Could Frodo Have Survived Moria?
Keywords:
Book, Film, Biology, Physics, Biomechanics, Mechanics, Tolkien, Middle EarthAbstract
In the film ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’, Frodo the hobbit manages to survive a cave-troll spear attack in the mines of Moria, however in the books this stab is delivered by a goblin-chieftain. Frodo is relatively unharmed due to wearing an impenetrable Mithril shirt of chain mail. This paper discusses whether it would be possible for Frodo to survive such an impact force from either the cave-troll or the goblin-chieftain without fracturing his sternum, irrespective of the finely wrought chain mail and therefore still be able to flee further from a Balrog shortly after. The conclusion of the model used is that Frodo may have been unharmed by the goblin-chieftain attack but the cave-troll attack would impart a force of 64,300 N to Frodo’s chest and irrespective of dissipation of the force across his chest; this impact force is great enough to result in sternal fracture, a debilitating injury which would have made escape impossible.
References
The One Wiki to Rule Them All, (2015) Skirmish in Balin's Tomb. Available: http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Skirmish_in_Balin%27s_Tomb [Accessed 27/02/2015].
Beck, R., Pollak, A. & Rahm, S. (2005) Intermediate emergency care and transportation of the sick and injured. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.
Bass, C.R., Salzar, R.S. & Lucas, S.R. (2006) Injury risk in Behind Armour Blunt Thoracic Trauma, International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 12, 4, pp.429.
Jackson, P., Sinclair, S., Boyens, P. & Walsh, F. (2002) The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers. New Line Cinema.
Dandwiki.co, (2015). Goblins, Variant (3.5e Race), D&D Wiki. Available: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Goblins,_Variant_%283.5e_Race%29 [Accessed 27/02/2015].
Plagenhoef, S., Evans, F. & Abdelnour, T. (1983) Anatomical Data for Analyzing Human Motion. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 54, 2, pp.169–178.
Kelty, M. (2011) Everything you ever wanted to know about Pikes but were too afraid to ask…, RenaissanceWarfare.com - The Waye We Warre. Available: http://www.renaissancewarfare.com/1_4_Pike.html [Accessed 27/02/2015].
Walilko, T.J., Viano, D.C. & Bir, C.A. (2005) Biomechanics of the head for Olympic boxer punches to the face. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39, 10, pp.710–719.
Cooper-Dunn A.E. & Walker R.W. (2015).
Fowler, M. & Mikota, S. (2006) Biology, medicine, and surgery of elephants. Ames, Iowa: Blackwell Pub.
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0).
