From: Jim Webster Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien,rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Sports in Middle-earth: Men Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 00:31:30 +0000 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Lines: 114 Message-ID: <3D07E7DB.125CEFA@mindspring.com> Reply-To: jsibleywebster@mindspring.com NNTP-Posting-Host: a5.f7.d6.33 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Server-Date: 13 Jun 2002 07:30:19 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!newsfeed.vmunix.org!newsfeed.stueberl.de!cox.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsfeed0.news.atl.earthlink.net!news.atl.earthlink.net!news.mindspring.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:88931 Editor's Note: The following excerpt is from a chapter in the forthcoming volume, "The Compleat Traveler's Guide to Middle-earth." This excerpt concerns Men; future excerpts will cover Fell beings, Hobbits, etc. The complete text of the chapter is available online at http://www.mindspring.com/~jsibleywebster/compleatguide/sports/ THE COMPLEAT TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MIDDLE-EARTH: SPORTS MEN Of all the races in Middle-earth, Men are most prone to spectator sport, for Dwarves are too secretive, and the Elf fan base keeps dwindling over the sea to the West. But though a Man may be a fan for a mere fifty years, he passes his love of the game on to his many offspring. And alone among the races do Men willingly part with their own lucre to watch a match. Men of Gondor While Men all over Middle-earth engage in various sporting contests, it is only in Gondor where they consistently come out to watch them. The most popular sport, of course, is Orc Ball. Though a number venues exist in the capital of the Southern Kingdom, the best spot to take in a match is undoubtedly Osgiliath Field, on the banks of the Anduin River. While watching the lads from stone benches carved from quarries near Mt. Mindolliun, you can hearken to vendors hawking the best Lebennin ale and fried fish delicacies brought up on ships from the fisher folk of South Ithilien. Colorful banners are the order of the day, and in the crowd you are likely to see just about anyone, from a Lost Lord of Arnor to a party of Harad incense dealers. With such a motley crowd, of course, tensions sometimes run high, particularly when the Dark Lord has sent one of his Nazgűl scouts to check out the talent. The game of Orc Ball itself is, at first glance, deceptively simple. Unlike most ball sports, it is played in a ring-shaped, rather than a rectangular-shaped, field. The objective of the game is to advance the ball from the center of the ring to the outer part of the ring without actually crossing over the ring line. Judges determine how close to the ring line--and how long it must be held there--the ball must be in order for the holder to score. It is this participatory element of the judges that makes Orc Ball truly unique. Ideally, in sports from our world, the umpires are expected to be impartial arbiters, impervious to the influence of biased spectators and players alike. But in Middle-earth you will find a different attitude when it comes to sports. Judges are not only expected to NOT be impartial, but the art of swaying their judgment is an integral part of the game. Usually this takes the form of threats, pronouncements of doom, or Weirs laid upon them. Some judges are known to be enchanted by Elf-song, and teams vie to bring in the finest throats from Lothlórien and Rivendell. Others can be plied with food or drink, or the hands of fair maidens (in marriages that can easily be annulled in certain South Gondor establishments). A wizard wishing to add to his purse has been known to cast a few spells, not only on the judges but on the players. Even the appearance and condition of the ball can influence a judge. Those players who are awarded a goal bring honor to both themselves and their team. Play continues throughout the day until shadows stretch across the field, and the strange cries of fell beasts are heard by all. Don't be alarmed by these cries, even if they do seem to come from Mordor; they're normal, and no cause for unrestrained panic. At the end of the game, the player with the most goals is awarded the coveted title of Ring Lord in a touching ceremony that is not to be missed. Finally, there is much speculation as to the matter of the origin of the sport's name. The most common explanation is that its name comes from the fact that the ball employed is the freshly-hewn head of an Orc. Men of Rohan Being lovers of horses, it is only natural to assume that these hardy and proud Men race their beasts, and indeed they do. The manner in which they race them, however, may surprise the modern visitor. Rather than ride them, these Men let their horses race untouched by humans as they gloriously gallop over the plains between the Entwash and the Anduin, using only their unerring homing instincts to lead them back to their masters. Spectators along the way either shout encouragement to their favorite nags, or try to confuse opponents' steeds by asking them questions about their ancestry. But no one can talk to a horse, of course, unless of course that talking horse is the famous--well, never mind. Occasionally the Rohirrim also play a game similar to polo, though the riders don't employ mallets; for the horses themselves are the ones that actually strike the ball, which is usually the freshly-hewn head of an Orc. Snowmen of Forochel The Lossoth are the only community of Men who regularly engage in winter sports, though few are seen by anyone from more southern climes, for few have good reason to subject themselves to the frigid conditions to which the Lossoth have acclimated themselves; and if even if you do make the difficult journey over the Lune Mountains, you will be lucky if you don't wind up eating your shoe leather to survive. But let's say your party experiences excellent weather and arrives at the Cape of Forochel in good shape, and the Lossoth are convinced that you are not a war party sent to punish them by the Witch-king, and you just happen to go at a time when they engage in their winter sports. In which case you will be treated to amazing sights: glittering palaces made entirely of ice, soaring into the sky; footraces on frozen lakes by Men who have developed bones in their feet that keep them from slipping; sled races in enormous sleds pulled by Northern Wolves; and a kind of rodeo played with polar bears will keep you entertained for hours. But it's all over in a single day and night, and when you awake the next morning, huddling for warmth in your modest ice-tent (DON'T call them igloos!), it will all seem like a dream; and you wonder, as you pack your possessions for the arduous journey south, what kind of mushrooms DID that guy dressed up in fancy feathers and bones and stuff give you to eat last night? ###### From: pradera@pradera.prv.pl (Pradera) Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien,rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: Sports in Middle-earth: Men Date: 13 Jun 2002 16:25:25 GMT Organization: Pradera Lines: 24 Message-ID: <922CB84C1praderapraderaprvpl@130.133.1.4> References: <3D07E7DB.125CEFA@mindspring.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 42-moo-3.acn.waw.pl (62.121.78.42) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1023985525 5726701 62.121.78.42 (16 [146550]) User-Agent: Xnews/03.09.22 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.mailgate.org!newsfeed.stueberl.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!42-moo-3.acn.waw.PL!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:88947 Nastał dzień 13 cze 2002, gdy Jim Webster był łaskaw napisać: > In >which case you will be treated to amazing sights: glittering palaces >made entirely of ice, soaring into the sky; footraces on frozen lakes by >Men who have developed bones in their feet that keep them from slipping; >sled races in enormous sleds pulled by Northern Wolves; and a kind of >rodeo played with polar bears will keep you entertained for hours. Wha, no curling ?? -- Pradera 'An ideal country should have japanese culture, dutch laws, american economy and irish pubs' --- ###### From: Jim Webster Newsgroups: alt.fan.tolkien,rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: Sports in Middle-earth: Men Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 22:57:08 +0000 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Lines: 27 Message-ID: <3D092344.E7514333@mindspring.com> References: <3D07E7DB.125CEFA@mindspring.com> <922CB84C1praderapraderaprvpl@130.133.1.4> Reply-To: jsibleywebster@mindspring.com NNTP-Posting-Host: a5.f7.de.81 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Server-Date: 14 Jun 2002 05:57:05 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!newsfeed.vmunix.org!newsfeed.stueberl.de!cox.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsfeed0.news.atl.earthlink.net!news.atl.earthlink.net!news.mindspring.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:88981 I'm not Canadian, eh? Actually, our correspondant did observe several Lossoth sliding freshly-hewn Orc heads on a frozen pond, but since no brooms were being used, it hardly qualifes as curling. Besides, the Orc tongues kept hanging out and sticking to the ice. Jim Pradera wrote: > Nasta3 dzień 13 cze 2002, gdy Jim Webster by3 3askaw napisać: > > > In > >which case you will be treated to amazing sights: glittering palaces > >made entirely of ice, soaring into the sky; footraces on frozen lakes by > >Men who have developed bones in their feet that keep them from slipping; > >sled races in enormous sleds pulled by Northern Wolves; and a kind of > >rodeo played with polar bears will keep you entertained for hours. > > Wha, no curling ?? > > -- > Pradera > > 'An ideal country should have japanese culture, dutch laws, american > economy and irish pubs' > ---