Footnote to the Aragorn quiz

[inzilbeth]

One of the things Estelcontar and I ended up discussing as a result of this quiz was the question of whether or not Aragorn [or the Dunedain in general] could understand the speech of the beasts and the birds.

We decided that the only refernce to this that we knew of was this one from chapter 9 'At the sign of the Prancing Pony': 

They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of  beasts and birds.

We decided that was not the same as saying they COULD understand the languages of the beasts. Then  Estelcontar sent me this passage from Return of the Shadow:

...As the evening deepened Trotter began to tell them tales to keep their minds from fear. He knew much lore concerning wild animals, and claimed to speak some of their languages; and he had strange stories to tell of their lives and little known adventures.... 

So from Trotter's own mouth we find he claimed to have this ability. I wonder what strange tales he had to tell and wouldn't it have been wonderful if we had got to hear them!

Comments

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Isn't it! There are little hints like when he says things like not all the birds can be trusted which suggest he can understand them.

I had always figured he meant that some birds were under the spell (or whatever you would call it) of Sauron and not exactly real birds, or if they were real birds, he wouldn't know exactly what they were saying, etc. But in this light, it does put a completely different spin on that comment, doesn't it?

And oh drats, we'll have to write some more stories! What a shame!

I know I'm rubbing my hands with a maniacal grin. *maniacal grin*

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

I don't think we know exactly what motivated Sauron's spies, whether they were naturally drawn to his evil because they were evil themselves or whether they were somehow held in his power, be it by terror or something else. Probably both. Gosh, this is too complicated a discussion for me this late at night! I'll have to give this some thought.

It'll sure be fun thinking how to write all this believably though!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

It'll sure be fun thinking how to write all this believably though!

Very fun, yes... and it will be hard to work it into his character because we didn't see much of it in LOTR, and of course, none of it in the movies except for the way, as Shirebound has pointed out, they portrayed him working with horses. But I do think it can be done. :)

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see your take on it!