XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: jon.lennart.beck.its.my.name@mail.its.in.danmark   
      
   "Morgoth's Curse"  skrev i meddelelsen   
   news:dflki71b1oic4g24rsirst33mpnahr16qp@4ax.com...   
      
   > I wish to resurrect this thread to mention one other point which   
   > has since occurred to me:  Thrainduil is, to the best of my knowledge,   
   > the only Elven king in the history of Middle-earth whose fortress ever   
   > had dungeons.  (Even Thingol had to have a special prison constructed   
   > when he imprisoned his daughter.)  I suspect that given their affinity   
   > with the natural world, the thought of imprisonment was repugnant to   
   > the Elves of Lorien.   
      
   > Moreover, would any of the Elves have consented to the task of   
   > guarding Gollum on a permanent basis?  Celeborn could not impose his   
   > will on any of the people that he nominally ruled--that would be evil   
   > and Tolkien makes it clear that a legitimate ruler does not impose his   
   > will on others.  Thrainduil's government, in contrast, resembles those   
   > of men rather than of his kindred Elves.  In sum, the Elves of   
   > Mirkwood were the only ones that Gandalf could depend upon to be   
   > entrusted with such a wearisome task as guarding Gollum.   
      
      I suppose that if Galadriel and Celeborn had decided that it would be for   
   the best to have Gollum guarded in Lórien they would not have needed to   
   command unwilling minions to do the dirty work like Sauron did all the time.   
   There would have been volunteers, trusting the wisdom of their Lady and   
   their Lord.  And if the task became too unpleasant for one small group of   
   jailers, there would have been rotation.   
      
      One more reason is that Lórien seems to have been a particularly pure bit   
   of land.  You may put it down to snobbishness and a Shire-like myopic   
   provincialism, or to a very real and legitimate need to preserve this Elder   
   Days Preserve untainted: until the Fellowship entered only those on Lórien's   
   very short VIP list seems to have been permitted.  And Gollum?   
      Another reason is that Gollum would probably have suffered in Lórien.   
   Just see how he was pained by the touch of Elvish things thence while in   
   Frodo's company, and how he bitched and moaned about having touched that   
   land while lurking in its margins.  Of course Aragorn and Gandalf might not   
   have expected this.  Perhaps Aragorn did decide that Lórien were much   
   closer, but then noticed Gollum's reaction to anything thence and stuck to   
   the original plan.  Not that Gollum would have been overburdened with   
   gratitude.   
      One more reason is that Lórien would probably have more to lose than   
   Thranduil's realm from the Enemy discovering secrets.  Thranduil seems to   
   have had a larger army and lesser 'magic' than Galadriel.  Gollum being held   
   in Lórien would have been able to discover things that would be quite useful   
   to Sauron.  And if he escaped?   
      
   Harabanaz.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)