The Middle Earth Popularity Cup

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by mormegil

++Maedhros

Chicks dig guys with one hand...

They do? And is that a reason for you to vote for him?

++Maedhros

I've heard women go for him. And he had guts, you gotta give him that. As if trying to wrestle the Silmarils away from Morgoth with an army behind him wasn't hard enough, he also tries to nick 'em from the victorious army of the Valar with only an artsy singer for help. A man of his word, truly.

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

++Boromir

Because this chick does not dig guys with one hand.

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by skip spence

They do? And is that a reason for you to vote for him?

So the legend goes. I thought of chopping off my hand many years ago but my wife was able to overcome the fact that I still had two so I figured I'd keep it.

[Gollum the Great]

++Boromir

[Strongbow]

++Maedhros

[Tuor in Gondolin]

I find Groin Redbeard's argument compelling.

And I like Sean Bean's Boromir portrayal in FOTR.

+ + Boromir.

[Ilya]

++Boromir

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

And I like Sean Bean's Boromir portrayal in FOTR.

I liked it too, but that has absolutely nothing bearing on this one here, right?

It's about the character in the books, not on who made him look nice in a movie by Hollywood.

Just think about Maedhros played in a blockbuster film by... Daniel Craig, or Alan Rickman... or whoever you wish, Johnny Depp?

That doesn't chance things.

Let's not let Boromir win because he's a movie-favourite because of Sean Bean or PJ. Let's go for the story of Maedhros by J.R.R.!

Hah, that's the reason I wish to do away with the third age characters...

Originally Posted by Groin

Elmo is right when he talks about Boromir not being as complicated

Yes. And the teletubbies are not too complicated either...

[Nerwen]

Yet another tricky choice... but I think

++Maedhros

gets the southpaw vote.

Originally Posted by mormegil

So the legend goes. I thought of chopping off my hand many years ago but my wife was able to overcome the fact that I still had two so I figured I'd keep it.

Awww...

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

++Maedhros

gets the southpaw vote.

That's also a sound argument!

Declared by another southpaw...

But better than making the vote because of just a movie actor - or not reading the Silm.!

[the phantom]

I don't think I'm going to vote in this match. I can't stand the thought that my vote may send one of these two home.

Boromir was the most sane person in all of LotR. Maedhros was probably the most interesting Elf left in ME after his father bit it.

*sigh*

Does there have to be a loser here?

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by the phantom

Does there have to be a loser here?

Tummy I may call you Skinner, as in Principal Seymore Skinner after that. This kind of warm-heartedness does not become you at all.

[skip spence]

Aye. In the end there can be only one, like Christoffer Lambert in Highlander. Uh... Nothing at all like that actually.

Don't chop your hand off though. You may find that chicks dig heroes like Meadhros, who lost his hand in epic fashion chained to a cliff wall by a vengeful God only to bounce back stronger than ever, but not so much average Joe's like Sador "Labadal", who slipped with the axe.

Currently the score is 6-6.

[Andsigil]

Okay, let's tip the scales in favor of:

++Boromir

[Aganzir]

++BOROMIR

No questions.

[skip spence]

By those last two votes the contest is decided and Boromir, Son of Denethor and Captain of the White Tower, advances to the semi-finals where he will face Beleg. Maedhros is thrown into a fiery pit.

Quarter Final 3:
This should be a good match. Two old friends from Valinor who've seen the light of the Trees, wise among the wise, and mighty on Middle Earth. It's:

Gandalf vs. Galadriel

[Morthoron]

++Gandalf

Hey, I've got to stick up for us curmudgeonly old farts.

[Strongbow]

++Galadriel

Up with the Lady of the Golden Wood!

[the phantom]

Another tough one. I love the Noldor rebels, and I'd love to see one of them win just to stick it to the Valar. But Gandalf is, well... Gandalf. I might sit back and later on give a vote to whoever is behind just to even things up.

