Re: Was Gondor all it was cracked up to be? | White Council Forum Archive - msg 11578
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| Topic: Re: Was Gondor all it was cracked up to be? Reply to: Message 11559 |
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Posted: April 12, 2000 at 23:34:06: by Jim Gregors
: :snip : So you decide: Was Gondor really that much of a power in Middle-Earth? : : -Mornhun : Think about Gondor as being similar to Great Britian. Once a great power, but now not as great a power. Standing alone as a bulwark against an evil enemy. Does that ring any bells? : I am not saying this was intentional on Tolkien's part. However, I know from personal experience that events in my life, past and present, have often unintentionally found their way into my writings. Actually, when I think of Gondor I am reminded more of the Byzantine Empire than Great Britain. It had shruken greatly from its original boundaries; it was the successor state of a larger empire; it preserved much of its cultural heritage; it was primarily a land-based empire (although it did maintain a sizeable navy); it bordered on many ethnically unrelated states (similar to the Easterlings and Southrons), some of whom became allies/federates (the Varangians and Ostrogoths) while others remained enemies; and it received lip-service from the western powers, but in reality was forced to bear the brunt of the encroaching eastern peoples alone. |
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