire. It is not native to a place like Isengard, so far south, but here we have the Hobbits smoking it and even enjoying a surplus. Legolas is just as impressed,

“’You speak for me, Gimli,’ laughed Legolas, ‘though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine.’” L544

Pippin only teases, answering that

“’Here you find us sitting on a field of victory…and you wonder how we came by a few well earned comforts.” L544

And so we’re left with this mystery of supplies, but we can be sure that, in Tolkien’s mind, there was an answer. He was, after all, diligent about even minute details concerning Middle-earth, and was also the same man who once said that

“I am not incapable or unaware of economic thought; and I think as far as the ‘mortals’ go, Men, Hobbits, and Dwarfs, that the situations are so devised that economic likelihood is there and can be worked out…” LT, L.154 P.196.

In this quotation, Tolkien can almost be echoing, in an ironic way, the argument of Marxist critics that economic systems, even those appearing in literature, hide their true nature. Tolkien seems to be telling us that he was well aware of trade systems, and, we would suggest, this would include a basic foundation: transport. And, using what we are given in the texts, we can see that there were two main methods. One is by water–as in the flourishing wine trade between Mirkwood and Laketown.

hobbit-raft-elves

This pair of places is naturally connected by river and lake. Such is not the case with the South Farthing and Isengard, of course. Instead, water bodies like the Swanfleet lie between them. And yet there is that pipeweed. The Hobbits are smoking it and, in the extended edition of the film version, Peter Jackson even shows us two large barrels of pipeweed labeled “South Farthing”.

This brings us to our second method of transport, by road.

ShireRoads

Like all educated men of his time, Tolkien had been raised on the world of the Greeks and Romans and, among the longest-lasting monuments of the Roman world was the extensive system of roads, some of which are still in existence in our own time and are even (asphalted over) the basis of certain modern English roads. In Middle-earth, there appear to be a number of such ancient roads, such as the Cross-Roads:

CrossRoads

The Great East road:

greateastrd-map

The North-South road:

north-south-road

Other possibilities would include once-active, but now abandoned routes, like the Greenway, running north from Bree and the Stone Road which the Woodwoses know and point out to Theoden.

As you can see, we can easily imagine Tolkien thinking out the economics of Middle Earth through a road network similar to that of the Roman Empire, with its own intricate road systems

RomanRoadNetwork

 

Along these roads came much of Rome’s wealth and the case would have been the same for Middle-earth, so here’s a clue to Saruman’s pipeweed trade with the Shire. Looking at a map, we see that The Great East Road, which, traveling east from the Shire, would lead to Bree, and to the Cross-Roads, reaching The North-South Road.

fonstad01 fonstad02

Such trade would seem natural, not only to the Romans, but to us. In the wreckage of Isengard, however, for all that Merry and Pippin are so casual about it, there is another implication: Saruman, who wants to be another Sauron, must know much more about the Shire than anyone, even Gandalf has understood, and, thinking of the “Scouring of the Shire”, that could easily bode ill for the future of that place which the Hobbits think so safe and removed…

Thanks, as ever, for reading.

MTCIDC,

CD

Shall We Gather at the River?

08 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ollamh in J.R.R. Tolkien, Maps, Military History, Narrative Methods

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Tags

Alexander, Anduin, Burnside, Cair Andros, Celeborn, Confederate, D-Day, Denethor, Douro, Faramir, Fredericksburg, French, Gandalf, Hydaspes, Inchon, Indiana Jones, Isola Tiberina, King Poros, Lee, Minas Tirith, Mordor, Napoleonic, Nazgul, Pelennor, Pontoon, Porto, Quebec, Rappahannock, Roechling, Sauron, Soult, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, Union, Wellington, West Osgiliath, Zouaves

Dear Readers,

Welcome, as always. In this posting, we thought we’d do a kind of follow-up to our “What Happened to the Rammas Echor” piece by looking at the Mordorian assault on West Osgiliath, which leads up to it. (Yes, we know—bassackwards, right? We can only claim as Indiana Jones does, that “I’m making this up as I go along.”)

