...to the last question.
Book III, Chapter 8: What's going on?
Gandalf deflects several questions from the party about what is going on with
Saruman. Why is he being secretive about events in Isengard?
a: I think he simply is not 100% sure of what they will find ahead.
Book III, Chapter 8: Orc-slaying competition, revisited
Why do you think Legolas and Gimli had a contest to see who could kill the most
Orcs during the battle? Did their attitudes about the contest change as
it went on? What effect did it have on them?
a: It made them friends. But see my answer to the previous post.
Book III, Chapter 8: The Glittering Caves
What does Gimli's description of the Glittering Caves reveal about him?
About the different ways in which Men and Dwarves approach the natural world?
a: That Dwarves are artists. This is a revolution I Tolkien's own
thinking; his origional notes on Dwarves repeatedly sad that they had 'craft
but not art.' Other early notes frankly said that Dwarves were closer to
the folk of Morgoth than the Children of Eru, and generally put their motives
in a bad light. But here we see that Tolkien, as in other matters, has
fallen in love with his creations, and that he cannot hold to his origional
harsh
line.
