Frodo seeing so many things for many miles around him and Sauron almost noticing Frodo so far from Mordor makes the seat magical in my view. The One Ring doesn't work like this in any other place.
I disagree this is Frodo's introduction to the ring in a deeper, darker level. It's like soldier in combat for the first time. They were trained for battle but the introduction would for many be jarring.
If Amon Hen wouldn´t give the seat user there any magical abilities, then that would mean that the ring did give frodo such powers, but frodo had the ring on before and afterwards more times and he never again had such exact powers. Logic says it wasn´t due the ring, so it must have been du amon hen somehow for some reason.
Hmm... This has parallels to Morgoth forcing Hurin to see and hear all that Morgoth could, or Manwe and Varda standing together on Taneiquetil and seeing and hearing much further by combining their abilities.
@@dlxmarks The throne was on Thangorodrim I believe, and surely the peaks of Thangorodrim count close enough to "safe territory" (though, the Eagles were perching there for a while) for Morgoth to walk out there. Like a balcony or something. And I just can't imagine forgoing the imagery of Morgoth standing off beside Hurin on his chair, gloating over the horrors Hurin is shown.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I like the way Tolkien's worldbuilding makes us unsure if a thing is magical or not...but there are also multiple ways in which a thing can be magical in nature.
I quite love that, it adds a bit of mystery to the world. One of the things that can really destroy a setting is over-explaining everything, leaving no room for wondering or pondering the how and the why.
Whilst Aragorn doesn't see anything on Amon Hen, the way he talks about the seat to others clearly suggests that he *expected* to see things in a manner similar to what Frodo saw.
This puts me in mind of Lookout Mountain on the Tennessee/Georgia border at Chattanooga. On a clear day (i.e. October) you can see parts of 7 states from a point at Rock City. Lookout Mountain was used during the Civil War to control the entire area around Chattanooga.
I am reminded of Galadriel's comment to Sam: "For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy." It's not just that Tolkien's system of magic is ill-defined, he also seems to have different groups use the term for a wildly different phenomena from one another. The gifts that Galadriel gives to Sam seem to resemble the tools of modern scientific agriculture, tinkering with the soil chemistry. The "art" that the Numenorian exiles bring to Middle-Earth appear to be similar to modern engineering & construction, reinforced concrete that resists all but the strongest forces. Saruman employs a version of gunpowder to breach the walls at Helm's Deep, not too different than Gandalf's playful fireworks. Even the Dwarves and their desire to mine Mithril seems to be something like a titanium alloy, an expensive to extract rare element with wonderful physical properties. What I'm getting at is that, for the purposes of the story, Amon Hen, Amon Lhaw, the Tindrock, indeed the entire Lake of Nen Hithoel and the lands surrounding it (including the megalithic statues of the Argonath) all seem to be infused with enchantment. Whether by the arts of the Elves (who have their own history in the area) or the lost skill of Westernesse, or even the hallowing of Manwe (look at what that did for the Silmarils!), there is clearly more going on than any of the characters fully understand.
Some suggestions: 1) Where exactly is Utumno located? 2) What happened to the surviving Men of Beleriand who did not go to Númenor? 3) What was the history of the Avari and the eastern Dwarven clans with Morgoth and/or Sauron?
I have a potential middle earth mystery, it’s a question of why the Numenorians constructed the Tower of Orthanc where they did, let alone put a Palantir in it. Of course Isengard’s existence itself makes perfect sense, acting as the northern anchor of the defense of the Gap of Rohan, but the tower itself is so specific in its traits, possessing a construction that the Ents can barely harm and that Minas Tirith’s first wall is also described as possessing. And Helm’s Deep doesn’t seem to be constructed in a similar fashion. Placing a Palantir there is also strange to me, it’s much farther away from the other 3 Gondor stones, and it doesn’t seem that they needed it to spy on or communicate with Arnor. This is all just laying out why I think it could serve as a decent mystery
It’s a good midway point, they built it as a line of communication for the local area. I like to think of Palantir communication as like connecting telephone wires. It’s quite impregnable after all. Given the black stone and at it’s at the foot of the misty mountains. The Hornburg was a good location for a fort, not much else for miles around, second best would be Dunharrow. They likely wanted a good location for a garrison to be stationed to watch Gondor’s northern borders.
Interestingly enough, if you draw a straight line between Barad-dur and Orthanc, it crosses Tol Brandir and the two "seats" at pretty much the exact halfway point. (Granted, a "straight" line on a flat map depicting a globed world is a bit of a stretch, but I liken it to the old Celtic "ley lines" of power.) I like to imagine that Elendil and his sons built Orthanc in that valley precisely because it was along that line.
It could be about the Palantir. After all, it was a remote location with probably not that big of a garrison. Perhaps the construction of Orthanc is to ensure that the Palantir cannot be obtained by any attacker even if the garrison is defeated and the place is otherwise overrun. Would definitely make for a good mystery video that also ties into other mysteries such as what the Palantiri actually were and how they worked.
I think Tolkien deliberately didn't explain some magical things to preserve the feeling of mystery and, well, magic to it. We don't know exactly how the one ring works, or how various other magics work. We also don't know how exactly the one ring would interact with other magical items or places. Amon Hen is a magical location in my view because the one ring doesn't act like that anywhere else that I can remember. There are a few explanations I can think of here for Frodo's visions. One is that certain places are more of a focal point where the world and otherworld connect. Another is that the one ring acted as a sort of signal booster. The area IS magical and perhaps in an earlier area the strength of the magic was enough to grant visions like these just from the location alone but due the subsequent decline of magic generally in Middle Earth, only the presence of something like a ring of power or the one ring will boost the magic back up to the level where the person on top of Amon Hen will have visions of far off places.
Speaking of mysteries there's always those things like were-worms, Badger-folk, Kirinki, Pards and the Fastitocalons you could talk about. Stuff at the margins, really obscure creatures
Quite enjoy this analysis my friend. Indeed, I suspect that both Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw did possess the ability to endow unique sight and hearing but only on those of distinct lineage and/or abilities. No doubt Minalcar went for a jaunt to their tops one day and discovering this, elected to have seats built. Orthanc was another distinct location built by Gondor, no doubt the top of which provided a "magical" view of the surrounding lands, though to what distance is unclear. As to why Aragorn, though Heir to the Kingship, was unable to utilize their powers, I suspect this was due to the timing of his use. He had still not yet fully decided to fulfill his destiny. That would come later. Had he sat on Amon Hen after being crowned King over even after confronting Sauron via the Palantir, I'm confident he would have been able to make full use of the place.
Hi Darth! I adore little mysteries like this. And while it might have been kinda cool if Professor Tolkien had just come out and said exactly what Amon Hen was, I think it would have been much more satisfying if we saw it a second time in another story. Having another in-universe perspective would confirm whether or not it's magical but it wouldn't have removed the sense of wonder and mystery like a concrete answer from on high would have. If I ever write a fantasy epic of my own, that's how I'd handle mysteries like that. It might take me decades, and I'd have to get down and dirty with organizing my notes, but that seems like the best option.
it also helps us feel what Frodo is feeling in that moment. He also has no real explanation for why sitting atop Amon Hen wearing the ring let him see far off places like Harad, Mirkwood, etc.
I think the seat is magical maybe by Gondorian craft, because it would fit Tolkein's theming around the "Long Defeat" and how the Gondorians don't have the ability to craft such things now
You brought up all of the points I could have made. It's curious how many "fans" of Tolkien claim that Middle Earth has almost no magic in it, when there are many, many, *many* things like Amon Hen (either the seat, the hill, or both) that have some kind of powers of unknown origin, either of Númenorean or divine or whathaveyou. There's probably a lot more magic around that JRRT didn't bring up just because it wasn't relevant, and even moreso farther into the past.
Yeah, it's actually everywhere but Tolkien avoids getting into the mechanics of it so much. I think this is deliberate to keep it mysterious and also to put us more in the frame of reference of our primary protagonists, the hobbits, who occasionally have magical items but are not themselves sorcerers or anything. They know magic exists but to them it's just as mysterious as to us, the readers.
@@danielkorladis7869 Oh it's absolutely deliberate. JRRT leans heavily into the "maybe magic, maybe mundane" trope, leaving us to wonder if much of what there is isn't actually magical.
@@bristleconepine4120 Middle Earth as most people know it, (Late Third age) is low fantasy. The magic is leaving the world, the dragons are dying out and the elves are fading. A now common fantasy trope.
Probably one of the few truly magical places left in Middle Earth at the end of the Third Age. The fact it’s in such a remote and empty location, shows how the presence of men decreases magic. Even though this was actually built in the middle third age, perhaps the Gondorians still knew of the importance of places of power, knowing some of their ancestors secrets.
I think it probably is a magical seat. You just need a ring of power, a palantir, or some sort of magical blood or abilities like the elves, Numenoreans, maiar or valar, Nazgûl, etc… to use it. It’s not open to all beings, but the right beings can see it.
Perhaps Gandalf was a factor here. When he helps Frodo by striving with the Dark Tower perhaps he casts a spell over Amon Hen to obscure Frodo from Sauron. This might explain why Aragorn’s sight is obscured on Amon Hen as well.
The fact that not one, but two characters immediately notice Frodo suggests the seats are magical. The One Ring could probably enhanced their power though.
It was Varda who could hear all, while Manwe could see all, when they were enthroned together atop that mountain in Valinor I can't remember how to spell. :)
Is "the seat of feeling" a Brave New World reference? I'm that book, you can go to theaters for "feelies" -- basically, films that you can not only see and hear, but also feel the events being shown.
Pre-fall of numenor, arda exist on a flat plane instead of being a sphere so hypothetically with a high enough location and sharp enough eyes you could see to even aman while in reality the curvature of the earth would hide things behind horizon. Having seat of seeing built is likely a form of tradition by Numenorian lord gazing at the west
A mystery for you to possibly explore.... Just how was Sauron able to bind and trap the spirits of the men who became the Nazgul? Men are not bound to the world as Elves are in Tolkien's work. When they die their fey goes to place unknown even to Valar that Eru has prepared for them. Just think that could be interesting to speculate on.
@@blueshit199 that could be an option but they would probably not have that much food. I have a theory that they would stay in Minhiriath, because in Enedwaith the floods have destroyed the lands near the river
I think they continued to live around Tharbad in smaller villages. The refugees we see in Bree in he first book and the Saruman's ruffians from the third book may come from this population.
I’m blind, and the history of Middle-earth has not yet been put into audio so I do not have access to it yet and would love to know what Aragon saw on the seat. Also, getting back to the mysteries, I wonder what Frodo would’ve been able to hear if he went to Amon Lore And I wish Tolkien had kept the fact that Aragon saw something upon the seat as well that would’ve been cool. I can see why he didn’t though. I don’t know I’m in two minds about that.
Hi. This is not a real mystery but just a curiosity about what I think could be an inconsistency. I don't remember exactly who, but when the hobbits come to Brea, somebody says that there has been a constant flow of refugees from the south, some being ruffians in disguise (as the ones who later tried to overtake Brea), but most being legit. Now, where do these refugees come from? The only inhabited land south of Brea is Dunland and we don't know about any crisis happening there at that time. For other people like Rohirrim wouldnt make sense to cross hostile lands to go to a town they probably dont even know. I think this idea is a relic from the first drafts of the story, when Tolkien didn't yet created the definitive map, but had in mind just "something" going on in the south. Another "mystery" is the identity of the ruffians who occupy the Shire. We know they come from the south, so we assume they're Dunlendings, but, altough rough and brutish, they're nevere described as "wild" as the ones who attack Rohan. Maybe there are different tribes of Dunlendings? Maybe Saruman made them fight among them to divide and conquer? Maybe that's who the refugees are: Dunlending flying this internal strife.
I think that they (both the refugees and the ruffians) came from the area around Tharbad. The city itself was ruined by a flood more then a century before the events of the books, but it said that it was "deserted", not that all people of the city were exterminated. And anyway there should be villages, hamlets and farmsteads around the city, and probably not all of those were destroyed by the flood, so the surviving population might somewhat recover. Tharbadians were probably more similar to Bree-landers than to Dunlendings culturally. They clearly should have spoken the Common tongue. since Tharbad was a part of Arnor and/or Gondor and was an important trading city. Saruman clearly had some influence there since he traded with the Shire through that area. Maybe the refugees were fleeing to avoid the growing influence of Saruman.
Is there a reason given why Gondor couldnt occupare nurn at the end log the 2 age? Because Gondor did expand very far in the 3 age. They had rodes into the east, so they could build them the west. What if they did occupare Nurn?