We can begin with a map and a description by a participant.

Here’s the Anduin, the major obstacle for Sauron’s forces to cross at a point in easy striking distance of Minas Tirith.

gondor_map

Here’s Denethor’s intelligent assessment of the defensive situation:

“…And the Enemy must pay dearly for the crossing of the River. That he cannot do, in force to assail the City, either north of Cair Andros because of the marshes, or southwards towards Lebennin because of the breadth of the River, that needs many boats. It is at Osgiliath that he will put his weight, as before when Boromir denied him the passage.” LotR 816

EphelDuath_10x10drape2

Although there have been very creative attempts to map or depict Cair Andros, for all of its importance in the defense of Gondor, we aren’t given much detail. Its name means “Ship of Long Foam” , called so because of its shape and its action in breaking up the flow of the Anduin. This brought to our minds the Isola Tiberina on the Tiber in Rome,

18-1

which so reminded the Romans of a ship that—well, this 1770s engraving makes their next step obvious—

Piranesi-16059

Cair Andros was fortified and had a garrison, although Denethor refuses to reinforce it, saying “Cair Andros is manned, and no more can be sent so far.” LOtR 816

We also know that the enemy will capture it during their two-proned general assault (Gandalf says to Denethor: “Fugitives from Cair Andros have reached us. The isle has fallen.” LotR 819)

To the south, somewhere between forty and fifty miles, lies Osgiliath.

Anorien

Identified by Denethor as the other major crossing point, it was once a prosperous city, but now lies in ruins, with its bridges destroyed (Celeborn to Aragorn: “And are not the bridges of Osgiliath broken down and all the landings held now by the Enemy?” LotR 367).

The problem, then, for the Enemy is how to cross a river against opposition, a classic problem for generals since there were generals.

We think, for example, of Alexander at the Hydaspes River in 326BC, defended by King “Poros” (actually Porushattama—Greeks were determined to tame everything—including other cultures’ proper names).

1382499630_Hydaspes

(and we couldn’t resist this second image—Alexander in the center of his pikemen—in what looks like 25-28mm)

VendelMacedonians

As you can see from the map, Alexander crossed upstream, having distracted the king with a demonstration (military for “feint/decoy”).

Battle_hydaspes_crossing

This was through open country, however. In the case of Osgiliath

osgiliath

the Enemy would have to cross the river in the face of opposition within a town. Here, we thought of several possibilities: Wellington’s crossing of the river Douro against French resistance in 1809, for example. Here was not only the river, but its steep banks, as well.

Henry Smith Oporto, With The Bridge Of Boats 1809

(The pontoon bridge was set up after the attack.)

There were no bridges and the French had collected all of the available boats and had either destroyed them or were holding them on the north side of the river. As Porto (the name means what you think it does) was the center of the fortified wine trade (yes , “Pass the port, Wriothsley, will you?”), the major vessel on the river was this—

pb17

Wellington was always a clever and flexible commander and had to be when confronted by the able Marshal Soult across the river. Much of Wellington’s success came from his use of local sources: Portuguese who hated their French occupiers and supplied some of Wellington’s men with a rowboat and crew. On the north side were four wine boats, soon filled with British soldiers—

sec198

and the surprised, but always brave and sturdy, French soldiers were eventually pushed back north, out of the town.

oporto

As you can see, this was really a frontal assault, but, because of their former preparations and their sense of the geography, the French had been lulled into thinking that they were prepared.

A second battle with a river crossing against a defended town which occurred to us was from the US Civil War, Fredericksburg, fought in mid-December, 1862.

Fredericksburg-Overview

Here, as this extremely useful panorama shows, this was actually a two-step battle: first the Union troops had to cross the Rappahannock River, then they had to drive the Confederate Army from their positions on high ground beyond.

fburg_diorama1

The town of Fredericksburg itself was lightly held: mostly close to the river and relatively few in numbers.

barksdales-men

The main Confederate positions were spread a bit thinly for their numbers (not much in the way of reserves, had there been a breakthrough—Lee had had a similar problem at Antietam), but paid close attention to the ground, including taking advantage of a sunken road with a stone wall at its edge as a makeshift trench.

