a barrow wight - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Alfirin · 11-19-2008, 04:50 PM

another possiblity (re the preservation of the bodies). We hear how foggy (even without wight activity) and wet the downs are, maybe they're actually over a peat deposit (grass can grown on top of these right) if they are and the tombs aren't water tight bodies could have been essentially pickled (I know the tombs arent wet when they go in) but they could be just at the point where they are below the water table sometimes and above it at others; the hobbits could have been crossing in the dry season) the Orc and dwarf bodies would still be skeletionized, as they are on the surface, and things have to be buried in peat to be preserved by it. Peat bogs are pretty good at perserving bodies (just look at all of the ones in museums, like Tollund man) There is no mention of the hobbits seeing water damage in the toumbs but given how dark it was (and the circumstances they were in there, they probably wouln't have noticed) The only flaw I can see in this throy is that I am not sure how well peat preserves iron; I'm concerned the swords would have rusted away in those circumstances. The main problem I have with the embalming scenario is that, for the most part, embalming by itself wont last forever. Egyptina methods improved the cnages of a body mummifying well, but it was the hot, dry climate that kept the bodies preserved. Incan mummies became mummies because they were exposed to the drying winds of the Andes, Unzie (the iceman) had more or less the same thing happen to him. In wet conditions (like the downs apper to be), embaming doesn't last long, assuming that edain embalming tecniques were equal to our modern ones, the embalming substances would have worn off long ago way before the 220 or so years till the wight came. Most modern "wet" embalmings are disngned to last a few years to decades; longer than that usally requires someone to re-embalm the body from time to time, or at least preform some upkeep (as is done for Lenin's body).
One finally possiblity, there are places where for some reason, the soil naturally mummifies bodies (I think there's a town in either Mexico or Spain that famous for it) maybe the down are like that.

11-19-2008, 04:50 PM	#1
Alfirin Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 435	another possiblity (re the preservation of the bodies). We hear how foggy (even without wight activity) and wet the downs are, maybe they're actually over a peat deposit (grass can grown on top of these right) if they are and the tombs aren't water tight bodies could have been essentially pickled (I know the tombs arent wet when they go in) but they could be just at the point where they are below the water table sometimes and above it at others; the hobbits could have been crossing in the dry season) the Orc and dwarf bodies would still be skeletionized, as they are on the surface, and things have to be buried in peat to be preserved by it. Peat bogs are pretty good at perserving bodies (just look at all of the ones in museums, like Tollund man) There is no mention of the hobbits seeing water damage in the toumbs but given how dark it was (and the circumstances they were in there, they probably wouln't have noticed) The only flaw I can see in this throy is that I am not sure how well peat preserves iron; I'm concerned the swords would have rusted away in those circumstances. The main problem I have with the embalming scenario is that, for the most part, embalming by itself wont last forever. Egyptina methods improved the cnages of a body mummifying well, but it was the hot, dry climate that kept the bodies preserved. Incan mummies became mummies because they were exposed to the drying winds of the Andes, Unzie (the iceman) had more or less the same thing happen to him. In wet conditions (like the downs apper to be), embaming doesn't last long, assuming that edain embalming tecniques were equal to our modern ones, the embalming substances would have worn off long ago way before the 220 or so years till the wight came. Most modern "wet" embalmings are disngned to last a few years to decades; longer than that usally requires someone to re-embalm the body from time to time, or at least preform some upkeep (as is done for Lenin's body). One finally possiblity, there are places where for some reason, the soil naturally mummifies bodies (I think there's a town in either Mexico or Spain that famous for it) maybe the down are like that.