A Physrcs of Mlddle-earth Mlddle-earth Jenny Coombs and Marc Marc Read Read
(delivered by Marc Read)`~
Abstract:This paper takes a light-hearte light-hearted dlook at how far one one can go in applying primary world science to Middle-earth. Middle-earth. Tolkien Tolkien purists and physics physics purists purists may wish to pass over this! Keywords: Keywords: foresight, foresight, genetics,palantiri, physics, sight, sight, swords, swords, technology technology Tolkien wrote in Letter Letter 210 210 that that “I disl dislik ike e _ . . any pull
moreconfusingwhy otherraces do age and die than why the
towards . . _No anal analys ysis is in any any labo labora rato tory ry would discover discover chemical chemical properties of lembas lembas that made it superiorto other cakes of wheat-meal." Howe Howeve ver, r, he he als also o
Firs Firstt-bo bom m do not. not. Our Our cells gradually stop stop renewin renewing g themselves: the Elves’ Elves’ just stay as good as new. new. More
‘scientification’
wrote, in Letter 131, 131, that that his works works should should “leave scope for
other other minds minds and hands, hands, wieldin wielding g paint and music and drama."Yes; and why not science? There There seem seem to be at least least two ways ways of going abou aboutt a
scientificanalysis of the various variousfeatu features resthatmakeMiddlethatmakeMiddleearth earth dif erent erent from from the world that that we inhabi inhabitt today. today. We We can atte attemp mptt to expl explai ain n away away magi magic c by showing how the
seemingly seemingly magical magical ef ects ects could, in fact, fact, be produced by the the
operationof the physical laws laws that that we all all know know and and love. love.
This is the approach approach which which is favoured favoured by my co-author.The co-author.The other way is merely merely to provide new scientific laws to govem
Middle-eart Middle-earth: h: and
if these these clash
with the the ones ones that that we we use,
surp surpri risi singis ngis the total total immunit immunity y of the the elves to disease. It these factors can be inherited seem seems s that that one one or the the othe otherr of these in tho those of mixed blood, who are longerlonger-liv lived ed than than their purely human contemporaries.
It is a debatable point whether
this this long longev evit ityis yis due due toaresistan toaresistance ce to disease oranextension
of the time time until until cell cell renewa renewall begins begins to break down, or both. The toler lerance of vari variou ous s race races s to disease is highly since e we don' don'tt seem seem to have have any any records of questionable, sinc indiv individ idua uals ls'' (as opposed to entire entirepopulations’)falling prey to natural illnesses. illnesses. But back to to Elves. Elven Elven eyesig eyesight ht is known known to be very very good. Legolas Legolas can spot
orc-host st at at twelve twelve league leagues, s, and give fairly detailed an orc-ho detailed descr descript iptio ions ns of Eomer’s five leagues. Eomer’s éored at a distance distance of five
well, so much for the idea idea that that Middle Middle-ea -earthand rthand our wor world ld
This This is remarkable,and remarkable,and highly embarrassingfor embarrassingfor Aragom, Aragom,
are one and the same. same. Perhap Perhaps s there there is a middle middle way, way, and this this
though
is the one that I prefer. Under this approac approach h we can expla explain in thosethings which fitneatly with ourscience,and plead lack
depen dependson dson the the width width
of informationinstead of explaining the others -
lack
of
It is into this this mould mould that that this paper mo most st easi easily ly falls falls.. We We shal shalll discussthe discussthe wor worth th of this this whole whole schemelat schemelater er in the paper. information informat ioneither either aboutphysics,or about Middle-earth.
of these principles into oper operat atio ion n by looking more more closel closely y at the informa informatio tion n that that we are are given Middle-earth,and about the various races of Middle-earth, a nd thi this s is what what we we in this paper. Elves, intend to do to in Elves, dwarves, dwarves, hobbits hobbits and and men each each have have their their own peculiarities. Here Here we shal shalll be We can put some
looking at some some quirks of biology, biology, science science and technologyin technologyin Middle-earth. It is true that our title title claims claims to examine examine
physics,but titlesof papers often prove deceptive. Anywa Anyway, y, “Science
is either physics or stamp stamp-c -col olle lecti cting ng,” ,” in the the word words s
of Rutherfor Rutherford, d,and and neither of us us indulges indulges in philately.
Elves are strange.Even the most most cursory cursory reading of the works will lead anyone anyone to thatconclusion, especially if we thinkaboutthe Elves of The The Hobbit Hobbit (which I suspec suspectt tthat hat we would rather not do). do). They They can interma intermarry rry with men men and spring,, and thusthey thusthey arethe same same specie species, s, produce fertile of spring by definit definition ion.. I rather rather fanc fancy y that that any man attemp attempting ting to infomrElves aboutthis matter matterof definitionwould definitionwould reduce his life-expectancy dramaticall dramatically. y. However, However, they they have have physical
dif erences erences from from us, the the mo most st obvious obvious being thatthey do not die. However However strange strange this this may at first first appear, appear, it is much much
324
J.R.R.
Gimli refuse refuses s to be impres impressed. sed. Resolv Resolving ing power
of the the aperture apertureand the wavelength of
the light observed. observed. A
back-of-th back-of-the-env e-envelope elopecalcul calculation ation
if
Legolas Legolas used only (always the best sort) established that visib visible le light light,, he woul would d hav have e been been a bug-e bug-eye yed d monster, to the of exte extent nt having eyes on stalks in order to fit in a human-
Tolkien illustrators illustrators shaped shaped face face.. Rather Rather than than force all known known Tolkien to redr redraw aw thei theirr life life’s ’s work work,, we conc conclu lude ded d that Elves Elves have have more of the high-frequency spectrum availa available ble to them. them. Assu Assumi ming ng resolution of halfa metre at fifteen miles, and and a roug roughl hly y human human-s -siz ized ed pupil, we find that that thei theirr visi visible ble spec spectr trumexte umextends nds toabout toabout l70n l70nm, m, or 2000 THz-impossibly
high energy. Maybe Maybe the tale tale grew in the telling telling,, butthis butthis does leastt not af ect ect our our main main point: that that Elves Elves could could see well at leas
into into the ultr ultraa-vio viole lett - and this is not reall really y so improb improbabl able. e. Many Many inse insects cts can see UV; as indeed only o nly indeed could humans their lenses lenses were were remov removed ed (our receptors receptors respond respond to high
if
freque frequencie nciesbut sbut they they are blocke blocked d by by our lenses). lenses). All that is requir requiredt edthere herefor foreis eis for Elven Elven lenses to transmithighenergy electr electroma omagne gnetic ticwaves. waves. Increased Increased resolution resolution also requires requires higher higher-de -densi nsity ty retina retinall recept receptors ors - but but this this is a purely significant. physiologicalpoint and therefore not significant. Something else else is remark remarkab able le about about Legolas Legolas’s ’s sighti sighting ng of the riders. He can see that that there are 105 men galloping across the plains (possibly including Eomer). is possible that he
It
was merely countingvery quickly (and even this would be a considerabl considerable e feat), feat), but a more attractiv attractive e explanationwould explanationwould
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mightt be that he has just seen thatthere are this many, as I migh frontof three objects in directlythatthere
wizard's technologic technological al Dwar Dwarve ven n ring ring:: cert certai ainl nly y tl1e wizard's racial characteri characteristics. stics.In fitin with thedwarves’ thedwarves’ racial In pi ti
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mightt be that he has just seen thatthere are this many, as I migh see directlythatthereare two or three objects in frontof me that I can having to count count them. them. I find find personallythat withouthaving manner twos, threes threes and possibly fours in this manner only see twos,
larger groups are broken up into these and then summed.I this is typical of humans generally; but it don't know
if
seems seems inconc inconceiv eivab able le
105 coul could d be grasped that that 105
“just
like
an be that" that" by any normal man. Feats Feats such such as these c an normal man. which indica indicates tes that that they they performed by some autistic people, which
human n brain brain,, thou though gh.. Elve Elves s are not entire entirely ly alien alien to the huma type ty pes s who wh o kno k now w the t heir ir Log Lo g would probably be the annoying sort of mental mental arithm arithmeti etic. c. tables by heart and could do any sort
wizard's technologic technological al Dwar Dwarve ven n ring ring:: cert certai ainl nly y tl1e wizard's racial racia l characteri char acteristics. stics. thedwarves’ In In aspi aspira rati tion ons s fitin with thedwarves’ their their heyday heyday,, the Dwarve Dwarves s supplie supplied d armour and weaponry weaponry to the Elves. In retumthe Elves Elves heaped heapedabuse on their valiant
comrades, whom whom they charmingly charmingly nick-named nick-named but short comrades,
‘Naugrim’, or ‘Stunted Ones’. Ones’. But But this this is not the the place to Tamithom. The pursue the pro-Dwarven sentiments of Tamithom. been less less isolat isolation ionist ist than than the dwarves also appear to have been
tradin ing g thei theirr tech techno nolo logy gy with with,, say, say, the the FirstFirst-bom bom,, freely freely trad hobb hobbits its.. regain the heights heights of The technology of the Edain didn’t regain
until well after after the end of the Third Third Age. the Nrimen Nrimenére éreans ansuntil
folk Pure Maths seemsto be the sort of field attractiveto folk
in The Lost Road even refers to flying ships in One One frag fragme ment ntin
everyday af airs, who have at best a tenuous connection with everyday having g no and and we can imag imagin ine e Ferm Fermat at’s ’s Last Last Theo Theore rem‘ m‘s s havin terrors fortheEldar. Elves s and and Men, Men, and and We know a further furtherdi dif erence erencebetween Elve
the years immediately immediately following following the Akallabéth. This This leads leads of reliability sources, which us into into the the murk murky y wate waters rs of reliability which we
banned ed chem chemica icall need needed ed.” .” Now Now we sha shall perform the bann analysis of lembas. It certainly could not have contained
in decid decidin ing g whic which h tech techno nolo logi gies es to disc discar ard d in this matter. ships we can discount discount,, as being removed from all Flying ships
much (if any) any) Vitami Vitamin n C, for that chem chemica icall decomp decompose oses s highly unlike unlikely ly that that Elves Elves did not requ require ire this rapidly. It is highly
laterversionsofthe laterversionsofthe story. story.
vitamin, vitamin, and so we may conclude conclude that they synthesised synthesised their own, wn, like like all primary-world animal animals s save save guinea-pigs, monk mo nkey eys s and and men. men. The othe others rs,, cert certai ainl nly, y, are are wom wom down down more quickly on the chase, and we attribute a certain part of
survivors and why why what what Down Downfa fall ll was was so low, and techno technolog logy y they they did have have had so many many seemin seeming g lacunz lacunze. e. As seems s to be no refe refere renc nce e to printing. one one example example,, ther there e seem
t he this this is related related to their their metaboli metabolism.Duri sm.During ng the pursuit of the “in Legolas that the orc-hoards across across Rohan, Rohan, we are told of Legolas of the th e sust su stena enanc nceth ethat at he waybread the Elves Elves he found found all all
vitamin C, malnutrition malnutrition;; lack of vitamin
this to as well as leading leading required ed eventuallyto eventuallyto scurvy, scurvy, also causes anaemia, since it is requir forthe absorption ironinto the bo b ody. absorptionof ironinto We notic notice e that that the the gene for beardl beardless essnes ness s is transm transmitte itted d from Elves to Half-Elves, Half-Elves, and is to be found found in those those with with
even even the sligh slightes testt blood blood relati relation on to the eldar eldar.. Cirdan Cirdan is a bearde bearded d mutant mutant.A .A highly highly debata debatabletheo bletheory ry is that that he was sporti sportinga nga false false beardin homagetothe homagetothe Istari Istari,, or as a sign of solidaritywith solidaritywith thedwarves of theEred theEred Luin. My co-author co-authoris is in of Burnt, Burnt, has tempted tempted to hazard that Njal, as the Saga has elven lven
bloo lood:
at lea least
he
disp displa lays ys
the the
typ typically Elven
characteristics, of wisdom, prescience and bear beardl dles essn snes ess. s. Possib Possibly ly there there were were Nrimen Nrimenére érean an descen descenden dents ts among among the Norsemen;
this would account for their their skill skill in sea-fa sea-farin ring g
and also their predilection for killinganyone who disagr disagreed eed with them. Talk of beards the beards naturally naturally leads leads to talk of the In resplendentin beards beards of Khazad. The Hobbit, they are resplendentin
however, a white, yellow and (surprisingly) blue. This This is however, black pigment- we do possible result of small amounts of black was maki making ng a fas fashi hion on not not need need to assum assume e that that Dwalin was statement.
the Dwa Dwarv rves es.. Mike Mike We mo move ve on to a consideratio consideration n of the ago Percival wrote a good article in Mallorn a few years ago Moria M oria of it draining about the seems s (1988, pp. 30-32),and seem reason reasonable able to suppos suppose e that they they had access access to geothermal their t heir civilization.I civilization. I hope hope thatI thatI do technology technologyat at the heightof not of end end either engineers or Dwa Dwarv rves es by saying saying that that the the M iddlee-ea eart rth. h. On a relat related ed Dwarves were the engineers of Middl it theme, was encour encouragi aging ng to see in The Treaso Treason n oflseng oflsengard ard that that Tolk Tolkie ien n toye toyed d with with the the idea idea of Saru Saruma man’ n’s s holdi holding ng a
A Pl-IYS Pl-IYSlCS lCS any rate, must be oriented correctly in order “surveyor”
OF
for them to be
shall shall retum retum to before before too long.
Itis temptingto thinkflying
ships ships a lege legend nd that that spran sprang g up beca becaus use e
of the
incredible
achie achieve veme ment nts sof the Dtinedain, much as in later years the Palant Palantiri iri were transf transform ormed edinto legends of bird-likespirits theKing. We must be careful, careful, though, though, brin bringi ging ngmessages to theKing.
It has often
technologicallevel of the the been asked asked why the technologicallevel
of the the
straightforwardtechnology,certainly However, this is quite a straightforwardtechnology,certainly
those who made steel bows, and is one withinthe grasp of those
of
relatively vely simple simple to develop develop once once those those inventi inventions ons which which is relati are, we sugges suggest, t, two someone ha has had the in i nitial idea. There are, first is thatthetechnology for The this phenomenon. reason reasons s
_
'
of Ntimenor Ntimenor was artificially artificially acceleratedb acceleratedby y a certain certain Annatar, Annatar,
Gifts.And what possible giftother than knowledge Lord of Gifts.And Lord knowledge It could could he give, given his situation? would then hardly be strange strange to find the considera considerable ble resources resources of the the race race being concentrate concentrated don weapons weapons research.But research.But even so, this would not not expl explai ain n such obvi obviou ous s gaps.
To do this, we must consider the position of the Faithful. Faithful. everythingthatSauron Sauron stood for, and They They wer were e oppo oppose sed d to everythingthat
would, would, we sugges suggest,have t,have seen any advanc advanced ed techno technolog logies ies as of It from a was unfortunate unfortunate being being the the works works the devil. view thatMiddle-earthwas colonised techno technolog logica icall point of view colonised by into intole lera rabl bly y proud Luddites, technophobeswho technophobeswho would use
not Nrimenorean Nrimenoreantechno technology logybut but the sword and thebow. The such the Palantiri Palantiri,, were Elven made. as surviving artefacts,
The fear
of a
seco second nd Akal Akalla labé béth th
obvi obviou ousl sly y
scar scared ed the the
Fait Faithf hful ul and and thei theirr desc descen enda dant nts s away away from from deve develo lopi ping ng their own accord accord.Eve .Even n at theend of the anything much of their the
Thir Third d Age, Age, we stil stilll have have the the oce
of King's
Scribe in
Gond Gondo or. Neve Nevert rthe hele less ss,,
Faithful broughtw broughtwith ith themsome truly the Faithful
Palantiri iri.. We have have here here the the benefi benefitt ofa powerful items: the Palant rema remark rkab ably ly full descriptionof their powers and operation, in the chap chapter ter “The Palant Palantiri iri"" in Unfinish Unfinished ed Tales. Tales. The trouble operate by any known physical is that that they they do do not not seem to operate it is indisputa indis putabletha blethatt they do operate laws. laws. Howeve However, r, stones, at acco accord rdin ing g to to som some e sort sort of strict laws. The lesser stones,
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325
cont contro roll llin ing g the motionof this this camera-space.The light takes a
'
A Pl-IYS Pl-IYSlCS lCS
OF
any rate, must be oriented correctly in order for them to be used; used; and using using the stones stones,, a “surveyor” could could see things things many many miles miles away, away, unless unless the locat location ion he was scrying scrying was dark. Telepathic Telepathic conversations could could be held betw betwee een n the the operators of two stones; and the Osgili Osgiliath ath stone could eavesdrop on any of these conversations. Just to complicate complicate the matter still further,thestone at Emyn Beraid Beraid looked looked only only
Westward to the the ston stone eat Avalloné and was not connectedto connectedto the other other stonesin stonesin any way. of a Stone way. Indeed, Indeed, the mentio mention n ofa
in the the Far Far West West is surprising: presumably communication could have been set up between the Faithful (who had control of the stones) stones) and Valinor. Valinor. This This could explain explain a lot, includ including ing the Faithfu1’s Faithfu1’s knowledge knowledge of the plan of ArPharazén and their preparations forfleeingthe Downfall. Downfall. So how could could these things operate? operate? Given Given that that they they can can see see
through mountains,one mountains,one might imagine that they “saw" by means of some some sort of radiation radiationthatisn’t bloc blocke kedea deasi sily ly,, like like neutrinos, but in in that that case why shouldthey reflect of the the target? And why can’t the stones see into dark That places?
sugges suggests ts some sort sort of visible electromagneticradiation, “dark” unless is being being used metaphorica metaphorically. lly. This, though, though, seems unlikely, unlikely, and light isn’t noted for its tendency tendency to go through through mountains. mountains. Poss Possib ibly ly the the light light is boun bounced ced of something; something; but what? It what? A satelli satellite? te? seems unlikely that Eiirendilis Eiirendilis sitting sittingtherewith therewith a mirror, mirror,even though though he may be described as theFlammifer of Westemesse. Westemesse. It’s at this this stag tage
thatwe could mutter mutter sagely, sagely, “Hmm. Insucient data data.”Even .”Even Ten'y Pratchett's standard cop-out, “it’s quantum, innit?”, doesn’thelp us here. we wish to press on in this matter, we must invoke a scientific principle which has has long long been been the the doma domain in of
If
authors wishing to lend an air air of spurious spurious verisi verisimil militu itude de to an otherwise bald bald and unconvincing unconvincing narrative. narrative. Yes, Yes, folks, folks, it's
timefor Hyperspace.Some of you may have read an article
by a certai certain n Marc Marc Read Read in Amon Amon Hen (1989, pp. 17-18) many years ago, attempting to explain the globing of the world and the remova removall of the Valar as a chan change ge from a
Euclidean topology of space to a Minkowski topology of space-time. space-time. Perhaps Perhaps extra physical dimensions dimensions are the sing single le most useful tool in today’s science science for the Pseudo-Scien Pseudo-Scientist. tist.
When we read about superstring superstringtheory requiringa numb number er
of physical dimensionswhich runs well into double double figure figures, s, explanations aren‘t so sill perhaps we feel that our explanations silly y after after all. all.
But the counter-intuitive nature of modem modem scienc science, e, fascinating though it is, is only a digression. Let us retum to our hyperspatial hyperspatial Palantiri.
The way in which thevision of the Stone is not not bloc blocke ked, d, and yet is restricted to the light illuminating the actual scene
being observed, goes to suggest that the scene is not being transmitted to the Stone Stone by any radiat radiation ion.. Rather, it would
seem that the scene is is directly directly observed observed by the Surveyor. It is the the Surveyor were actually there. Or, to as put it another way, it is as the the light from the scene travelled directly to
if
if
thePalantir. What betterway betterway for this to happen happenthan than for the the
lightto travel travel down a “wormhole”, a hyperspatialtunnel, tunnel,it need only be a tiny size. size. Any Any light light enteri entering ng this volume would then travel travel directly directly to thestone. The various ways
controllingthe palantir then then transl translate ate to various various ways
326 have have the equivalent “sideways"
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of of
MIDDLE-EARTH
325
cont contro roll llin ing g the motionof this this camera-space.The light takes a
short-cut through another physical dimension. The standard standard analog analogy y formed formed by removi removing ng one dimension may may come come in hand handy y here - instead of looking around the surface of a sphere sphere,, we look look from one point on the surfac surface e to another throug through h the space space in the middle. Of course, this is perfectly ridiculous. Although it is a nice picture, it would end up
with, in ef ect, ect, faster-than-lighttravel. travel. Admittedly, the only thing travelling travelling faster than light would would be light itself, which which of mercifully rule rules s out out the the possibility Elven, Elven, PalantirPalantirstarships, starsh ips, but this still powered, jump-driven is enough to make causality a headache for anyone. Although this this is a
drawback from the scientific view, it might well be scientific point of view, seen seen as a bonus from the textual view; after all, point of view; Pala Palant ntir irii can also see backwards backwards and forwards in time, and that really couldresultin causality causality migraines. Even Even this this pseudo-explanationdoesn’ doesn’tt tie tie in with with all the fact facts s that that we are are given about about the Stones Stones.. How could
Osgiliath eave eavesd sdro rop? p? A repeat repeater er statio station n loca locate ted d in hypers hyperspac pace? e? Surely Surely such such a thin thing g is beyo beyond nd the realm realm of ‘Doc’ unless one is E.E. E.E . Smith. possibility, And And how how are are thoughts thoughts transmitted transmitted between between two Palant Palantiri iri in the the same same network? network? As Jenny sumsup the the whol whole e matter of hyperspatial hyperspatial
“Aaaaaaaaaargh!” communications,
The whole question of foreseeing foreseeingthe the futu futureis reis a vexe vexed d one. Mirror The of Galadriel Galadriel shows possible futures, including
thin things gs that that may not come come to pass. Such Such an intrusion of instantly of reminds us the field of Quantum probability Mechan Mechanics ics..
A fascin fascinati ating ng Horizon programme on television television
abouta monthago (1992) revealed that theoretical theoreticalphysicists are com coming ing to acce accept pt the the so-c so-cal alle led d Many Many Worlds interp interpret retati ation, on, and some some other other serious serious and possibly sober
theoreticiansare theoreticiansare startingto suggest suggestthat that time travel, ofa sort, is a possibility. The
“of a sort" is very
important here and I shall discuss it now. now. The main objection objection to timetrav timetravel el is that that it would seem to be open to the Grandfath Grandfather erparadox- what would happen killed my grandfatherbefore before my father father was bom? The The solu soluti tion on to this lies in the Many Many Wor Worlds lds theory. theory. This This is an interpretation of quantum mechanicswhich suggeststhat
ifI if I
If
ever every y possible quantum event actually actually occurs. occurs. (as is usua usually lly the case) two two or mo more re events are contradictory - the
wave wave func functio tion n collapses collapses into one state or another another - then the “A” Universe splits.In splits.In one branchevent happens, in another it does not. In the classic thought-experiment, we may may say say that in one branch, branch, Berrithiel's Berrithiel's cat is killed, and the in other other it rema remain ins s alive. For many years this was seen seen to be the most flagran flagrantt breach breach of Occam’ Occam’s s Razor Razor imaginable: imaginable: we’re inventing untold universes just to avoid letting probability in.
Jenny points out that it is impossible to breach a razor, but let
that pass. Now I have have been been reli relia ably bly inform informed ed that that cosmologists, being depressed depressed about about dealin dealing g with only one univ univer erse se,th ,thin ink k that thatthe otherMan otherMany y worlds have at least as
muchc muchcla laim im to existenceas ours. Weird.
The The mo most st interesting thought that that come comes s with with this this ontological
nigh nightm tmar are e
is
that that perhaps some some
sort sort
of
communication between between the parallel worlds (for want of a betterterm) is possible. Thus, it has been argued, argued, we could
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of time travel so long
as we step steppe ped d
Well, that may may be becau ecause se we all all have have an instinctive how re law, which which for the
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steppe ped d have have the equivalent of time travel so long as we step “sideways" in time, across ss to a parallel world, so time, and acro science iiction iiction author keeping all time-lines unmuddled. Any science this would away with who tried tried to get away probably be laughed Haldane’s law in action: at, but it's just anotherexample of Haldane’s “The than we suppos suppose, e, it is Universe is not only queerer than
suppose." queerer than we can suppose." that we could explainGaladriel’s Anyhow, it now seems that
Mirror as
being being a
way
of looking into the various parallel
away by erence could could be explained explained away worlds. worlds. The time dif erence
conside considerr the secondcas secondcase e first. law is simply derived The inverse-square
an for the case case of an
emitting at constant constant power, P. The isotropic light~sourceemitting distance,, r, away from observer er at a distance seen by an observ brig bright htne ness ssas seen
“nearly infinite".This explanation seem seems s in handy handy here -
fall falls s
horribly afraid that it could vaguely unsatisfactorybut I am horribly
backed up by science. science. be backed
out ther there e Any theoretical physicists out
and let let us kno know w the the resu results lts;; are are invi invited ted to do the maths maths,, and The question is perhaps by the Bicentenary conference. basically,wouldsuch a device violate any physical laws? As "Whatever is not forbidden forbiddenis compulsory.” Gell-Mann said, of real real interest in modem Suce to say thatthis is an area science fiction fans and rationalising research,especially forscience
of at at
law. case.Consider considerthe two-dimensi two-dimensional onalcase.Consider We shall now considerthe
a ligh light-s t-sou ourc rce eon a plane, which emits a
“light-circle”instead
of a
depends s on brightnesspresumably depend light-sphere.The brightness The of area. power per unit power per unit length, instead observer er at a distanc distance e r from the source brightness brightness to an observ this formula formula could could be readily would would therefore therefore be P/21ll'2.But this of travellingin a plane, were the light, light, instead travellingin be changed if the complicated ed two-dime two-dimension nsional al curve. curve. to travel on some more complicat
light-source,, the observer observer and for instance, instance, that the the light-source move on the surfac surface e of a constrained to move the light are all constrained shows that the radius a. Then elementary elementary geometry shows sphere of radius reciprocal of brightness falls of not as llr, but as the reciprocal If the surface of a Arda Arda were three-dimensional a.si a.sin( n(r/ r/a) a).. desired d functio function n of suit suitab able le four-dimensional object, the desire Imagine,
pseudo-scientists.
We can can now now look look at some of the powers of the Rings. I that they they can be seen seen as the products thinkthatit is fairto say that of the e cts mentio mentionedher nedhere e and in our earlie earlierr paper the various various ef ects loca lo cate te the the othe otherr 1991). The The ability ability to Read,, 1991). (Coombs & Read closel ely y know their their though thoughts ts seems clos wearer wearers s and, and, perhaps, know
Palantfr. Amon Hen seems to functions ns of the the Palantfr. related to the functio act as a natu natura rall amplifier for the power of vision; it is wearer er on might happen happen to a ring ring wear terrifying terrifying to think what might haveimplicitly Amon Lhaw. The problems ofinvisibilitywe haveimplicitly “Valaquanta”. They They also also seem seem handled handled in our earlie earlierr paper, idea closely ability another to amplify amplifythe wielder’s wielder’s natural
obtained;; that is to say, say, against distance distance could be obtained brightness against brighter when they one in which light sources appear much brighter such a that of finding such are are furth further er awa away. y. The problem is that this,but, devoted much thought to this,but, strangeobject. Jenny has devoted despiteconstructing many three-dimensionaldiagrams out of satsumas,has had to give up. Is there an mutilated satsumas,has paper and mutilated
the silmaril became became the 100W light-bulb.Yet light-bulb.Yet we are told that a silmaril
earl earlie ier. r. Per Perha haps ps some some layer
in thehouse? n-dimensional topologistin ourearlierwork. rk. tied in with ourearlierwo There are other conceming g Barendil. Barendil. What other possibilities concemin attention to two dif erent My co-author has tumed tumed her attention “magic" all, we can see certain artificial erent was Vingilot made of? Afterall, inArda, and treated each in a dif erent examples of satellites satellites from reflected reflected light. But whatlight could itreflect? way. First, the Silmarils. Silmarils. These These are bright, but not blinding to mentioned ned Sun, as mentio raises the whole problem of the Sun, look at; it is unlikely that their luminosity exceeds that ofa This raises moming-star.The moming-star.The obvious explanation,if explanation we
story y told told by an anc ancie ient nt that this is mythol mythology ogy,, a stor seek, is that of Eare Ea rend ndil il is Venu Ve nus, s, the th e course, realit ity, y, people; in real enterta tain inin ing, g, sulphurous second second planet. It is enter poisonous, sulphurous in a univ univer erse se however, to imagine fora momentthat we are a few fe w miles mil es above abo ve the where the moming-staris moming-staris a Silmaril, Silmaril,
|
if
worlds ds out out Afterall, there is going to be a vast number of worl comes s there. there. Indeed, Indeed, J. Danfor Danforth th Quayle’s famous quantity come
|
appear to to dim. So, we could could either question distant distant objects objects appear that the the Momi Moming ng-S -Sta tarr is just a silmaril, the assumption assumption that what without maintaining that it is a planet, or we could see what t he inverseinverse-squ square are law did not hold. hold. Let’s woul would d happ happen en the
the source depends on the power density at the location of spreads out since the light spreads which is P/41rr P/41rr’’since the the obs obser erve ver, r, which Hence the brightness over the surfac surface e of a sphere. Hence equa equall lly y over
tes. slightly ly dif erent erent rates having having worlds which which develop developed ed at slight
'
Well, that may may be becau ecause se we all all have have an instinctive inverse-s e-squa quare re law, which which govems how feeling for the invers
silmarill is still still earth. The problem then arises of how the silmari
with the the sto story ry visible, and so bright; similar problems occur with of Lost L ost In Tales of the Sun and Moon. Moon. (Tolkien, The Book afte afterr in heat and brilliance brilli ance 201), 201 ), the Sun increa inc reases ses 1983, p. “the Christopherr Tolkiencomments itslaunching,so that, as Christophe the Sun that that brilliantly less readil readily y that that if the reflection rises less
Laurelin then whole Earth Earth was but one fruit fruit of Laurelin illumines the whole 'Valinor musthave been painfully brightand hot in the days of the Trees”! But in Tolkien’s Tolkien’s later later writing writing there there is no of in lumino lum inosity sity. . So why do the any such increase mention feel bright? Or rather,why rather,why do we feel heavenly bodies still look bright?
of the
atmosphereacted as a
solving all our problems at a single natural photomultiplier, solving no attached to this explanation but can think of no stro stroke ke.. I am attached Still, when when has that that ever ever got in justification forit whatsoever. theory? Anyway, Anyway, we shall now tum to the the the way ofa good theory? area whic which h Jenny Jenny has beeninvestigating. othe otherr area
anotherway As we statedat the start of this this paper, thereis another maintain maint ain that Middle-earth Middle-eart h of going about about things things,, which which is to laws must must be earth, and that therefore therefore all its physical laws is our our earth, thoughtfor a ours. Let us pursue this line of thoughtfor compatible with ours. The will criticism. be source source whil while. e. Our principle weapon erent Arda existas manydif erent legends of Arda various histories and legends docume documents,in nts,in a great variety of styles, and are often flatly
example, in stye contradictor contradictory. y.Consid Consider er the dif erence, erence, for example, “Tale of Timiviel” Timiviel” in as well as plot, between the playful “Lay of Lost Tales (Tolkien, 1984,pp. 3-48),andthesombre
150-308).Clearly these can be Leithian" (Tolkien, 1985, pp. 150-308).Clearly reworks and adaptations adaptations of rega regard rded edas Tolkien’s successive reworks
themyths.
thatthey thatthey oughtto lookdimmer? I
Itis more rewarding, however, valid in the
ond
A PHYSICS
OF MIDDLE-EAR MIDDLE-EARTH TH
to consider them as equally ld, but dif erent erent
327
are relatively reliable; presumably the translatedversion
of
of
I
Itis more rewarding, however,
A PHYSICS
to consider them as equally
valid in the second secondary ary wor world, ld, but
as representing
traditions,from dif erent erent ages and cultures,
or legends legends.. And, And, just
as
OF MIDDLE-EAR MIDDLE-EARTH TH
dif erent erent
of the the same same facts facts
with primary~worldhistorical
sources, one must consider not only only the materi material al but its its author: author: when he lived, what his culture was, how close he was to the the even events ts he describ describes, es, how he gathered his information. Many of the documents we have are songs or lays; has the poet adapted his material for dramat dramatic ic ef ect, ect, or for some other other reason reason?? To understandThe /Eneid one must must considerMaecenas, who commissione commissionedthe dthe work, as well as Virgil who wrote it. When discussing the O res,, portrayal of Ores one mustremembe mustrememberr thathistory thathistory is written bythe victors. victors.The The racist,misanthropictone of The The Silmarillion Silmarillion betray betraysit sits s Elven Elven origin; origin; and the constant constant refere reference nce to the great height of the t he heroes of the War of the the Ring Ring make makes s sen sense wh when we rememberthatthe Red Book Book was written by hobbits. So what what is the relevance t histoa discussion of science? relevance of thistoa science?
It is that that one need need not take every
statement statement at face-value, as
we have have already already shown. Exaggeratio Exaggeration, n, conf confus usio ion, n, and and
misunderstanding all play their part in the description description of technological arte artefa fact cts, s, espe especi cial ally ly when when such such artefa artefacts cts
belong to to a civilizatio civilization n other than the narrator’s, and to a technology he does not understand. An exampleis the Elven
swords, Orcrist, Glamdring, and Sting, Sting, which which magica magically lly toindicatetheproximity of Orcs. glow in thedark toindicatethe Orcs.
Whereas Jenny Jenny can can acce accept pt the Palant Palantiri iri as products of some far-ad far-advan vanced ced scienc science, e, she she baul baulks ks at lumi lumino nous us
ironmongery.This seemstobe “magic” pure and simple. She She
prefers to say that the reports reports that the swords swords glow whe when Ores approa approache ched d are untme: untme: they they are are base based d on mmou mmourr, exaggeration, and superstitious belief in the omnipotence omnipotence of the ancientElven science that tl1em. Rather Rather than than produced tl1em. being actually actually self-lumino self-luminous, us, the swords swords were in fact fact only only reflective. In darksurroundings,they highly reflective. they reflectedwhat available light there was, and so still seemed seemed bright, just as white clothing clothing shows shows up more at night. Over time this was
distortedinto the legend that that the swords emitted their own light, light, and eventua eventually lly enemies. presence of enemies.
that that they they glowed to indi indica cate te the
Elven swords swords are in fact repeatedly referredto as “bright"; thoughhow far this is merely arhetorical arhetorical adjective adjective is hard to
say. say. The ancien ancientt Elven Elven swor swords ds are also also prized for thei theirr strength. Both of these could be explained explained the the Nold Noldor or at the height height of theircivilisationwere theircivilisationwerecapable of manufacturing manufacturing large single crystals of metal. metal. This This is a technolo technologywhic gywhich h we
if
are just beginningto master.Normal metal consists of many small grains, or crystals, crystals, of metal atoms bonded in grain structures.Fractureoccurs at grain boundaries;the t he the size sizeof the a ects e cts f the strength of grains the metal; techniques such as tempering tempering and work-harden work-hardening ingdepend on this. sword consisted of monocrystallineiron, it would be very resistant resistant to many forms of stress. It would also, due to its uniform surface,be highly reflective. reflective.
Ifa If a
Now,, I would Now would be quite happy happy to accept accept monocrystalline swords swords,, and
of course
the general point about about source source
analysis. In this this case, case, though,I think that reports reportsof glowing glowing swords arenot greatly exaggerated. exaggera ted.The sourcesthatwe sourcesthatwe have
J.R.R.
328 is because because
they
disagreementsarise.
are relatively reliable; presumably the translatedversion of the the Red Red Book Book was the annotated copy of Findegil, Findegil, only two copies removed removed from the original. original. Bilb Bilbo o coul could d well well be forgivenfor making up some of the excessesof There and Back Back Agai Again, n, butthe Red Boo Book k wasdestined wasdestinedto beread beread by the the and the wise. great simply one of The whole question is simply where to draw thelines betweenmagic, betweenmagic, legendand science. science. This is much harder than it may soun sound. d. Cla Clark rke' e's s Law Law is “any often ften cite cited d in this context: context: that suciently advanced tech techno nolo logy gy would would be indist indisting inguis uishab hable le from from magi magic. c."" I
that most people would accept accept this; this; the
suppose
disa disagr gree eeme ment nts s star startt when when some someon one e trie tries s to arg argue, ue, falla fallaci ciou ousl sly, y, from from this this to the the idea idea that anything anything that is indist indisting inguis uishab hable lefrom magic must be advanced advanced technology. technology. Logi Logica call lly, y, this is the fallacy of armingthe consequent; consequent;to to make ake the the lat latte terr clai far say claim m is more than is stated by Clarke's Clarke's Law, which is unobjectiona unobjectionable blein itself itself.. Itwill be useful forthe purposeof thisdiscussionto thisdiscussionto set set up two hypothetica hypotheticall Tolkien Tolkien fans, the Scient Scientist ist and the Magi Magici cian an.. I haste hasten n to add add that that both of these these are caricatures; we are leaving leaving thefinal decision to you. None of you you will be surprised surprised to hear that we‘re we‘re on the side of theScientist theScientist in this argu argume ment nt..Perh Perhap aps s the the dif erence erence betweenJenny betweenJenny and myself is that she is a littleconstantin herviews whileI waver with the natural indecision indecision of the the philosophy student. The Magician really can’t see the pointofa of apaper like this.
Almost certainly,he’s notinterestedin science much in the
if
he h e is, he doesn’t see why any ofit primary world. Even The Scientist makes sho should uld apply pply to Middle-earth.The makes him feel vagu vaguel ely y angry, angry, and he feels feels a great temptation to jump up and and down down shouting, “He that breaks a thing to findoutwhat it is has left the path of wisdom.”He wisdom.”He feels cheated Magic Magic is expl explai aine ned d away: something something precious has been lost, in his
if
estimation.Perhap Perhaps s thereason thereason thathe thathe likes Tolkien Tolkien so much
is thathe can findin Middle-earth Middle-earth the mysteries mysteries which which are so elusive elusive in today’s today’s over-scientifi over-scientific cage.
if man m an
didn’t didn’t break break things things from time to time we’d we’d still be sittingin caves. He’s probably got at least least some some scient scientific ific traini training. ng. He really cannot cannot understand the irrational irrational technophobia technophobia of the Magician. Magician. He probably The Scienti Scientist st thinks thinks that that
likesMiddle-earth its innerconsistency and logic. because of its logic. For him him, the whole logic of that world breaks it breaks down if it cann cannot otbe codified and regulated somehow. somehow. The The Magi Magici cia an cannot cannot help but admire the the passage in Keats: There There was an awful awful rainbow rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woo woof, f, her textur texture; e;she she is given In the dull catalogue of commonthings. commonthings. Philosophy will clipan angel’swings. angel’swings. The touch
of science science is for him the kiss of death. d eath. He
draws draws
supportfrom supportfrom Tolkien’s seemingly anti-technologicalviews. But the Scientist is at a loss as to whatto whatto say in reply. reply.
Surely, he thin thinks ks,, a rain rainbo bow w is all the more more beauti beautiful ful for knowing knowing thelaws that thatgovem it, notless!The simplestobject is, to the Scientist, a source of limitless limitless wonder. wonder. His ear
strain strains s ever ever after after the music of the spheres. spheres. What What though though Tolkie Tolkien n seems seems to disapprove of his his pursuits? Tolkien seems to have disliked every subject subject apart from his own field atone
stageor anotherin his career.
TOLKIEN TOLKIEN CENTEN CENTENARY ARY CON CONFER FERENC ENCE E
have have so little in comm common on that that thei theirr the t he g1c ld only lise lise that
If
327
of mo moda dall logi logic c subje for another
lead leadin ing g us into into the the murk murky y waters fac
ls.
be this is a
and and
J.R.R.
328 is because because
they
TOLKIEN TOLKIEN CENTEN CENTENARY ARY CON CONFER FERENC ENCE E
have have so little in comm common on that that thei theirr the_Ma t he_Mag1c g1cran ran could could only realis realise e that
If
disagreementsarise. attemptingto destroythe mystery,butto the Scientist rs not attemptingto mysteries that that perplex push rt back even deeper to the mysteries then he might be mor more e respec respectfu tful.Simi l.Similar larly, ly, modernscience, then of hand. the Scientist Scientist should not dismiss dismiss the Magician out this thi s is meant mean t enjoyable not as an For heaven’s heaven’s sake, pastime, not matter. ter. For the the a war. And here here we reac reach h the the nub of the mat analyses are fun. Jenny and I enjoyed enjoyed writing Scientist, such analyses hope that that you‘re finding it this paper immensely, and we hope interestingand, perhaps, amusing. I’m sure that the argument as to whethe whetherr or not it is in the
of mo moda dall logi logic c and and counter counterfac factua tuals. ls. Maybe Maybe this is a subject subject for another paper, indulging ing my philosophical whims whims instea instead d of my one indulg lead leadin ing g us into into the the murk murky y waters
note I shall shall leave leave this seriou serious s scientific ones. But on that note theme. theme. Jenny’ Jenny’s s answer answer to this this whole whole problem is slightl slightly y dif erent erent from mine: but I just wanted to show that at least aboutwhat we‘re doing. we’v we’ve e thou though ghttaboutwhat And And now now I tum wit with h reli relief ef to a few ideas which the pseudo-scientificapproachto Middle-earthcould yield. As I areas we think could be mentioned earlier these are some areas developedmuch developedmuch further. further. This projecthas An economicanalysisof Middle-earth. Middle-earth.This i. alre lready been startedby Mark Poles
of Middle-earthto analyse things from the the scientific that will go on fora long time. I’m point of view is one that spirit
rapidly beginning beginning to sound sound serious, serious, aware that this paper is rapidly who know kno w me often often must mus t do someth som ething ing and so I people thingsare deeply wrong when my Tolkienian Tolkienian writing suspect thingsare shall close close this this sectio sectionwith nwith a presentation turnsserious. So I shall
ii.
of Taruithom Taruithomin his
"Exchange Rates Rates in Middle Middleexcellent and amusing earth”. An investigationof the the neuropsychologyof Elves. Elves. Just thoseextraordinary y mental how could they perform all thoseextraordinar feats?