Confederate soldiers rake the field over which Union troops charged six times, from behind the stone walll at the Sunken Road, in  the blood Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 1862.  Confederate Sgt. Richard Kirkland became known as the Angel of Marye's Heights when he brought water to wounded Union soldiers. (AP Photo)

To cross the river itself meant a two-stage process: first, to gain the opposite bank and set up a perimeter; second, to build several pontoon bridges to allow for the rapid deployment of troops and artillery.

19th-century armies commonly traveled with pontoons—boats built specifically to be used as the basis for floating bridges—

ACWpontoonsmobile1862

They were dragged along on wagons wherever and whenever armies went—

mud-march-waud-locgov

and, with the addition of planks and anchors and ropes, created complete roadways across bodies of water.

Fredericksburg_pontoon_model

The first stage was difficult,

Amphibious-assault_1376_2

but using pontoons for assault boats

laying-pontoons-fredericksburg

the Union troops managed to secure a foothold on the opposite bank. When bridges went up, stage one had been successful. But, when the Confederates had withdrawn from the town (which they had never intended to occupy in force), there was still that second stage.

dec13fredericksburgcharge

Great courage, but thrown away against resolute Confederate defenders,

1457692_641056089250250_1771492272_n

as you can see in this splendid painting by Carl Roechling, one of our favorite 19th-c. German military-historical painters of the attack of the 114th Pennsylvania (uniformed like French Zouaves, those most admired of French soldiers during this period).

Öèôðîâàÿ ðåïðîäóêöèÿ íàõîäèòñÿ â èíòåðíåò-ìóçåå Gallerix.ru

You can see the kinds of difficulties, then, for the Enemy in their attack on the west bank of the Anduin. How do they succeed? A messenger from Faramir, commanding the defense of West Osgiliath, describes the assault:

“The plan has been well laid. It is now seen that in secret they have long been building floats and barges in great number in East Osgiliath. They swarmed across like beetles.” LotR 817.

Here is the initial attack in Jackson’s film version—

800px-Orcs_crossing_anduin

When these craft land, they open at the bow and, of course, we immediately thought of D-Day and Pacific island battles and the Inchon landing, and Higgins Boats (LCVPs)

Darke_APA-159_-_LCVP_18 tumblr_n6pop14CrH1s57vgxo3_1280

Along with their advanced use of explosives in the attack on the Pelennor to come, these are very sophisticated creatures, especially when one thinks about the landing craft of earlier centuries—the boats designed for the British attack on Quebec in 1759

c-001078

102381

Or the sort of thing you see during the Napoleonic era—

agoid106297-594

These are for amphibious landings. Mostly, when it comes to the era of pontoons, it appears that, when it came to rivers, soldiers simply used them

Voltigeurs_of_a_French_Line_regiment_crossing_the_Danube_before_the_battle_of_Wagram

The “beetles” mentioned by Faramir’s messenger swarm over the men of Gondor, so heavily outnumbered that, as Faramir says, “Today we may make the Enemy pay ten times our loss at the passage and yet rue the exchange. For he can afford to lose a host better than we to lose a company.” LotR 816. And then there is their other weapon, the Chief Nazgul.

battle_of_osgiliath_by_shockbolt

“But it is the Black Captain that defeats us. Few will stand and abide even the rumor of his coming. His own folk quail at him, and they would slay themselves at his bidding.” As Faramir’s messenger adds. LotR 817.

Gandalf goes out to face him

lotr-collectibe_PASSTHED

and we wonder if other commanders—Alexander, Wellington, the Union general Burnside, for example–when faced with the problem of a defended crossing, would wish to have him on their side—or the Black Captain?

As always, thanks for reading.

