Hi, John! Very good content! This channel is a treasure. I hope it grows! Here for the ride.

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

Hey, thanks!

I didn't even realize I liked Tolkien all like this. Or maybe it's just because it's being explained by a guy with an obvious passion for it. Either way please keep the content coming! These are fantastic.

@John-Sierra

4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

I love these sm! Your readings are so calm, I would love to have an audiobook made on this channel one day

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

I would love to do that, just that pesky copyright law standing in my way!

Hey John. Thank you for making these videos. They are very informative and enjoyable. I have a question: If dwarves are uniquely resilient to the power of the rings that were given to them, then why would Gimli not be the best choice to take the one ring to Mordor?

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

The easy answer is that Frodo volunteered, and Hobbits were proven. The dwarves resisted the Rings of Power, but were not fully immune, they did make them greedier. It's also important to remember that The One Ring is unique, as it was meant for Sauron and Sauron only - it's not like any of the other rings - so we don't know how it would have affected Gimli. I think personally he would have been a great ring-bearer, but he would not have let Gollum live, and that was important. No one could have willingly destroyed the ring - Gollum was essential. It was about the Patience, Pity and Mercy that Nienna taught to Gandalf in his youth, that were important in the story. Remember when Frodo and Sam had Gollum tied up? They didn't want to kill him, but they were going to leave him tied up, Gollum said it was as good as killing him. Frodo remembered Gandalf's words. Pity, Patience and Mercy saved the world (along with a bunch of heroes descended from Tuor, of course!)

@michaeldurham6264

5 ай бұрын

Thank you, John. Very good points. FYI. I just bought my 9 y/o daughter an illustrated version of "The Hobbit"! I'm excited to start sharing these stories with her.

What do you think the population of Bree and the villages like Combe was? Obviously they had the rangers to protect them but do you think they had a town guard to handle eternal threats?

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

I can't speak much to population, I don't deal very much with numbers and quantifying things like that. I can tell you that Bree had not much more protection than whatever gate wardens they had - probably why things turned out so dark for them. Tolkien stated once that Bree had no form of government whatsoever. Gandalf mentioned that Bree Land falls under Aragorn's domain, and that he would "leave them alone" because it always functioned autonomously.

I don’t think Smaug would’ve all allied with Sauron. I think Smaug was way to arrogant and beneath him to get involved in the affairs of middle earth for little gain. He already has a literal mountain of gold and an arkenstone . Same with the balrogs, I definitely think they wouldn’t ally with sauron - there master is morgoth, sauron is just a fellow “comrade” a pencil pusher if you will and it is definitely beneath them to take orders from him. Also there goals are completely different. Balrogs are forces of destruction while sauron wants to rule efficiently not destroy. I imagine if sauron was to win he would want to clear out Moria for its mithril ,architecture and metals. He would definitely kill or clear durins bane out of there. You can see the dwarves allying with him . They are both students of aule. Thoughts? Sorry if it’s a bunch of run on sentences

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

The Balrogs already took orders from Sauron - even Gothmog! He was not a "pencil pusher" but the court wizard, torturer, strategist and four star general all rolled into one. Morgoth couldn't be bothered with the war effort, his orders were "make it happen" Sauron was the one that co-ordinated all of the armies. Smaug would have been compelled into Sauron's service, this is precisely what Gandalf said in "The Quest For Erebor" - Sauron' has a seductive sway over dark creatures that is hard to resist - even Gollum got caught up in the "pulse" that was Sauron calling all dark creatures to Mordor. Sauron as the commander of Morgoth's army would command far greater worms than Smaug. When in the direct command of Morgoth it didn't go so well. Remember that Sauron has fashioned himself as "The New Morgoth" and even had an entire continent worshipping him as Morgoth incarnate. Some dwarves allied with Morgoth in the first age, because they fell for his lies, in the third age - they would not ally with Sauron, they knew their histories well and knew that the dark lords were liars. Remember that Sauron tried to recruit Dain, promising three rings of power and his protection and friendship in exchange for Bilbo's location. Dain was wise enough not to directly say "no" and invite ruin onto his people, but stonewalled the emissaries and sent Gloin and Gimli to warn Bilbo.

If you believe there were more than 3 balrogs, ( I personally believe there were 7) where do you think they are and what are they doing? Just hanging out in the dark places of arda like durins bane Hoping that one day morgoth would come back? When they die where does there spirit go?

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

I have sadly not had the time to truly delve into the question of what happens to Balrogs who are killed. Maiar spirits dying has seen some very uneven results across the board - these spirits go SOMEWHERE, I just haven't had the time to delve into researching and surmising where. Perhaps I shall one day, but I just got off writing a nearly 50 page paper about Tuor so I'm very research-fatigued at the moment!

Do you think any men of carn dum or hill men of rhuduar were a threat during the war of the ring?

@John-Sierra

5 ай бұрын

I would say definitely not. Rhuduar suffered a large population collapse and became a Vassal state to Arhedain. Angmar had fallen long ago and if there were any surviving men that had loyalties to Sauron, they probably fled east to Rhun and joined the Easterlings.

@jackruby6696

5 ай бұрын

@@John-Sierra thanks for these answers btw

First!