Is it usual to have this many guards at the gate or did
the Rohirrim feel so threatened by the approach of the strangers that they
called for extra men?
A. Well, they have been watching them for a long time, and one of the
strangers was riding one of the Mearas. That would be enough to get my
attention and let me know these aren't ordinary guys. I'd call for backup if I
thought I might have a wizard emissary of Saruman riding up.
Gandalf just finished telling the others to "speak no
haughty word", yet he immediately confronts the first person he meets. What's
up with that?
A. I don't think Gandalf was being haughty. He was matching their tone and
directness, but he wasn't lording himself over them in any way. He's being
serious, as he should be, and letting them know that his arrival is definitely
a matter that needs to be attended to swiftly.
Is the guard really as hostile as he sounds, or is he just
doing his job? I can understand him suspecting that the grey-cloaked
strangers are spies, but phantoms?
A. As others have pointed out, dwarves, elves, wizards and kings of men
don't just show up every day. Eomer had a tough time initially with who the
Three Hunters were, and he was a pretty exceptional and open-minded kinda
guy.
I also really like JewelTook's thought that this guard is probably thinking
in the back of his mind, "Why couldn't you guys have gotten here in another 20
minutes when I'll be on break?"
Are Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli really the
strangest looking people the gate guards have ever seen? After all, these men
see dead orcs.
A. See previous answer. And as someone said, everybody's seen
orcs.
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"You can't even imagine a totally new morality...Try to imagine a society where honesty and justice and courage and self-control and faith and hope and charity are evil, and lying and cheating and stealing and cowardice and betrayal and addiction and despair and hate are all good. You just can't do it."
"Didn't Milton have a line for that? 'Evil be thou my good!'"
"Yes, that was Satan's line, in Paradise Lost. The society we're trying to imagine does exist after all--in hell."
