----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Grimaldi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: Magic in Middle Earth (Help RPGers!)
> David Hobby wrote:
> > Begging to differ, but what about Gandalf's smoke rings in
> > _The Hobbit_? They are described as being multicolored, and moving
> > around on their own, I believe. It certainly seems that Gandalf was
> > using MAGIC, and not skill. And this for mere entertainment.
> > I'm sure it was a minor spell, and _The Hobbit_ is a bit
> > different from the other books, but still.
> (snip)
> > Didn't Gandalf also use spells to produce light in dark places?
> > Again, it's minor magic, but it is used casually.
>
> Producing light and colored smoke (and fires that burn even in a
> snowstorm) are all tricks we could do now with the appropriate
> materials, skill, and knowledge. Who's to say he didn't have some
> "glow in the dark" liquid handy, or put special compounds in his
> pipe that make special colored smoke. The hobbits and dwarves
> around him would have no other explanation than "magic".
Also, wasn't Gandalf the one who came around with the fireworks every year?
He must have had access to some interesting techy/science solutions for such
things, rather than magic.
-j-
