Finwe, If JRRT had applied himself to completing the New Shadow, I cant see that a lack of originality would've been a factor really, his imagination seems boundless to me. Judging from his comments, its more likely that his loss of faith in the Dominion and Goodwill of Men was a deciding element in his reluctance to pursue a tale of the Fourth Age:
JRRT- "Since we are dealing with Men it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good"
That comment feels very cynical, realistic and actually quite bitter about the state of the human condition.
Back on topic though, and I found some interesting ideas concerning
Herumor and the Fourth Age by Michael Martinez.
Basically he deduces that the New Shadow of Herumor could be:
i) Evil men impersonating Orks
ii) Orks practicing Satanism/Morgothism in league with evil men and boys
iii) Wights or faded evil Elves again either in league with or in possession of evil men/sorcerers.
Of this last point he says:
Quote:
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a wight makes a certain better sense for the Satanic cult than a mere Orcish presence in Gondor. Sauron was closely associated with sorcery and necromancy, and he was served by many spirits, not just the Nazgul. Although the Nazgul were reduced to impotence when the One Ring was destroyed, the Barrow-wights and other spirits may have remained to trouble the living for many centuries afterward. If Herumor and his followers had found and become involved with a wight, the terror it could wield and the power it possessed would be considerable.
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Its all just intriguing specualtion really, but what throws me in the whole Herumor mystery is the fact that JRRT actually goes as far as naming him (and Fuinur) in the Silmarillion, instead of calling them Black Numenoreans, or not naming them at all - like for example the three of the Nazgul who are acknowledged to be of Numenorean extraction.
Tolkien rarely places a name into the history of Arda without there being a background or destiny of meaning for doing so. If Herumors part in the HoME was to be so fleeting and insignificant, it does not follow JRRTs modus operandi, and the mystery just gets deeper...
<font size=1 color=339966>[ 6:52 AM January 28, 2004: Message edited by: Numenorean ]