7513069a
XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien
From: noel.von.schneiffel@fats.teunc.org
On 28 Feb., 15:48, Steuard Jensen wrote:
> Consider: You are Sauron, in the early stages of a war against Gondor
> and a hunt for your Ring that has recently resurfaced. You have just
> met an unexpected challenge from an upstart heir of Isildur who
> somehow managed to turn the tide of battle at Minas Tirith when your
> victory there seemed all but certain. It seems very likely that this
> "Aragorn" has claimed your Ring and is using it (or planning to use
> it) to challenge you. In fact, he is now leading a significant but
> still laughably small army to *attack* the gates of your realm.
>
> Clearly, Aragorn's plan must be to use the Ring to make this assault
> something other than a suicide mission. He must expect to ______ ___
> ______ _ ______ ___ ________ _______ [...]. Therefore, your best
> response is to gather as many of your own troops as possible in Udun
> in order to repel his assault: Orcs, Men, Trolls, and the rest, with
> the surviving Nazgul circling overhead to sew despair in your enemies.
> By doing this, you will be able to crush his tiny force and recover
> the Ring for yourself!
I am pretty sure Sauron does not believe that Aragorn has the Ring. He
is absolutely convinced that *Gandalf* has the Ring. Realistically,
Gandalf is the only one of his foes who could have mastered the Ring
so quickly. Sauron believes that Gandalf is controlling Aragorn with
the Ring and luring him into a suicide mission, to get rid of him as a
rival to the throne of Middle-earth. So Gandalf would throw Aragorn
and his Gondorian forces against Mordor, weakening both sides, and
then escape with an eagle back to the Shire. There he had an army of
fearsome Halfling warriors on stand-by, which could overrun the now
emptied and leaderless Gondor. Then Gandalf would be ready for a
serious war on Mordor.
So Sauron sent in as many troops as possible, in the faint hope that
they were numerous enough to not only kill Aragorn, but also intercept
Gandalf on his way out. Sending the Nazgūl makes perfect sense for
this task.
Noel
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* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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