It reminds me so much of the history of humanity's failure when it comes to Satan. (Christ stands out so clearly from the rest of us).
Gandalf: It is in Men that we must place our hope.
Elrond: Men? Men are weak. The Blood of Numenor is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten. It is because of Men the Ring survives. I was there, Gandalf. I was there three thousand years ago. I was there the day the strength of Men failed.
6 comments:
It's a great illustration...
all the more because it's not in the book! However, I think the subtle portrayal in LOTR (the books that is), was somewhat distasteful to the script writers... so it was rewritten.
Hi Mate,
Welcome to my blog.
What's the original wording in the books?
the conversation - and as far as I can think, nothing like it, appears in the book.
Weakness does come up though, and it goes as follows. Speaking about the quest to destroy the ring and resist Mordor, Elrond says "The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong"
There is also frequent reference to a 'Fool's hope', - a wisdom that seems like foolishness - and also that there is power in weakness, not one's own, but a power from beyond. The text never openly talks about what the implications are, but they are there nevertheless.
Moreover, in the movies Elrond is rather pessimistic - particularly about Aragorn. In the books, it's the other way around - Elrond's name for Aragorn when he was growing up was 'Estel', which means 'hope'.
In the books, Elrond isn't so antagonistic, nor does he think that Elves were better than men. Both are as weak as the other when it comes to the One Ring.
To sum up, the impression the books give is that there is a redemption and wisdom that works through weakness, and seems like foolishness, and that this is the antithesis of that which is achieved through might and power. I think the movies were uncomfortable with this idea, or missed it completely.
Great idea for a blog mate. I like the "cutting room floor" metaphor...
Hi Craig,
Welcome to my blog. Yeah. Under God, one of the favourite talks I gave someone told me 10 minutes before that I had half the time I had imagined. I just cut a few of my points and the talk was improved.
This will be a quiet blog I think - but one I want to keep going.
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