The Warg and Warg Rider Appreciation Thread

[SamwiseGamgee]

I imagine that shall be worth every moment of the all too protracted wait, Eomer.
My exams on 'Substantive Warg Law' and 'Commercial Wargs' went alright, though the latter was a toughy. 'Explain how the Warg Act 1985 allows for different subdivisions of wargs.' Not fun.
Welcome, Sleepy Ranger, and please excuse my tardiness in greeting you, many great things have weighed heavy on my mind these past days...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I have decided to abandon the task of showing how Tolkien portrayed Wargs as great in his books. With the merest of glances at Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire in The Hobbit one can plainly see that Tolkien thought highly of Wargs. Thus, the self-appointed task would have been a pointless endeavour.

It strikes me now that what Tolkien dismissed from his works was the cultural aspects of Warg life. This can probably be explained by the fact that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were written about times of War and not peace or plenty. Also, he had spent too much time building up the beauty of the Elves to overshadow them with Wargs.

And let's be honest, Legolas is going to be a much more appropriate poster-boy for the desired movie-audience than any Warg.

By the way, excellent avatar Samwise.

[SamwiseGamgee]

Thank you, Eomer, I believe it is a commandment by which all men should live their lives! And I'll tell you something else, the World would be a far better place if men would obey the warg rather than shun him and treat him as an enemy.
I must say that I hold your logic on Tolkien's approach to wargs to be rather excellent, Eomer. Wargs would have eclipsed the elves like Luthien would eclipse a dwarf-maiden, so better to not spend much time on them. Though I have to say, I don't perhaps agree that Tolkien had in mind 'poster boys' when he characterised Legolas!

[Sleepy Ranger]

"A hot day, we have wandered far unto the deepest and darkest depths of these jungles and yet not sighted what we came in search of. We lost our path on the 17th day and have been wandering aimlessly in the jungles. Our supplies were running low and it seemed we would reach our end soon. But as we struck camp for the evening, the most unexpected thing happened, a miracle. We saw figures in the trees, very much like the Great Warg of the Sea, but these shone so radiant that it can not be set on paper. A joyus flame burning in their eyes. They approached us at a steady pace and led us back to their home, where they...."

This is a diary entry of one of my ancestors. Alas, most of it did not survive the trials of time, this little bit that was still readable I have passed on to you. I am yet trying to decipher the rest of the paper and when I get a breakthrough (With any hopes soon) I shall inform you of what happened later on. A rough image I get from the words that our yet understandable say something about, beauty, spleandour and magnificence and then most of it can not be understood. I am trying my best and soon hope to decipher the rest of these diary entries.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

My goodness Sleepy Ranger please do your utmost to get more of this tale. It sounds like a fantastical adventure full of wonderment. Any idea where it took place?

Samwise, I only meant that P. Jackson considered Legolas to be a poster-boy. Now that I consider it, he made Gothmog into an Orc, he may as well have made him a Warg.

Now that I consider this further, perhaps Gothmog was a Warg! Any thoughts?

[Sleepy Ranger]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

My goodness Sleepy Ranger please do your utmost to get more of this tale. It sounds like a fantastical adventure full of wonderment. Any idea where it took place?

As far as I can see it happened in Africa because from what I can tell of previous entries is that their party had docked at Cape Horn. And I am glad to say that we are making progress in revealing the conetnts of the letter and it seems that we may be on our way to some ground breaking discovery.

Now that I consider this further, perhaps Gothmog was a Warg! Any thoughts?

Yes, It may be so. The topic would be very open to debate. But I suspect it not. Because if Gothmog was a warg I supposed Minas Tirith would have fallen, after all who can defeeat a warg in its full glory in battle?

[SamwiseGamgee]

Is there a possibility that Gothmog was in fact the warg which that pink pig-orc was riding on? I think there's no other explanation. After all, which serious Tolkien fan could possibly be asked to believe that the pig-orc was Gothmog?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Hmmm, that would have to be explained by extremely poor directing and I will not say that of Peter Jackson, no way, despite my criticisms of the film.

Saucepan Man is, of course, famously opposed to the film representation of Wargs. They are his least enjoyed part of the films I believe. I can certainly appreciate those thoughts. The Wargs in the movie were utterly bereft of the magnificent characteristics which add up to make Wargs the single most glorious species in the history of any world.

A bold statement, but I stand by it.