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PotbellyHairyfoot
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Post 3-II Cirion and Eorl and the friendship between Gondor and Rohan
on: March 22, 2006 12:17
as this chapter is broken up into sections I thought I'd also break the discussion up and contnue it for more than one week


(i) The Northmen and the Wainriders

A number of interesting topics came to mind while I was reading this section and I thought i'd list them here so that they can be expanded upon
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1) Do Gondor and Arnor remind people of the Roman Empire? similarities / differences
2) Does the Great Plague have parallels in european history How is it different?
3) Do the Wainriders have parallels in Europe's history ?
4) Is the history of the Eothéod and its formation from the remnants of the Northman similar to the formation of any European Nations?
5) Were the armies of Gondor able to quickly adjust to new enemy technologies?



[Edited on 23/3/2006 by PotbellyHairyfoot]
Figwit
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Post RE: 3-II Cirion and Eorl and the friendship between Gondor and Rohan
on: March 23, 2006 09:03
Okay, I feel weird stepping in like this, but here it goes:

1) Do Gondor and Arnor remind people of the Roman Empire? similarities / differences


What reminds me most of the Roman empire is the relation with 'other people', in this case: the Northmen. The Roman Empire had a policy of 'conquer and divide', meaning that in desolate or border territories they often had Germanic tribes to control the territory because they couldn't spare any soldiers, and to keep these tribes at hand when other, less friendly, people arrived on the horizon - the so-called 'pax romana' was establised mostly on this principle.

I'm thinking Tolkien might have had something like that in mind when he wrote about this - and in the same breath, I answered most of your other questions : I think the Northmen were modled (in part) after the Germanic tribes moving from the East and the North into the Roman empire.
Nolimon
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Post RE: 3-II Cirion and Eorl and the friendship between Gondor and Rohan
on: March 26, 2006 05:23
1) Do Gondor and Arnor remind people of the Roman Empire?

I've read a full dissertation on this matter a while back, can't remember the site...But yes, the Dunedain Kingdoms certainly reminds me of the Roman Empire at its heigth. And even Tolkien himself mentioned similarities in passing in one of his letters I think. Something like "ancient in history but decadent..."

2) Does the Great Plague have parallels in european history How is it different?

The Black Plague certainly rings a bell of the Middle Ages As well as its the aftermath: commerce, migration, and communication ceased, population dipped dangerously, learning and education largely neglected. There was social, economic, and cultural rececession.

3) Do the Wainriders have parallels in Europe's history ?
Huns, Magyars, Mongols all those merry folks from the East the battered down Rome's walls.


Atrien_of_Erebor
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Post RE: 3-II Cirion and Eorl and the friendship between Gondor and Rohan
on: July 17, 2009 06:53
In truth I was disappointed by how Gondor reacted to the Wainriders, and I'm tired of Gondor having their bacon saved by Rohan.
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