[Gollum the Great]

Originally Posted by the phantom

Another tough one. I love the Noldor rebels, and I'd love to see one of them win just to stick it to the Valar. But Gandalf is, well... Gandalf.

That's about what I think.

[Aganzir]

++Galadriel

[skip spence]

I shudder to think that Galadriel is still around at the time of LotR, given her history. The things she must've seen and done throughout the long years, always with the memory of the paradise that was Valinor in the light of the Trees... Gandalf is a more developed character though and gets much more exposure. In the end, the choice is easy:

++Gandalf

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

++Gandalf
++Mithrandir
++Tharkun
++Incanus
++Olorin
++Lathspell

Did I miss any?

[skip spence]

Think so, but hey, that still counts as one. Lathspell is new to me, who called him that?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Think so, but hey, that still counts as one. Lathspell is new to me, who called him that?

Grima called him that. Lathspell = ill news.

[Lalwendë]

I like Galadriel, she's probably the best and most complex female character in the whole thing (apart from Ungoliant), but I'm afraid old Grandalf must take my vote here.

The crusty old pipe-smoking hippy with a sharp tongue and a knack for fireworks, he's just excellent. No wonder the flower power generation wanted him for President - we can only dream what the world might have been like had he taken up office. Man.

I mean, he's an Odinic Wanderer, how utterly cool is that? Maybe if Galadriel had left the house now and then...

Tolkien did about as good a job as is possible in conjouring up the spirit of Merlin Himself for his story, and for all we joke about him uncloaking he's an elemental being and straight from the ancient real world - a 'magic elf' as the name translates in Old Norse.



++Gandalf

[Nogrod]

Oh my! We were so close! And now it becomes the safe LotR-run for all the fun-girls and -boys...

Andsigil and Aganzir, I'll promise to vote against your favourites from now on incessantly. And will call for others to do the same. That was a disgrace.

Party-spoilers...

Hah, if you happen to disagree on a vote? Hmm... a tough one... I'll vote for the less cute or handsome or well-known or emotionally charged...

[the phantom]

Oh my! We were so close! And now it becomes the safe LotR-run for all the fun-girls and -boys...

Oh, I don't know about that. Beleg is still in this. So is Turin. Actually, that would be an extremely interesting match- best friends forced to do battle.

[Andsigil]

Well, Nogorod, you have your choice now, as I'm going opposite Aganzir this time and voting for ++Gandalf.

Unlike Lalwendë, I don't see any hippie characteristics in Gandalf, other than the fact that he has no visible means of support and always seems to live at other peoples' residences.

If I did see him as a hippie, I'd be voting for the Lady of Lorien, instead.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Unlike Lalwendë, I don't see any hippie characteristics in Gandalf, other than the fact that he has no visible means of support and always seems to live at other peoples' residences.

If I did see him as a hippie, I'd be voting for the Lady of Lorien, instead.

Gandalf might not have been a hippie, but he certainly put Hippie-ish thoughts into the impressionable minds of teenagers in the 1970's. After reading the smoke ring sequence with Gandalf and Bilbo, I went out and purchased a churchwarden pipe...

http://vegassmokes.com/churchwarden_pipes.htm

I still have it, proudly displayed in an oaken Bronzeworth barrister bookcase. I haven't smoked...ummm...anything from it in decades, but since everyone in my house is carping about my cigarettes, perhaps I'll go to Churchill's Tobacconists and buy some vanilla black Cavendish, which, if I remember correctly, had a great aroma.

[Thinlómien]

Aieeeeeeee you voted Boromir instead of Maedhros despite what morm and skip said about chicks digging him? Tsk tsk! Well, at least I don't have to decide between any of my three favourites in the finals now (now that evil skippy has matched Gandalf and Galadriel against each other). Speaking of which, I'm thinking about abstaining this round... I'd like to vote Galadriel to get less popular characters into the finals, and Gandalf because he's probably the only one who can prevent Sam from winning the whole competition...

