''Three cheers for Captain Frodo, Lord of the Ring''

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Mansun

I don't think telling other posters what to do is the correct approach. There is meant to be active discussion here, not a heated argument.

Who's having a heated argument? Mansun, it is very hard to have a discussion if you don't understand what the other party is getting at. I am not "telling you what to do", I'm suggesting you make your points a bit more clearly. All right?

On that note– what in the quote

"But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower."

indicates light-hearted humour? This is a genuine question. I really, really want to know.

Also–

Originally Posted by Mansun

Do you forget Farmer Maggot here? He had beaten Frodo before, in the wrong side of fury. Didn't Gandalf nearly burn Gollum alive in a flash of anger?

Again, I'm at loss to know what possible bearing Farmer Maggot has on anything.

And Gandalf did not "nearly burn Gollum alive in a flash of anger". He threatened him with fire, to get him to talk. Not nice, I agree– but not the same thing.

Here's the quote (from The Shadow of the Past):

"I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling."