12-19-2006, 08:07 AM | #1 |
I'm Eru, and lord of Arda.
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The Watchers of Cirith Ungol
Did anyone find it odd that there were Watchers there. i mean, if they were there during the Gondorians being there, then how did the Uriks and Orcs get through and yet, i can't see the orcs building something like that just to defend a disused watch post.
Someone help me put please.
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12-19-2006, 08:52 AM | #2 | ||
Salt Miner
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The Watchers at the gate of the Tower of Cirith Ungol were clearly put there by Sauron or his minions, not the Dúnedain of Gondor. When he first encountered them, Sam realized that “some dreadful spirit of evil vigilance abode in them” (Return of the King, “Tower of Cirith Ungol”). They “had vulture-faces, and … clawlike hands. … The black stones of their eyes” were full of “malice [that] made [Sam] quail.” The Watchers were afraid of the light of Eärendil captured in the phial of Galadriel. None of those things sounds as if they might be of even the slightest good, but all of evil and malignancy.
Nor were these the likely only statues of this sort that Sam and Frodo encountered. Gorbag told Shagrat that at Minas Morgul, “‘…our Silent Watchers were uneasy more than two days ago’” (Two Towers, “Choices of Master Samwise”), meaning that they had sensed the passage of the hobbits as they climbed the stairs leading to Cirith Ungol. These might (might, mind you – I am not claiming that they are) be the figures at the bridge that crossed the Morgulduin leading to Minas Morgul (ibid., “Stairs of Cirith Ungol”): Quote:
The idea that there was a “dreadful spirit of evil vigilance [that] abode in them” suggests that the Watchers were works of necromancy, Sauron’s day job that earned him his nickname for most of the Third Age, “The Necromancer.” The Tower of Cirith Ungol was far from being a “disused watch post.” In the first place, the tower still served the ancient purpose for which the Dúnedain had constructed it during their war with Sauron at the end of the Second Age: to prevent escape from Mordor; and then as a final defense against unauthorized entry. (Citation from “Tower of Cirith Ungol”) Quote:
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12-19-2006, 01:46 PM | #3 | |
Lady of the Ulairi
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I agree with Alcuin that the Watchers were clearly not Gondorian invention. Most likely the statues were put there by the Witch-King during his 1000 years rule of Minas Morgul. The same way as he sent evil spirits to inhabit the Barrows, he could send others to inhabit watch statues. Both Cirith Ungol and Minas Morgul were in nazgul's hands since 2002.
We don't know whether there were Watchers in Barad Dur or in Durthang or at the Morannon. At the latter place there were probably none : at least they are not mentioned in the passage about the hobbits passing by. So, maybe it was the Witch-King's know-how, not Sauron's. Quote:
I think since Sauron returned to Mordor (2942-51), Cirith Ungol became directly answerable to Barad-Dur, while Minas Morgul remained the Witch-King's personal fortress. |
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12-19-2006, 04:36 PM | #4 | |
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Quote:
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12-19-2006, 04:55 PM | #5 | |
Elven Warrior
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Quote:
Last edited by Landroval : 12-19-2006 at 05:21 PM. |
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12-20-2006, 06:54 PM | #6 | ||
Lady of the Ulairi
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Quote:
Quote:
As for the badges you said it yourself - it contradicts your interpretation. |
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