Gandalf deflects several questions from the party about
what is going on with Saruman. Why is he being secretive about events in
Isengard?
A. He dislikes long explanations.
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. Their contest was an act of bravery in a battle where they both
expected to get killed. They were not, strictly speaking, expressing
Christian sentiments, but then neither was Aragorn, who presumably killed more
than Legolas and Gimli combined. And they were certainly not slaughtering
innocents or prisoners, but orcs and men who would show them no mercy if they
did not defend themselves and the women and children in 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. Gimli is a poet, and an artist, while the Rohirrim, at least, have no
great appreciation for caves. I do wonder, however, how the Rohirrim, and
the other men who preceded them in that land, missed the veins of precious
metal to which Gimli
refers.
________________________________________
"‘I think he was a silly little man,' said Councillor Tompkins. ‘Worthless, in fact; no use to Society at all.'
"‘Oh, I don't know,' said Atkins, who was nobody of importance, just a schoolmaster. ‘I am not so sure: it depends on what you mean by use .'
"‘No practical or economic use,' said Tompkins. . . .
. . .
"‘It is proving very useful indeed,' said the Second Voice. ‘As a holiday, and a refreshment. It is splendid for convalescence; and not only for that, for many it is the best introduction to the Mountains. It works wonders in some cases. I am sending more and more there. They seldom have to come back.'"
