24 Friday May 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book
Tags
What carries water but has no shape
And moving about is its fate?
It veils the look of dark and drear
and the passes that the mortals fear.
‘In places deep, where dark things sleep”
and tiny forgotten creatures creep.
Goblins and Orcs give holler,
Resting place of king and scholar.
Answer: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
21 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Ori
Upon the crown of a king I sit
Yet can be found in Isengard’s pit
The language of Common I speak
And can be found on my namesake’s peak
The Maiar listen close to my cry
For good or evil I will espy
What am I?
Answer: _ _ _ _ _ (vnrae)
14 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, Thorin
Tags
dragons, essay, necromancer, one ring, rings of dwarves, rings of elves, rings of men, rings of power, saruman, sauron, thorin, thrain, tolkien
The Rings of Power
By Ori’s Quill
This is part two of the trilogy that ties in the Concerns of the White Council, with the power of the Great Rings, and in a future essay will connect Thorin Oakenshield with the Lord of the Rings. Those who have not read the books will find this information vital in understanding what may happen in the The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again. Those who have read the books might benefit from a review of this information and find some facts intriguing. The essay will demonstrate how Tolkien’s writings are preserved in the movie versions, but again will point out discrepancies. There may be spoilers depending on how much you already know.
The fall of 1937 was an important time for Professor Tolkien. Having just completed The Hobbit that spring, and the book ready for publication on the 21st of September, he had set in his head a second novel, about Hobbits, and had already begun the first chapter titled A Long Expected Party (this compliments the first chapter of The Hobbit titled An Unexpected Party). By December of that year, he had completed five different drafts of chapter one. Here we can see Tolkien struggle. He wanted a maturity to his writing, to incorporate the spectacular mythologies brewing in his head that he wrote as early as 1917 when recovering from trench fever and grief of the death of his best friends killed in battle in World War I. He thought of dragon sickness, of Bilbo longing for adventure. But he did not want to write another children’s novel. The story started, stopped, started, stopped, and by 1938 he had drafted seven chapters. Yet still, Tolkien had no sense of connection, of direction. He wrote “The sequel to The Hobbit has remained where it stopped. It has lost my favor, and I have no idea what to do with it.”
Then it came to him. In his scribbled outlines he wrote: “Bilbo’s ring proved to be the one ruling Ring – all others had come back to Mordor: but this one had been lost.” Humphrey Carpenter sums it up best:
“The one ruling ring that controlled all others; the ring that was the source and instrument of the power of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor; the ring that must be carried by hobbits, or else the whole world will come under Sauron’s domination. Now everything fell into place, and the story was lifted from the ‘juvenile’ level of The Hobbit into the sphere of grand and heroic romance. There was even a name for it: when next he wrote about it to Allen & Unwin (his British publishing company), Tolkien referred to it as “The Lord of the Rings”.
The Power of the One
There is a great importance in understanding what the Ruling Ring of Power can do. It is crucial. For without such knowledge, one cannot understand the relationship between Thorin Oakenshield and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We are all familiar with the qualities of the One Ring. It is a Horcrux (I know, wrong story. But the term fits nicely here). Tolkien writes “he let a great part of his own former power pass into it”. It assured that Sauron could live for eternity through evil domination of others.
The One Ring was made by Sauron in the fires of Orodruin in the year 1600 of the Second Age. This location, so far east from Elves and Men, enabled Sauron to practice the darkest sorceries and fashion the Ruling Ring. Sauron was also a shape shifter. Through his sorcery he took up a new form, revealing the true nature of his evil self.
Because a part of Sauron lived inside the Ring, it is an active controller. It manipulated Isildur, later betraying and having him murdered. The manipulation of Isildur prevented the Ring from destruction at Mount Doom. This assured that Sauron could return. But the Ring made a critical mistake then by having Isildur murdered, for when it slipped off his hand, it slipped into obscurity for thousands of years and could not find a bearer to bring it back to its master. Never again would it take the life of the ring bearer.
It briefly ensnares Déagol and then Sméagol, driving him to murder and insanity. And for four hundred years, the Ring gets stuck in Gollum’s cave. Both in book and movie, the Ring abandons Gollum as he “twisted that nassty young squeaker” goblin. It realizes that Gollum won’t parcel it back to Sauron. It senses a new bearer, a bearer that will bring it closer to its master. That bearer is Bilbo, who just happens to be on the way to Mirkwood, home of Sauron as the Necromancer. The Ring chose Bilbo. It was intended, no accident, and contrary to the depiction in the Fellowship movie.
We then see Bilbo, using the Ring playfully to achieve his tasks. Consider this: Is the Ring using him? Did the Ring lure Bilbo to ask “What have I got in my pocket?” Bilbo was stammering for a riddle, “he scratched himself, he pinched himself; still he could not think of anything” and accidently brushes against the Ring in search for one. “What have I got in my pocket?” The question assured that Bilbo won the contest, though technically it was not a riddle that Bilbo asks.
As he tries to escape Gollum’s assault, the Ring slips onto Bilbo’s finger, thereby guaranteeing safe passage out of the cave. But an even bigger picture emerges. The Ring is on the way to its master waiting in the darkness of Mirkwood. The Ring seems to be controlling the outcome of events.
Fortunately, the plan is spoiled. Bilbo, Thorin, and Company get past the Necromancer, as we will see in the Desolation of Smaug. How they make it past is speculated at the end of the essay Concerns of the White Council. But they are able to continue their Quest to Erebor, though hindered by other events along the way.
A clever reader may ask, “Might Smaug be capable of devouring the Ring, like the lessor Rings of the Dwarves?” The answer is no. Tolkien writes in Fellowship: “It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragons left on earth in which old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black [see the essay Concerns of the White Council about him], who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself.” The Great Ring cannot be harmed by Smaug, which is a good thing, because such an outcome could never produce the great sequel The Lord of the Rings.
We all know that Bilbo returns to the Shire after the Quest (sorry if I spoiled the ending but it is implied in the title There and Back Again). Then the Ring slowly takes hold of him, to dominate. In Fellowship, Bilbo becomes “thin and stretched”, manic and agitated. He wants to roam, and has an obsession with the Ring. In the book, he describes himself trying to put it away, trying to forget about it, and then taking it back out again. He says it needs looking after. The Ring of Power seems to be controlling him. It has dominated his very thoughts, and is manipulating poor Bilbo.
Think back to the Long Expected Party. What if Bilbo never put the Ring on? Would Gollum have been lured to Mordor? Would then the Nazgûl not have been released? Would Orodruin have erupted? The very innocent action of startling stupid Hobbits of the Shire by disappearing set other actions in motion, thereby summoning the Nazgûl to bring the Ring back to its master. The Ring, it seems, is the controller.
Then finally we see Frodo, in his naiveté, take up the burden of ring-bearer (once again, did he make the choice, or did the Ring?) in the Council of Elrond. Is it chance, coincidence, or is the Ring summoning Frodo to take it to Mordor? For eventually Frodo succumbs. The Ring takes him, and had not Sam and Gollum altered the course of events, the Ring would have succeeded in returning to its master.
The Great Ring, the manipulator, the dominator, the chess player. For that is what the Great Ring is. It controls, moving our heroes in place like pawns to be slaughtered.
The Lesser Rings of Power
It might surprise fans who have not read the books that the lesser Rings of Power were made by Elves and not Sauron. The Silmarillion accounts the forging of the Rings of Power by the High Elves of Ost-in-Edhil, in Eregion under the supervision of Sauron who at that time was considered an ally and valued for his knowledge and smithing skills.
“They took thought, and they made Rings of Power. But Sauron guided their labours, and he was aware of all that they did; for his desire was to set a bond upon the Elves and to bring them under his vigilance. Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring.”
This somewhat contradicts the Fellowship movie, which depicts Sauron gifting the Rings to the Elves, the Dwarves, and Men.
The Nine, The Seven, The Three, The One and The One?
As fans of the movies and the books, we are all aware of the Nine Rings of Men, the Seven of the Dwarves, the Three of the Elves, and the One.
Few of us are aware that there is another Ring, dominated by the One. It is not Aragorn’s ring, known as the ring of Barahir, which he bore and is mentioned in the movie Two Towers and Appendix A of Fellowship.
It is a surprising yet obvious fact that the Ring in question was created in the Third Age and its bearer is Saruman. In reading the Council of Elrond in the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf explains his long disappearance and detainment. He rode to Orthanc to seek Saruman’s council. Gandalf says “I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stairs of Saruman…he wore a ring on his finger…” Saruman himself declares “For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman the Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colors.”
How can Saruman have a Ring of Power? He openly declares that he made the Ring himself, but how is this dominated by the One? The answer lies in the Palantír, one of the lost Seeing-stones, as read in Concerns of the White Council. This Palantír enables Sauron to control Saruman like a puppeteer
controlling a puppet. Saruman was a vested scholar in Ring lore, spending much time studying the history, myths and legends. This was his undoing. Sauron could easily persuade him to make a Ring and thereby be dominated. So Sauron is using Saruman as another avenue in obtaining the Great Ring. And if Saruman wants the Ring for himself, Sauron has other means of controlling him. In the book The Two Towers, when Sauron appears to Pippin in the Palantír he declares “Tell Saruman that this dainty (a hobbit) is not for him. I will send for it at once.” In other words, Saruman has no chance of obtaining the Ring. Sauron knows completely what Saruman is planning, and will send the Nazgûl to retrieve the Ring should he obtain it.
The Nine Rings of Men
Both the movies and Tolkien account for nine kings receiving the Rings of Power. After that time, Tolkien writes, there were many battles fought especially in the realm of Eriador. The Númenoreans, of the line of Aragorn, became divided and rebellions and upheavals were the zeitgeist of the times. That was when the race of Men was at its most low.
Tolkien gives a date of 2251 of the Second Age when Middle-earth is first plagued by the Nazgûl. Of the nine kings, slowly wariness took over and they succumbed not only to the domination of the Great Ring, but they remained undying. (This contradicts a scene we may see in the Desolation of Smaug, in which Gandalf and Radagast go to investigate the nine tombs of the High Fells. If you are undying, how can you have a tomb? See Concerns of the White Council.) Slowly the nine kings faded and became invisible permanently, and served Sauron forever. For over three thousand years, Sauron commanded the Nazgûl. Their actions were entirely based on his will and domination.
The Three Rings of the Elves
We know of the other Rings of Power the following facts: That each had their own precious or semi-precious gem attributed to them. While the Nine Rings of Men and the Seven Rings of the Dwarves are not described, we do have a description of the Three. There is Vilya, the Ring of Air, whose ring bearer was originally Gil-galad and then he passed the Ring to Elrond. The stone attributed to the Ring is a blue sapphire. The next, Nenya the Ring of Water, whose bearer is Galadriel, has a white diamond. Finally, there is Narya the Ring of Fire, with a red stone, perhaps a ruby. Its original bearer was Círdan, the Shipwright. Its final bearer is a bit of a
surprise for those not familiar to the books, especially The Silmarillion. For in that book it is mentioned that Mithrandir was the last to bear Narya. He bore the ring in secret and swore never to mention his bearing, but it explains why in the movie Gandalf sets sail with Frodo, Bilbo, Elrond, Galadriel (all ring bearers) and Celeborn (contradictory to Tolkien’s writing, for Celeborn remained in Middle-earth and settled in the southern woods and renamed them East Lórien) at the end of the movie Return of the King.
Of the Three, there is evidence of domination; though their bearers have a stronger resistance to the Ruling Ring. The reason for this was that Sauron never made the Three. They were forged to enable the Elves to heal and preserve. They were created by Celebrimbor in the realm of Eregion in the year 1590 of the Second Age. It would take Sauron another ten years to forge the One. By 1693, the three were hidden. In Fellowship, it is written “The Three, the fairest of all, the Elf-lords hid from him, and his hand never touched or sullied them.” The Silmarillion continues that as soon as Sauron put on the Great Ring, the Elves perceived his domination, and promptly removed their Rings from their fingers, thereby reducing the dominating power of the One.
In year two of the Third Age, when Isildur is murdered, and the Ring passed out of all knowledge, the three Rings of the Elves were temporarily released from its dominion. Elrond confirms this in the Council in Fellowship. This is why we see Galadriel actually wearing Nenya in the movie Fellowship. She is able to bear the Ring without Sauron’s oppression.
The Seven Rings of the Dwarves
Originally, Tolkien only created two lines of Dwarves, but later changed that in the 1966 revision of The Lord of the Rings. We lack a historical account of all of the seven founding fathers, but Tolkien names the lines as the Longbeards (Durin’s line), Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots. Each family line received one of the Seven. The Longbeards or Sigin-tarâg founded the Dwarf colonies of Gundabad and Khazad-dûm and later founded Erebor, as well as colonies in the Ered Mithrin and the Iron Hills. The Firebeards and the Broadbeams founded the colonies of Tumunzahar (Nogrod in Sind.) and
Gabilgathol (Belegost in Sind.) in the Ered Luin. The Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots went north and east, and are no longer mentioned in any of Tolkien’s works.
Tolkien writes that Durin III was the first Dwarf to receive one of the Seven in the year 1500 of the Second Age. He was king of Khazad-dûm. His grandfather, Durin the Deathless (who eventually did die at a very ripe old age) was the first of the line of Durin, and founded the kingdom of Khazad-dûm. Durin III had forged a great friendship with the High Elf Celebrimbor, who made the Three Rings of the Elves. The Elves of Eregion, as the realm was known, and Khazad-dûm both prospered as a great trade network was created between the two.
A little trivia, if I may. Celebrimbor, for those who read the books, was also partially responsible for creation of the western door of Khazad-dûm, known as the Hollin gate. He drew the signs on the door, while Narvi the Dwarf carved them out using cirth ithil, moon runes. The seven stars above represent the seven lines of the Dwarves with the central star above the crown being Durin’s. The crown itself is a depiction of an image that Durin the Deathless saw when he gazed into Kheled-zâram (Mirror-mere) and saw on his head a crown flanked by the seven stars. Below that is the hammer and anvil, a symbol of the House of Durin. These are flanked by the trees of the High Elves and the large central star is the House of Fëanor, maker of the three silmarilli in the First Age. Celebrimbor was Fëanor’s grandson, like Durin III was Durin I’s grandson. Unlike the door of Erebor, which requires a key, the door of the Hollin gate needs none. You only need to speak ‘friend’ to enter.
It has been commented in both The Silmarillion and the Fellowship, that the Seven Rings of the Dwarves were either destroyed or taken by Sauron. How were they destroyed? By dragons, including Glaurung the Great (See Concerns of the White Council). Appendix B of Return of the King comments: “The Dwarves hid themselves in deep places, guarding their hoards, but then evil began to stir again and dragons reappeared, one by one, their ancient treasures were plundered and they became a wandering people.” A total of four Rings were consumed by Dragons. The Silmarillion states “soon he (Sauron) will be too strong for you even without the Great Ring, for he rules the Nine and of the Seven, he has recovered three.” Fellowship also confirms this: “Seven the Dwarf-kings possessed, but three he has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed.”
The question is: from which of the three Dwarf lines did Sauron recover the three? Recall that the Firebeards and the Broadbeams founded the colonies of Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar in the Ered Luin. (This is the same Ered Luin that Thráin and Thorin lead the exiles to after the sack of Erebor. Also recall in Concerns of the White Council, that the king of Gabilgathol, Azaghâl, came to the aid of the sons of Fëanor to battle Glaurung the Great:
Glaurung the Golden by Lynton Levengood
“In a fit of rage, Glaurung turned on the Dwarf-king, Azaghâl and crawled over him, crushing him to death, but not before Azaghâl plunged a knife in the fire-drake’s belly. Glaurung fled but the wound he received from Azaghâl was not a mortal wound.”)
What we learn of Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar in The Silmarillion is that both Dwarf cities suffered from massive flooding during the fall of Beleriand and were partially destroyed. The exiled peoples wandered and then migrated to Khazad-dûm, and later the Iron Hills, and settled with Durin’s folk. The flooding occurred in the First Age, an age prior to the creation of the Seven Rings, so Sauron could not have acquired the Rings then.
However, in 1980 of the Third Age, a Balrog appears in Khazad-dûm, slaying Durin VI, and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm fled. We know that the heirs of Durin retained their Ring, but it is possible that Sauron acquired the Rings of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams at this time. Unfortunately, Tolkien’s account of that particular event is not recorded, so this can only be speculated.
Another possibility of how Sauron acquired two of the Rings is during the year 2463 of the Third Age. In Concerns of the White Council, there was an account of Sauron fleeing east to avoid being revealed to the Council too soon: ‘The Council sought clarification on the origins of the Necromancer, some suspecting that Sauron had in fact returned. Their inquiry proves futile, as Sauron senses their approach and retreats east.” It can be speculated that during his time east, Sauron may have encountered the descendants of the Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots. He could have acquired the two Rings during this time too, but again it can only be speculated as Tolkien never discloses how Sauron collects the two Rings of the Dwarves.
Thráin, Thorin and the Last of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves
In part three of this trilogy, we will explore more of the Rings of the Dwarves, how the Ring of the line of Durin is passed to Thráin from Thrór, but not to Thorin from Thráin, and finally how Sauron acquired the third Ring of the Dwarves. We will also explore the ensuing dragon sickness that overcomes Thrór, Thráin and Thorin. It all ties in with the Concerns of the White Council and The Rings of Power. It will explain the rise of the Necromancer and connect Thorin Oakenshield to the One Ring to rule them all.
I leave you to ponder this quote of Gandalf, for it reveals much:
“Nearly all of his ravings were of that:
The last of the Seven“.
Thrain the Insane
Bibliography
Literary Sources:
Carpenter, Humphrey. J. R. R. Tolkien, A Biography. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien:
The Lord of the Rings. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Douglas A. Anderson:
The Annotated Hobbit. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien:
The Return of the Shadow. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
The Treason of Isengard. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
The Silmarillion. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Tyler, J.E.A. The Complete Tolkien Companion. New York: Thomas Dunne Books 1976.
lordoftheringswiki.com, thrainsbook.net, thorinoakenshield.net, tolkiengateway.net
Movie Sources:
Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The Fellowship of the Ring. United States: New Line Cinema
(2002) The Two Towers. United States: New Line Cinema
(2003) The Return of the King. United States: New Line Cinema
(2012) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. United States: New Line Cinema/Warner Brothers
Illustration Sources:
deviantart.com, lotrwiki.com, rebrick.lego.com, thalion.ovh.org, thorinoakenshield.net, tumblr.com, tolkiengateway.net, vilya.altwevista.org
Map taken from: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings. New York: Houghton Mifflin 1994.
Photoshop Assistance: Kelly Ramage
Additional Research and Technical Assistance: Dark Jackal at thorinoakenshield.net
13 Monday May 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie
What follows is a guest post written by Anjy Roemelt.
-D.J.
What’s So Special About These Dwarves?
by Anjy Roemelt
The Hobbit – Dwarves. Who would ever have expected them to rock the fansites like they did after “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was released last December. Why, I pray thee, should we be so enamored of these small, stocky figures with hoods and lanterns, crawling through mines and all looking alike with their beards? We saw them in “The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the ring” at the Council of Elrond. We knew who Gimli was – barely. The other dwarves looked slightly modified by photoshop. White beards, eyebrows curving the other way, or no discernible difference at all. I must admit I didn’t think much about the dwarves before I saw the film. I was looking forward to Bilbo and Gandalf, curious if they would feature Legolas in Mirkwood, and expecting to be mildly entertained, but mostly for nostalgic reasons in reminiscence of The Lord of the Rings. I have never been so wrong in my whole life.
I did not pay much attention to trailers, being busy with reality, and only had a look at a guide-book to the movie a couple of days prior to the premiere. I liked Fili and Kili in that book and thought “There’ll be some eye-candy in it, then, so no need for the maxi-popcorn.” I have never been … see above. Of course, I fell in love with Thorin at first glance. Who didn’t? I’m ready to fight anyone who did, though. They have no business hankering after him, he’s mine!!!! But that is just – or unjust – the icing on the cake. The dwarves as a whole bear a fascination I see in so many contributions to websites and notice in talks in still-existing-real-life. I have a theory why that is so. Let me know if you agree (and also if you disagree, I feel obliged to add).
First they are family. They belong together, and as the audience I can make myself believe I do, too. I pin their pictures to my kitchen-door, I wear their items, I sing their song, I am one of the family. Better, sometimes, than my real one. Family as it ought to be. Loving and teasing and fighting for one another. It’s vital we know these things are still important. Yes, I KNOW real life is different and I’m over-demanding or projecting childhood-illusions onto movie-characters (can somebody please lock Uncle Sigmund in the basement!) – but, NO!, they’re not illusions. They are what family life ought to be for everyone and everywhere. We may have lost it, but that does not mean it never existed. If it exists as a longing, then it exists.
Secondly, they fight. For one another. For something. They have something more important to them than their comfortable homes and regular income. Even more important than food – and that IS important to a dwarf. Balin makes this clear to Thorin: there is no real need to go back to Erebor. They have a home in the Blue Mountains, they have peace and a safe prospect for the future. They can raise their kids far away from dragons and destruction, and they grow up like Fili and Kili, just playing war and dressing up like warriors but never in any real danger (which mother wouldn’t want such a life for her sons?) Yet, they will go with Thorin into an insecure future if ever there was one. Bombur is willing to go on a journey which will mean a snack in the morning and a frugal pot-luck in the evening. Dori is willing to go where branches will tangle in his braids and there is no mirror. Ori is willing to go away from his mother’s knitting. Nori, of course, is willing to go anywhere. All of them has a choice, all but Thorin, and they disregard their personal choices to follow him.
This is – of course – utterly politically incorrect, psychologically wrong and, in fact, pathological. If you do something like this in real life, you need a good shrink. Then why do so many of us long to do just that? To find something in our lives that is more important than food and insurances and i-phones? Something that is not only bigger but greater than the virtues we have been taught since kindergarden. Living in the civilized west we feel going on a quest for religious reasons is out of the question. Really, most of us, me included, are not sure enough that our personal beliefs ARE the only ones true and possible, to want to wager our lives on them. Our nations might be a reason if we are, say, Croatian or Turkish or from Kazakhstan (these being the most passionate people about their nations I have met, so far), but for most of us the daily hassle with governments and bureaucrats diminish our love for our actual nation a tiny bit. So, what is there to fight for? Our football team! I’d go anywhere for my football team (soccer, for US-readers), but still there is something about Thorin & Co that exceeds hoisting the colours of my club.
There is something in most human souls that longs to be part of something great, something worthy to give everything for. It’s mostly not reasonable to take such a decision in real life, and it is absolutely impossible if you have a family, children you are responsible for, but as with the family, the longing is still there. That it is there proves there is a reason for this. It is okay to long for something greater than me. It is okay to find things in my life which are worth a risk and worth an eschewal. It is okay to value this longing and keep an eye on it. It might be something in my life that does not diminish with age, something that does not grow stale in the using. It might be something that makes me go on when other things fail. It might even be God …
And then there is the humour of it all. Starting with Bilbo. All these great feelings and longings I have described so far, and I should go for them without a hanky? No way! Bebother and confusticate reality! The greatness and the kingship, and the nobility, and glory would be unbearable without the humour.
Tolkien wrote the book like that. There is always a humorous twist in the events, usually provided by Bilbo, that reminds us of our own insignificance in the great events taking place around us – and still we are part of the pattern. Tolkien depicted the Hobbits as the real “humans” in his universe. He said about himself “I am in fact a hobbit in all but size”. They are the kind and simple and down-to-(middle)earth people everyone can identify with when the kings and queens and warriors and immortal elves have proven to be a bit exaggerated for the rest of us. So, let’s have some supper at Bag End.
So, why the dwarves? Maybe because we long for something and they give us courage. They are not as high-brow and aloof as the elves, nor as rigid as the men of Gondor, yet they provide a tad more … well, greatness …. than the hobbits. They are great AND small, noble and funny, what we want to be, and what we are, all rolled into one. They are adorable. Aaaaand – as an afterthought – to identify with a dwarf rather than with an elf is so much less pressure on my BMI 
.
-Anjy Roemelt
27 Saturday Apr 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, News, Thorin
Tags
desolation of smaug, dol guldur, dragons, dwarves, elrond, galadriel, gandalf, hobbit trailer, necromancer, one ring, radagast, rings of power, saruman, sauron, smaug, spoilers, thorin, thrain, white council
Concerns of the White Council
By Ori’s Quill
This essay is an analysis of the concerns of the White Council that is featured in An Unexpected Journey. It is one of a three part trilogy that shows the evolution of the Necromancer’s rise to power, and in the future essays explains the connection between Thorin and the One Ring. It is also an attempt to reconcile the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien and An Unexpected Journey, but also to point out the discrepancies. There are a few small “spoilers” that will not be labeled. Some things will be revealed to fans of the movies that may not have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and other literary works of Professor Tolkien, while fans of Tolkien may be reminded or even enlightened while reading this essay. There is a map at the end of the essay to reference if you like.
The White Council is formed in the year 2463 of the Third Age shortly after the Peaceful Watch ends. Lady Galadriel founds the Council after dark shadows start to grow out of Dol Guldur, and could be sensed in Lórien.
Originally Gandalf was recommended as the leader of the Council, but he sternly declines the appointment, citing his need to remain nomadic and refusal to a summons. It is agreed then that Saruman would head the Council, though he accepts begrudgingly, being a second choice to Mithrandir. Other members are Radagast the Brown, and Elrond of Rivendell. The Silmarillion mentions that others of the Eldar are also in the Council, but their names are not mentioned, nor the regions they dwelt in. The Council sought clarification on the origins of the Necromancer, some suspecting that Sauron had in fact returned. Their inquiry proves futile, as Sauron senses their approach and retreats east. The Council does not meet again for 388 years.
The Council reforms in 2851. This was the year after Gandalf enters the fortress of Dol Guldur. There he discovers Thráin in the dungeons, and learns that Sauron is in fact the Necromancer gathering the Seven Rings, and is searching for the One Ring. Thráin dies and Gandalf barely escapes with his life. Gandalf calls for action of the White Council sensing the time had come for an attack, but his recommendation to assault Dol Guldur is denied by Saruman. At the time, Saruman’s decision not to act seems surprising, but slowly he is succumbing to the Ring, and wants to buy some time so he can search the Gladden Fields in the hopes of finding the Ring himself.
In 2941, the Council meets again (This is the same year that Thorin and Company begin their quest to reclaim Erebor). Saruman agrees to an assault of Dol Guldur, but only because he suspects that Sauron is searching the Gladden Fields too. Their attack proves futile, as Sauron has moved and enters again into Mordor the following year.
The White Council by Alan Lee
Twelve years later, in the year 2953 of the Third Age, the White Council meets for the final time. The seduction of the Ring causes Saruman to lie and say that it had passed into the sea. The Council disbands, and Saruman retreats to Mount Fang in Nan Curunír, claims Orthanc as his own, and prepares for war. He dispatches spies to Bree, and the Shire, and watches Gandalf’s moves very closely.
Radagast’s Account of the Emergence of Mirkwood
Radagast the Brown, or Aiwendil in Quenya, dwells in the region of Rhosgobel, on the borders of the Anduin and the forest of Greenwood. Because of Radagast’s deep connection with all beasts living, he becomes highly sensitized to the slow decay that begins to form around the majestic forest of Greenwood.
Radagast the Brown by Frank Victoria
Now Greenwood, or Greenwood the Great, is the greatest forest of Middle-earth. It encompasses a vast span over four hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide. Over two-thirds of the realm of Rhovanion, it comprises. To the west is the Great Anduin, and south-east is Mordor. It is the primary home of the Sindar, also known as Wood-elves. Their love of the mortal land of Middle-earth almost caused their extinction during the Battle of Dagorlad (3434 SA), known as the last alliance of men and elves, the epic battle in which Sauron lost his Ring by the hand of Isildur with his father’s sword, Narsil. After the battle, what was left of the Sindar return to Greenwood under the leadership of Thranduil, settling in the north-east along the Forest River. There they live in relative peace, delighting in the beauty of the forest, though a foreboding darkness seems to grow.
In Greenwood’s southern most region is the site of Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery. Dol Guldur is built atop Amon Lanc. It is built in secret by evil forces under Sauron’s command in the beginning of the Third Age. The location is spitefully chosen! Amon Lanc, during the Second Age, was the home of Oropher, one of the Sindar who emigrated east after the fall of Morgoth in the First Age. Oropher was Thranduil’s father, and he was killed during the Battle of Dagorlad fighting Sauron.
Image of Dol Guldur on Amon Lanc from An Unexpected Journey
How very cruel it is that Dol Guldur is being built on Amon Lanc, Oropher’s home, while Oropher’s body lay in the marshes of Dagorlad. (It is around this time that the five great Istari first appear in Middle-earth. Three of these wizards became members of the White Council: Saruman, Gandalf and Radagast. The two wizards vaguely mentioned in An Unexpected Journey are Alatar and Pallando, and were said to travel into the far east of Middle-earth beyond Rohûn.)
It is because of the building of Dol Guldur, and the growing shadow shrouding it, that Greenwood becomes Mirkwood. A foreboding comes to Rhovanion. Darkness permeates the forest due to the dense canopy. The trees became diseased, and the air stagnant and suffocating. Little water can be found, and where there is water, it is black and enchanted. A mighty and beautiful forest injected with a carcinogenic plague and its filthy byproducts.
Into the Mirkwood by Thalion
A big concern that Radagast has is the spiders and their horrible webs. “A spawn of Ungoliant or I’m not a wizard” – An Unexpected Journey. Ungoliant was the greatest of spiders from the First Age, being created out of the Darkness when Middle-earth was taking form. Melkor used her to destroy the sacred Trees of the Valinor. Later she sought dark remote areas and mated with lesser beings to produce a great amount of offspring. Shelob, of Cirith Ungol, was one of Ungoliant’s offspring, and she in turn produced offspring of her own that migrated from Cirith Ungol into the north and south sections of Mirkwood. Their network of webs created an even darker foreboding, as they poisoned their prey and hung them in the forest canopy.
Trolls of the Ettenmoors Raiding Villages
Trolls, according to Tolkien, were first created during the First Age at the time of Great Darkness, when all the light of Valar, Illuin and Ormal was destroyed by Melkor. It is because they were created in darkness, that trolls have sensitivity to sunlight, and turn to stone as read in The Hobbit, and seen delightfully in An Unexpected Journey. Morgoth, during the end of the First Age used trolls for his invasion of Beleriand. After Morgoth’s defeat, the trolls suffered great losses, and were slow to reproduce (could it be their cooking?) Retreating to the region of the Ettenmoors, south of Angmar, trolls were no longer a concern to the kind races of Middle-earth. That is why Gandalf and Thorin are perplexed at their appearance in Journey. Thorin: “Since when do Mountain Trolls venture this far south?” Gandalf: “Ooh, not for an Age. Not since a darker power rules these lands. They could not have moved in daylight”.
William, Tom and Bert from An Unexpected Journey
The investigation of the Troll-hoard reveals actions of malfeasance. Coins, treasure, weaponry and such are revealed in the trove, in particular, Orcrist and Glamdring. It is curious that such prestigious swords end up in the hands of trolls. The swords were war booty during the First Age after the fall of Gondolin. How the swords got there is a mystery, but it proves that Bert, Bill and Tom were up to mischief and conducting raids at night.
(Later in the Two Towers and the Return of the King, Tolkien and Jackson introduce a more aggressive race of trolls known as Olog-hai. These trolls are stronger, have a harder endurance, and could tolerate daylight without being turned to stone. We first see them in the Battle of Pelennor Fields, pushing large battle towers to the walls of Minas Tirith.)
Invading Orcs from Gundabad
Gandalf’s concern about the attack of an orc pack riding Gundabad wargs is also addressed. Gundabad is a mountain region in the north at the apex of the Misty Mountains, adjacent to Angmar. In the days of the Eldar, Mount Gundabad was the resting place of Durin the Deathless, the oldest father of the Dwarves, and ancient ancestor of Thrór, Thráin and Thorin. Durin slumbered many years in Gundabad, under the enchantment of Aulë, creator of the Dwarves. “Then Aulë took the seven fathers of the Dwarves and laid them to rest in far-sundered places.” – The Silmarillion. When Durin awoke, he founded a kingdom in Gundabad, until the colony was attacked by orcs migrating from the destroyed realm of Angband during the Second Age.
By the Third Age, Gundabad became known as an orc capital, and was commanded by Azog. Gundabad remained the capital until the year 2799 when during War of the Dwarves and Orcs, the Dwarves sacked Gundabad to avenge the killing and beheading of Thror. The Dwarves also held Gundabad as a sacred place that had been spoiled by the orc takeover in the Second Age. But because Mount Gundabad was occupied with orcs for so long, it remained by reputation, an evil and sinister place.
There is a distinct difference between Gundabad wargs featured in An Unexpected Journey and the wargs of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Gundabad wargs have a more bellicose nature, appear more wolf-like, and are specifically bred in Gundabad. Little is known of them except their aggressive pugnacious behavior and servitude to the Orcs of Gundabad and their king Azog. (In the book The Hobbit, the wargs assist the goblins but are not under their servitude.)
Gundabad Warg Scout by Gus Hunter
By contrast the wargs of The Lord of the Rings, known as the wolves of Isengard, were used in organized attacks by Saruman. “He has taken Orcs into his service, and Wolf –riders, and evil Men.” – The Two Towers. According to Tolkien, all orcs have a disdain for sunlight, but in An Unexpected Journey and Two Towers daylight does not deter them. But orcs and wargs are to be feared regardless of day or night. “The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears. But where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls.” – The Fellowship of the Ring.
Fear of Smaug’s Power to be Unleashed
Another concern of Gandalf is the idea that Smaug may be turned to aide Sauron. He presents this to the White Council, explaining that “if he should side with the enemy, a dragon could be used to terrible effect” – An Unexpected Journey. The effect he mentions is this. The north-east during this time is very weak. With the city of Dale razed, Erebor guarded by Smaug, and the Ered Mithrin’s reputation of having potentially more dragons in the region of Withered Heath, it would be very easy for an invasion with dragons into the realms of Rhovanion, Lórien and Rohan. Gandalf is convinced that Sauron has returned, and knows that this invasion is a strong possibility with virtual impunity from any organized resistance.
Conversation with Smaug by J.R.R.Tolkien
The use of dragons in such an invasion is a highly justifiable concern, for Middle-earth had a history of such evil tidings in the past. Dragons had long plagued Middle-earth, particularly the race of Dwarves, even before the Sack of Erebor. Dáin I, father of Thrór, was ruler in the realm of the Ered Mithrin (Grey Mountains), the location of which was Withered Heath. “But there were dragons in the wastes beyond; and after many years they became strong again and multiplied, and they made war on the Dwarves and plundered their works.” – Return of the King, Appendix A. The Dwarves abandoned the Ered Mithrin after Dain I was slain with his son, Frór, and Thrór led the remaining Dwarves back to Erebor. But the history of Dwarves and dragons goes back even further.
There was Glaurung the greatest and most feared dragon of the First Age. He was bred by Morgoth, Sauron’s leader, and was unveiled during the Battle of Sudden Flames. At Morgoth’s command was “Glaurung, the Golden, father of dragons, in his full might; and in his trains were Balrogs and behind them came the black armies of the Orcs in multitudes such as Noldor had never seen or imagined” – The Silmarillion. The Great Worm was inexperienced, though powerful, and was eventually beaten off by Fingon.
Glaurung by Ted Nasmith
Glaurung the Fire Drake would again return two hundred years later, on command of Morgoth, during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, otherwise known as Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Glaurung had matured at this point, and proved a fierce adversary. Elves and men both perished as they fought him until at last, the Dwarves of Gabilgathol, a Dwarf-city in the Ered Luin, came to their aid. The Dwarves, it was said, wore armor more resistant to the fire of the dragon and assailed him at close range. As they surrounded him, their battle axes hit their mark. In a fit of rage, Glaurung turned on the Dwarf-king, Azaghâl and crawled over him, crushing him to death, but not before Azaghâl plunged a knife in the fire-drake’s belly. Glaurung fled, but the wound he received from Azaghâl was not a mortal wound.
Glaurung later returned, and used powerful spells and bewitched the children of Húrin in vile and incestuous ways. As he wormed his way towards the last free hold of Middle-earth, he received a mortal wound from Turambar (Túrin) wielding the Black Thorn of Brethil, a black sword of Nargothrond.
Glaurung the Golden – by Lynton Levengood
Another of the Great Worms of Middle-earth was Scatha the Worm, who also served Morgoth in the First Age. He fled to Ered Mithrin after the War of Wrath. Known to plague both men and Dwarves in the Northern Wildlands, he was slain in the year 2000 of the Third Age. (Some Trivia: One of the finds from Scatha’s hoard was the Horn of Rohan that Eowyn presents to Merry Brandybuck for his heroic deeds in the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Another bit of trivia: It is speculated that Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting also came from this hoard as Scatha took part in the razing of Gondolin).
Finally, there is Ancalagon the Black. This great dragon was the first winged dragon Middle-earth had seen. Unleashed under Morgoth’s command as a last defense, Ancalagon proved a very mighty foe. He was extremely large, with a tremendous wing span. When at last he was slain by Eärendil, with aid from the Eagles of Manwë, and fell from the sky, the impact of his carcass shattered the mountain range of Thangorodrim, near Angband.
Scatha – by Scatha-the-Worm, and Ancalagon the Black – by Daniel Govar
The Mystery of the Morgul Blade
The appearance of the Morgul Blade completely baffles and terrifies members of the White Council. While Saruman dismisses its appearance as simply a “dagger from a bygone age” and is not proven to be a Morgul Blade, Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf see darker implications. They are perplexed, as the sword was buried with the Witch-king of Angmar, in the “High Fells of Rhudaur. Deep within the rock they buried him…in a tomb so dark…it would never come to light” – Galadriel, An Unexpected Journey. Elrond goes on to explain the impossibility of those tombs being opened, and are protected by a powerful spell.
The resurrection of the Morgul Blade was of great concern for both Galadriel and Elrond, for they both suffered personally from its effects. The power of the Morgul Blade is not to kill, but to force its victims to succumb to the will of Sauron. Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrian was the wife of Elrond, and bore him two sons, Elladan and Elrohir as well as a daughter, Arwen Undómiel (future wife of Aragorn). As she journeyed to Lórien, her party was assaulted by Orcs at Caradhras (Barazinbar to the Dwarves, Redhorn Pass in the Common Speech) and she was taken prisoner. Elladan and Elrohir rescued her, but not before she suffered a wound from a Morgul blade.
Celebrian’s Imprisonment – by Liga-marta
She was brought back to Rivendell and Elrond healed the wound. But Celebrían “suffered torment… (and) lost all delight in Middle-earth, and the next year went to the Havens and passed over the sea” – The Return of the King, Appendix A. This effect of the Morgul blade sounds familiar, as Frodo suffered the same torment and pain, many years after being stabbed at Weathertop at the ruined tower of Amon Sûl. He also suffered torment, and pain, and had to sail to the Undying Lands to seek relief.
Frodo Stabbed by the Mogul Blade from The Fellowship of the Ring
Now Rhudaur, the name given by the Dúnedain, is a region south of the Ettenmoors and west of Rivendell and the Misty Mountains, and is the location of the tombs of the High Fells. Known as a rugged, hostile area, with low soil fertility, and little resources, the men of Rhudaur together with Angmar waged war against neighboring Arthedain and Cardolan in 1409 of the Third Age. At Amon Sûl, the Cardolan Dúnedain took a last stand and were besieged by the men subjected to the command of Angmar. The great Watch Tower was burned, and Dúnedain lost their lives, but not before the people of Arthedain were able to escape with one of the remaining Palantír. The Arthedain were the last Line of Isildur, and after the fall of Amon Sûl, they lead a nomadic life, becoming what were known to be the Rangers of the North.
The Tower of Amon Sûl – by Pak Polaris
The Tombs of the High Fells do not exist in any Tolkien works, but for the movie The Desolation of Smaug, Gandalf and Radagast travel to the High Fells of Rhudaur to investigate the tombs. After a vertigo inducing hike, they discover that the tombs in fact have been opened. Radagast, more sensitive to the effects of dark magic, feels that dark spells haunt the tombs. The heavy stone lid sarcophagus is broken, and Gandalf comments how the tombs themselves were opened from the inside out. The rise of the Nazgûl and the mystery of the Morgul Blade have been solved. There is in fact a Sorcerer who can summon the dead.
High Fells and Tomb Renderings by Alan Lee
Saruman’s Treason
Saruman is the chief of the Order of Istari, the five great wizards that come in the Third Age. The primary purpose of their existence in Middle-earth is to combat the power of Sauron and bring balance and peace. Curunír, as he is known to the Elves, was a vested scholar in Ring lore, spending much time studying the history, myths and legends. This was his undoing. He somehow acquires a lost Palantír. This Seeing Eye-Stone, combined with his obsession with Ring lore, began to turn Saruman. He was seduced, just as Gollum was. But being the Head of the Order and the Head of the White Council makes him very dangerous.
When the White Council meets in the year 2851, Saruman already knows that Sauron has returned as the Necromancer. He becomes concerned that the White Council will learn that not only Sauron seeks the One Ring, but that Saruman himself is also seeking it. This explains why he intentionally dissuades the Council from any attack on Dol Guldur. Saruman then begins searching the Gladden Fields, the marshy area where Isildur was betrayed by the Ring and murdered. Isildur fell into the river, and the Ring passed out of all knowledge.
Saruman and the Palantír from The Two Towers
The Council meets again in 2941; Saruman discredits Gandalf’s debate, as seen in An Unexpected Journey. From a small orc pack that “dared to cross the Bruinen (Actually this may be a blooper! If the orc pack is to cross any river from Gundabad, it would be the Hoarwell. The Bruinen or Loudwater is too far south depending on how far south they came from the Misty Mountains), to an old dagger found, to a mortal-man dabbling in dark witchcraft, Saruman counters every argument that there is trouble brewing. Even poor Radagast is discredited. Saruman explains that he cannot be taken seriously because of his “excessive consumption of mushrooms. They’ve addled his brain and yellowed his teeth.” (And Saruman might benefit from a little attention to his own dental hygiene.) Saruman attempts to persuade the White Council to intervene in the Quest to reclaim Erebor. He is secretly concerned that should the dwarves succeed, a stronger defensive guard would be placed in the North.
The Appearance of the Necromancer
The White Council’s chief concern is the appearance of this new sorcerer. It is a new (or old) power that seems to bring the dark shadows that Galadriel feels in Lórien, causing her to form the White Council. That a sorcerer has taken up in Dol Guldur is alarming, but is it dangerous?
What is a Necromancer? The term itself deserves discussion. In “Laws and Customs Among the Eldar” taken from Morgoth’s Ring, Christopher Tolkien compiled his fathers’ notes and research and deciphered the following: When an Elf dies, the Elvish spirit (or Fea) is attracted to a living host and will attempt to penetrate the living body and vanquish the living hosts Fea from its rightful owner. J.R.R.Tolkien wrote “It is said that Sauron did these things…”
Most of us take for granted that the Necromancer is Sauron. Years of Lord of the Rings media, either in literature, or movies, enlightened us to Sauron’s powers and abilities. But remember as a child reading The Hobbit? Gandalf leaving Thorin and Company to fight this foe seemed a small and not so dangerous task. We underestimate what the Necromancer really could be. Initially, Tolkien felt the same way. Anderson writes that the Necromancer simply serves as a reason for Gandalf to leave the Company. But as early as the fall of 1937, around the same time as the first publication of The Hobbit, a dawning grew on Tolkien as the Necromancer’s shadow grew on Middle-earth. But that is the second part of this paper to be continued in the future.
What We May See In The Desolation of Smaug
I strongly suspect three very important things will be seen in The Desolation of Smaug.
-That Gandalf will take it upon himself to attack Dol Guldur despite the White Council’s decision not to attack. He never follows any advice when it conflicts with a path that he is on. Such examples would the recruitment of Bilbo Baggins to join the Quest of Erebor. From thirteen Dwarves to Galadriel, no one understands this decision of Gandalf’s, not even himself. Another example is the aversion of entering Moria in The Fellowship but he knows entering will cost him his own life. He leads the Fellowship anyway. Another is his fear the Helm’s Deep will suffer a great defeat in Two Towers, and seeks out Éomer. Yet another is his knowledge that Denethor had a Palantír, and its use drove him mad (This explains his madness in Return of the King movie if you have never read the books). Gandalf knows, without reason or explanation. That is why I feel confident in saying he will attack Dol Guldur on his own accord.
- That Galadriel will come to Gandalf’s aid in the attack of Dol Guldur. In Unexpected Journey, there is a tender moment between the two. She gently gives him courage saying “Do not be afraid, Mithrandir. You are not alone. If you should ever need my help…I will come”. That certainly was no love scene. She senses he will need her aid, and I bet we will see that in Desolation.
- And finally we will see Thráin, son of Thrór, father of Thorin Oakenshield, in a flashback scene in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. He will be in possession of the map and key of Erebor, and he will reveal something to Gandalf that sets this whole fantastic story in motion, from the Quest of Erebor to the Return of the King. That will be discussed in a part III of the series. I leave you to ponder this quote of Saruman (from this behind-the-scenes footage) for it reveals much:
“Without the ruling ring of power, the seven are of no value to the enemy“.
Thrain the Insane from the trailer of An Unexpected Journey
Map of Middle-earth
Bibliography
Literary Sources:
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien:
The Lord of the Rings. New York: Houghton Mifflin 1994.
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Douglas A. Anderson:
The Annotated Hobbit. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien editor:
The Children of Húrin. New York: Houghton Mifflin 2007.
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. New York: Random House, 1980.
The Silmarillion. New York: Houghton Mifflin 2001.
Tyler, J.E.A. The Complete Tolkien Companion. New York: Thomas Dunne Books 1976.
lordoftheringswiki.com, thrainsbook.net, thorinoakenshield.net
Movie Sources:
Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The Fellowship of the Ring. United States: New Line Cinema
(2002) The Two Towers. United States: New Line Cinema
(2003) The Return of the King. United States: New Line Cinema
(2012) An Unexpected Journey. United States: New Line Cinema/Warner Brothers
Illustration Sources:
deviantart.com, lotrwiki.com, thalion.ovh.org, thorinoakenshield.net, tumblr.com
Falconer, Daniel. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles. New York: Harper Collins, 2012.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Map taken from: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings. New York: Houghton Mifflin 1994.
Photoshop assistance: Kelly Ramage
Additional Research: Dark Jackal at thorinoakenshield.net
20 Wednesday Feb 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, News, Thorin
Tags
angerthas, cirth, david salo, dwalin, dwarves, erebor, essay, futhark, gandalf, graham mctavish, khuzdul, moon runes, news, peter jackson, photos, ring, runes, sword, tattoos, thorin, tolkien, weapons, weta
Michelle Nevins has written a very informative essay, Deciphering Runes in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey detailing the use of various runic systems in the film and related materials. She did a splendid job laying it out in PDF format, and I can find no better way to share it since it is full of runes, which I am not going to try replicating in WordPress.
Please follow this link to open the document – An Introduction to Runes in The Hobbit.
My gratitude to Michelle for being patient with my requests for additions and changes – we kept finding more items to add to the list of known runes. And I’m sure there are even more we’ve missed. In fact, I can think of one now. The runes on the garments of the dwarven craftsmen in Erebor.
These were originally seen in one of the vlogs, and deciphered by Grinman during a discussion on TORn last year. Although we can’t see every letter, we can make a good guess that they spell BROTHERHOOD in Futhark.
In the film you can see these craftsmen (craftsdwarves?) in the flashback in Erebor, but catching sight of the runes may be difficult (maybe on Blu-ray).
