Quote:
Originally Posted by Ibrîniðilpathânezel
I have also suspected, rather more seriously, that Tolkien went for three rather than four as a symbolic nod to the Trinity; he does admit, after all, that he rather intentionally thought of lembas as something akin to the viaticum of communion, which was why is became so strengthening and sustaining the more it was a person's sole nourishment. This would seem to fall into that same kind of symbolic (not allegorical) thought. Then again, he may have started off with a thing for prime numbers, until he got to the Nine.  |
Nine has some mystical symbolism. It is, after all, representative of Mankind (9 months of pregnancy), and Dante does have 9 circles in Hell (appropriate for Man in the evil sense of the Rings). The Trojan War lasted nine years, and Trojans, as we all know, help protect against the 9 months of pregnancy, which leads to the nine circles of Hell before a child graduates and leaves home.
See, it's all a vast, intertwined web of numerology.