Irony

[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

I stand firm on both issues of irony. It is easier to see why on Gollum, but not so with the dagger. The dagger is irony.

Here is the definition of irony from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, from Houghton Mifflin.

i-ro-ny (i'r&-nE) n., pl. -nies.
1. The use of words to convey the opposite if their literal meaning. 2. An expression or utterance marked by such a deliberate contrast between apparant and intended meaning. 3. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. 4. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated." (Richard Kain). 5. An occurence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. 6. The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity. 7. Feigned ignorance, as in the Socratic method of instruction. -See Synonyms at wit. [Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia, dissembling, feigned ignorance, from eiron, dissembler, "one who says less than he thinks," from eirein, to say. See wer-6 in Appendix.*]


Ok, take a look at 4., which states, "Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs." Now, that dagger had its day for battle, and its very old. You would have expected it to stay in that barrow and never face battle again, especially against the Witch King of Angmar. But what actually happens is that it goes into battle again, and fights the Witch King of Angmar. So, yes it is irony, but on a long shot. That is how I see it as irony.

And, doug*platypus is right. Thanks doug. I mean the other definition of irony, Rumil, not the one that pertains to the metal iron.