So I'm watching the LOTR trilogy and I'm on Fellowship of the Ring. It seems as if the Nazgûl actively avoid water, such as at the Bucklebury Ferry and the river at Rivendell. Does water harm the Nazgûl or lessen their powers in any way? Or are they just fussy and don't want to get their natty black robes wet?
121348
At least twice in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Ringwraiths cower away from bodies of water.  The second time (the ford of Bruinen) can be explained away by their fear of some Elvish magical trap through the enchantment of the water; but what about the first time, at the ferry? One of the Nazgûl could have easily made the jump onto the barge and quickly dispatched those pesky Hobbitsses.
109284
Did they decide to destroy it simply because they were Wise and knew it was dangerous to wield? Did they create the Fellowship simply because they were heroic; and decided to face Sauron after the Ring was destroyed?  Or did they know that destroying the ring would defeat Sauron, and they wouldn't actually have to do anything once that is taken care of?
87692
I understand that the Istari - the only other Maiar besides the Balrog to come into close proximity to the Ring - are constrained within a mortal body and subject to its mortal weaknesses, which renders them vulnerable to the Ring's domination and corruption. However, what is to stop Gandalf from returning to his true form, picking up the Ring, and just walking all the way to Mount Doom? Sauron is too weak at the time; he would have been able to do nothing but watch helplessly and pray his mortal armies can defeat a Ring-bearing Gandalf.  Is Gandalf's decision to abide by the Valar's will to the end the only thing holding him back from this particular option? Are there enchantments in place to disable his ability to revert to Maia form, such that the option was never there to begin with? Or would he, even in Maia form and free of mortal weaknesses, still be vulnerable to domination and corruption by the Ring?  The One Ring is forged with the essence of Sauron to dominate and rule the minds of lesser beings. However, Sauron is only a Maia - albeit the highest-ranking in Morgoth's following. Fellow Maiar would be his equal (at least in rank), while the Valar are certainly superior in power to him. If an Ainu becomes a Ringbearer, will he/she eventually fall to Sauron's will too, or at least succumb to the corruption of the Ring's dark power?
31826
When the Company is forced to abandon their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains via the Redhorn Gate (the pass of Caradhras), Gandalf proposes they go "neither over the mountains, nor round them, but under them," via Moria. During the debate Aragorn remarks:     "I too once passed the Dirmrill Gate but though I also came out again, the memory is very evil. I do not wish to enter Moria a second time."    I haven't read much beyond the LOTR trilogy other than The Silmarillion. Does Tolkien ever describe Aragorn's first visit to Moria anywhere?
111528
At the council of Elrond, Gandalf tells of his encounter with Saruman.     But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber.  He wore a ring on his finger.   Gandalf seems draw particular attention to Saruman's ring.  Yet, to my knowledge, nothing more is ever said of his ring.  We know that Saruman had a great deal of knowledge regarding the rings of power.  Is there anything in Middle-earth lore that indicates if there was anything extraordinary about this ring?  Was Saruman emulating Sauron?  Or could the ring have been given to him by Sauron?
92693
When half-elvens choose mortal life, how would their bodies behave?  Half-elven are always elves by nature. Ever since they're born, their physical body and behaviour would be elvish - they have keen senses, they don't get physically weary, no illness, and so on.  Half-elvens are then offered a choice - Immortal elvish lives or mortal fate of men. When they choose the latter, like Elros and Arwen did, what would happen to their elvish nature? Would they lose it? I don't think they would lose their pointy ears, but what about the other elvish features that I mentioned before?  Are there any canonical references?
85588
So, I know that there is a race in Lord of the Rings of Peredhil  (half elf). Also, in the Hobbit (film trilogy, not book), there is a romance between a dwarf and an elf.  My question is, how do man/elf or dwarf/elf offspring work? Can they not be born? Are they born infertile because they are from parents of two different species? Are elves, dwarves, and men only different "races" of one single primordial species, and can thus reproduce any number of ways? To my knowledge, this isn't addressed in the books or films.
102063
I'm curious as to why Sauron is the only being/person shown wearing the One Ring who does not become invisible?   Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, and Samwise all become invisible while wearing the One Ring.  Why didn't Sauron become invisible while wearing the one ring?  I became interested after reading Pearsonartphoto's question asking what effect wearing the One Ring would have had on .
98620
Having read the Lord of the Rings a number of times I was always curious about the significance of Goldberry. I have not managed to find any reference to her origins within the other Middle-earth books that I have read.  Is she was just a mortal woman, or is there was some deeper significance to why she ends up living with Bombadil, or is she just a token female character designed to add a little balance to the overwhelmingly male character count?
