Why are "ancient" weapons more powerful than third age weapons?

In the movies/books, they always exclaim "oh, so and so is gonna kick but because he has the X, which is an ancient weapon crafted years ago so therefore it's awesome!" Seriously; the ancient elves, dwarves and Numenoreans (sp?) weapons seem to be the most revered and powerful. But, shouldn't ancient weapons be weaker than "modern" ones? I mean, if so, then why aren't we using swords crafted by the "ancient eyptians long ago"?

And, how come in all of the ages (several thousand years) the LOTR universe has never advanced technologically?

Because the LOTR universe is meant to be medieval, so it won't advance.

And ancient weapons are more powerful because they're usually mystic or made by some process that is far more impressive than what they have now, though the process is inexplicably lost somehow.

And ya gotta realize dude, this is fiction.

Because they're stupid.

I'd take a desert eagle over Narsil any day.

What if you had the speed to block bullets with Narsil?

Originally posted by KingD19
What if you had the speed to block bullets with Narsil?

good point.

Originally posted by KingD19
Because the LOTR universe is meant to be medieval, so it won't advance.

And ancient weapons are more powerful because they're usually mystic or made by some process that is far more impressive than what they have now, though the process is inexplicably lost somehow.

And ya gotta realize dude, this is fiction.

Even medieval times eventually advanced. I guess a renaissance has yet to hit middle earth. That gives me an idea for a fourth movie: the "renaissance" happens in middle earth and advancements are made. Eventually, they acquire guns and discover the "new world". And then, they begin colonizing the "new world". So then, the elves decide to come back to middle earth, but the humans are like "hey you abandoned us when Sauron was around why should we let you back in" and then a war starts! Muskets vs Elven longbows (in which the Elves would actually have an advantage one on one).

The world is not meant to advance, it's meant to stay where it is, it's not evolutionary, it's stationary, otherwise it wouldn't be Lord of the Rings anymore. It would be something else.

Originally posted by Final Blaxican
Because they're stupid.

I'd take a desert eagle over Narsil any day.

Dude, have a little foresight. A magical glowing sword that fills men (and Orcs, aka modern day Mexicans) with fear is far more valuable than a 'deagle'.

Originally posted by KingD19
The world is not meant to advance, it's meant to stay where it is, it's not evolutionary, it's stationary, otherwise it wouldn't be Lord of the Rings anymore. It would be something else.

Wasn't the world changing (ie moving forward), as the time of the Elves was coming to an end and Hobbits were growing taller and taller?

You make a good point, but what I was trying to convey is that the world advanced, but not to the point of changing noticeably. Yeah hobbits are getting bigger, but we're not going to start seeing steamboats and rifles.

There's more to it than just remaining stagnant. I'm not an expert on Middle Earth, but didn't they have a major war, or wars that nearly crippled all of civilization? It would be the equivalent of us having a nuclear war and nuking ourselves back into the stone age. We'd still have some technology, but most of it would be lost and we'd have far fewer people with an understanding on how to keep it working, or how to improve on what we had left.

This is the main reason why ancient weapons are considered better than weapons made in their current time. These weapons were made during their "golden age" of magic and civilization. These weapons were imbued with power that, in their "modern day" can't be matched. Furthermore, as time passes, more and more of them are either lost, or broken in some way, which makes the few that remain all the more precious and valuable.

I'm sure, if the books wanted to really advance the time line, you'd see that their technology would improve, maybe not in the same way it did back in the golden days, but it would show improvement.

Well, say someone had a 4th or 3rd age sword, then another dude comes along with a sword Feanor himself made, which would you rather have? The wepons (especially from the first age that wernt lost) were almost certainly enchanted with various spells, or, would u rather have a sword of a maiar that was rescued before Beleriand was lost, brought by the Faithful?I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A MAIAR SWORD!!!!

Originally posted by Incanus
Well, say someone had a 4th or 3rd age sword, then another dude comes along with a sword Feanor himself made, which would you rather have? The wepons (especially from the first age that wernt lost) were almost certainly enchanted with various spells, or, would u rather have a sword of a maiar that was rescued before Beleriand was lost, brought by the Faithful?I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A MAIAR SWORD!!!!

For collectors yes because ancient, long lost swords of famous kings are very rare and valuable, but in a war would you rather have an M16 or Narsil?

^ Sting is obviously the clear choice.

They didnt have M16s in Middle Earth, just M4s, but It dosnt mattyer with guns as they didnt have them. Compared to 3rd Age swords, older ones were just sharper, sturdier, and just generally better made.

Think of it as this way, the Ancient Sith knew more about the dark side than most current Sith like Caedus and Sidious. Most of that knowledge died with Exar Kun. Ancient weapons were far more infused with magic than your average sword, spear or spell. Saruman & Sauron may have been enormously powerful, but compared to an Ancient they don't stand a chance.

um...
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Originally posted by Darth Truculent
Think of it as this way, the Ancient Sith knew more about the dark side than most current Sith like Caedus and Sidious.

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Originally posted by Darth Truculent
Saruman & Sauron may have been enormously powerful, but compared to an Ancient they don't stand a chance.

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ummmm, Sauron IS an ancient dude..... and so is Saruman, as they are both Maia............ so they helped CREATE the world, they are older than it............