Sean at All Too Flat has been reading (or possibly re-reading) The Lord of the Rings and sharing his thoughts on each chapter.

On 12/4/2003, he has this to ask upon reading that Gandalf put “the fear of fire” on Gollum:

Is Gandalf a war criminal?

A fair enough question, given the trouble that Lt. Col. Allen West has gotten into for forcing information from an assassination plotter. In that case, the Lieutenant Colonel threatened to shoot the man if he didn’t spill what he knew. Gandalf is pretty much doing the same thing to Gollum, and yet it isn’t treated as anything wrong in the Lord of the Rings. Interesting point, and not one I would have considered. Then again, in fiction and entertainment we often tolerate things that would have us calling the A.C.L.U. to file a report in real life.