War in Middle-earth - The Fall of Arnor (2024)

@DarthGandalfYT 3 года назад ⁺⁵

That's a good shout. Great fighter, but not a great ruler. I wonder if Gandalf was in the Shire at this point. We know it was overrun by Angmar, so I wonder if he was helping them survive. We know he helped them during the Great Winter 800 years later. Or maybe he was hanging around Mirkwood trying to figure out who the Necromancer was considering he tries to confront him about a century later.

@ThePalaeontologist3 года назад ⁺¹

@@DarthGandalfYT Aye, and I think that when I mentioned Gandalf I was keeping his deeds in the Great Winter (and the Fell Winter) in mind. I wonder what kind of contact Gandalf had with Radagast etc at this point. Saruman had long returned from the East alone, and that was all he wrote for the Blue Wizards so to speak. But in terms of Mirkwood, well yes, that is a possibility.
I'd have thought Radagast was enough to do that job but I'd like to think Saruman helped and was more actively familiar with Radagast in this time as colleagues. I'd also like to imagine Gandalf either helping the Rivendell Elves, showing his understanding of the vital importance of Imladris, or helping the Hobbit refugees from Arnor. It would be even cooler if Tolkien said he'd first met them in Rhudaur even before the split, and had always been curious about their peculiar knack to survive even surrounded by Wildmen and the like (though inevitably forced to leave when it got too leary and dangerous there) There had to be a moment when Gandalf encounter Halfling communities for the first time, long before the birth of Smeagol.

@ThePalaeontologist3 года назад

@@DarthGandalfYT P.S - I hasten to add that I don't see him quite as incompetent as Bobby B but generally as bombastic and war-like as him, and as keen on the thrill of fighting. Robert loved fighting more than women and booze which is to say a lot. But Earnur is seemingly professionally enamoured and obsessed with martial prowess. I see him as much more skilled and dangerous than even Aragorn in a fight.
He'd be up there with the best (human) swordsmen of all time I like to speculate. Modestly George RR Martin said that Tolkien's dragons and warriors would beat the best of his hands down every time, but I think Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Arthur Dayne would still be considered impressive fighters in say, Gondor. Maybe not as impressive as they are held to be in Westeros, but still better than most soldiers easily. Earnur would be likely as good as them if not inherently just more powerful because he is Dúnedain.
There is a touch of the old magic since Ëonwë helped the first generation of Númenóreans with divine gifts and wisdom. Dúnedain are just, 'extra', as we know. Something above the norm about them. Hard to fully crossover both universes (it's like comparing HALO to W40K it's just a bit awkward and hard to do sometimes, in spite of them literally existing in different versions of the same galaxy) But the point is, it wasn't enough against Angmar which is what I think Tolkien was going for as a moral tale to remind us not to match power with power when it is impossible to win, with so much at stake.
He was headstrong and the Leeroy Jenkins into Minas Morgul was something not even Robert Baratheon would do - though as Stannis warned Robert in the rebellion, he shouldn't go too far West too quickly, but Robert was too excited after winning three battles in a row and then ran into Lord Randyl Tarly and the entire Tarly and Tyrell armies in the Reach, getting themselves driven back. The only battle Robert ever lost, was the Battle of Ashford.
Therefore it does have the hallmarks of what Earnur would do in making brash decisions, but riding off to a dread lair with a small group of Knights to fight the Undead is something even Bobby B would think better about. I don't think Earnur was mentally unwell I think he genuinely gambled he could take Angmar down in a fight, not realising what he was and ignoring what Glorfindel had said years before.
If we knew for sure exactly how good a fighter Earnur was, with a way to compare him to someone else, then it'd be great. In a bit of a headcanon (hate that term but prefer it to 'fanfic') Earnur would actually get the better of the first half of the fight with Angmar, and even disarm him of his first two weapons, but then be brought down once he realised nothing he did could kill him. Direct fatal riposts, excellent parries and counters, strong moves dealing surely fatal blows.
But nothing. Just the WK's laughter. Orcs would be bidden to interfere at the Witch-King's command and they'd begin massacring his party of knights, and then he'd fight back to back with them until the end, realising what he'd done, not just to them, or even himself, but to Gondor. The realisation would be shattering. Earnur would kill a lot of Orcs and the WK would just watch him tiring himself out and prepare to kill him. I know games have tried to imply he was captured and turned into a wraith like slave of the WK, but I'd prefer if he just died fighting. He'd be the last to fall. That would be more merciful. His bones could be in the Tower of Sorcery though as a trophy for the WK. IDEAS. SPECULATION. _HERESY_ lol