MTCIDC

CD

Dead Ringers?

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ollamh in Fairy Tales and Myths, J.R.R. Tolkien, Narrative Methods, Poetry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Daydreaming, Dragon, Eagles, Ford of Bruinen, Frigates, Frodo, Kites, Nazgul, Pterodactyl, Red-Tailed Hawk, Ring Wraiths, Robert Burns, Shire, Tam O'Shanter, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, Washington Irving, Witches' Sabbath

Welcome! In this posting, we plan to talk about the Ring Wraiths (probably in hushed voices).

This entry was initially inspired by looking out the window (and no, we weren’t daydreaming—really!).

There was a harsh call from the sky.

Red-Tailed Hawk Scream (YouTube)

Peering out, we saw the local hawks, who are nesting on a tall building across the road, circling, balancing high on a thermal in that amazing way, something like a kite

Ancient-China-kites-2

combined with the nimbleness of an 18th-c. frigate.

l'hermione

Red-Tailed Hawks Circling (YouTube)

And suddenly we were looking up at something completely different—

7affeea5ca3551eddd3ae8bc4abd7b47

Nazgul!

In contrast to those very convenient Tolkien eagles, traditionally admired as a fierce and noble bird

tumblr_inline_mvvy21Tf9e1rnrk68

the Wraiths appear to be riding a cross between a flying dragon

Fantasy_In_the_clouds_flying_dragon_067388_

and a pterodactyl.

Pterodactyl_2_(PSF)

nazgul_by_daroz-d5hdnn9

Of course, we first encounter the Nazgul on the ground

nazgul_by_jarrettonions-d47wvdd

in their invasion of the Shire and their subsequent pursuit of Frodo.

And here, at the final moment, at the Ford of Bruinen, where the Wraiths are swept away,

ford

perhaps we can catch a glimpse of one of the origins of a very dramatic scene.

The Scots poet, Robert Burns

burnshead1

wrote “Tam O’Shanter” in 1790 and published it the following year.

Tam O’Shanter Poem and Translation

It’s the story in verse of a farmer who stays too late at his local.

Tam_o'_Shanter_and_Souter_Johnny_at_Kirkton_Jean's

Then, on the way home, he is attracted by light in a local abandoned (and, of course, haunted) church

Alloway_Kirk

where a witches’ Sabbath is going on.

(c) City of Edinburgh Council; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Still quite tipsy, he cheers it on and, of course, the witches and other otherworldly creatures are immediately in hot pursuit.

(c) Cutty Sark Trust; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Tam can escape, but only if he can reach the nearby river Doon and cross its bridge.

bridgeofdoune

He just manages to do this, but his poor horse, Meg, loses her tail.

four

If this plot has a familiar ring, it’s because the American author, Washington Irving,

Portrait of Washington Irving

used the poem as a major source for his short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (published in 1820). We begin with a very different story: in 1790, a poor schoolmaster with the poetic name of Ichabod Crane comes to the Hudson River valley town of Sleepy Hollow and, in the course of his stay, becomes such an annoyance to the local bravo, that he uses the local legend of a headless horseman to frighten Crane off.

keller_sleepyhollow

To do this, he convinces Crane that, should he be pursued by such a creature, he can only escape it by crossing running water. (And here we can see the strong influence of Burns.) In the subsequent narrative, as the horseman, the bravo chases Crane to a bridge, and there the story stops. Crane disappears, never to be seen in Sleepy Hollow again. Irving_Sleepy 

John_Quidor_-_The_Headless_Horseman_Pursuing_Ichabod_Crane_-_Google_Art_Project

Unfortunately, neither the Carpenter letters nor the Hammond/Scull volumes provides any reference to Burns or Irving, but the idea that crossing the ford might stop the unearthly has, to us, a definite suggestion that, somewhere in the leaf mould, there may have been a tiny acorn of memory…

Thanks, as ever, for reading!

MTCIDC

CD

ps

You might know “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” from this–

legendofsleepyhollow-chase

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