There is a wealth of runes visible in the scene in Erebor right before the uncovering of Smaug. I’ve taken a screencap from this video from Weta, and Michelle and I have been able to make out a word or two (maybe), though there are some issues even with these. The large runes on the stairway appear to read THE FOUNDA HAMMER, while below that I think I can make out what looks like ?EREBOR. And there are runes all along the upper landing, which you might be able to read. With the DVD coming out next month this should become much easier to decipher. Please feel free to post any suggestions/corrections in the comments below.
Just hours before I was going to post this I happened upon a brand new blog by David Salo himself. Thanks to the urging of Khuzdul enthusiasts such as the Dwarrow Scholar, Mr. Salo created a site called Midgardsmal to share insights on constructing new words and languages for the Hobbit film. Obviously anyone with an interest in this topic will want to watch his site for future revelations. There is already an interesting explanation of why there are different runic systems present in the film, and more info about the runes on Dwalin’s axes, and whether or not we will be seeing any Angerthas Erebor in the future.
Below are high-res references for some of the examples mentioned in the essay.
[Click to enlarge]
Replica staff of Gandalf, by Weta Workshop
Original dust jacket design for The Hobbit, by Tolkien
Master Swordsmith Replica of Orcrist, by Weta Workshop
Master Swordsmith Replica of Orcrist Scabbard, by Weta Workshop
Graham McTavish as Dwalin
Dwalin’s Axes replicas, by Weta Workshop
15 Friday Feb 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie
Tags
dwarves, essay, gimli, history of middle-earth, lotr, mim, nauglafring, nauglamir, nauglath, naugrim, origins, petty-dwarves, silmarillion, the hobbit, tolkien, unfinished tales
Once a Dwarf – always a Dwarf? From the Nauglath to the Heirs of Durin
Part I: The roots of Tolkien’s dwarves.
by Anjy Roemelt
When Tolkien’s mythology first became movie-material the dwarves were sadly underrepresented. At the Council of Elrond some were present who were never named (just like several elves, to be fair), one with a gorgeous white beard who entered Rivendell with Gimli could only be Gloín, and then there was Gimli. In the book the enmity, or rather antagonism, between dwarves and elves is mentioned more or less casually. Much more emphasis is put upon the friendship between Gimli and Legolas and how exceptional it is. Apart from that, Gimli appears to be strangely distant from the other members of the Fellowship. He represents his race the same way it is described throughout the novel: strange, aloof, different. We catch glimpses of a different culture, kept secret from the other “free races” of Middle-Earth when he reveals some ancient dwarvish names to his companions, and especially when Galadriel does this. The meeting with Galadriel, and Gimli’s adoration for her, seems even stranger than the representation of dwarves so far. Gimli is struck by the beauty and loveliness of the Elf as if these were things totally unbeknownst to the dwarves. The parting scene at Parth- Galen has a touch of healing, resurrection, and redemption about it. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). We will see later why this connection is utterly plausible.
Film-Gimli adds an element of humour to the story, something book-Gimli never intended to do, and neither did Tolkien, I’m sure. When Gimli is pulled up on the ledge in Moria by his beard – much to his chagrin – or refuses to be “tossed”, or when he plays a drinking game with Legolas after the victory at Helm’s Deep, we deal with Peter Jackson’s dwarves much more than with Tolkien’s. So, I will dwell only briefly on this aspect for it really doesn’t concern the Naugrim/Nauglath, the dwarves Tolkien had in mind. These elements in the film serve the dwarvish representation in so far as they underline their strangeness. “Little hairy women”, dwarves aren’t tossed – ah, we are learning something about a different culture here. So we are, in fact, but we remain on the outside laughing at what we don’t understand or what seems funny from our point of view. Not much different from “civilized” folks gaping at the exotic customs of some “crude natives” on a tourist attraction.
When Tolkien created the dwarves they were by no means what we see now in The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey. At first, they weren’t even necessarily counted among the “good guys”, so Tolkien saw the need to specify in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings that the dwarves “were never evil by nature”.
The dwarves were not made by Iluvatar but by the Vala Aule who was impatient to see the latter themes of Iluvatar’s music unfold, and thought of adding something of his own talent. Unlike Melkor (the disobedient Vala who started Evil in the world), who tried to change the theme itself, Aule only took what was already created – stone, for example – and gave it a living form. And very unlike Melkor he repented when Iluvatar – inevitably – found out, and prepared to destroy his creatures. When the newly created dwarves, mostly called the “seven fathers” afterwards, shied away from his hammer and wept for fear, Aule realized that they had life of their own. Until then they had only moved when he willed them to, like puppets, for only Iluvatar can give independent life and free will – to move, for instance. So, Iluvatar’s acceptance was already given even before Aule repented and the dwarves’ existence condoned. Still, they are strange not only in appearance but in origin. Something which is not made by Iluvatar can be understood as not made by God in our-world’s terms. A strange conception. Thus the scene with Galadriel mentioned above is called to mind. The people whose origin lies outside the source of beauty and bliss, which the elves represent, are called home, enabled to receive the same blessing the “real” children of Iluvatar possess. They are adopted into every right and maybe always had been but never knew before.
There is a line in History of Middle-Earth (the Book of Lost Tales Part II) that tells about the dwarves’ origin. “The Nauglath are a strange race and none know surely whence they be, and they serve not Melko nor Manwe and reck not for Elf or Man, and some say that they have not heard of Iluvatar, or hearing disbelieve.” The dwarves, take it or leave it, are a heathen people.
It takes time for them to be “baptized”. The story of the Nauglamir (or Nauglafring in earlier writings) displays their doubtful character. The elvenking Thingol/Tinwelint orders a beautiful necklace of dwarvish making, sometimes with a Silmaril, sometimes without. The dwarves make it and afterwards are either betrayed by Thingol or don’t want to surrender it – anyway they make away with it and much bloodshed takes place. The enmity between dwarves and elves dates back to these events which are linked with the story of the Silmarils in The Silmarillion and also with the tale of Turin thereat, and in The Children of Hurin. The dwarves are described as craftsmen of surpassing excellency, but also reluctant to part with their treasures, and certainly less noble than the elves (although at least some blame stays with Thingol even in The Silmarillion).
The only dwarf who is mentioned by name and features in a tale is Mîm, the petty dwarf, and he is rather a doubtful character. The origin of the petty-dwarves isn’t explained, only that they are the last of their race. Thus they seem to be different from “real” dwarves, but if there is an explanation for this difference I haven’t found it yet in Tolkien’s writings. Mîm and two of his kin meet with Turin and his band, are taken for enemies, and shot at. Mîm is captured and talks his captors out of killing him by promising them food and lodging and, maybe, bounty in his home. He leads them there and discovers that an arrow sent at the three of them has hit his mark and killed his son Kîm. Turin is deeply sorry for that. Mîm and his surviving son Ibun play host to Turin and his men, but here is no talk about a developing friendship. When Mîm is captured again by orcs (in The Children of Hurin he seeks them on purpose, out of hatred for Beleg the elf, who was Turin’s companion and friend) he betrays Turin and his men, and leads the orcs to his house. Despite whatever flaws Turin has in that story, he’s the hero in the Mîm-episode, and Mîm, for all his grief over his son, is perceived as a miserable traitor.
The Petty-dwarves, by Alan Lee
Amid all these fragments of stories, writings, tales and slips of paper, The Hobbit appears, like something fallen from a different planet. The dwarves who appear on Bilbo’s threshold one fine evening in April are very different from the creators of the Nauglamir, or Mîm and his sons. They are garden-gnomes, or very close relatives. Their beards are coloured, as are their hoods. They are easily discouraged, bear grudges, and are mostly interested in trades, business and, of course, gold. All in all – as Tolkien almost apologetically states when the hidden door to the Mountain is finally found – they are no heroes.
They seem strange enough with all the colourful appearance mentioned above, but there is nothing of the ancient race we glimpse in Gimli. They are mainly connected with the gold of Erebor, a real treasure hunt, and they are the treasure-hunters, while Gandalf, Bilbo, the lake-men, and the elves of Mirkwood seem much more noble and, in some way, stranger than they are. Actually, the dwarves in The Hobbit are a lot more human than ever before or after dwarves of Tolkien’s making were allowed to be. In this aspect, Peter Jackson is very close to the book. His dwarves are more human than the elves. The scene in Rivendell, the comparison between lunch-with-Elrond and lunch-with-Bombur is almost hilarious – for everyone but the elven harpist who will miss his instrument the following day.
In this case the book The Hobbit is far less connected with the whole bulk of Tolkien’s writing than is the movie. In creating his dwarves, Peter Jackson drew not only upon The Hobbit but also upon The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales (“The Quest of Erebor”), and The Lord of the Rings. Elements of all these books are present in the thirteen dwarves displayed in the film as the Company of Thorin Oakenshield.
How these connect with the Nauglath of old shall be the subject of a second part of this essay soon to come.
24 Thursday Jan 2013
Posted in Discussion, Dori, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, Nori, Ori, Thorin
[Note: The following essay was written by Anjy, with slight editing by D.J.]
Dori, Nori and Ori – in Defense of not-so-hot Dwarves or: The Dwaltons Family
by Anjy Roemelt
Dori, Nori and Ori are family. Although the book The Hobbit doesn’t state that openly, the likeliness of their names indicates it, and the film openly declares it. They’ll probably never be fan-fiction material, but they are definitely worth a closer look, because they are like you and I.
The “Brothers Ri” as they were called at the set, are related to Thorin Oakenshield, but somewhat distantly. They don’t show up in the family-tree given in Appendix A to The Return of the King, but their being related is told in a footnote to that very chart. Jackson and & Co elaborated on this relationship by adding a hint of disreputation. They are related “on the wrong side of the blanket”. Also, the notable differences in character between the brothers are explained by them having the same mother but different fathers.
This is not in accord with Tolkien. Dwarves don’t commit adultery and they don’t re-marry. Only one third of the population are women, and of the men only one third marries. The women also are not exactly obsessed with finding “Dwarf Right” or if they do, and the estimation isn’t mutual, they would rather stay unmarried than take “Dwarf next-to-right”. So, I’d rather not dwell on these ideas of the film-crew but develop an estimation of the Brothers Ri from what is shown in the movie and written in the book.
Dori is the oldest of the brothers in the film. He’s a cranky old fusspot who is notorious for minding details. Like red wine with a bouquet, his brother’s diet and behaviour, and most notably his hair. Wherever a strand can be plaited, it is plaited, and his beard, furthermore, is squeezed into a silver beard-case. So not a single hair can fall into the soup – or food more consistent than soup fall into the beard. Dori is in control. Of everything. Or he wants to be. Food, weather, brothers. He has to, he’s the oldest, he’s responsible.
Book-Dori is mentioned in significant ways. He is said to be “a decent chap”. It is he who carries Bilbo on his back through the tunnels under the Misty Mountains until the goblins waylay them, and it is he who climbs down the tree again when the wargs are getting disquietingly close, and helps Bilbo get up the tree, barely making it himself that way. So, we do have this trait of taking over responsibility in both views of Dori.
I said Dori, Nori and Ori are a family, not just family. They represent the classical structure of family-life from a western point-of-view. Dori is Mom. Eat your veggies. Don’t make a fool of yourself. You can’t play outside, it’s raining. That’s Dori for you.
Nori is the black sheep of the family. The books accompanying the film introduce him as a thief and a hoodlum. He is said to have left the family for mysterious reasons, which most likely weren’t honourable, and has lived on his own in the wilderness ever since. He knows how to look after himself, takes no orders from nobody, no, sir, and at first glance doesn’t seem to be overly attached to his brothers. Nori gets the audiences’ attention mostly for his hair. He must use tons of hairspray – or more likely resin – to make it hold. This is a similarity to his brother Dori he might not easily admit: they both are vain, yes, they are. They mind how they look to others. So, Nori’s attitude of “I am who I am and if you don’t like it here’s the door” may be a bit of a show, and maybe joining Oakenshield-tours together with his fussy older brother and kid-brother, Ori, is what he has wanted to do for years and just never admitted even to himself: to be part of a family, again. Well, why not? Let’s give it a try, good ol’ home-sweet-home just for a change. And don’t you hint that there’s a bit of moisture in his eyes when he looks at Ori or frowns at Dori. Not him, not Nori. He’s the father of the family, Mr. Independent.