If
telepathy thy.. This This would would be very very endsome “purists”. iii. The whole matter of telepa my own view, view, which which mighto f end so, so, of my take comfort from the the but coul could d tak view I know know well well enough I’m sorry; enough to sorry; but it’s the only view problematic but and rams ramsha hack ckle le way way wonderfully pseudo-scientificand Then I shal shalll present a few last last mad ideas for future explain. Then in world. if has the any any primary proceeded scientific scientific enquiries enquiries into Middle-earth. We’d be thrilled parapsychology Why were were dwarve dwarven n to beards bea rds. . som so m eth et h ing in g iv. iv . A of approach writing of these stimulate any genetic you you into writing these were to stimulate similar. So, So, why why do I enjo enjoy y this pseudo-scientific approach to the Well, for for me, me, giving a full J.R.R. Tolkie Tolkien? n? Well, writings of J.R.R. seemingly magical magical phenomenongives scientific scientific account account ofa seemingly of intellectual satisfaction as finishing intellectual rise to the same sort
v.
the Times crossword. The analogy is good, in that at my knowledge I have precious little chance of present state of knowledge doing doing
.
challengin ging g intellectual either either satisfactorily. It’s a challen of the things that I’m together most which which draws draws together
treat the interestedin. Above all, it’s a great game to treat really interestedin. records,and see they werehistoricalrecords, writings ofTolkienas they them. It’sa game which I think what sense we can make of them. all Tolkie Tolkien n fans fans enjoy. In the back of my mind the whole
if
“after all, all, they they are only time is the naggingthought that aside when when fiction." ." But this doubt is pushed aside works of fiction are dealt with in this paper. It is discussing such themes as are
opposite approach then, that we take the opposite quite ironic, then,
“one
level down", as it were, and introduce the obvious doubts corpus as the authoronly authoronly when we analyse the corpus aboutbias of the Tolkien Tolkien of history.. No wondercritics being secondary-worldhistory get confused!
“But it’s only fantasy!” fantastic; but fantasy!” Well, yes, it is fantastic;
Middle-earth
is the the result
of a
genuinely sub-creative
any conceivable conceivable process. It’s my belief under the stress of intemal isn’t going to brea break k apar apartt contradictions will have to have certain properties found in a the primary world: for example, it musthave causality of
that
least a good case sort. sort. There There is at least
fundamental laws
world wor ld which which
for saying that the most
erence fema female les s beard bearded? ed? What What was was the genetic dif erence How often often woul would d between the branches of hobbits? How have needed needed to shave? shave? Boromir have alloy, but of mithril? Presumably Presumably a natural alloy, What about mithril? what? seems to be just about the perfect material for suppose e that that it was a pity that the most purposes. I suppos well before before our age Dwarves seem to have mined it all well
It
began.
vi.
how one could could start start with with there’s s the problem of how Then there’ apartfrom apartfr om the whole and end end up with with Orcs, Orcs, quite Elves and or othe otherw rwis ise. e. Is this this of immortality matter Orcish straightforward genetic engineering? Or perhaps a been been call called ed has happ happil ily y programme of what has “dysgenics"?
were developed by the end technologies swere vii Exactly what technologie someone of the Third Age? It would be very useful if someone indexing all undertake ake the tedious tedious task of indexing could undert artefactsin ctsin the books.Especially welcome mentionsof artefa would be a listing of the incredibly patchy technology Need we take take seriously hobbit umbrellas? of theShire. Need could be advanced d civilisation could And And sure surely ly only only an advance we’lll be waistcoats. Next we’l decent enough enough to produce waistcoats.
Middlehearing of hobbits in bow-ties. Whatever is Middle-
earth coming to?
shortpaper to a note we shall shall draw this short And on thathappy note hope that that some of you will have understood clos close.We e.We both oth hope the reasons saying, and, more importantly,the what what we’ve we’ve been saying, why why we say it.
well. But this is of physics physics must hold as
References “Valaquantaz Of the Mallorn n No.28, pp. 29-35. theValar" in Mallor the Energy Energy of theValar" Read, Marc. 1991. Coombs, Jennifer and Read, “The Draining of Moria" MallornNo. 25, pp. 30-32. Moria" in Mallorn Percival, Michael. 1988.
PHYSIC ICS S A PHYS Read, Marc. Marc. 1989.
“The
OF MID MIDDL DLEE-EA EART RTH H
Einstein Cormection or Cosmological implications
of the the Akallabéth Akallabéth"" in Amon Hen No. 99,
329 pp. 17-18.September
PHYSIC ICS S A PHYS
OF MID MIDDL DLEE-EA EART RTH H
“The Read, Marc. Marc. 1989. Einstein Cormection or Cosmological implications
329
of the the Akallabéth Akallabéth"" in Amon Hen No. 99,
1989.
pp. 17-18.September
Tolkien, Tolkien, J.R.R. 1981.Letter 1981.Letters s ofJR.R. Tolkien. Ed. HumphreyCarpenter with ChristopherTolkien. ChristopherTolkien. London: George Allen & Unwin. Tolkien, J .R.R. 1983.The Book
of Lost TalesPart TalesPart I. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. Tolkien. London: London: GeorgeAllen GeorgeAllen &
Tolkie Tolkien, n, J.R.R. J.R.R. 1984.The 1984.The Boo Book k
II_Ed. ChristopherTolkien. of LostTalesPart II_ ChristopherTolkien. London: George Allen
Unwin. Unwin.
& Unwin.
Tolkien, J.R.R. 1985.The 1985.The Lays of Beleriand. Beleriand. Ed. Christophe ChristopherTolkie rTolkien. n. London: London: George Allen & Unwin.
