July 11, 2002

Re: Now That You Mention It
Danny

There are a few other things that I would have thought characters could have done. One in the movie only comes from the way Gandalf and Saruman fought. When in Moria, why didn't Gandalf do a similar thing thrusting a wave of orcs back like he threw Saruman through a door. Ok that is only in the movie, but that would have been a cool shot in the movie and would have made Gandalf seem very formidable in battle, but it is great as is too.

Those are some good questions. I think that Saruman didn't take Gandalf's sword and stave (in the book) because he didn't want to spark a vicous fight. Remember how Gandalf wasn't willing to part with his stave in TTT? Well, I think that Saruman wanted Gandalf to be useful to him in some way in the future and didn't want to fight him hoping that he would be swayed to join his side.

About Glorfindle not taking Frodo on the horse with him, another good question. Perhaps Glorfindle didn't want to add extra weight to his horse because he knew that it would have to be able to outrun the other horses with riders. He knew that the horse wouldn't let Frodo fall so he didn't feel that his being with Frodo served much good. It may have been a strategic move because he knew that the river would rise if they could just get Frodo across the river. Not a good answer but an attempt.