I like how he tries to rationalize the appearance of the Ballista as a story reason ânow the Bard canât just be anywhereâ instead of a "it would look totally ridiculous on screen to have a guy try to fire the black arrow with a regular bowâTolkien didnât think this through all the way.
Also, his shock and amazement that the movie prop didnât get the arrow up to lethal speeds is amusing.
Gah, the real Bard made do with a simple magical arrow; this man is an impostor!
I suppose itâs expected that everyone here is too nerdly to care that dragons donât âreallyâ exist, So asking if an arrow could âreallyâ kill a dragon is really kind of silly.
Plus spoilers.
and inB4 Vader is Lukesâ father.
Would anybody really name their sled âRosebud?â
EDIT: Whoops! Spoiler Alert!
When it comes to what is lethal, it boils down to shot placement. There are many myths and misconceptions in firearms (or any projectile weapon) on what it takes to kill someone/thing. From âA .45 will knock a man on his ass.â to âA .22 will bounce off a skull.â, the only sure fire way to kill something it to hit a vital area. There have been people who have died from a single .22lr, and people who have lived from getting shot a half dozen times. Certainly having a larger, faster projectile helps, but luck and where it hits you is what usually determines if you live or die from it.
How can the author both conclude that an arrow shot to the top of a mountain was moving at 14 m/s, and that such an arrow could rise no more than 2 meters?
If the purpose of the exercise is to suspend disbelief and assume that what was shown on the screen really happened, then he canât start with a contradiction and then prove that it didnât have enough force to kill a dragon.
A much simpler explanation of the contradiction is that the arrow is shown in slow motion, so his speed calculation simply goes out the window. Everything from that point on is starting from faulty premises.
Sheesh. I guess he could get some Error Carried Forward marks in the exam, though.
Which is why the book makes such a big deal about the hole in Smaugâs armor. Presumably there were also lots of vital organs behind that point as well.
When they brought out the ballistae in the movie, I really didnât care about speeds of the arrow. My thought was more along the lines of âhow are you going to manage to line up a single shot at a small weak point on a fast-moving dragon with something that clumsy to aim?â
Next, youâre going to be telling us that kittehs donât use lolspeak.
Hwell, they do, but only when they think weâre not listening in. Fortunately for human linguists, cats are too self absorbed to notice.
Mine just says, âHewo?â
Kinda freaked me out the first time, not gonna lie.
Agreed. This could make for a rather entertaining ballistics science fair project for some creative kid out there.
That was the brand nameâŚ
for what itâs worth, thereâs speculation that, judging from the trailers, that the ballista breaks and bard has to resort to his own bow and regular-sized black arrow, thus putting him back in line with tolkienâs original text. as to whether or not an arrow can kill a dragon, well, how much do we really KNOW about dragon physiology? maybe a tiny arrow is all it takes, if itâs in the right spot. hooray, fantasy!
Hello? Everybody knows that the world Tolkien wrote about is in a different universe with different laws. There is no hope of understanding this in terms of our earthly physics. The main difference in the physical laws of Middle Earth is that they bend and adjust to the whims of the author and the needs of the story. Giant hint: no magic at all on regular old Earth.
Well, obviously placement is going to have a hefty say in the matter for the range of force most projectiles operate in, but, pure kinetics of the projectile kind of get the first and last vote. It doesnât matter how well I aim my pencil propelled with a standard rubber band stretched with my fingers, Maximum injury tops out around eye injury. I simply have not imparted my projectile with enough kinetic energy to breach any reasonable outer membrane other than the very most fragile, which is what I take the point of the parent article to be (that the apparent kinetic energy imparted to the Black Arrow is below any guess on what possible penetration requirement would be for a dragon, even sans armor). Much like Mythbusters and any time they address a projectile lethality based myth primarily based on penetration power. The assumption is, if it is below any reasonable penetration threshold for the potential target, placement is irrelevant, only once that threshold is passed does placement even become an issue (and one can never definitively prove that from experimental data, itâs only the practical attempt that counts on that one)
Of course, moving beyond the assertions of the article and just to your point, kinetics gets the last word too. Past a certain threshold, placement stops mattering, as long as you hit the target or even come reasonably close, the shock from the passing or impact of the projectile itself introduces enough disruption to the target systems to be fatal, even if the actual point of impact isnât a critical point.
Obviously, this doesnât apply in the instant case, being well below those thresholds, but would be the obvious goal, if possible within the technology available, for dealing with a dragon (possibly requiring something on the order of modern artillery, or, more practical, some kind of AA missile. What Bard needs is clearly an F-4 or better, possibly depending on what effect stealth/anti-radar technology has on dragon eyesight, which seems to surpass simple visual spectrum, but, seems to fall short of the concealment properties of the one ring).
I think this is racist. Legolas Greenleaf could do it while snowboarding in the dark and we would be all ââwhateverââ
But if a huuuuman does it itâs all ââFAAAAAKEââ 'n stuff. Racism man. Racism.
It doesnât have to get deep enough penetration to reach Smaugâs vitals. The arrow is all old and rusty, so unless heâs had a tetanus shot recently even a relatively small wound could cause serious medical complications within a couple of weeks, tops. Watch out, Smaugâby the time Foreyule rolls around youâll be lucky if youâre not suffering from crippling muscle spasms.
The canonical answer already exists.
ps- I hate this question and anyone who entertains this question.
I loved that movie, but even at age 9 I wanted to know what the fuck cutting the bridges was supposed to help.
Also, I didnât remember the voice-acting being quite so Godawful. It sounds like they just grabbed a random guy off the street and said âhere, read this into the mic.â
