Posted: April 16, 1999 at 17:23:31: by Michael Martinez
: : There is no reason for the robes to have been magical in
: : order for the Nazgul to have been dependent upon them for
: : their shapes and abilities to interact with the physical
: : world. I have never argued that the robes WERE or MUST BE
: : magical in order for that to be accomplished.: It seemed to be implicit in the phrase "Gave form to" that the
: robes had some special property, as Tolkien gives no other
: reasoning behind his statement. Does not a pitcher give form to the water it holds? Does not a balloon give form to the air or gas it contains? I don't believe we must assume the robes were magical. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. I think that, as a magical spell can make use of non-magical ingredients, if there were any "magic" involved in giving the Nazgul their ability to function with the living world that the robes could just as easily have been non-magical as magical. The "spell" might be in the robes, or it might be on the robes. If that makes any sense. : However, the light theory (even starlight might have had some
: level of effect on unclothed Nazgul) does offer a logical rea Unfortunately, once again our transatlantic connection has cause a problem with your message. This is all that I found of the rest of it.
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