What's the deal with Tolkien and water? He always talks about it! And the characters always caution each other about drinking from icy cold streams - What's up with that?!? I personally like to drink icy cold water, so naturally - I wonder why he would be against such actions. Any thoughts?

Also who are your favorite characters from the books?

Mine are: Gandalf, Imrahil, Boromir, Eowyn, Aragorn, Turin, Feanor, and Balin. What about you?

he always needed to go to the toilet. turns out he had an allergy to urea.

About the icy cold streams, I would guess that if you're out in the cold wilderness with a limited food supply, and a total lack of modern synthetic materials to keep you warm, you'd not want to waste your energy heating all that freezing water up to your body temperature after you drank it.

Some streams are more then just cold... they are icy.... and damaging.

I don't know why Tolkien talks so much about water but Sauron and Morgoth where obvisouly afraid of water.. it was a friend of the Elves and Humans of Numenor and an enemy of Morgoth and Sauron.

I just have to admire anyone who lists Imrahil among favourite characters. Most people seem to forget him immediately or miss him completely (I'll bet my 26-year collection of Tolkien calendars he won't be in the movie), and it's a shame because he seems to embody a lot of important ideas in his own unique way.

Sir Belisarius: And what about the hobbits? Anyway, they aren't my favourite ones, too... My favourites are Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Boromir, Galadriel, Thedoen, Aragorn and Gimli.

The reason why Sauron and Morgoth feared water might be because the power of Ulmo was in it (or in some of it, at least). It's a guess. :)

My favourite characters would be Beleg Cúthalion, Túrin, Maedhros, Fëanor, Boromir (since the film) and Fangorn.

History Lesson: Back in the middle evil days during the time of castles and such baths were nonexistent. Why? They had no means of heating up water. It just wasnt something that could be easly done back then. And in taking a bath in the icey water was the same as sucide. Because the water was so cold all the time and dring off to the point of dry is not really posable in that time. They never put their whole body into the water at the same time. Instead they only washed parts of themselves. Because if you washed your whole body then you ran a strong chace of getting sick and dieing.

Yes they stunk.

Queen Elizabilth used powder to cover her smell. Though she lived far later it was the same concepte. Their are acounts of when she walked into a room peoples eyes would water form her stench.

The people in middle evil days had a theroy of way the Romans had been wipped out. They said that the Romans brains srank with all the steam that came from their hot water baths. This is another factor in why they didn't take many baths. Hot water srinks your brain.

Not really on the subject but it could have something to do with that.

Hey DragonRider, I'm a medievalist and I'd really love to know what your source is for that information.

No means of heating up water? I guess they had no means of cooking either? Raw meat? I know they weren't all vegetarians :p. It's called fire, wood, and a pot. Try it sometime :p.

As for favorite character, I'll vote for the one I know most about: Bilbo.

Dude.

The Romans thought hot water 'shrank' your brain? Have you, by any chance, read any material concerning the layout of their 'public toilets'?!?!!?

I'm not sure the phrase "Holy, Mother of God" adequately describes them, but that's the only thing that comes to mind...

Anyway, I'd have to say Gimli and Legolas are my favorites. Their competition in Two Towers is kinda' funny.

Culurien. It's all from my history teacher. He likes to tell us more then whats in teh book and I like to listen to it. Thats a small part of what he had to say about the middle ages. Their was more but it was so long ago. I only rember that stuff that i laughed at.

Big B. Yes you could heat up water. Just not large amounts of water because it took time and wood.

ejsmith. I didnt say that the romans thought hot water srank your brain. The people in the middle ages thought that.

Sorry DR, I didn't mean for you to feel attacked or anything. Entertaining history teachers deserve a lot of respect. It's just that I've heard a LOT of people talk about how nobody took baths in the middle ages and how they all stank and everything, but I've never actually seen it documented in a scholarly book or heard reference to it in the primary medieval texts I read. Admittedly I am a literature person and not history, but even literature people ought to know whether medieval people actually stank or if that's just a modern myth... :confused:

If anyone knows of a reputable (i.e. refers to primary texts)source of medieval history that documents actual non-bathing and consequential BO, I would really love to be told so that I can put my mind at rest about this burning issue. :square:

The only bathing-related thing I can honestly attest is a manuscript illustration of St. Cecilia being boiled in a huge cauldron full of molten lead over a hot fire, but I guess that's not a bath so much as it's religious persecution.

Oh yeah, favourite Tolkien characters: Sam gets first place, closely followed by Faramir, and the bronze is tied among three equally upstanding guys: Fingolfin for bravery, Fingon for peacemaking, and Finrod for oathkeeping and loyalty. (Yeah, okay, I had to look them up to remember which was which. :rolleyes:)

[This message has been edited by Culurien (edited February 24, 2002).]

Okay. My favorite is Boromir.*Dont ask*

Ezellohar Shark
(One...ahhh,you know)

The gatekeeper of Mordor was without equal. Not that I can remember if his name was ever mentioned.

Hey, at least he was a bit different.

Just my 2 cents.
What Tolkien was writing was suppose to be a myth. In most myths water is seen as a source of life. Moving water such as streams and rivers even more so. It was the moving water that Sauron and Morgoth feared. As Mordor and the land around it had plenty of stagnant pools and marshes which is a water that is seen as corrupt. As an example Saruman damed the rivers in Isengard when he reaveled himself and began building his army. Then when the Ents came they toppled the dams and the water now moving again helped to topple Saruman. Now as to why the viewing of running water as good and stagnant water as evil. It has to do with Parasites they infest stagenant water in vastly greater numbers and making drinking it a sure road to sickness. Where as the moving water contains fewer Parasites making it the safer choice.
I think that my favorite character in the books is Faramir



[This message has been edited by Bert Huggins (edited March 04, 2002).]

Prince Imrahil was cool, his mere presence lifted the spirit of the people of Minas Tirith.

Aragorn was just the stuff, as were all of the Dunedain. Who else could pass through the Passage of the Dead, or something close to that.

And nobody was as awesome as Gandalf.

My sleeper pick is Legolas. This is just because he had the best scene in the movie, the one where he drew three arrows in like 1 second then jabbed one in an orcs neck, then shot the thing into another one. That rocked and shot Legolas past everyone else.