I don't know about Tolkien's elves being innately magical.
In the book, it was Elrond that caused the river to rise, not Arwen. However, that glory of Lothlorien stems from the innate magic of the Elves. The way that Glorfindel appeared to the Nazgul who had not entered the river and scared them into the river in the first book, shows the true nature of their being - a figure of white shining light.
Their magic isn't magic in what would be considered a modern fantasy sense - like casting spells and the like. But there is some control of the elements, the growth of trees. Orcs simply can't enter Lothlorien for the most part - although part of that is because they are killed off by the elves.
When the sword is reforged, in the book anyway, it is so powerful because it is done so with Elf magic. Gandalf's sword also is an Elf sword, and has an innate magic making it stronger and faster.
There are lots of small references, not big ones. It's just different from what anyone who has looked at D&D would consider magic.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2004-01-07 02:28 pm (UTC)In the book, it was Elrond that caused the river to rise, not Arwen. However, that glory of Lothlorien stems from the innate magic of the Elves. The way that Glorfindel appeared to the Nazgul who had not entered the river and scared them into the river in the first book, shows the true nature of their being - a figure of white shining light.
Their magic isn't magic in what would be considered a modern fantasy sense - like casting spells and the like. But there is some control of the elements, the growth of trees. Orcs simply can't enter Lothlorien for the most part - although part of that is because they are killed off by the elves.
When the sword is reforged, in the book anyway, it is so powerful because it is done so with Elf magic. Gandalf's sword also is an Elf sword, and has an innate magic making it stronger and faster.
There are lots of small references, not big ones. It's just different from what anyone who has looked at D&D would consider magic.