I mean, the only road into the east Gondor built went just a few miles east from the Morannon, as for Mordor, the outpost of Durthang was the farthest in enemy territory as it seems, the Gondorians could probably reach nurn with a troop of cavalry, but to occupy it would probably be unnecessary, the Easterlings might have tried to attack Gondor through the barren lands, but they would not be able to take down the gondorian garrisons, and since Gondor had a great of agricultural output there was not really a necessity of adding nurn to its territory, northern mordor would do just fine in their case
nurn is probably providing just the bare minimum to orc troops of mordor, so for humans it wouldn't be sustainable when they had Ithilien and Anorien without having to get through or around Ephel Duath
@@blueshit199 I mean, Sauron's army was in the hundreds of thousands, in an hypothetical scenario of Gondor establishing a province there, it would probably become self-sufficient.
@@anti-liberalismo still, trade should be maintained and geography doesn't let itself to it, so when Nazgul returned to Mordor I assume Nurn would be ripe for the taking
It could be that these magical seats only worked if a holder of a ring of power sat on them. Perhaps the Kings of men could use these seats with their rings
I would point out the difference between 'blessed' and 'magical'. In many settings this might be synonymous, but in Middle-earth, it very much is NOT, as Galadriel points out.
Probably Sauron giving orders to an Orc or the Mouth of Sauron, and then he stops and goes "Wait... do you hear someone breathing? Sounds like it's coming from Amon Lhaw..."
mystery: how could Morgoth create dragons? Dragons clearly have fea.But only Eru could create beings with fea. Did he reform/corrupt sth already existing? if so, what?
How about this as a mystery where on Middle Earth did Erkenbrand go. he just pops out of exsistance after the First Battle of the Ford Isen until he turns up at Helmsdeep so where the hell was he.
Erkenbrand rode with Eomer, no? I kinda assumed he was there with them as they departed edoras for Helms Deep. Edit: I think I may have some characters confused, I need to re-read the books again, lol.
@@AlyssMa7rin No Erkenbrand rode out of Helms Deep before the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen but never arrived and he kind of just disappears off the radar till Gandalf finds him and has him ride to Helms Deep to save the fort like Eomer did in the move.
This is a good question! Ceorl said that "Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness of Helm's Deep". And Gamling said that "(Erkenbrand) was retreating hither with all that is left of the best riders of Westfold". So it sems that Erkenbrand led reinforcements (less then a thousand men, probably mostly infantry, but maybe also some cavalry as well) towards the Fords when he got news about the defeat in the second battle, so he gathered those of the retreating Rohirrim that he met and tried to retreat to the Helm's Deep, but was cut off by the Isengarders. Unable to attack them (he was outnumbered more than ten to one), he retreated southward to the hills and then after getting more reinforcements (Grimbold and his men, send by Gandalf, and Gandalf himself) marched towards the Helm's Deep to attack the army of Isengard in the rear. Isengarders were very incompetent since they failed to destroy him before attacking the fortress, but it seems that they were very incompetent in general, not only in this particular case.
Frodo seeing so many things for many miles around him and Sauron almost noticing Frodo so far from Mordor makes the seat magical in my view.
The One Ring doesn't work like this in any other place.
I disagree this is Frodo's introduction to the ring in a deeper, darker level. It's like soldier in combat for the first time. They were trained for battle but the introduction would for many be jarring.
@@capricornyearofthetiger eh, he'd already worn the ring before
If Amon Hen wouldn´t give the seat user there any magical abilities, then that would mean that the ring did give frodo such powers, but frodo had the ring on before and afterwards more times and he never again had such exact powers. Logic says it wasn´t due the ring, so it must have been du amon hen somehow for some reason.
Hmm... This has parallels to Morgoth forcing Hurin to see and hear all that Morgoth could, or Manwe and Varda standing together on Taneiquetil and seeing and hearing much further by combining their abilities.
Kind of a dull show for Húrin though because Morgoth never left Angband (or maybe not even his throne room) during Húrin's captivity. 😃
Great observation.
@@dlxmarks The throne was on Thangorodrim I believe, and surely the peaks of Thangorodrim count close enough to "safe territory" (though, the Eagles were perching there for a while) for Morgoth to walk out there. Like a balcony or something. And I just can't imagine forgoing the imagery of Morgoth standing off beside Hurin on his chair, gloating over the horrors Hurin is shown.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I like the way Tolkien's worldbuilding makes us unsure if a thing is magical or not...but there are also multiple ways in which a thing can be magical in nature.
It’s one of the best parts of his world building
I actually agree with that. It makes the world feel real.
I quite love that, it adds a bit of mystery to the world. One of the things that can really destroy a setting is over-explaining everything, leaving no room for wondering or pondering the how and the why.
That Aragorn went up Amon Hen hoping to see something suggests he knew something about its legend.
