How were the Argonath made

[e.Blackstar]

So. Just out of curiosity...

How would those very especial and very LARGE statues have been erected?

 

[Nenya Evenstar]

Well, kind of like the Egyptians made the pyramids, perhaps?

 

[e.Blackstar]

Well that's what I was thinking, but I just noticed that they seemed to be solid, like carven as opposed to brick-built.

 

[Thorondor_]

Well, now that you've mentioned pyramids :

[But the magia may not be easy to come by], and at any rate if you have command of abundant slave-labour or machinery (often only the same thing concealed), it may be as quick or quick enough to push mountains over, wreck forests, or build pyramids by such means.

Letter 155
So, there are three options (if needed mention):
- man-labour only (kind of impossible, given the required effort);
- machinery (my choice, though it is a bit too "evil" in M.E.)
- magic (not to be discarded from the start, since at least the Children of Luthien have magic abilities).

 

[Alcuin]

The easiest way would be to carve existing stone outcrops in the narrow gorge near the entrance to Nen Hithoel. I suspect that where the river gorge was narrowest, the rock on either side was carved back into the statues of Isildur and Anárion. Minalcar, who took the sobriquet Rómendacil II, built the Argonath as part of his fortification of the Anduin crossings following his successful campaign into Rhovanion to the Sea of Rhûn in Third Age 1248. (See RotK, Appendix A, (I) The Númenórean Kings, (iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion)

 

[Nenya Evenstar]

Thorondor, are you reading The Letters right now or do they have a special place right next to your monitor?

I'd say definitely man-labor and some 'magic,' though I feel that word does very little justice to the true meaning. But we all know already how I feel about that. Also, Numenorean architecture was probably amazing, expecially on the island of Numenor itself. At the time of the building of the Argonath, the descendants of Numenor probably still had a lot of that knowledge to fall back upon.

 

[Urambo Tauro]

I thought Jackson's film took an interesting approach--
The lower portions are carven out of the existing stone, with the upper portions stacked like bricks on top.
Perhaps not authoritative, but it makes sense to me as a likely possibility.

 

[e.Blackstar]

Really? Didn't notice that...*scurries off to review*

 

[Thorondor_]

Thorondor, are you reading The Letters right now or do they have a special place right next to your monitor?

I am confused... doesn't everyone keep their books by the monitor?

 

[Alcuin]

... doesn't everyone keep their books by the monitor?

No, no. All over the floor, around the chair.

 

[Nenya Evenstar]

Well . . . no, I'm too much of a perfectionist. They're in a bookcase right next to my computer. They are nicely in place, with covers torn off.

But seriously, either you have The Letters memorized, or you are currently reading them. I was just curious -- you seem to have quotes from them for every thread right up your sleeve.

 

[Ithrynluin]

I imagine the upraising of the Argonath was a man and machine sort of effort. How tall were the statues, anyhow? Perhaps it would have been possible to haul them up using several sturdy machines.

I don't see magic as a possible component here, since the people of Gondor were alienated from the Elven realms, who were the closest there was to practitioners of 'magic'. That is, unless by 'magic' we mean the palantir of Minas Tirith which may have been used by the steward of that time to contact Aulë and ask him for an architectural tip or two.

 

[e.Blackstar]

How tall were the statues, anyhow?

Very.

 

[Nenya Evenstar]

Ithy, by 'magic' we mean the powers that the descendants of Numenor inherited from the Elven blood in their veins . . . kind of like Aragorn and the Rangers. It probably didn't help them much, but I'm sure to some extent it did.