XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: tmsommers2@gmail.com   
      
   On 2/28/2013 10:05 PM, Steuard Jensen wrote:   
   > In message , Geza Giedke   
   >  wrote:   
   >> But I presume the more armies you want to control, the harder (isn't   
   >> is said in some of the HoME books, that Morgoth lost much of his   
   >> strength by trying to dominate Arda, orcs, dragons, etc?) and   
   >> therefore striking with overwhelming force may negate the power of   
   >> the Ring.   
   >   
   > Your guess here is quite close to my own: that (at least when first   
   > mastering the Ring) it would be difficult for Aragorn to directly   
   > control truly vast numbers of enemy soldiers, so Sauron decided to   
   > apply absolutely overwhelming force.   
      
   Nobody can control vast numbers of soldiers directly.  "Vast numbers"   
   being a dozen or more.  That is why real armies are organized   
   hierarchically.  The technical term is "span of command", and things   
   start breaking down if you try to control more than about 5 or so others   
   directly.   
      
   But since armies are organized hierarchically, to control an army you   
   only have to control the commander, not the individual soldiers.  This   
   applies even to ancient or medieval armies, which had less structure   
   than modern armies, but did have some structure.   
      
   Tolkien's army experience would have taught him this at first hand.   
      
   --   
   T.M. Sommers -- ab2sb   
      
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