Just a little interesting snippet I ran across while searching for "new" words to use in the RPGs
Quote:
Nine:
A Celtic sacred number which represents the beggining and ending of all things. The square root of nine is three, the basic sacred number of the Celts.
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After reading Leto's post about the "5 Itari", I had given some thought to the signifigance, if any, of Tolkien's choice of numbers; the Nine, the Seven, the Three, etc.
Do you think Tolkien chose these numbers intentionally, based on ancient mythology, or even his own Christian upbringing? Or perhaps a combination of the two, since many of the Christian teachings borrowed from other cultures; sort of as a way to give the people something they could relate to.
Or did Tolkien just think: "Nine. Yeah, that sounds like a nice, round, threatening number."
[ August 24, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]