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02-02-2007, 11:15 AM | #1 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Common cold beyond the Ring?
A long time ago I made a thread which asked why do you think Tolkien never mentioned anything about what we call the "common cold" on M-e, in specific with the journey of The Fellowship. The answers we gathered were
1) M-e air was clean and "colds" were non-existent there 2) Tolkien doesn't write about them going to the bathroom, so he isn't going to bother writing about a character having the sniffles. Either way you look at it, I could imagine that some sort of physical weakness that resembles our "common cold" had to have been taken towards Frodo a little. There's no evidence for this, and maybe he didn't have anything like our cold, but this passage in The Stairs of Cirith-Ungol even gives me the shivers- "The passage seemed to go on for miles, and always the chill air flowed over them, rising as they went on to a bitter wind." The hobbits were already probably sweating bullets. I can't see how Frodo couldn't have, along with the burden and weakness he already felt from the Ring, had a little extra "cold". I pick Frodo because, in his already weakened state, it would be more feasible that he got the "cold" rather than Sam. I'm sure both reasons 1 and 2 I mentioned are correct, and maybe I'm looking a little too deep here. Just thought it was worth a mention.
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"Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills...and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!" -Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring |
02-02-2007, 11:45 AM | #2 | |
Spectre of Capitalism
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02-02-2007, 02:59 PM | #3 | |
Princess of Skwerlz
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Good point, Thenamir! Interestingly, though Bilbo definitely has a cold after the barrel adventure:
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02-02-2007, 03:03 PM | #4 |
Pilgrim Soul
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Weren't men of Numenorean extraction meant to be more disease resistant ? And dwarves were far too tough I guess.....
Bilbo may have been particularly prone since Gandalf brings him a supply of hankies when he catches him and the dwarves up having chased Bilbo out of the house.....
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02-02-2007, 04:07 PM | #5 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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I would imagine certain races were more prone that others, I bet, like Mith said, Numernoreans would have a very good immunity.
I haven't yet read the Hobbit so I didn't know Bilbo caught a cold. Thanks!
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"Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills...and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!" -Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring |
02-03-2007, 12:42 PM | #6 | ||
Eagle of the Star
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02-03-2007, 01:07 PM | #7 |
Cryptic Aura
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This raises a most interesting question. What is the nature of viruses and bacterial infection in Middle-earth and whence do they arise?
I mean, are they part of the original music and thus part of Eru's plan or are they offspring of Morgoth's thought? Did the doom of men require infection and disease? Decay seems to be part of the negative aspects of Middle-earth--hence Galadriel's effort to maintain Lothlorien free from decay--but aren't bacteria and viruses part of that decay process? Thus, one would assume they belong to Sauron's camp/devising. Are all illnesses morgul wounds (either lesser or greater)? Given Elrond's reputation as a healer and Aragorn's 'hands of the King' and Ioreth's remembrance of tribal lore, it would suggest that illness does indeed have a role in the morality of Middle-earth.
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02-03-2007, 05:27 PM | #8 |
Eagle of the Star
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In the Silmarillion, "green things fell sick and rotten" after Utumno is built. Also, if I remember correctly, Valinor is as Arda Unmarred would have been, and of Valinor it is said that "it knew no corruption or sickness" (oh well, at least in the begining). The description of Aman in Myths Transformed also gives a similar statement. I believe then that all the (causes of) sicknesses appear first and foremost due to Melkor and his intervention in the Music.
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02-04-2007, 02:40 PM | #9 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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"Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills...and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!" -Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring |
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