"The spiders were the only things they (wood Elves) had no mercy upon"
Now although these spiders were decendents of the great Ungoliant I was always led to beleive that Orcs/Goblins were the greatest enemy to the Elves and there most hated enemies. However this quote seems to contradict that and imply that the spiders were. A little confusing
"for Wood-elves were not goblins, and were reasonably well-behaved even to their worst enemies, when they captured them. The giant spiders were the only living things that they had no mercy upon" as we see from this quote the spiders can not be the worst enemies of the Woodelves. The elves were good even with their worst enemies, but not to the giant spiders. It may well be that the greatest enemies were the goblins, but still these were shown some mercy possibly because they were more akin to the elves then the spiders and because they had feelings and could also in some cases be shown pity, unlike the spiders. Also by treating goblins well, elves could obtain informations from them through interogation, but a captured spider couldn't say anything to help the Elves, so there was no point to let him free. It may also be that the spiders were consideredto be more dangerus and so were shown no mercy.
On this, I tend to agree with The Might. The spiders were certainly not their worst enemies, and I can't think of any practical use for them such as obtaining information. I suppose they were more of a nuissance (a rather dangerous one) than anything else...this is purely speculative, I can't prove this and I may be entirely wrong!
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The more I consumath the more I hunger for, render me the Silmarils!
The quote doesn't specifically say that though, which means that it is always possible that there could be another fact or interpretation which we aren't yet aware of...
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The more I consumath the more I hunger for, render me the Silmarils!
Well is is not that hard to see you are right. If the Elves say they were good to their worst enemies, but not to the giant spiders, you let's say...mathemathically and logically understand that giant spiders can not be the worst enemies. For if they had been, the Elves would have treated them well.
Oh my poor brain! By the way, I hate (I mean strongly dislike) math and it usually doesn't make sense to me so perhaps that wasn't the best way to put it..."Mathematically and logically" is a sure way to get me confused, lol! Anyhow, I do see your point, and yes it does make sense!
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The more I consumath the more I hunger for, render me the Silmarils!