Ori, of course, is the kid, the pet. Bossed and pushed around and educated to within an inch of his life by Dori, mostly, and sometimes Nori who might want to teach his little brother some things Dori wouldn’t dream of teaching him. Film tie-in literature has it that Ori is allergic to nuts. I think that fits. Ori is also the pet of the company. He doesn’t even have a decent weapon. Not only did they clad him in wool and a bit of leather (rompers compared to the other Dwarves’ outfits), they gave him a slingshot– like King David. Oops, Ori will turn out to be a real hero, given time. So far, he feels just grand. He is floating on beer and singing and laughing and just being with the others, with such figures of awe and heroism like Dwalin and Gloin, with Great King (to-be) Thorin Oakenshield himself (I wonder if he ever dares to talk to him) and with such good pals like Fili and Kili who seem to consider him worthy of their company. Life has suddenly turned into a brilliant adventure for Ori and he is determined to live up to it. Even if that means to kill a dragon single-handed – provided Dori lets him stay out after dark.
The pet-theme is visible in two scenes, beautiful scenes, I think. The first is when the company is waylaid by the warg-riders and rushing from clump-of-rocks to clump-of-rocks. Once Ori dashes forward and Thorin pulls him back shouting “Ori, no!” Thorin is very much the father-like leader of the whole band, the pater familias, here he looks out not only for his kin, but for every member of the company in need of help.
The second scene is inside the mountain in Goblin Town, when the Goblin King announces they will start torture with the youngest. In a divergence from the book, where Fili and Kili are named the youngest, here it is Ori, who visibly swallows hard at the prospect, and next thing Papa Thorin pushes past the others to meet the Goblin King’s stare and challenge. He would do this for any member of the company, but he does it for pathetic little Ori. Not because he really would be able to show a dragon a dwarvish kick in the vitals, but because he’s a member of the company, the family. He, Thorin, would do it for me and you, if we were in that place with him.
For all Ori’s enthusiasm, he isn’t crazy. After Bofur described the dragon’s methods in detail he isn’t that bold any more. And he’s an artist. Ori carries a sketch-book with him, he keeps the company’s diary and makes drawings of everything interesting from plants to Gloin’s pipe.
Ori is the only one of the company – besides Gloin and Balin, and in passing Thorin, who bear some importance for the continuation of the story in The Lord of the Rings. When the Fellowship discovers the records of Balin’s attempt to reconquer Moria in the chamber of Mazarbul, Gandalf notes the Elvish script used in the book, and Gimli says “that would be Ori’s hand, he often used the Elvish characters.” So this is what little Ori has come to. No doubt, sixty years later he was no longer the timid boy with scarcely a beard, probably acne beneath, brandishing his tiny catapult at trolls and – imagined – dragons, he must have grown into a Dwarf who was ready to go for an adventure and keep in mind the details of everyday life, and their unique beauty. This is the Ori we remember from Bilbo’s unexpected party, the one who jumps up and cries he’ll take on any dragon any time, the one who shoots pebbles at trolls and orcs. We can imagine the gleam in his eyes when Balin asked him, if he was ready to come along and re-enter Moria. The old fire would still be in him. And the old ideas about what he could do best, too. Be the scribe of the company. In the end it was thanks to him the Fellowship learned about the failure of that endeavor, because he wrote it down with all his skill, in the Elvish characters he may have come to love through the Quest to Erebor, and the meeting with Elves in its course. He it was who captured the foul events in a fair hand, as Gandalf said in Mazarbul.
The movie The Fellowship of the Ring shows the skeleton of a dwarf next to Balin’s tomb, clinging to the book that is slashed and smeared with blood. Adam Brown, who plays Ori in the film, jokes in the book The Hobbit: Chronicles: Art & Design that this was undoubtedly Ori and he, as the actor responsible for the character, had really done a terrific job in that role, he managed to lose so much weight he looked like a skeleton. But it is kind of creepy to think that this skeleton may have been, in the course of fictitious events, the remains of the lovable young dwarf we saw singing – and burping, it’s true – so merrily at Bag End, many years (and films) ago.
So, Dori, Nori and Ori represent family – and are thus linked to every one of us, since we seldom deal with the royal missions, and the royal feelings which Thorin, Fili, and Kili are blessed or burdened with – but also the transience of Being, of our lives, of the person we believe we are and the things we do. It may all end with a skeleton clinging to a book. And yet it wasn’t in vain, none of it.
09 Wednesday Jan 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, Richard Armitage, Thorin
Tags
aragorn, arkenstone, boromir, dwarves, essay, quest of erebor, richard armitage, sean bean, the lord of the rings, the one ring, thorin, tolkien
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, and Sean Bean as Boromir
I’m sure you’ve seen it stated already, “Richard Armitage’s Thorin is the Aragorn of The Hobbit.” I considered this a while ago, especially in light of the fact Viggo Mortensen and Armitage both sing a mean solo tune, but after initial enthusiasm for the idea, I discarded it for lack of proof. It might appear that Thorin and Aragorn, as returning kings, would have much in common, but despite a few similarities, they are less alike than Thorin is to Boromir (read this essay by Susan Messer Chan for a comparison of Thorin and Aragorn). Although these are somewhat superfluous details, both Thorin and Boromir are still unmarried, had younger brothers and strong-willed fathers. Both have seen war and are renowned for their bravery. Boromir may not be royalty, but he is the closest thing to it in the Heir of Isildur’s absence. Meanwhile, Thorin has the credentials of a king, but few people treat him as such. Before his modest reign in the Blue Mountains, he had endured exile and a period of humility, returning to basic blacksmithing for survival (despite this he has not lost a sense of self-importance). But most importantly, Boromir and Thorin have tangible flaws, while Aragorn’s are so fleeting they may pass unmarked (let’s face it, Aragorn is nearly messianic in his perfection). Both leaders make decisions which favor their own nations to the possible detriment of others. I feel that with the King under the Mountain, and the Steward’s son, Tolkien challenges the reader to decide if putting the needs of one’s own people ahead of all other peoples can be considered noble or not. This is pretty typical behavior for a leader (if they are not looking out for your interests, they are not much of a leader) but when these characters are compared to someone like Aragorn, who sets aside the fulfillment of his personal legacy while protecting many races, they come across as selfish and unenlightened, which is rather unfair (read my essay for a further defense of Thorin’s behavior in the original book).
One must be careful when comparing characters in the Tolkien universe to identify the source as either movie or film, since there can be wide discrepancies between each. Movie-Boromir is both hero and villain, most famous for having assisted, and then betrayed, the Ringbearer (and overall, he remains very similar to his textual counterpart). In contrast, movie-Thorin comes across as an unflinching hero, with the writers even adding in moments where he risks his life to save Balin and Bilbo. This is a decidedly different vibe from the early chapters of The Hobbit. It is true Tolkien’s Thorin had a moment or two of fearless altruism, such as when he fights the trolls with a burning branch after the rest of his Company have been put in sacks, but these great deeds are offset by having been the one to encourage Bilbo to wander alone into what turned out to be the troll camp (you’ll notice in the film that Thorin is not to blame for Bilbo having a run in with the trolls). I feel the addition of Bilbo and Balin’s rescue was made to more firmly establish Thorin’s hero status, so that it will be much more difficult to watch what happens to him in later films (if you don’t think that is necessary, keep in mind he will have some strong competition for the valiant leader spot from Luke Evans’ Bard, and Orlando Bloom’s Legolas in the next movie, and perhaps from Lee Pace’s Elvenking in the third film).
Fortunately, Richard Armitage assures us that by the last film Thorin will probably become more distasteful to viewers. In the interests of character complexity, I hope he is right. Although Armitage’s Thorin makes a standout hero in An Unexpected Journey, the unique ability of Tolkien’s Thorin was being able to inspire readers to both love and hate the actions he takes. We only see a hint of the darkness inherent in the character in this film (mostly through the scene where he lingers in the shadows of Erebor while witnessing his grandfather’s growing obsession with gold).
Even if you know nothing about what happens later in the book, and the role which “dragon sickness” plays on the mind of dwarves, the viewer should be able to recognize a sense of foreboding here, which relates to more than just the gold luring the dragon to the mountain.
But as much as I would love to compare and contrast the film versions of Boromir and Thorin, I don’t believe justice can be done to the task without witnessing the full cycle of Thorin’s cinematic fate, which won’t be realized until Summer of 2014. So barring that, we must return to the text. In this essay I will draw on all the sources in which Tolkien wrote about Thorin, including The Hobbit, “The Quest of Erebor” in The Unfinished Tales, and “Appendix A” of The Return of the King, and for Boromir, from The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers.
*Spoilers for the books to follow*
“Orcrist” and “Boromir” by Magali Villeneuve
Before we meet them, Boromir and Thorin have long had difficulties which they cannot overcome on their own; Boromir’s people are in danger of being overrun by the forces of Mordor. Thorin’s people have been in exile for many years with no ability to oust the source of their troubles:
The years lengthened. The embers in the heart of Thorin grew hot again, as he brooded on the wrongs of his House and of the vengeance upon the Dragon that was bequeathed to him. He thought of weapons and armies and alliances, as his great hammer rang in the forge; but the armies were dispersed and the alliances broken and the axes of his people were few; and a great anger without hope burned him, as he smote the red iron on the anvil. (Appendix A, ROTK)
Both leaders possess just enough humility and open-mindedness to seek out help from untested allies; Boromir takes it upon himself to make a solo journey to Rivendell after his brother Faramir has a prophetic dream encouraging such action (Boromir claims he once shared the dream). As for Thorin, he just happened to be in the same location as Gandalf when the two thought about asking for the others’ help. This bolstered the idea that their chance meeting was more than just coincidence. As Gandalf recounted:
He was troubled too, so troubled that he actually asked for my advice. So I went with him to his halls in the Blue Mountains, and I listened to his long tale. I soon understood that his heart was hot with brooding on his wrongs, and the loss of the treasure of his forefathers, and burdened too with the duty of revenge upon Smaug that he had inherited. Dwarves take such duties very seriously. (The Unfinished Tales)
Both Thorin and Boromir are disappointed in the type of help they are able to procure. In “Quest of Erebor”, Thorin is very reluctant to trust Gandalf’s choice of a burglar. Similarly, Boromir is initially suspicious and scornful of Aragorn, and taken aback when he is revealed as Isildur’s Heir. After recounting his own people’s failing efforts to hold back the growing forces of Mordor, his desperation is plain, but his pride is even more obvious. It is Boromir who first suggests they utilize the power of the Ring rather than destroy it, but he reluctantly accepts the decision of the Council, and assures them Gondor will continue the fight to the last. But he also suggests that help (in the form of Aragorn) must come soon if it is to be of any use. He does not actually reject the idea of Aragorn returning and claiming his birthright, but he is impatient to see if the Ranger will live up to expectations.
When Thorin sought Gandalf’s help, he was likely expecting the wizard to conjure up something more impressive than Bilbo Baggins. Like Boromir, Thorin was slow to accept the concept of not using force to get what he wanted, as Gandalf explains:
I promised to help him if I could. I was as eager as he was to see the end of Smaug, but Thorin was all for plans of battle and war, as if he were really King Thorin the Second, and I could see no hope in that. (The Unfinished Tales)
But Thorin does go along with Gandalf’s plan, and despite hardships along the way, there is no great falling out between any of the Company until they get to the Lonely Mountain, and well after the dragon is killed. It is then that the differences between dwarves and hobbits emerge and become a point of contention. Thorin is just beginning to reassert his claim to his kingdom by marshaling whatever means he can in its defense. He is adamant about not allowing himself to be pushed into a compromise by the army of the Elvenking. Being of a very different mind, Bilbo begins to weary of the siege he has become entrapped in, and longs for peace and home.
“On the Doorstep” by Chris Rahn
Similarly, during his journey with the Fellowship, Boromir is on good terms with his companions, even if he offers differing opinions. It takes a while before he starts to develop an unhealthy obsession over what he intends to do about the Ring. Before the audience with Galadriel in Lorien, he agrees to help the Ringbearer as much as he can before departing for Gondor. But whatever Galadriel put into his mind as a test of character awoke the very thing she suspected was lying dormant; a personal desire for the Ring. Boromir begins to fall into darker thoughts, which some of the others sense. Frodo noticed the change back in Lorien, and in the boats on the Great River, Boromir’s state of mind becomes plain enough that Pippin sees an odd gleam in his eye.