Whilst Aragorn doesn't see anything on Amon Hen, the way he talks about the seat to others clearly suggests that he *expected* to see things in a manner similar to what Frodo saw.
This puts me in mind of Lookout Mountain on the Tennessee/Georgia border at Chattanooga. On a clear day (i.e. October) you can see parts of 7 states from a point at Rock City. Lookout Mountain was used during the Civil War to control the entire area around Chattanooga.
I am reminded of Galadriel's comment to Sam: "For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy." It's not just that Tolkien's system of magic is ill-defined, he also seems to have different groups use the term for a wildly different phenomena from one another. The gifts that Galadriel gives to Sam seem to resemble the tools of modern scientific agriculture, tinkering with the soil chemistry. The "art" that the Numenorian exiles bring to Middle-Earth appear to be similar to modern engineering & construction, reinforced concrete that resists all but the strongest forces. Saruman employs a version of gunpowder to breach the walls at Helm's Deep, not too different than Gandalf's playful fireworks. Even the Dwarves and their desire to mine Mithril seems to be something like a titanium alloy, an expensive to extract rare element with wonderful physical properties.
What I'm getting at is that, for the purposes of the story, Amon Hen, Amon Lhaw, the Tindrock, indeed the entire Lake of Nen Hithoel and the lands surrounding it (including the megalithic statues of the Argonath) all seem to be infused with enchantment. Whether by the arts of the Elves (who have their own history in the area) or the lost skill of Westernesse, or even the hallowing of Manwe (look at what that did for the Silmarils!), there is clearly more going on than any of the characters fully understand.
Some suggestions:
1) Where exactly is Utumno located?
2) What happened to the surviving Men of Beleriand who did not go to Númenor?
3) What was the history of the Avari and the eastern Dwarven clans with Morgoth and/or Sauron?
Darth already did an Utumno video.
Great timing. Ti's chill and enjoy time. 😊❤😊
I have a potential middle earth mystery, it’s a question of why the Numenorians constructed the Tower of Orthanc where they did, let alone put a Palantir in it.
Of course Isengard’s existence itself makes perfect sense, acting as the northern anchor of the defense of the Gap of Rohan, but the tower itself is so specific in its traits, possessing a construction that the Ents can barely harm and that Minas Tirith’s first wall is also described as possessing. And Helm’s Deep doesn’t seem to be constructed in a similar fashion.
Placing a Palantir there is also strange to me, it’s much farther away from the other 3 Gondor stones, and it doesn’t seem that they needed it to spy on or communicate with Arnor. This is all just laying out why I think it could serve as a decent mystery
It’s a good midway point, they built it as a line of communication for the local area. I like to think of Palantir communication as like connecting telephone wires. It’s quite impregnable after all. Given the black stone and at it’s at the foot of the misty mountains.
The Hornburg was a good location for a fort, not much else for miles around, second best would be Dunharrow. They likely wanted a good location for a garrison to be stationed to watch Gondor’s northern borders.
Interestingly enough, if you draw a straight line between Barad-dur and Orthanc, it crosses Tol Brandir and the two "seats" at pretty much the exact halfway point. (Granted, a "straight" line on a flat map depicting a globed world is a bit of a stretch, but I liken it to the old Celtic "ley lines" of power.) I like to imagine that Elendil and his sons built Orthanc in that valley precisely because it was along that line.
It could be about the Palantir. After all, it was a remote location with probably not that big of a garrison. Perhaps the construction of Orthanc is to ensure that the Palantir cannot be obtained by any attacker even if the garrison is defeated and the place is otherwise overrun.
Would definitely make for a good mystery video that also ties into other mysteries such as what the Palantiri actually were and how they worked.
I think Tolkien deliberately didn't explain some magical things to preserve the feeling of mystery and, well, magic to it.
We don't know exactly how the one ring works, or how various other magics work. We also don't know how exactly the one ring would interact with other magical items or places.
Amon Hen is a magical location in my view because the one ring doesn't act like that anywhere else that I can remember.
There are a few explanations I can think of here for Frodo's visions. One is that certain places are more of a focal point where the world and otherworld connect.
Another is that the one ring acted as a sort of signal booster. The area IS magical and perhaps in an earlier area the strength of the magic was enough to grant visions like these just from the location alone but due the subsequent decline of magic generally in Middle Earth, only the presence of something like a ring of power or the one ring will boost the magic back up to the level where the person on top of Amon Hen will have visions of far off places.
