Posted: May 16, 2000 at 15:13:36: by Michael Martinez
: : : Thus, it is difficult at best to support the statment that
: : : "Just because a fox wondered about the hobbits does not
: : : mean he could articulate the question It does not make
: : : him intelligent".: : Tolkien differentiated between the speaking beasts and the
: : higher orders by calling the latter Rational Incarnates
: : (meaning they possessed living spirits sent by Iluvatar).
: : The Rational Incarnates were, IIRC, the Elves, Men (and
: : Hobbits), Dwarves, Ents, Eagles, and Orcs (and some Trolls).
: : The Valar and Maiar were the Self-Incarnated. : I re-read my post and this one three times, and I just can't
: figure out what the point is to this. The information is solid
: and worthy of note, but I can't see how it relates to the
: discussion. Perhaps I am just being dense, which is why I am
: posting this to ask (and certainly not facisiouly). I think I left out part of what I wanted to say. The animals are intelligent (as someone else pointed out elsewhere in the thread). They may even be "sentient" (self-aware). But they are not Rational Incarnates. I would regard the "Population of Middle-earth" issue to be confined only to the populations of Rational Incarnates.
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