Below you will find a directory of all the questions asked in The Halls of the Wise. The question is posed in Large Red letters and the winners answer is given underneath the question. Who the winner is is displayed at the bottom of there post.
New Questions/answer will be displayed as more and more debatable questions are asked and are answered to by our members.
What is Tom Bombadil?
Bombadil as a Nature Spirit
Tolkien's own comments in Letter #153 provide support for looking
outside the list of "usual Silmarillion entities" to explain Bombadil:
"Also T.B. exhibits another point in his attitude to the Ring, and its
failure to affect him. You must concentrate on some part, probably
relatively small, of the World (Universe), whether to tell a tale,
however long, or to learn anything however fundamental - and therefore
much will from that 'point of view' be left out, distorted on the
circumference, or seem a discordant oddity. The power of the Ring over
all concerned, even the Wizards or Emissaries, is not a delusion - but
it is not the whole picture, even of the then state and content of that
part of the Universe." Letter #153
One could read this as saying that Bombadil, despite being in nature
similar to the Wizards, falls outside of the main picture because he is
not affected by the Ring. However, an equally natural reading is that
the picture of Middle-earth presented in LotR is incomplete in a more
fundamental way. This 'active' interpretation encourages us to expand
our knowledge of the "content of that part of the Universe" by
identifying a new type of being, of which Bombadil is an example.
Among the first hints that Bombadil could be some sort of nature spirit
is his first mention in Letters: in Letter #19, Tolkien asks his
publisher:
"Do you think Tom Bombadil, the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and
Berkshire countryside, could be made into the hero of a story?" Letter #19
The letter provides a starting point for this theory, showing that Tom
Bombadil was a "nature spirit" when Tolkien first imagined him. It seems
reasonable to wonder if this view remained unchanged.
Canonical support for this claim can be found in Galdor's statement at
the Council of Elrond:
"Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the
earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the
very hills."LOTR, Fellowship of the Ring
Galdor directly associates the power of Bombadil with that of "the earth
itself", and even uses Sauron's ability to destroy the hills as an
argument that Sauron could defeat Bombadil. This may be the strongest
evidence that Tom is essentially related to the natural world.
Also the fact he lived in the Old Forest and had a special power over
all the living things here, also indicates that Tom Bombadil was a
nature spirit. He, as "Master" of the nature in this land, could even
command Old Man Willow to release Pippin.
Regards to the member known as 'The Might' , victor for this question.
What Race are the Dragons?
The Dragons' origin is something that we aren't told much about in
Tolkien. There have been a few theories thrown around, and we can limit
some of these, but as far as what race the Dragons were, is an enigma.
Morgoth first came up with the idea of Dragons, and he decided to breed
them in Angband:
"Therefore he sought in his heart for new counsel, and he bethought him
of dragons."~HoME XI: War of the Jewels, Annals of Aman (Year F.A. 155).
Morgoth first conceived this idea of 'dragons.' However, he could not
create these dragons from scratch. In order to create life one needed
the Flame Imperishable, only Eru knew where this was. Morgoth searched
for the Flame Imperishable, but he was never able to find it. So,
Morgoth did not have the ability to create life. He would have had to
of taken an already pre-existing race, take them into his service,
mutate/corrupt them to fit his idea of dragons, and then finally breed
them.
The theory that Dragons were originally Maiar, that took on the form of
a Dragon. While Dragons are powerful, we are told that they are
Morgoth's deadlies foe 'save the Balrog's only' (The Silmarillion: Of
the Maiar). Also going back to HoME XI War of the Jewels, in the F.A.
240 Glaurung makes his first appearance and is referred to as being
'half-grown.' Maiar were capable of forming their own bodies, and the
forms they took, were the most powerful creature/body that they could
possibly form, not something that was merely 'half-grown.'
When Glaurung makes his first appearance in The Silmarillion there is
this interesting quote about him:
"...the manuscript reads 'the fell spirit of Morgoth, who made him'. My
father underlined the last three words in pencil, and faintly and barely
legibly at the foot of the page he noted: 'Glaurung must be a
demon." ~HoME XI: War of the Jewels
Often this quote is used to suggest that Dragons were inhabitted by
Maiar. However, this is not the case. The Maiar first off formed their
own bodies, also it was only a 'spirit' that Morgoth had put into
Glaurung...'a demon.' Just as Sauron was capable of doing with wolves,
calling 'spirit's and putting them in wolf bodies. Morgoth was able to
do this with Dragons.
In conclusion, the Dragons would have had to of been a pre-existing
race, of some creature that Morgoth took into his service and used them.
Exactly what type of creatures they were before (some sort of lizard,
snake...etc) is unknown. But Dragons were not Maiar, and were not
created from scratch by Morgoth.
Regards to the member known as 'Lord Lorien' , victor for this question.
What height were the Balrogs?
The issue of 'Balrog height' is actually something Tolkien quite clearly
answers, unlike many other debatable topics. The biggest Tolkien ever
said a Balrog was the one Glorfindel fought:
"Then Glorifindel's left hand sought a dirk, and this he thrust up that
it pierced the Balrog's belly nigh his own face (for that demon was
twice his stature)"~BoLT II, The Fall of Gondolin
So, this would put the Balrog roughly at 14-16 feet. This however, is
Tolkien's earliest thoughts about Balrog height. Thoughts that he would
later go onto change by the time he writes The Lord of the Rings:
"A figure strode to the fissure, no more than man-high and yet terror
seemed to go before it."~HoME VII: The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Now, later in Tolkien's writings he makes the Balrog Gandalf fought, no
more than 'man-high.' This would make him about 6 feet. Also, to note
that the Balrog could use the shadow about him to make himself appear
bigger, when he actually wasn't:
Alter description of Balrog. It seemed to be of man’s shape, but its
form could not be plainly discerned. It felt larger than it looked.~Home
VII: The Bridge of Khazad-dum
In conclusion, I think the biggest a Balrog could be said would be twice
the size of Glorfindel (14-16 feet). Tolkien later does change his mind
(HoMe VII: Bridge of Khazad-dum) and made Durin's Bane a lot smaller.
Though I do think that Balrogs can come in all different sizes.
Because, The Fall of Gondolin quote says 'that' demon, meaning the one
Glorfindel fought, where in HoME VII he is only talking about the Balrog
Gandalf fought. So, I think with what we are given, we can say Balrogs
could range in height from 6-16 feet.
Regards to the member known as 'Lord Lorien' , victor for this question.