November 26, 2002

Re: Can Someone Advise on This One?
Razors

I've got a few theories about why the Moria orcs didn't just charge in and attack the Fellowship after surrounding them, none of which should be taken particularly seriously...

1) The orcs obviously feared and respected the Balrog, so maybe they weren't trying to kill the Fellowship - maybe they were just HOLDING them there until the Balrog arrived. They just didn't want to be in the firing line when it DID arrive, so they bolted as soon as they heard it approaching.

2) They might have recognised Gandalf as a wizard, and were sizing him up to see how powerful he was before charging in.

3) It could have been the old Terry Pratchett theory about facing overwhelming odds - even when you're outnumbered a thousand to one, your enemies might hesitate to attack you because none of them want to stick their necks out when there's all those other guys around to do it for them. Besides, if they all attack at once they're just as likely to injure each other as you.

4) This one's a long shot, but - it MIGHT have been a filmmaker's device to build suspense. Naahhh, that's not it...