Belling the Ring

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Pull the other one, Bb!

Cats, like any other animal, have a highly developed territorial instinct. Unlike dogs, they refuse to tolerate others sharing their territory (but will tolerate a "carer" provided their needs are properly catered for) and will exert dominance to enforce their will in that regard. They are most certainly not averse to demanding affection, although only on their own terms. And they instinctively put themselves above all others around them (offspring excepted). Hence their propensity to adopt other "carers" when their own are not properly providing for their needs, as they see it. They are probably the most selfish creatures in existence.

I can certainly see why Tolkien originally conceived Sauron as a cat. They most certainly belong in Mordor.

Oh, right. Cats were domesticated by the Egyptians and so the animals must be associated with those heathen pagans and belong in Mordor. Right. Right. Another bit of cross-cultural myopia.

For your information, my two cats do share their territorial space. Not all of it, but they have learned to 'tolerate' each other's presence in places that they both claim.

And if you're going to use territoriality as a defining factor for Mordor, let's look at the races in Middle-earth, where Aragorn won't even allow men into The Shire after the Ring is destroyed.

Originally Posted by Anguirel

Not all dogs are saints. Not all cats are Machiavells (come to that, Machiavelli wasn't a Machiavell.) All that glitters is not gold; things are more strange than the science of cliche declares them to be, and no one belongs in Mordor out of hand, human, cat, dog, iguana, ideally even Orc.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Originally Posted by Alatar

And so the One Ring is a cat.

Hopefully that was a little more clear.

Bah. Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross.