a losing proposition

[incandescens]

First day back at work, and I'll be fair, it wasn't that bad. No huge calamities, no great omissions discovered in my absence. (Touch wood.) Weather continues gloomy, but not actually raining at the moment. Well, not on me, at least.

Pondering the movie version of the Hobbit, I can see why they decided to throw in "the elves cruelly refrained from helping the dwarves during the whole dragon assault" in order to give Thorin reasons for his distrust of elves. But personally, I have to say that I sympathised with Thranduil in not leading his troops in a frontal assault over open ground against a dragon who'd just broken into the Lonely Mountain and destroyed the dwarf army.

----

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception.

-- The Hobbit, Tolkien

Comments

[longstrider.livejournal.com]

I may not sympathize, because to leave an entire city/civilization to the desolation of Smaug takes a great heaping helping of hate, but not wanting to send your own people into the meat grinder is completely understandable.

The showing up and then walking away... that's just cruel, but I get why they chose to do that in the movie. The simple lack of elves there wouldn't have worked visually.

[incandescens]

Right. Merely showing a lack of elves wouldn't have had any impact at all. It's the "getting so close and then walking away again" which twists the knife.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

On second thought maybe I won't go see The Hobbit. The tone of the movie sounds far removed from the tone of the book. Anyway, I'd only be going to see how John Watson does furry feet.

[incandescens]

The tone tries for LotR tone, rather than more Hobbit tone... but it is still fun to watch. I just closed my eyes a few times during it.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Thranduil and his party elves just wanted to party! He thought 'dragon' was just the theme, not a guest of honor!

But yeah, I get why they did it, too, but it wasn't easy to swallow. I also couldn't help but think, if their positions had been reversed, the dwarves would have responded in the same way.

[incandescens]

If not more so. After all, they (the dwarves) would have had fewer arrows (though I concede they might have had crossbows), so they couldn't even have shot arrows at Smaug.