"Magic" in middle earth

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Hmm... interesting discussion. I am mostly in accord with Willow Oran, but I have some additions on the matter below
I think rune-letters in themselves are not magical, even the Moon-letters and Ithildin letters on Moria door are not magical per se, but simply a result of some higher technology that the outsiders mix with magic. Into the same category would fall the Palantiri, the hard stones of Orthanc etc.

What is magic about runes (for example those on the Anduril) is that they inscribe some spell once cast orally upon the object that the runes perpetuate. And if almost every competent smith can write runes on the object, only a very powerful person can cast the initial spell. So if a smith makes a replica of Anduril faithfully copying runes to a single tiny detail, the magic won't work at all: there was no initial spell cast orally.

The importance of saying/chanting spells aloud seems implied in the Legendarium. Gandalf says all his door-opening spells aloud, the WK shouts the words of the spell to open the Gates of Minas Tirith and, what is most convincing, IMO, is that Sauron had to utter the Ring-spell aloud, regardless of the danger of being overheard (and he was overheard by the Elves, which was detrimental to all his plans). But he simply HAD TO say it aloud.

The case of the One Ring is most enlightening. There was the initial spell uttered by Sauron back in SA 1600, and it is also written on the Ring. Isildur copied the Ring-spell on paper, but there was no magic about his notes. Gandalf spoke the Ash Nazg spell during the Council, but nothing bad has happened, apart from Elves wincing from the sounds of the Black Tongue. No doubt Saruman could make a replica of the One Ring and write Sauron's spell on it, but it wouldn't work: Saruman had not enough power and skill to reproduce the magic.

Definitely a good post Gordis, a few basic things but really I hadn't quite thought of it that way. The idea about the cast of the spell and how it isn't transferred in writing but in originally 'uttering' is compelling, I think I agree wholeheartedly with it. I'll also add, though I suspect everyone knows the answer, that the reason Gandalf is such a 'poor door wizard' is that Tolkiens keeps getting that urge to sacrifice him in the name of Hobbit simplicity, at least in the case of the Gate of Moria There really should be some saying for this.. 'Don't set wizards to simple tasks' or 'How many wizards does it take to open a door' or something

Gandalf got it right once though! He did get a few well-known dwarves to pop up at the right Hobbiton door back in the days..

[Willow Oran]

Or perhaps he just wasn't as fluent a reader of sindarin and dwarvish as everybody assumes he is... which is sort of a silly thought given how much time the character had to master new languages. But maybe the Maiar were much more attuned to mastering the spoken word and had a bit of a weakness where the written word was concerned. They would never have needed it except in interactions with the Eruhini and their works, and what tripped Gandalf up at the doors of Moria was written wordplay, after all.

This theory has a ridiculous number of holes, of course, I'm just thinking 'out loud' at the moment.