Speaking of mysteries there's always those things like were-worms, Badger-folk, Kirinki, Pards and the Fastitocalons you could talk about. Stuff at the margins, really obscure creatures
Quite enjoy this analysis my friend.
Indeed, I suspect that both Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw did possess the ability to endow unique sight and hearing but only on those of distinct lineage and/or abilities.
No doubt Minalcar went for a jaunt to their tops one day and discovering this, elected to have seats built.
Orthanc was another distinct location built by Gondor, no doubt the top of which provided a "magical" view of the surrounding lands, though to what distance is unclear.
As to why Aragorn, though Heir to the Kingship, was unable to utilize their powers, I suspect this was due to the timing of his use. He had still not yet fully decided to fulfill his destiny. That would come later. Had he sat on Amon Hen after being crowned King over even after confronting Sauron via the Palantir, I'm confident he would have been able to make full use of the place.
I agree with this analysis. Aragorn hadn't yet become Elessar.
So basically Frodo was mixing different drugs by wearing the One Ring while also sitting on a (possibly magical) seeing chair.
It's probably a focal point, like those echo spots.
Excellent video. You gave a lot of good theories that make sense to me. It would not be surprising that area was blessed in some way.
Favorite channel fr, I finished your war in middle earth series yesterday, thanks for the vids keep making them!
The could at least have put cushions on them. Anyone scout assigned to those two hills is going to end up with piles.
They would have rotted by the time they were abandoned anyway.
Well done, well done. Couldn't ask for better!
I had no idea about this! super cool. I love mysteries in fiction that are eluded to but not resolved.
Hi Darth!
I adore little mysteries like this. And while it might have been kinda cool if Professor Tolkien had just come out and said exactly what Amon Hen was, I think it would have been much more satisfying if we saw it a second time in another story. Having another in-universe perspective would confirm whether or not it's magical but it wouldn't have removed the sense of wonder and mystery like a concrete answer from on high would have.
If I ever write a fantasy epic of my own, that's how I'd handle mysteries like that. It might take me decades, and I'd have to get down and dirty with organizing my notes, but that seems like the best option.
it also helps us feel what Frodo is feeling in that moment. He also has no real explanation for why sitting atop Amon Hen wearing the ring let him see far off places like Harad, Mirkwood, etc.
This really was interesting, thanks for this
I think the seat is magical maybe by Gondorian craft, because it would fit Tolkein's theming around the "Long Defeat" and how the Gondorians don't have the ability to craft such things now
You brought up all of the points I could have made.
It's curious how many "fans" of Tolkien claim that Middle Earth has almost no magic in it, when there are many, many, *many* things like Amon Hen (either the seat, the hill, or both) that have some kind of powers of unknown origin, either of Númenorean or divine or whathaveyou. There's probably a lot more magic around that JRRT didn't bring up just because it wasn't relevant, and even moreso farther into the past.
Yeah, it's actually everywhere but Tolkien avoids getting into the mechanics of it so much. I think this is deliberate to keep it mysterious and also to put us more in the frame of reference of our primary protagonists, the hobbits, who occasionally have magical items but are not themselves sorcerers or anything. They know magic exists but to them it's just as mysterious as to us, the readers.
@@danielkorladis7869 Oh it's absolutely deliberate. JRRT leans heavily into the "maybe magic, maybe mundane" trope, leaving us to wonder if much of what there is isn't actually magical.
@@bristleconepine4120 Middle Earth as most people know it, (Late Third age) is low fantasy. The magic is leaving the world, the dragons are dying out and the elves are fading. A now common fantasy trope.
Probably one of the few truly magical places left in Middle Earth at the end of the Third Age. The fact it’s in such a remote and empty location, shows how the presence of men decreases magic. Even though this was actually built in the middle third age, perhaps the Gondorians still knew of the importance of places of power, knowing some of their ancestors secrets.
That closing thought was wholesome bro :´)
Topic suggestion: What would the world be like if Beleriand survived Dagor Dagorath?
I think it probably is a magical seat. You just need a ring of power, a palantir, or some sort of magical blood or abilities like the elves, Numenoreans, maiar or valar, Nazgûl, etc… to use it. It’s not open to all beings, but the right beings can see it.
it almost feels as though Frodo was using a seeing stone, and yet, he wasn't
I know it's not necessarily a mystery, but I'd love to hear an exhaustive video on the Mewlips.
