The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/index.php)
-   The Books (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/forumdisplay.php?f=9)
-   -   Did Morgulduin pollute the lower Anduin ? (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=16441)

The Mouth of Sauron 04-18-2010 07:55 AM

Did Morgulduin pollute the lower Anduin ?
 
The Morgulduin flowed from valley of Minas Morgul down to the Anduin below Osgiliath. Given the poisoned nature of the Morgulduin, did it pollute the whole of the lower Anduin ?

Inziladun 04-18-2010 08:13 AM

I would say no. The 'pollution' seems to be referring to some sort of enchantment or magic on the stream, and once out of the area of Minas Morgul, maybe the water would be safe again.
Perhaps a comparison could be made with the enchanted stream in Mirkwood. It flowed into the Forest River, which in turn went to the Long Lake and the River Running. The Lake-men apparently were not troubled by sudden urges to sleep.

Morthoron 04-18-2010 12:05 PM

Orcs gotta drink, don't they? Perhaps they had a higher tolerance for e-coli, dysentery, cholera and other waterborne diseases. Perhaps Tolkien was thinking of the Thames, which supposedly looked black and sorcerous until health reforms reduced dumping of human waste, animal offal and manufacturing slag over the last 100 years:

"The whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid...surely the river which flows for so many miles through London ought not to be allowed to become a fermenting sewer." -- Michael Faraday, The Times, 1855

'...a dank, stinking sludge, the scene of murders and crime'. -- Charles Dickens

Inziladun 04-18-2010 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morthoron (Post 627968)
Orcs gotta drink, don't they? Perhaps they had a higher tolerance for e-coli, dysentery, cholera and other waterborne diseases. Perhaps Tolkien was thinking of the Thames, which supposedly looked black and sorcerous until health reforms reduced dumping of human waste, animal offal and manufacturing slag over the last 100 years:

That sounds more like what Sharkey's Men were trying to do in the Shire.

Quote:

'They're always a-hammering and a-letting out a smoke and a stench, and there isn't no peace even at night in Hobbiton. And they pour out filth a purpose; they've fouled all the lower Water, and it's getting down into Brandywine.'
The Scouring of the Shire

What was going on in Morgul looks like something different, more of a spritual decay and corruption rather than a physical pollutant.

CSteefel 04-26-2010 10:05 PM

Even in Middle Earth, dilution is the solution...

Blind Guardian 04-27-2010 10:20 PM

If there was no magic, then yes, maybe, the river would be polluted out side of Mordor. But since magic exists I would be doubtful.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:55 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.