Science fiction and fantasy: Xenite.Org -- Worlds of Imagination on the Web!

The White Council

Re: Gondor at the end of the Third Age

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

Archive index

Tolkien and Inklings Forum
Middle-earth Mailing List
LoTR movie news
LoTR collectibles
Liv Tyler is Arwen
Elijah Wood is Frodo Baggins
Tolkien Middle-earth at Suite101
LoTR movies forum
All Forums

  Posted by Oberon on October 04, 1998 at 12:00:42
In Reply to: Re: Gondor at the end of the Third Age posted by Oberon on October 01, 1998 at 14:12:28:



: : : : First, there were fifty great ships and many smaller vessels : : : : at Pelargir. We are not told the numbers of ships (or : : : : relative size) at Linhir, though the greater force was at : : : : Pelargir. "Smaller vessels beyond count" are the exact words : : : : Legolas used. Well, "beyond count" is pretty inspecific but : : : : it must be greater than 50. So there were more than 100 : : : : ships (50 big ones and at least 50 smaller ones) at Pelargir.

: : : Tolkien uses the word "drumond," a small medieval galley, to : : : describe these small ships.

: : [snip]

: : I recall seeing "dromund" somewhere but I'm not sure of where. I could not find it in "The Last Debate", I was rushing through.

: Well, now I'm at work, so I can't quote it, but I believe it was during the Battle of the Pellenor, where Eomer is looking south at the fleet coming up the Anduin, describing a fleet of drumonds, accompanied by great ships with many oars, or something to that effect. That's the only place where "dromund" is used that I'm aware of; Legolas does not use the term.

Here it is. From Chapter 6, "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields," ROTK (Ballentine Books paperback edition, p.148-9, for those who have it):

"For Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so flowed that from the City men could look down it lengthwise for some leagues, and the far-sighted could see any ships that approached. And looking thither they cried in dismay; for black against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellowing in the breeze."

To be honest, I had never really noticed these details until I re-read the chapter this week.

[massive snippage]

Oberon


Tip: Earlier messages, if they are missing when you click on the links, may be in a lower-numbered archive. Edit the URL in your browser window to change the archive number. Ex. archive_02/ becomes archive_01/.
Tip: Click on the Tolkien and Inklings Forum link to followup to archived messages. You'll need to copy the text from this message and repost it in your new message.


The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an SF-FANDOM Web site.

SF-FANDOM is a part of the Xenite.Org network.

Xenite.Org is home to Lord of the Rings movie news. The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is the Web's oldest fan-run forum dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Xenite.Org has been providing the most comprehensive Lord of the Rings movie news on the Web since February 1998.

Xenite.Org also brings you Xena Online Resources. Xena Online Resources is the Web's largest directory of Hercules and Xena-related content.

The Xenite.Org network is home to more than 100 science fiction and fantasy Web sites.



The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an independent, moderated forum provided as a courtesy to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, including C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, et. al., by Xenite.Org. Please be sure to review our Posting Policy before participating in our forums. This archive is provided as a courtesy of Xenite.Org and in no way implies or imparts any liability or obligation on our part to uphold or maintain the content provided herein. This message and other archived messages from Xenite.Org forums may contain content not necessarily endorsed, reviewed, or approved by Xenite.Org and/or its moderation staff. All opinions expressed in these archives are those of the original posters and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Xenite.Org, its owner or owners, moderators, administrators, and/or other volunteer staff or agents. All content is copyright the original poster unless otherwise noted. This page is copyright © 1997-2001 Michael L. Martinez. All rights reserved. No reproduction, electronic or otherwise, may be made without the express permission of the copyright holders, except as occurs in normal browser caching and search engine indexing. You may print one copy of this page for your personal use.