[Nerwen]

++Galadriel

as usual.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Unlike Lalwendë, I don't see any hippie characteristics in Gandalf, other than the fact that he has no visible means of support and always seems to live at other peoples' residences.

That's enough for me to call him a hippie I mean, he's not a benefit scrounger because there's nowhere in Middle-earth to sign on, and he's not a New Age Traveller because he hasn't got a caravan, nor is he a tramp because he hasn't got a dog-on-a-rope. So, hippie it is

Nothing wrong with an old fashioned style hippie anyway, they're cool.

I sniff a thread idea...

[Tuor in Gondolin]

++ Galadriel

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Gandalf might not have been a hippie, but he certainly put Hippie-ish thoughts into the impressionable minds of teenagers in the 1970's. After reading the smoke ring sequence with Gandalf and Bilbo, I went out and purchased a churchwarden pipe...

That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard about Gandalf. That's like saying I'm a soldier because I shoot guns.

Gandalf represents more of a prophet than a hippie (I don't know where get the idea that he's a hippie). After all it was the task of the Istari to help the peoples of Arda in the fight against Sauron, Gandalf was the only one of the Istari that stuck to the task which made him a "voice in the wilderness", "a stone doomed to rolling." I just love the way he stirs up the hearts of rulers to fight and spreads the news of what is happening. I do wish that Tolkien would have written a book purely on the travels of Gandalf!


++Gandalf

[mormegil]

Honestly, this is a tough one for me as I like both characters quite a bit. If I were to look at the movie, these are some of my favorite portrayls too. However, Gandalf gets the edge and only slightly in the long run. I wish we heard more about Galadriel's adventures.

++Gandalf

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

This is a difficult one. . . . I like both Galadriel and Gandalf, but right now I think most fondly about Galadriel.

++Galadriel

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Oh my! We were so close! And now it becomes the safe LotR-run for all the fun-girls and -boys...

Andsigil and Aganzir, I'll promise to vote against your favourites from now on incessantly. And will call for others to do the same. That was a disgrace.

Haha! But you see, when Boromir is in question I regress to the fangurl level. Now Maedhros? Who cares about him? Ha!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard about Gandalf. That's like saying I'm a soldier because I shoot guns.

Bad analogy there Groin. Everyone knows that reading Lord of the Rings leads straight to any number of addictions (particularly pipeweed), and even worse, bouts of sanctimoniousness.

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

Gandalf represents more of a prophet than a hippie (I don't know where get the idea that he's a hippie). After all it was the task of the Istari to help the peoples of Arda in the fight against Sauron, Gandalf was the only one of the Istari that stuck to the task which made him a "voice in the wilderness", "a stone doomed to rolling." I just love the way he stirs up the hearts of rulers to fight and spreads the news of what is happening. I do wish that Tolkien would have written a book purely on the travels of Gandalf!f[/B]

You said it yourself, Gandalf is the original Rolling Stoner, and he exhibits many primary traits of a hippie, as already pointed out by Lal, who perhaps fit in well with the Carnaby Street crowd at one point in time.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I'd like to vote Galadriel to get less popular characters into the finals

What??? Galadriel is supposed to be less popular?

If it is so, the masses, as usually, have horrible taste - even for characters.

Although by part, it is proven by this thread a bit, look for example at where Saruman is I think I may well even feel a bit of satisfaction if the one who wins is going to be some totally silly character...


...like Sam.

and Gandalf because he's probably the only one who can prevent Sam from winning the whole competition...

I haven't been around for the few days before, but Sam? Winning? Nonsense. That cannot be. Just look how narrowly he escaped some of these, well, whoever it was. What does that tell us? We vote out the characters we like, because we have to choose only one of them, but that is going to bump into people who like the different character. Thus, people will start to vote in favor of the opposite character, and in the end we end up only with the characters nobody likes.

Okay, I see this clearly. But anyway, for now,

++Galadriel

I like Gandalf too, but if I have to choose... he still isn't as brilliant, yes, that's the word.