Denethor's plunge - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Mister Underhill*** · 09-25-2007, 03:56 PM

All this research into real-world capacities is a total red herring, IMO. If you start applying real world science to Middle-earth, you'll very soon find little you can believe in. I don't know why Gimli's run is the thing that trips you up, StW. I guess everyone has their own areas of expertise and pet hobby horses.

To me it seems that the real question here is internal consistency. Is Gimli's run believably consistent with what we know of Dwarves in Middle-earth? That's easy. Yes.

If anything, Gimli's run is far less believable in PJ's films because they're stuck with an actor who is obviously laboring under sixty or eighty pounds of costume and makeup, plus PJ uses the opportunity for comic relief -- having Gimli wheezing, always way behind the others, and making jokes about Dwarves being sprinters and the like.

In general, PJ's films are less internally consistent than Tolkien's books, and that's where a lot of book fans trip up.

09-25-2007, 03:56 PM	#23
*Mister Underhill* Dread Horseman Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Behind you! Posts: 2,744	All this research into real-world capacities is a total red herring, IMO. If you start applying real world science to Middle-earth, you'll very soon find little you can believe in. I don't know why Gimli's run is the thing that trips you up, StW. I guess everyone has their own areas of expertise and pet hobby horses. To me it seems that the real question here is internal consistency. Is Gimli's run believably consistent with what we know of Dwarves in Middle-earth? That's easy. Yes. If anything, Gimli's run is far less believable in PJ's films because they're stuck with an actor who is obviously laboring under sixty or eighty pounds of costume and makeup, plus PJ uses the opportunity for comic relief -- having Gimli wheezing, always way behind the others, and making jokes about Dwarves being sprinters and the like. In general, PJ's films are less internally consistent than Tolkien's books, and that's where a lot of book fans trip up.