38394
All I've ever been able to find is that they arrived in Middle-earth and left to go do something outside of the scope of the story. Has anyone ever found any additional information?
108716
An upcoming adventure will have the party exploring the depths of the ocean. Breathing underwater shouldn't be an issue for them, as there are both items and rituals to take care of that, however, I was wondering what to do about about pressure, since none of these options mention it. I'll have to split my question into two, since they are closely related.   Is pressure an issue in 4e adventures? Is it mentioned in any of the published material? Has it been ruled anywhere that options that enable water breathing also grant immunity to pressure? Should it be an issue? This is somewhat subjective, but I really am wondering what other people have done. Would it be unresonable to assume that these options grant immunity to pressure? Should the players work to find another solution?
91213
Gandalf wasn't an elf, but rather he was one of a few wizards sent to help Middle Earth. So, how did he end up with one of the Elf Rings? And, why did Frodo not notice it, when he easily noticed Galadriel's ring?
36909
When Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas find the dead bodies of the orcs that they had pursued to the edge of Fangorn, they see an old man robed in white:     Suddenly Gimli looked up, and there just on the edge of the fire-light   stood an old bent man, leaning on a staff, and wrapped in a great   cloak; his wide-brimmed hat was pulled down over his eyes. Gimli   sprang up, too amazed for the moment to cry out, thought at once the   thought flashed into his mind that Saruman had caught them   It is implied in the book (though never verified AFAIK) that this was Saruman, particularly since Gandalf confirms that it was not him     "You certainly did not see me," answered Gandalf, "therefore I must   guess that you saw Saruman."   So if it was indeed Saruman, why would he travel all the way to Fangorn alone? Orthanc to Fangorn is not a short journey and he also had the Palantir at his disposal so what is the purpose of his being there (assuming that it is indeed Saruman).
13547
I recently found out about the war between Arnor and Angmar, and was pretty shocked to learn that the Witch-king basically wiped the floor with the Dúnedain kingdom... I mean he's basically the sole reason Aragorn wanders around like a homeless person.  So with which army did the Witch-king defeat Arnor? Orcs? Men? Sorcery? Did he ever go to battle himself? Did he do this for laughs or by Sauron's orders?   How powerful was the Witch-king at this point, compared to in the Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King? Were the other Nazgul with him in this war?   And it doesn't even matter to me if all of the eight Nazgul were with him, even if they all had their Rings of Power, and even if they had the largest of armies of Orcs, Men, Elves, Dwarves or even dragons (yes I'm exaggerating at this point), but just how do you defeat a kingdom full of Dúnedain?   We have all seen what Aragorn is capable of doing, so how do you defeat a kingdom worth of Aragorns?   And if it is not much to ask, does anyone know where I can read all about this war and more about the Witch-king? so far all I read about it was from the Internet, wikis, forums and alike, I'd like to read it from the source.
119878
I didn't see any wizards drenched in the rain at the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (don't recall, actually). But would the rain equally affect the wizards as it did no-maj's?   This event is something that doesn't necessarily need to be forgotten by the Wizarding community. How would they avoid being obliviated by the rain?  (They could avoid the rain by Apparating, but what about the showers and drinking water?)  This question is picking at my brain.
98861
Duh!  But, do the books ever describe what he actually looks like? I found a diagram by Tolkien himself:  But this looks too... vague? And I don't know whether he was ever intent on continuing with this one as the official look for the great villain. I just started reading Fellowship, completed half of it, when I was informed that everything in the movies is not accurately modelled after the book. And I know for a fact that the fiery eye was just imagined by Peter Jackson for the movies. So, is the Sauron seen in the movie a correct description? Is there a description at all? And if there is, how do the books describe Sauron?
54829
I noticed something the other night as my kids were watching Thor. Every time they show the crystal bridge leading to the Bifrost chamber, it's got flowing water underneath it. The water flows right up to the edge of where the chamber is and then falls off into the void of stars beneath Asgard. There is no part of the bridge that ISN'T over water.  At the end of the film, Thor and Loki are fighting on the crystal bridge, and it appears that they're a good distance from the Bifrost chamber - probably 30, 40 feet or more. However, when Thor starts smashing the bridge and Loki falls off one side, he's suddenly hanging above the starry void and NOT flowing water.  Is this a continuity snafu within the film or did I miss something? How did that portion of bridge get the void under it and not water?