How big was Ancalagon?

[Ozban]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Anyway, I don't think you can take the depiction of the War of Wrath too literally. It's highly mythological in it's outline, and also, from an outside perspective, a much older text, and should be read differently to more detailed and realistic first age stories like Coh.

I agree. Tolkien's personality should be considered. He was Filologist, expert on ancient literature. If you read "Ring of Nibelungs", "Saga of Volsungs", or Arthurian Legends, which were certainly one of his main inspirations, or if you look at works of C.S. Lewis (notably Chronicles of Narnia), who was Tolkien's close friend and has influenced him a lot, You will see that all these texts are mostly parables. And so are all of Tolkien's works, Silmarilion possibly most of all, (though that's really on personal opinion).

You really wouldn't ask where is the gate to underworld that Orfeus used in serch for Euridika. As well as doubting Arthur's foretold return when England is in gravest peril will get you nowhere. And by the way, where did Agamemnon assemble fleet of thousand warships?

I this manner I could ask how is it possible for Volcano (meaning Mount Doom) to erupt with such violence, after engulfing a piece of gold. There weren't any preliminary eruption before, or any earthshaking. And then in matter of seconds it all burst out. I'm not any volcanologist, but reality is different, prove me wrong.

My point is, that Ancalagon was pretty damn big. I wouldn't try to measure him. I see him just as manifestation of terror that Morgoth unleashed, malice that even Ainur were shocked to witness. Ancalagon is more an idea, presence, as well as Earendil, aka "Star of Hope".

I'd see Ancalagons fight with Earendil as symbol, Hope defeating Malevolence, that even the mightiest of the mighty (Valar) could not match.

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by Ozban

I agree. Tolkien's personality should be considered. He was Filologist, expert on ancient literature.

I believe it's 'philologist', my good fellow

[Ozban]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

I believe it's 'philologist', my good fellow

Sorry, I wrote that after rather prolonged stay at local inn. And I was too "tired" to realize that english writes such words differently from my mother-language.

The image of "Cannon of Vinglot" is hilarious. But i see your point. The energy that sent Ancalagon flying onto the peaks can surely make a difference when it comes to damage caused.

[Raynor]

Stand back, I'm gonna try science!
http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/cgi-bin/c...s=1&tdens=2750

Distance from Impact: 500.00 meters ( = 1640.00 feet ) Projectile diameter: 30.00 meters ( = 98.40 feet ) Projectile Density: 1500 kg/m3 Impact Velocity: 100.00 km per second ( = 62.10 miles per second ) (Your chosen velocity is higher than the maximum for an object orbiting the sun)Impact Angle: 45 degrees Target Density: 2750 kg/m3 Target Type: Crystalline Rock

The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.The impact does not make a noticeable change in the tilt of Earth's axis (< 5 hundreths of a degree).The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.

Blank template: http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEffects/

[Nerwen]

Ah, what fun. Let's plug some different numbers into it.

Distance from Impact: 1000.00 meters ( = 3280.00 feet )
Projectile diameter: 300.00 meters ( = 984.00 feet )
Projectile Density: 1500 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 50.00 km per second ( = 31.10 miles per second )
Impact Angle: 90 degrees
Target Density: 2500 kg/m3
Target Type: Sedimentary Rock

The projectile begins to breakup at an altitude of 89700 meters = 294000 ft
The projectile reaches the ground in a broken condition. The mass of projectile strikes the surface at velocity 46.3 km/s = 28.8 miles/s
The impact energy is 2.27 x 1019 Joules = 5.43 x 103MegaTons.
The broken projectile fragments strike the ground in an ellipse of dimension 0.655 km by 0.655 km

Crater shape is normal in spite of atmospheric crushing; fragments are not significantly dispersed.

Transient Crater Diameter: 5.73 km ( = 3.56 miles )
Transient Crater Depth: 2.03 km ( = 1.26 miles )

Final Crater Diameter: 7.23 km ( = 4.49 miles )
Final Crater Depth: 537 meters ( = 1760 feet )
The crater formed is a complex crater.
The volume of the target melted or vaporized is 0.202 km3 = 0.0485 miles3
Roughly half the melt remains in the crater, where its average thickness is 7.85 meters ( = 25.8 feet ).