XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: Troels@ThisIsFake.invalid   
      
   In message    
   Stan Brown  spoke these staves:   
   >   
   > On Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:52:08 +0200, Troels Forchhammer wrote:   
   >>   
   >> Shaun wonders what happened to the 'great debates' -- not just   
   >> the question of Balrog Wings (we're all pretty much fed up with   
   >> that), but also the question of one or two Glorfindels, Elven   
   >> ears, the colour of Legolas' hair or the irredeemability of Orcs.   
   >   
   > /Letters/ is what happened to several of those controversies, and   
   > HoME is what happened to the rest. :-)   
      
   Yes . . . well, I guess there's one or two on the list that didn't fall   
   into these, but in general, I think you're right.  Not necessarily   
   because the question was definitely decided in either /Letters/ or   
   /HoMe/ -- the redeemability of Orcs, for instance, is never answered   
   satisfyingly, but /Morgoth's Ring/ made that question so much more   
   complex that you had to keep quite a lot of information straight in   
   order to discuss it :-)   
      
   If you're saying that these particular controversies are dead, I'd   
   agree -- I don't think that any of these will ever become a 'great   
   debate' again (though a real 'great debate' of coruse never dies   
   completely: from time to time each of these will pop up in a weakened   
   version as new readers pick up speed). This is why I ended with a call   
   for the next great debate -- for there are lots of topics that can   
   still be discussed and which are worthy of a great debate.   
      
   --   
   Troels Forchhammer   
   Valid e-mail is    
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       The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.   
    - /Hogfather/ (Terry Pratchett)   
      
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