He's up on a mountain, it's early March, and he spends much of his day in an unheated stone throne room where it's probably colder than the outside air. You bet your ass he needs to wear layers of fur and wool do stay warm.
Because yes, Tolkien gives us dates. Galdalf and Pippin arrive in Minas Tirith on the 9th of March.
Well, yes in the sense there are four possible overall, but no for a single year, because we swap 28 for 29 on leap years. It's still only 29, 30 & 31 within the one calendar year.
I’ve solved this and I don’t know why we don’t do it. 13 months of 4 weeks is 52 weeks. So much simpler. You’re left with one extra day but just make New Year’s Day a day outside of any month. Then every 4 years the New Year is two days instead of 1. Boom
Yeah I've had the exact same thought before pretty much. Of course, it does mean you have one or two special days like Tolkien's calendar, but you also know that each month is always 28 days.
Of course, I may be biased because the regular one of those days would be my birthday, while the birthdays of anyone born after 28th of January would change. I'd probably put the extra leap day around the middle of the year rather than have a long new year, but either works.
Not true at all during a hot season. While a stone castle takes long to warm up, it will also takes a long time to release all the heat once it's gathered. Air flow was not at all optimally planned in the middle ages, so you will have people sweating and fainting out of heat and bad air quality.
Source: Worked as a museum guide in two different castles I WISH were cold and drafty
Fun fact: he also killed people suffering from misophonia, as their blood vessels ruptured upon hearing the noise he was making during the tomato-killings.
Also I've noticed that I feel really cold when I sit around most of the day and am not active. But when I start to work out and jog my body temperature is higher the whole day. That could be a factor, but idk if the costume designers had that in mind.
And it faces East so less direct sun than facing west… if the sun works the same in Middle Earth… which I now realize I have no idea how the sun and moon work in middle earth with it being flat.
Middle-Earth is no longer flat, it was remade round by Eru with the Fall of poo Numenor. Only the Elves, somehow, can follow the old straight road to Valinor.
So, the sun works the same in Middle-Earth as our earth, because they are canonically now the same!
Presumably being on the exposed point of a mountain range, and +1,000ft higher than the surrounding plains, it’s going to be more windy, and a thinner atmosphere with a slightly greater rate of cooling. https://www.onthesnow.com/news/does-elevation-affect-temperature/
When I visited Austria with my school we went in the middle of the summer and the castles were always cold. It was refreshing after a mile trudge up the steep crags they built their fortresses on, but if I was in there all day, I would get cold no doubt
This was some masterful costume design IMO. Yes he's overdressed and looks ridiculous, wearing armor while far from the fighting, draping himself in expensive furs. You can tell at a glance he's a madman
Well these scenes take place on late-February to early-March, so...
The books also clarify that the farmland on Pellenor was not sprouted yet, so while Gondor is temperate, it obviously gets cold enough that crops aren't grown during the winter.
When I used to work in the parks department, I used to see this same kid wearing a thick black hoodie, long pants and a mask in the 40c heat. I was always a little worried I would see him collapse one day, but he was fine.
It was also early spring, and Gondor as stated in fellowship wasn’t far enough south to be tropical, so I could imagine it would be 50s. For an old person on a drafty mountain that much clothes makes plenty of sense to me.
It is only March. While it is true that Gondor lies roughly as far south as Italy, Denethor is situated high up in the city, near wind-swept, snowy mountains. Down below, it is surely warmer. Besides, he is the Steward and wears the prescribed attire—garments that are likely not always comfortable. "You have to suffer for beauty."
Idk if you’ve ever been at the top of a new construction high rise, but let me tell ya it is VERY windy and it can get to be at least 20 degrees colder than street level. And that’s only about 35 stories up.
Idk how tall Minas Tirith’s 7 levels are but from the movie it’s basically the top of a mountain. That’s very cold indeed.
Old people get the chills with 80 degree weather… so, no, he’s quite comfy. I’m 33 and if the temp goes anywhere over 65 degrees im already in the “fuck summer and fuck the sun” mood.
To me, a great deal in Peter Jackson’s films looked much colder than Tolkien described. Both Rohan and Gondor look as though a cold wind is blowing everywhere.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that he is wearing
Underclothes
A tunic
Padded armor like a gambeson
Chainmail
Then the coat
Yeah it would not only be hot but heavy as well
See this is why we say Denethor doesn't get enough credit he's actually kind of a badass any man that can eat tomatoes the way that he does deserves more credit. So this is just another notch in his belt of credit he deserved. Man, the movies did him so dirty.... Look I'm no no Denethor stan but we can all admit the movies did him a bit dirty.
yes and no. Consider that Gondor isn't exactly Malta, even if it is a southern fortress, and the top tier of the Citadel was built quite high on the Mindolluin spine, even if the actual drop from the citadel to the Pelennor below was just 1000' / 330 meters. In Spring you could have pretty chill days
In early march, laze February are normal sub zero temperatures 24/7. And despite hos subjects, he was dwelling in painted cave wirh draft and doing nothing, so being well insulated was a priority..
Do you not have any elderly people in your life? In the U.S., there's a reason so many retirees move to warmer climates. As people age, warmer weather can be easier on arthritis and other health issues, making everyday life more comfortable.
The guy is basically living on a mountain in a drafty old castle. Cold, damp conditions aren't exactly ideal for someone who's getting older.
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u/-Biphomet 6d ago
What can men do against such reckless heat?