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Originally Posted by alatar
Far be it for me to argue with the Professor, but I would think that 'poison' is too strong a word. Drugging need not be poisoning at some dosage, as we acetaminophen users know. Could Grima been 'dosing' Theoden with some type of narcotic that dulled his mind?
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The word 'poison' is an older word than 'drug' (poison is the Middle French variant of the Latin 'potio' or potion as we know it, whereas drug is derived from the Middle-English 'drogge' and dates to no earlier than the 14th century, but 'poison' can be found in Middle-English texts as early as the 11th century). Knowing Tolkien's penchant for a turn of a word, the use of 'poison' (and he would know it was a derivative of the stem of 'potion') can mean a 'liquid dose', and there is also the metaphoric meaning as in 'to poison one's mind'. Therefore, it would seem that Tolkien would prefer to use the older term and its double meaning, just as Theoden speaks of 'leechcraft' (and the word 'leech' fits Grima nicely, doesn't it?), rather than more modern medical terminology.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alatar
But pharmacopeia doesn't seem like Saruman's thing, but more like something Radagast would use. Could it have been more of the psychic drugging, like the mental abuse a torturer uses to break the will of a captive - nothing physical, just relentless words that darken the listener's skies?
If it truly were a physical poison, then how did Gandalf cure such a thing, as we don't see him curing anything, even the Black Breath, later in the Houses of Healing?
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I have not heard that Radagast was into psychotropics (but, of course, Hobbits were into 'shrooms). It would seem to me that Saruman would indeed engage in developing poisons, or mind-altering drugs, as part of his studies (after all, he was pretty handy with gunpowder, another newfangled innovation). The wording Tolkien uses regarding Grima and poisoning seems to indicate that the original malady Theoden suffered was either 'induced' or 'increased' by Grima's poison or potion, but that the actual prolongation of this malady was due more to Grima's subtle and insidious mind manipulation rather than regular dosing; hence, when Gandalf drags Theoden out into the sunlight, the king was not necessarily under the influence of any mood-modifier, and therefore is able to eventually stand without assistance.
From a strictly deductive standpoint, I don't think any magic or Sarumanic incorporeal manifestations were necessary in debilitating Theoden.