The deed of the three friends

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

I remember reading once on the Internet exactly how far, and in how much time, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli run in pursuit of the Orcs that captured M & P. Anybody have that info? I remember it being a pretty ridiculous distance, expecially for Gimli on his stubby little Dwarf legs running with two 6'8" whippets, although you get the feeling that Aragorn and Legolas could have run non-stop if not for Master Sluggard.

[ragamuffin92]

You must really enjoy stirring up trouble, huh? :)

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

Hey, blame the Elf! That's a direct quote!

[ragamuffin92]

Good volley!!:D

[Arathorn]

Yup!

I remember Eomer in near disbelief at the speed they seemed to cover:

Wingfoot I name you. This deed of the three friends should be sung in many a hall. Forty leagues and five you have measured ere the fourth day is ended! Hardy is the race of Elendil!

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

I looked it up, and a league is (currently) 3 miles, so if Tolkein used consistent conversions, they travelled 135 miles on foot in 4 days, or about a marathon plus 5 miles per day for 4 days. Thank god they had the PowerBar of Middle-Earth, lembas.

[afro-elf]

For us normal people it may seem tremendous.

But there are ultra marathons that people run that total 100 miles.

The ironman competetion are 2 miles of swimmimg, biking 112 miles, then running a marathon. The top finishers come in between 8 and 9 hours.


The female chinese marathon team runs a marathon every day before breakfast.

For an Elf, THE Dunadan, and a Dwarf, the above seems like a cake walk.

[Arathorn]

Yup..after running 33.75 miles/day for 4 days...you'd start seeing strange things in the forest too...

[Comic Book Guy]

Elves as most of you should know, have power and skills more greater than Humans, including endurance. Aragorn was a pure Numenorian, who has more strength than the Normal human race.
Dwarves were said to have great endurance.

'Well, after them!' said Gimli. 'Dwarves too can go swiftly, and they do not tire sooner than Orcs. But it will be a long chase: they have a long start.'

'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'we shall all need the endurance of Dwarves.'

I'm not sure, but I believe Hobbits can only travel around 20 Miles a day.

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

It's amazing that Legolas isn't even winded at any point. Some of that is probably due to the lembas' enhanced effect on his elven system, the other part is the natural strength and willpower of his race.

The ability of armed Elves to cover huge distances in short times must have been a huge advantage to Elven war captains.

[Arathorn]

I guess the drug reference (there's another thread somewhere in this forum) is not limited to pipe weed but to lembas as well....

[Laurelyn]

How is lembas drug-related?

[Arathorn]

Well seeing that people don't sleep much after taking it and get all suspicious, these are the same effects of a drug in the philippines called shabu or ice.

[Ñólendil]

Lembas doesn't have a tendency to make people lose sleep or get suspicious. It has the healing power of sustenance and strength of will.

[Pailan]

I think one should also factor in the gear the three kindreds were shouldering as well. They weren't dressed for a track meet. Weapons and bed rolls and water and food and looking for clues... all that makes for slow going plus carrying the grief of the fellowship falling apart. So 34 miles a day is a very good pace.

This brings up the question so what is the fastest travelling method in ME? Horse? Winged steed of the Nazgul? Eagle? Oliphaunt? And what do you think the fastest speed would be?

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

They were also struggling against some unseen force that repelled them and aided the Orcs (i guess the will of Saruman).


As for the slickest wheels in Middle Earth, I doubt anything could outpace an Eagle, except for maybe Bill the Pony. Or my Fell Beast (pre-denoggination).

[Pailan]

Originally posted by Foul_Dwimmerlaik


As for the slickest wheels in Middle Earth, I doubt anything could outpace an Eagle, except for maybe Bill the Pony. Or my Fell Beast (pre-denoggination).

Pre-denoggination LOL!

[ragamuffin92]

To be fair to everyone, I think this site should be non-denogginational. :)
(Great word-coinage!!)

[Foul_Dwimmerlaik]

To be fair, I didn't coin it....it came from Kramer of Seinfeld, who, when discussing that lack of good nicknames for serial killers these days, threw out "Son of Dad" and "The Denogginator" as possible examples. "Son of Dad" cracks me up every time.

[Churl]

Another Seinfeld fan?&nbsp Great reference, Foul_Dwimmerlaik!&nbsp That wouldn’t, by any chance, be a pseudonym for "Arthur Vandelay," would it? :)

And “non-denogginational,” ragamuffin&nbsp…&nbsp?&nbsp I’m still laughing.