[Mithalwen]

It is easy to draw these parralels but since this is not the place for full discussion, I would say that 50 years on our minds are tuned to different wavelengths - we are far more sensitive to these things now. In short, I think the discriptions here are essentially a coincidence of geography ( as he has taken care to give ithilien appropriate flora so he gives the people of the south and east appropriate characteristics) and serve to highlight how strange and exotic the swertings are to the hobbits. I see little rascism in the thoughts of Sam quothed by Lathriel. Despite the superficial differences; the similarities, the common humanity is clearly recognised.

The fact that this is a battleof Men against Men is interesting to me, because of the problems posed by the nature of orcs. I can't be scientific about this but I get the impression that Tolkien is much more frugal about killing men - they tend to flee in terror rather thanbe slaughtered wholesale like the orcs (the implication that the orcs ARE irredeemably bad) but that too is an issue for other threads I guess.