Thread: Gothmog?
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Old 12-29-2003, 10:43 PM   #38
Finwe
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There is also the possibility that Tolkien gave the Lieutenant a name because he wanted to personify the "Dark Force" that was trying to conquer Minas Tirith. He wanted to make the reader understand that this wasn't some sort of mindless "flood," but an army composed of people (commanders, foot soldiers, etc.). In this scenario, it wouldn't particularly matter what race Gothmog is. All we know is that someone, mighty among the army, took over after the Witchking died, and continued leading the fight. Perhaps Tolkien also wanted to show that the fight could still go on without the Witch-king, that the People of the West had other foes that they needed to worry about. True, the tide of the battle had turned drastically, but there was still a battle to be fought.
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