It is interesting that Thorin was also in close proximity to the Ring for an extended time, but felt no desire for it. Reasons for this may include the Ring not having the same power over dwarves as other races, but most likely because Sauron had not yet begun his campaign to get the Ring to return to him through its bearer. Instead of the Ring, Thorin has a personal obsession with another object; the Arkenstone, which has significantly less importance to Middle-earth than the Ring, but far more importance to Thorin on a personal level:
“For the Arkenstone of my father,” he said, “is worth more than a river of gold in itself, and to me it is beyond price. That stone of all the treasure I name unto myself, and I will be avenged on anyone who finds it and withholds it.” (The Hobbit)
The Arkenstone is of great importance to the direct descendants of Thrain I, who found it in the Lonely Mountain, and passed it down for generations. It was a unique glowing gem, but comparing it to something like the Silmarils, (other gems which caused great strife within and between the races) the Arkenstone is a relative newcomer to the list of Middle-earth artifacts (only known to the dwarves for 800 years or so). It has no true powers (aside from its glow). It was not made by anyone important, nor played a great role in past events. The Elvenking is later impressed by it, and Bilbo is driven to pocket it, so we know it must be very attractive (enchanting), but no one, aside from Thorin, absolutely must have it. It is an heirloom, but even there we have little description of how it was used in dwarven culture (of course the film expands on this to make the stone vital to Thror’s claim of dominion over everyone in the area, including the elves, but that’s taking it rather far). One could speculate there was some sort of intangible connection between the kings of Erebor and the Mountain’s Heart, but this is just a fancy of mine. More rationally, it was a convenient focal point for their pride.
Like Boromir after Lorien, Thorin’s change of personality happens once they are in the Lonely Mountain with the Arkenstone yet undiscovered by him, and the armies of the Lake-men and Elves making demands outside the gate. Having found the stone in the dragon hoard, Bilbo suspected that Thorin would not forgive him for keeping it secret, but he still held onto it. Despite this, or more likely because of this, Bilbo formulates his plan to use the Arkenstone as leverage to stop the siege.
The main difference between Thorin and Boromir is that Thorin is betrayed by a member of his Company, while Boromir betrays the Fellowship he has agreed to protect. When Frodo ventures off alone to think of his decision regarding the breaking of the Fellowship, he feels an unfriendly presence even before he sees the smiling face of Boromir. It is the fact that Boromir has become sneaky which disgraces him as much as anything. Thorin never hides his intentions from his allies. Whether or not Bilbo’s decision regarding the stone was ultimately more ethical than Thorin’s is immaterial. It is true that after the betrayal by Bilbo, Thorin secretly hopes Dain’s army can get there before he is forced to give up the gold that would have been paid to get back the stone, but since he was being blackmailed into it, one can hardly call this foul play.
This is not to say that Thorin has no flaws, but they should be judged according to the perceptions of his own people, which we have little knowledge of save for a line or two from Bombur to Bilbo, right before Bilbo is about to take the stone to the enemy. Bombur’s words mark Thorin as a stubborn dwarf:
“A sorry business altogether. Not that I venture to disagree with Thorin, may his beard grow ever longer; yet he was ever a dwarf with a stiff neck.” (The Hobbit)
Clearly Bombur is not the ultimate example to judge other dwarves by, with a desire to eat and sleep being his prime motivators (rather like a hobbit). But it does give the feeling that Thorin was known to be difficult to persuade once he set his mind to something. Even so, you don’t see the whole Company stand against him openly at any time in the story. There is a bit of muttering from the “younger dwarves” who would earlier have preferred to welcome the merry-making armies outside as friends rather than enemies, but although Tolkien later names Fili, Kili, and Bombur as having wished for a different solution, most still believe Thorin to be in the right. Later there is more widely felt dismay at the way Thorin behaves to Bilbo at the Gate, but it remains unspoken, so what he chooses to do must not be entirely unacceptable to them.
By this point in Boromir’s story, the power of the Ring had bested him, and turned his mind from a simple desire to protect Gondor, to the idea that he could rule quite effectively in Aragorn’s absence:
“Boromir strode up and down, speaking ever more loudly. Almost he seemed to have forgotten Frodo, while his talk dwelt on walls and weapons, and the mustering of men; and he drew plans for great alliances and glorious victories to be; and he cast down Mordor, and became himself a mighty king, benevolent and wise.” (FOTR)
This is reminiscent of Thorin’s thoughts “of weapons and armies and alliances” and his unlikely (in Gandalf’s opinion) “plans of battle and war”. Both were thinking as if they were kings, and yet neither had the resources of a king, and the futility of this makes them appear foolish.
At this point Boromir discards pretense, making his intentions clear to Frodo. His argument is not unreasonable; the Ringbearer wandering without escort of an army into the very heart of the evil that seeks it does sound like a bad idea. But Boromir refuses to recognize that he is being manipulated by Sauron when he thinks such thoughts. It takes an exceptional amount of trust in the council of the Wise, and an immense strength of will, to combat the siren song of the Ring, and Boromir was poor in this regard. The fact that he made it so far before attempting to take the Ring is a testament to his inherently honorable nature.
“Boromir” by Deligaris
Both Boromir and Thorin descend into a maddened state when their respective hobbits thwart what they consider their right to the object of their desire. Boromir shouts at Frodo:
“If any mortals have claim to this Ring, it is the men of Numenor, and not Halflings. It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me!”…And suddenly he sprang over the stone and leaped at Frodo. His fair and pleasant face was hideously changed; a raging fire was in his eyes. (TTT)
Thorin reacts no better when he sees the Arkenstone in the hands of his enemies:
Thorin at length broke the silence, and his voice was thick with wrath. “That stone was my father’s, and is mine,” he said….“How came you by it?” shouted Thorin in gathering rage. (The Hobbit)
When Bilbo admits that it was he who handed the Arkenstone over to Bard and the Elvenking, Thorin is not at all mollified by his honesty:
“You! You!” cried Thorin, turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. “You miserable hobbit! You undersized—burglar!” he shouted at a loss for words, and he shook poor Bilbo like a rabbit. (The Hobbit)
Gandalf finally speaks up and helps to redirect Thorin’s anger, persuading him to give Bilbo back unharmed, which he does with a curse. He wastes no time in sending messages to his approaching allies from the Iron Hills, informing them of the treachery. Thorin remains convinced he is doing the right thing, until possibly the very last moments of his life.
Boromir, on the other hand, feels the guilt of his actions immediately after Frodo disappears. But his honor wavers again as he only half explains to the group what transpired between himself and Frodo. Sam said it best when he told himself “Boromir isn’t lying, that’s not his way; but he hasn’t told us everything.” The typical honesty of Boromir is another mark in his favor, even if it slipped into deceit at the worst time. Incidentally, Thorin is also a poor liar in the books, presumably from lack of practice. The story he gave to the Goblin King would fool no one, and his terse answers to the Elvenking’s questioning in the dungeon of Mirkwood showed someone who would rather trust to silence than invention (I was pleased to see the movie version is possibly even less skilled at lying, being almost entirely silent during the audience with the Goblin King, and leaving the talking to Gandalf when Elrond asks about the map).
When Aragorn hears about what transpired with Frodo, he knows Boromir has really done it this time, but gives him a chance at redemption by finding and protecting Merry and Pippin from orcs. Pippin later recounted the fight:
Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the Orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fiercely than ever. (TTT)
Aragorn hears the sound of Boromir’s horn, though he is not there to see the final fight:
Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls. (TTT)
There is an echo of the motif of the horn in a similar scene from Thorin’s charge into the Battle of Five Armies:
“To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk!” He cried, and his voice shook like a horn in the valley. (The Hobbit)
While both Boromir and Thorin were able to beat back the enemy for a short time, the tide soon turned against them. Thorin’s group was “forced into a great ring, facing every way, hemmed all about with goblins and wolves returning to the assault.” The last stand of Thorin is given as an account after the battle:
The dwarves were making a stand still about their lords upon a low rounded hill. Then Beorn stooped and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and bore him out of the fray. (The Hobbit)
We discover just how desperate the fight had become when we learn that Fili and Kili had “fallen defending him with shield and body, for he was their mother’s elder brother.”
Boromir’s battle had been lost as well. When Aragorn found him, he was alone, and the hobbits had been taken:
He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilts; his horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet. (TTT)
Thorin also showed the marks of a brutal battle:
There indeed lay Thorin Oakenshield, wounded with many wounds, and his rent armour and notched axe were cast upon the floor. (The Hobbit)
“The Death of Thorin” by John Howe, and “The Death of Boromir” by CG Warrior
In his dying moments, Boromir admits to his ignoble actions:
Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At last slow words came. “I tried to take the Ring from Frodo,” he said. “I am sorry. I have paid….Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.”
“No!” said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. “You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!”
Boromir smiled. (TTT)
Likewise, Bilbo has a last audience with Thorin:
“Farewell, good thief,” he said. “I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate.”
Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow. “Farewell, King under the Mountain!” he said. “This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils—that has been more than any Baggins deserves.”
“No!” said Thorin. “There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!” (The Hobbit)
At the end, Boromir and Thorin acknowledge their mistakes, and repent of their choices. After death, both are laid to rest with great dignity. Thorin was buried in the Lonely Mountain, and his former enemies, Bard and the Elvenking, laid the Arkenstone and Orcrist upon his tomb.
“They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain” by Alan Lee
Boromir was set upon the Great River in an elven boat by the remaining members of the Fellowship, with his cloven horn and broken sword. Through his death, Boromir had regained the respect of his companions, and the song that Aragorn and Legolas sing of him shows only remorse and honor.
“Boromir at Rauros Falls” by Ted Nasmith
But after all this, the question remains, can Thorin and Boromir still be considered noble? I feel the answer is an obvious yes, because while they may have made mistakes in life, both gave up their lives in payment. They never desired things only for their own needs. It is a very fine line, but in craving the Arkenstone, Thorin sought to protect the manifestation of his people’s pride, while Boromir’s desire for the Ring was only to help the people of Gondor. The Wise would have steered them away from such folly, but like most people of Middle-earth, they did not possess great wisdom, only a proud heart, a heavy burden, and the deeply felt legacy of their people.
And now, for another comparison of Thorin and Boromir, I encourage you to read Susan Messer Chan’s essay, which comes to slightly different conclusions about these two characters.
Additional info: For those who were wondering about what the scene from the film showing Thorin backing into the shadows might signify, here is an interview I missed last month which is very relevant. On page 2 Richard Armitage talks about greed, dragon sickness, Thror, and Thorin’s feelings about it all.
04 Friday Jan 2013
Posted in Discussion, Hobbit movie
Tags
I tried to make this readable for both biologists and non-biologists. Please keep in mind that English is not my native language thus making it sometimes hard for me to use certain scientific terms the correct way.
These are my personal thoughts on Middle-earth’s biology as shown in The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey. They are in no particular order.
Thranduil’s deer:
I have seen long discussions about this. People without a big interest in biology saw the leaf shaped antlers of the deer and immediately called it a Moose. If you know Moose however, it will become quite obvious this is another deer species. And indeed the Fallow Deer Dama dama (a Eurasian species) has very similar antlers and even looks very much like the deer in the movie. However with a shoulder height of barely 100 cm it is impossible for a man or elf to ride it.
Now one might think Peter Jackson just invented a large deer to suffice as a riding animal. While this might be true in today’s world, it isn’t when looking far back into the past. Deer of the extinct genus Megaloceros were also distributed throughout Eurasia and looked very much like the Fallow Deer, only twice as large. They also had antlers which exceeded even those of a Moose in size and made them quite an impressive sight. There are quite a lot of known skeletons and maybe your local museum of natural history has one in display. When you stand in front of one you can immediately imagine this being Thranduil’s deer. Considering that the Megaloceros went extinct about 10,000 years ago and Middle-earth is supposed to be an ancient version of Europe this even makes a lot of sense.
