The mouth of Sauron has spoken

[LinuxGal]

A Lore correction. It was Melkor that aligned with Ungoliant, not Sauron. Sauron was aligned with Shelob her daughter but still, he made the stupid move of trying to betray her and making her his enemy. That mistake was bugging me.

[Angrboda]

[Fake Messiah]

Talking about wizards in LOTR, is it not underwhelming that Gandalf uses a sword in battle? Why doesn't he use magic to fight? Maybe like sorcerers in the game Diablo.

[LinuxGal]

Talking about wizards in LOTR, is it not underwhelming that Gandalf uses a sword in battle? Why doesn't he use magic to fight? Maybe like sorcerers in the game Diablo.

When the Valar sent the Istari to Middle-Earth the rule that came down from Eru Iluvatar was they couldn't openly display their power as Maiar spirits.  So they went under the appearance of old men.

[Anomalocaris]

so instead of being there, so that their powers cannot be put to good use lest it be seen, why don’t they just hide where men and elves can’t see them, and send anonymous and seemingly fortuitous, thunders, lightning and tornadoes to get rid of the orcs.

The problem with sword and sorcery fantasy is sorcery would rather tend to make sword superfluous, just as if the power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force, then why does the Masters of the Darkside keep building more death stars to be blown up?

[LinuxGal]

so instead of being there, so that their powers cannot be put to good use lest it be seen, why don’t they just hide where men and elves can’t see them, and send anonymous and seemingly fortuitous, thunders, lightning and tornadoes to get rid of the orcs.

The problem with sword and sorcery fantasy is sorcery would rather tend to make sword superfluous, just as if the power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force, then why does the Masters of the Darkside keep building more death stars to be blown up?

It took maybe twenty minutes for the Eagles to fly Sam and Frodo from Mt. Doom to Minas Tirith. If the Eagles flew them from Rivendell to Mt. Doom in the first place the whole trilogy would be skinnier'n the Book of Mormon with all the "exceedinglys" and "it came to passes" yanked out.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Talking about wizards in LOTR, is it not underwhelming that Gandalf uses a sword in battle? Why doesn't he use magic to fight? Maybe like sorcerers in the game Diablo.

Gandalf occasionally did use magic to fight - the wolf attack in The Hobbit, rescuing Faramir from the Nazgûl, etc.

But LG has it - not only were the Istari prohibited from using their magic openly, they were expressly forbidden from matching Sauron’s power with their own (which explains why LOTR didn’t culminate in a wizard’s duel.

Boru

[The Architect Of Fate]

1. Wizards don't use their full power in Arda because they can't wield their power in Arda. In fact, using magic at all there is a strain for the wizards.


2. Vader was responding to the claim that the Death Star was "The Greatest Power In The Universe" to which he responded it was nothing compared to the force itself. Not that he was claiming that anyone could actually control the full might of the force.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

so instead of being there, so that their powers cannot be put to good use lest it be seen, why don’t they just hide where men and elves can’t see them, and send anonymous and seemingly fortuitous, thunders, lightning and tornadoes to get rid of the orcs.

The problem with sword and sorcery fantasy is sorcery would rather tend to make sword superfluous, just as if the power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force, then why does the Masters of the Darkside keep building more death stars to be blown up?

Their mission was to unite the Free Peoples to deal with Sauron, not to overthrow him themselves.

Boru

[The Architect Of Fate]

so instead of being there, so that their powers cannot be put to good use lest it be seen, why don’t they just hide where men and elves can’t see them, and send anonymous and seemingly fortuitous, thunders, lightning and tornadoes to get rid of the orcs.

The problem with sword and sorcery fantasy is sorcery would rather tend to make sword superfluous, just as if the power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force, then why does the Masters of the Darkside keep building more death stars to be blown up?

It took maybe twenty minutes for the Eagles to fly Sam and Frodo from Mt. Doom to Minas Tirith. If the Eagles flew them from Rivendell to Mt. Doom in the first place the whole trilogy would be skinnier'n the Book of Mormon with all the "exceedinglys" and "it came to passes" yanked out.

If they took the eagles to Mordor they would all be dead as the success of their mission depended on secrecy at not getting the dark lords attention.