Please more middle earth mysteries they are my favorite, maybe could do some more on the east or the dark lands!
Gandalf may have possibly dimmed the visions of Amon Hen.
Perhaps Gandalf was a factor here. When he helps Frodo by striving with the Dark Tower perhaps he casts a spell over Amon Hen to obscure Frodo from Sauron. This might explain why Aragorn’s sight is obscured on Amon Hen as well.
Gosh I love the unexplainable parts of Tolkien's world ^-^
Thanks for the video 🙃
The Ring never seems to allow Frodo to see large distances at any other point in the story, so the seat probably has some magical properties.
The fact that not one, but two characters immediately notice Frodo suggests the seats are magical. The One Ring could probably enhanced their power though.
You should catch the view from Amon Rooster.
It was Varda who could hear all, while Manwe could see all, when they were enthroned together atop that mountain in Valinor I can't remember how to spell. :)
What about the nature of the two guardians at cirith ungol as a mystery?
Numenorian but were corrupted? Or were they built by the Witch king.
Is "the seat of feeling" a Brave New World reference? I'm that book, you can go to theaters for "feelies" -- basically, films that you can not only see and hear, but also feel the events being shown.
Pre-fall of numenor, arda exist on a flat plane instead of being a sphere so hypothetically with a high enough location and sharp enough eyes you could see to even aman while in reality the curvature of the earth would hide things behind horizon.
Having seat of seeing built is likely a form of tradition by Numenorian lord gazing at the west
0:39 Lhaw Wah(l)
Im still waiting for the Lostladen video ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Just a suggestion, but perhaps you could talk about the "Dragon People" that Frodo mentions when he talks about going to The Last Desert.
Do you mean Bilbo: the "were-worms" of the east?
Can you do a video about how powerful Utumno was and what kind of creatures inhabited there? Thank you
How about a mysteries video on obscure and lesser known creatures of middle earth?
Algormancy!
One could are that Aragorn had seen something, when eveything seems darker. It clearly changed his vision.
A mystery for you to possibly explore....
Just how was Sauron able to bind and trap the spirits of the men who became the Nazgul? Men are not bound to the world as Elves are in Tolkien's work. When they die their fey goes to place unknown even to Valar that Eru has prepared for them. Just think that could be interesting to speculate on.
Where did the people of Tharbad go after their city was destroyed?
Bree?
@@blueshit199 that could be an option but they would probably not have that much food. I have a theory that they would stay in Minhiriath, because in Enedwaith the floods have destroyed the lands near the river
Dunland? Rohan? Almost all of them were low men, they would have fit in.
I think they continued to live around Tharbad in smaller villages. The refugees we see in Bree in he first book and the Saruman's ruffians from the third book may come from this population.
Frodo seeing but not Aragorn makes it interesting to think..
I’m blind, and the history of Middle-earth has not yet been put into audio so I do not have access to it yet and would love to know what Aragon saw on the seat. Also, getting back to the mysteries, I wonder what Frodo would’ve been able to hear if he went to Amon Lore And I wish Tolkien had kept the fact that Aragon saw something upon the seat as well that would’ve been cool. I can see why he didn’t though. I don’t know I’m in two minds about that.
Hi. This is not a real mystery but just a curiosity about what I think could be an inconsistency. I don't remember exactly who, but when the hobbits come to Brea, somebody says that there has been a constant flow of refugees from the south, some being ruffians in disguise (as the ones who later tried to overtake Brea), but most being legit. Now, where do these refugees come from? The only inhabited land south of Brea is Dunland and we don't know about any crisis happening there at that time. For other people like Rohirrim wouldnt make sense to cross hostile lands to go to a town they probably dont even know.
I think this idea is a relic from the first drafts of the story, when Tolkien didn't yet created the definitive map, but had in mind just "something" going on in the south.
Another "mystery" is the identity of the ruffians who occupy the Shire. We know they come from the south, so we assume they're Dunlendings, but, altough rough and brutish, they're nevere described as "wild" as the ones who attack Rohan. Maybe there are different tribes of Dunlendings? Maybe Saruman made them fight among them to divide and conquer? Maybe that's who the refugees are: Dunlending flying this internal strife.
I think that they (both the refugees and the ruffians) came from the area around Tharbad. The city itself was ruined by a flood more then a century before the events of the books, but it said that it was "deserted", not that all people of the city were exterminated. And anyway there should be villages, hamlets and farmsteads around the city, and probably not all of those were destroyed by the flood, so the surviving population might somewhat recover.
