Now, obviously there exist substantial logistical difficulties in mounting to this level of detail, but on another level I would like to submit that in his prioritization of economics as a reflection of underlying power dynamics, and thus an issue of primary POLITICAL importance, Marx was quite astute.
We dealt, of course, with the kings in the movie, but there would have been serfs, since this was presumably a feudal system. Did Tolkien and/or Peter Jackson not want to show these people, since they kept referring to the “free” kingdoms of Middle Earth?
And what did the orcs eat, in a land without sun?
Virtue can only take priority over hunger when hunger is largely and regularly sated. This means anyone concerned with building virtue must take an interest in effective economics. Life is logistics. This is not speculation, but daily observation.
What if the Buddha had wandered into a strange land, attained Nirvana, but been unable to speak the local language to communicate it? How many human wonders have been lost for the proverbial “want of a nail”?