Megaloceros skeleton
The only weird thing about this is: Megaloceros had such vast antlers that forests were impassable obstacles for them; they therefore lived in plains and grasslands. One can only wonder how Thranduil is going to ride through Mirkwood on it; however, that remains to be seen in the second Hobbit movie.
Ponies:
Ponies are small but sturdy creatures so they make really good carriers. What I loved most about the ponies in the movie was their fur. Various different pony breeds (for example the Shetland Pony or the Icelandic Horse) really look this fuzzy at winter time. However the ponies of the Dwarves looked like this even in summer. Weta Chronicles states they were therefore covered in fur suits to make them look woolly for the movie. It is a little trick but at least not completely wrong as ponies do wear fur like this, just in another season.
Wargs:
I personally found the Wargs in LOTR really awful. They looked like poorly animated robots to me and not at all like wolves. Especially their body shape resembled that of hyenas. Keep also in mind that hyenas are actually Feliformia (“cat-like carnivores”) which makes their usage as Wargs seem even more wrong.
Luckily though the Wargs in The Hobbit could definitely be classified in the order Caniformia (“dog-like carnivores”), which puts them a lot closer to wolves. I don’t want to go so far as to describe them as “wolf-like” as wolves tend to be a lot smaller and less fleshy. Wolves also hardly ever show such aggressive behaviour which more reminds me of attack dogs. Wolves are more tender and careful animals. So I see those Wargs simply as “invented” creatures. Weta Chronicles calls them “demon wolves” which also sounds reasonable to me.
Fur colours vary vastly in real world wolves so having a white Warg within the pack is completely acceptable.
Rhosgobel rabbits:
There is not really a lot to say about them. Anatomically they are clearly rabbits and not hares, which is good. However for me at least the glimpses we have of them are so short and quick-paced that I find it impossible to make out the exact species. The most obvious guess would probably be the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) considering it is the best known and – sadly, because not natural – the widest distributed rabbit species.
European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
They also show at least one characteristic behaviour: they thump on the floor with their hind leg when alert. Apart from that I doubt that neither could they pull a sleigh with a human on it nor could they be tamed enough to make them run in groups. But I see those as slight modifications that are acceptable in a fantasy world.
Hedgehogs:
Radagast with Sebastian
Not much to say either. They look like hedgehogs although they don’t necessarily sound like them. They most likely resemble the European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), a very common animal in Western, Central and Northern Europe.
European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
Eagles
They give me a bit of a headache. Of course they are far too large for any eagles of the real world. There simply is not and never has been any species of eagle or other bird of prey even nearly this large. The largest birds of prey, depending on either wingspan or weight, are the Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) or the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja). Needless to say they are both much smaller than the eagles in The Hobbit and further they don’t even look anything like them.
The largest eagle ever to have lived was the Haast’s Eagle (Harpagornis moorei), indigenous in New Zealand, large enough to attack moas but definitely not to carry a wizard, a dwarf or even a hobbit.
So the reason the eagles give me a headache is not the size (it is clear they are ridiculously large) but just the way they look. I don’t think they can be assigned to any real eagle species. I would go this far to say that they appear to belong to the Aquila genus, most likely Aquila chrysaetos (Golden Eagle), though the colours are slightly off. Aquila is good enough though; it’s a genus widely distributed over the Old World and that makes them good to belong to Middle-earth. A Bald Eagle for instance would have never fit into that world!
There is nothing to complain about their way of flying or grabbing objects and that is really all the behaviour we see of them.
Edit:
Larry Dixon who worked with his eagle Mina on bringing the eagles in The Hobbit to life kindly confirmed in the comments below that the species used indeed was the Golden Eagle. You should check out his website where you can see him with one of the eagles used for LOTR and The Hobbit:
http://gryphonking.aelfhame.net/
Thank you very much for contributing and refining this essay, Larry!
Note by DJ: Larry has further provided a picture of Mina and the original reference mount used for Gwaihir in LOTR:
Mina the Golden Eagle
Larry Dixon and Gwaihir reference
Radagast’s birds:
The birds nesting in Radagast’s hair go by too quickly for my eyes. I gladly accept any suggestions on their species from somebody else.
There is also a dead bird lying on the floor which is clearly a Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius).
Now the bird that shows Radagast the way to Dol Guldur seems odd to me. It looks very much like the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) thus making it also a thrush.
Even the colouration around the eye matches this bird. However this really bothers me considering Peter Jackson was clever enough to only include European wildlife with all the other animals. I don’t see a reason why he did not choose the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) or any other bird species native to Europe for this task. I might be a nerdy biologist when I say this now, but I see this American Robin as one of the big mistakes Peter Jackson made in this movie. Most other people probably won’t even notice it is there, but it annoys at least me a lot to see it.
The Thrush:
The thrush at the end of the movie clearly is a European thrush and so I could reconcile with Peter Jackson again. The exact species is hard to make out – lots of thrush species tend to look very similar – but we are most likely in the genus Turdus and we are most likely in Europe which is good enough considering the thrush is going to be one of the key characters in this story (or let’s say: hopefully it will be also in the movie) and should therefore look credible.
One thing especially wonderful for me to see was this bird showing the most typical thrush behaviour ever. They tend to smash snails against rocks to crack them open. Even the movement looks natural. Usually they like to visit the same rock over and over again and it becomes clear in the movie why the thrush chooses this rock: There are lots of snails crawling around it.
Smaug:
We haven’t seen a lot of him yet but one can still conclude a bit. First of all he seems to be HUGE, which is really nice. If he’d be too small he would never be as frightening. His colour is clearly true to the book. You can see him being reddish from the glimpses you see of him in the prologue. Don’t be tricked by him looking blue in the very last scene of the movie; that is really just the reflection of the objects around him. If you look closely you can even see his red colour in that shot.
He also appears to be no wyvern but instead walks on four legs and additionally has two wings. How do I know? From the way he walks and breaks down the doors to Erebor it is nearly impossible for him to stand on only two legs.
Also a biped reptile (like a Tyrannosaurus Rex) would have its legs positioned more centered beneath its hips whereas a reptile walking on four legs would have them positioned laterally. Just think of a Komodo Dragon as reference here.
Without seeing his body Smaug’s legs still seem to have a rather outward position.
Now one may argue: dragons clearly are reptiles and there are no vertebrates with six limbs. While this is true, we could just be lazy and say “This is fantasy, don’t worry.”
I do want to bring up a remarkable little lizard that is very much real in our world: Gliding Lizards, better known as Flying Dragons, belonging to the genus Draco (you see how all those names fit our topic?) may not be able to actively fly, but they do have quite large membranes stretched between their exceptionally long ribs to allow them to “fall” gracefully. Let’s take thoughts on further evolution of this extraordinary anatomic feature: ribs could become even longer, with the membrane covering a larger area between them. We all know that vertebrates have muscles in their back; some of them could be adapted to move those wings and voila! We just need to combine this with the size of a dinosaur and the atmosphere of Jurassic Age to allow reptiles to even grow that large… Yes, I know this is complete nonsense, and a reptile this size would neither be able to fly actively nor even get off the ground, but anatomically and evolutionary I wouldn’t call dragons entirely impossible – IF all necessary components apply. And please keep in mind that birds by terms of evolution are nothing else than feathered, flying dinosaurs either.
However I can’t come up with any biologic explanation to breathing fire so I take at least that part of dragons to be a mere product of fantasy.
There is one more little detail about Smaug that made me happy to see: His nictitating membrane (the third eyelid) is clearly visible, which makes him even more lifelike to our world considering that most vertebrates – and especially reptiles – have them.
The Moth:
The whole moth scene irritates me a bit to be honest as I am really not sure about the time of day in this particular scene. It is clear sunshine before and clear sunshine after the Warg attack. For some reason though it appears to be very dark DURING the Warg attack. So I am not sure if it is supposed to be even daytime at this point.
Let us put all time inconsistencies aside and assume it is night time at the point where Gandalf picks up the moth. It irritated me at first because for a long time I actually thought this was a butterfly and not a moth. However it could resemble Saturnia pavoniella, a moth with very limited distribution in Europe: it can only be found south of the Alps.
Saturnia pavoniella – male
Why did Peter Jackson choose a rather unknown species? Maybe simply because it is an exceptionally pretty moth. To be honest I am still not sure the moth in the movie is supposed to be this exact species, though the Saturniidae family seems to generally be a good guess here. If you have any better suggestions I would gladly accept them!
Edit:
As pointed out by Bracken Brandybuck in the comments below the moth strongly resembles another member of the Saturniidae family. The Emperor Gum Moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti) is native to Australia and was later on also introduced to New Zealand. Obviously this moth was already used in Fellowship of the Ring as messenger moth between Gandalf and the eagle to also give local species some screentime. This species is very variable in colouration so the two moths in the two movies being of the same species is definitely credible. I chose a picture of a bright orange specimen to go with The Hobbit.
Emperor Gum Moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti)
I have been neither to Australia nor to New Zealand so I am not familiar with their local insects. However after looking at some pictures of Opodiphthera eucalypti I prefer this species over the one I originally suggested. Thank you, Bracken Brandybuck!
Thoughts on different humanoid creatures:
Azog the Defiler
Orcs to me seem to be mainly made out of muscles. In this way they remind me very much of Great Apes, which also vastly exceed the human body in strength. I kind of imagine having to battle a gorilla and am already scared at the thought of it. It would probably take 10 men to bring him down. I suppose this is the big advantage of Orcs: massive strength.
Goblins on the other hand seem to be weak little creatures who above all are also a lot dumber than Orcs. Their strength mainly lies in number and when I look at the wide shots in Goblin Town it actually reminds me very much of an ant hill in there: there are so many of them and despite seemingly having no brain they all appear to know what they are supposed to do.
They are ugly little creepers who seem to have lost any beauty in years and years of evolution. Living under the mountain has made their skin all squishy and pale. Their anatomy looks crippled as they obviously like to run around bent down. Their eyes are very big as it is normal for animals living in a dark environment. They either lose their eyes because they are useless or they tend to get bigger and bigger to catch even the last rays of light. The Goblins definitely look like a race that lives underground but would be incapable of living in the bright sunlight.
I have been thinking of Dwarf anatomy for quite a while now. I would really like to see a Dwarf naked, not to gush over him but because I would love to see their proportions. From the way they move and the illusion they give us by their clothes I imagine their legs to be rather short. As far as I’ve heard they helped the actors to be tricked into this illusion by applying heavy fat suits to them which meant they had no other choice than to move like a dwarf. Watch them walk or run closely; you will make out what I mean.
Looking at their fingers and faces makes it obvious that Dwarves are a lot more meaty than humans. This makes perfect sense since Tolkien described Dwarves as exceptionally strong so they too had to be very muscular and needed to have limbs to work with.
Dwarven hair is also something very interesting. I have to admit I did try to imitate Fili’s hair on myself but I soon found it impossible to arrange human hair like this. If I want to make a braid as thick as Fili’s I’d have to use half the hair of my head. However he has FOUR braids like this and still a lot of free hair flowing around. Which means Dwarves have either a lot MORE or a lot THICKER hair than humans. I want to think it is a combination of both. And it doesn’t only start with the hair, the beards are also enormous next to even the biggest of human beards. Just look at Gloin’s: no way a human can ever be that hairy, even if he never shaved throughout his life.
Stone Giants:
I am still not sure if this topic is of biologic or geologic concern. I wouldn’t really have a real world explanation for them anyway, so you are free to make up your own mind.
Goblin King’s skull:
The Goblin King has a skull on the stick he is holding. That skull amused me as it seemed to be a combination of sheep (wound horns) and boar (large tusks).
Things in the next movie:
We have hardly seen anything of the spiders yet, I can’t wait to study their anatomy.
Beorn lives with a lot of different animals in the book; I wonder how many of those will actually appear in the movie. And will they really talk and set the table? I am also looking forward to the large bees that collect honey for him.
Also there will finally be a full view of Smaug so there will be more to say about him.
This means I am pretty sure there’ll be another biologic analysis by me for the next movie.
Please feel free to disagree or add further input in the comments. Your opinions are very much welcome!