Tharbadians were probably more similar to Bree-landers than to Dunlendings culturally. They clearly should have spoken the Common tongue. since Tharbad was a part of Arnor and/or Gondor and was an important trading city. Saruman clearly had some influence there since he traded with the Shire through that area. Maybe the refugees were fleeing to avoid the growing influence of Saruman.
I've always wondered how the Haradrim tamed the Mumakil. Did they imprint on their handlers? How did they get enough food?
Mumakil come from far harad, that is supposed to be more like a jungle.
Is there a reason given why Gondor couldnt occupare nurn at the end log the 2 age? Because Gondor did expand very far in the 3 age. They had rodes into the east, so they could build them the west.
What if they did occupare Nurn?
A whole lot of them died in a plague
I mean, the only road into the east Gondor built went just a few miles east from the Morannon, as for Mordor, the outpost of Durthang was the farthest in enemy territory as it seems, the Gondorians could probably reach nurn with a troop of cavalry, but to occupy it would probably be unnecessary, the Easterlings might have tried to attack Gondor through the barren lands, but they would not be able to take down the gondorian garrisons, and since Gondor had a great of agricultural output there was not really a necessity of adding nurn to its territory, northern mordor would do just fine in their case
nurn is probably providing just the bare minimum to orc troops of mordor, so for humans it wouldn't be sustainable when they had Ithilien and Anorien without having to get through or around Ephel Duath
@@blueshit199 I mean, Sauron's army was in the hundreds of thousands, in an hypothetical scenario of Gondor establishing a province there, it would probably become self-sufficient.
@@anti-liberalismo still, trade should be maintained and geography doesn't let itself to it, so when Nazgul returned to Mordor I assume Nurn would be ripe for the taking
How many people do you think fornost erain and annuminias could house at it's peak?
It could be that these magical seats only worked if a holder of a ring of power sat on them. Perhaps the Kings of men could use these seats with their rings
I would point out the difference between 'blessed' and 'magical'. In many settings this might be synonymous, but in Middle-earth, it very much is NOT, as Galadriel points out.
Middle Earth Ley lines perhaps 🤔🤔
It's a poop throne - gives you something to do while doing your business, in a time before the printing press or phones.
7:36 What's with the hellish scream in the background?
Nazgûl
Maybe its made of ground up Palantir stones... Don't sniff the stones!
For the algorithm
What would they have experienced on the Hill of Hearing?
Probably Sauron giving orders to an Orc or the Mouth of Sauron, and then he stops and goes "Wait... do you hear someone breathing? Sounds like it's coming from Amon Lhaw..."
Do about roads in Middle Earth
Were there any roads Gandalf _didn't_ walk?
mystery: how could Morgoth create dragons? Dragons clearly have fea.But only Eru could create beings with fea. Did he reform/corrupt sth already existing? if so, what?
How about this as a mystery where on Middle Earth did Erkenbrand go. he just pops out of exsistance after the First Battle of the Ford Isen until he turns up at Helmsdeep so where the hell was he.
Erkenbrand rode with Eomer, no? I kinda assumed he was there with them as they departed edoras for Helms Deep.
Edit: I think I may have some characters confused, I need to re-read the books again, lol.
@@AlyssMa7rin No Erkenbrand rode out of Helms Deep before the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen but never arrived and he kind of just disappears off the radar till Gandalf finds him and has him ride to Helms Deep to save the fort like Eomer did in the move.
This is a good question!
Ceorl said that "Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness of Helm's Deep". And Gamling said that "(Erkenbrand) was retreating hither with all that is left of the best riders of Westfold".
So it sems that Erkenbrand led reinforcements (less then a thousand men, probably mostly infantry, but maybe also some cavalry as well) towards the Fords when he got news about the defeat in the second battle, so he gathered those of the retreating Rohirrim that he met and tried to retreat to the Helm's Deep, but was cut off by the Isengarders. Unable to attack them (he was outnumbered more than ten to one), he retreated southward to the hills and then after getting more reinforcements (Grimbold and his men, send by Gandalf, and Gandalf himself) marched towards the Helm's Deep to attack the army of Isengard in the rear.
Isengarders were very incompetent since they failed to destroy him before attacking the fortress, but it seems that they were very incompetent in general, not only in this particular case.
Is there a place named amon gus then?