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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 7696858" data-attributes="member: 19675">Because it is a fantasy novel?  That is nonsense.  You might as well assert that Middle Earth steel is like one of our marshmallows and their fire would not burn us because real world information we have on metal and fire has little bearing on how it works there.No.  All fiction has its basis in reality and branches out from there.  How much so depends on the unreality of the fiction in question.  The less familiar the basic rules of the fiction's setting, the less accessible it will be.  But JRRT's world works much as ours does- steel is hard; fire is hot.  I'm not saying otherwise.  I'm asserting that there is no evidence in the novels that weapons of that power approach anything like the ubiquity you're claiming.In fact, the very rarity of such weapons even within the Company of the Ring would argue against there being anything approaching a large number of such weapons in the world.  Given the dire situation and the stature of the individuals in it, the Company would have probably had their pick of gear available.  They'd be the denizens of Middle Earth most likely to be kitted out like a D&D party.  Not just as a matter of pride for those behind them, but also to ensure the mission's success.If there really were huge numbers of magical weapons stockpiled somewhere, nobody's contingency plans would go awry by being short the gear they might request.  Plenty of weapons?  Sure.  Plenty of MAGIC weapons?  There's no evidence for that.Dwarves live a long time.  But not all dwarves are smiths.  And not all Dwarven smiths are master smiths- even among themselves, there will be differing levels of competence.  The ones capable of forging magic weapons might be rare indeed.And how long does it take to forge a magical item in Middle Earth anyway?  AFAIK, JRRT never says.Hell- the process of creating magic weapons may be so long and involved that only the master craftsmen of the Dwarves and Elves live long enough to complete even a few.</blockquote>

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