Numbers

I was wondering..what's up with Tolkien and his numbers? Especially 3, 7 and 9

For the number 3:

When the Fellowship split up,it was like this:
Frodo,Sam,Sméagol
Aragorn,Legolas,Gimli
Merry,Pippin,Treebeard

Another things with number 3:
3 groups of Elves went to Aman; The Noldor, The Vanyar, and The Teleri
There are 3 Houses of the Edain
There were 3 Silmarils
3 ''people'' took the Ring to Mordor

For 7:

There was the White Tree of Gondor with 7 flowers
There was the 7 Stars that were the emblem of Elendil and his heirs
There are 7 palantiri (the 8th is in the Tower of Avallónë)
There also 7 forefathers of the Dwarves.
7 sons of Fëanor
Seven Rivers of Ossiriand

There are many especially of the number 9:

9 Nazgûls
9 members of the Fellowship
Frodo ends up with 9 fingers
Sauron had 9 fingers
is it maybe...like Nazgûls X Fellowship,Frodo X Sauron?

There's also a thing about 14. 14 Valar, minus Melkor and 14 companions in "The Hobbit", but I think those are just two references to number 14 so it's not that important.

Combinations:

3 rings to the Elves
7 to the Dwarves
9 to the Kings of Men

"Tall ships and tall kings
Three times three,
What brought they from the foundered land
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree."

Not only was the number 3 mentioned but 3 times 3 is equal to 9. The number 7 is also mentioned and if you added the 7 stones and 7 stars, there are 14.

They may be more, and I don't think that this is just coincidence, the number 3, 7 and 9 may have a significant role in Tolkien's life. Anybody know what these "special" numbers mean. 😄

well maybe its a form of symbolism.....or maybe he suffers from the psychological disorder call OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)

What's the OCD all about? Is it like a disorder about numbers?

You think too much shadowy 😉

But I still love ya 😍

I have noticed that the odd numbers are very common in Tolkien's story.

Originally posted by Kitoky
You think too much shadowy 😉

But I still love ya 😍

I have noticed that the odd numbers are very common in Tolkien's story.

LOL..nothing to do. 😆 Luv ya too though. 😍 😄 😛

Yeah, but why not include 5? Why 3, 7, and 9? 😕

Not fives because the fact that people are used to 5 as a common number, 5, 10, 15 yeah, it's a bit open. 🙂

OK...😄 The 5 is clear now. 😄 But any thoughts on 3, 7, and 9 (other than they're common?) 😄

OCD is a disorder, where well let me explain like this

Obsession- is an intruding thought, that interrupts you every day life.

Compulsion- is an intruding behavior.

and well I'm sure you know what a dissorde is.

for example.....some with OCD. might constantly think of germs that would be the obsession. and they would want to wash there constantly that would be the compulsion.

OCD, could have any obsession it can range form numbers to strom's or even being clean....and the compulsion can have a wide range too. some cases of this disorder are very extreme and others are not as bad.

Adolf Hittler Had OCD that is one of the reasons he tried ruling Germany, not to mention the un-just treatment Germany had to go through after WW1.

oh, ok, thanks! 😄 But I think Tolkien is just obsessed with his numbers and use them frequently. He's not that obsessed with his other characters and events though. 😄

yes, well numbers could be part of the disorder...sometimes people will only go for odd numbers,or just even. its hard to say.

but there was this man once who every time went up the stairs, he would count to 6,000 before each step. it took him a total of eight hours to climb the stairs in his own hous. and if he would bumb something or get interupted while counting he would go all the back to the last step and start over agian.

Uh.......... 😑

Hey raven has there been a thread that mentioned the numbering in the HP forum?

no but I do know what the numbers mean

hold I will put them up

..................................................

I know that a lot of fairy tale writers used 3 a lot (Cinderella-2 evil step sisters and evil step mom and Sleeping Beauty-3 fairy god mothers and now that i think of it Snow White- 7 Dwarves)

Originally posted by raven guardia

but there was this man once who every time went up the stairs, he would count to 6,000 before each step. it took him a total of eight hours to climb the stairs in his own hous. and if he would bumb something or get interupted while counting he would go all the back to the last step and start over agian.

That's...odd...and....creepy.... 😖

~~~what the Numbers mean~~~

THREE- three represents the idea of completeness or wholeness, as in the trio "past-present-future" and "mind-body-spirit". the Pythagoreans considered three to be the first "complete" number because, like three pebbles laid out in a row, it has a Begining, a middle and an end. three indicates talent, energy, an artistic nature, humor and social ease.

SEVEN- is considered a mystical or magical number because of its associations with the biblical seven days of creation, and the seven heavenly bodies of ancient astronomy( sun,moon, mercury, Venus, mars, Saturn and Jupiter)

NINE- represents completion and achievement to the fullest degree, as it is the "complete" number, three expressed three times (3x3=9).

Thanks for that. 🙂 And now I have to analyze those and their relations to Tolkien's world before I go to sleep. 😄

um i know that 7 is a number of completeness and it is also in some countries considered to be a "clean" number, as in it is pure and sacred...maybee tolkien chose 7 for that reason...*shrugs*