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Heirs of Durin

~ Thorin Oakenshield and Allies

Heirs of Durin

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Dori, Nori, and Ori: Appreciating the not-so-hot Dwarves

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by D.J. in Discussion, Dori, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, Nori, Ori, Thorin

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

adam brown, dori, dwarves, essay, family, 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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Legacy of the People: The Burdens of Thorin Oakenshield and Boromir of Gondor

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by D.J. in Discussion, Hobbit book, Hobbit movie, Richard Armitage, Thorin

≈ 111 Comments

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
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Legacy of the People: The Burdens of Thorin Oakenshield and Boromir of Gondor
By DarkJackal

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).

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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 December 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*

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“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.

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“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.

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“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)

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“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.

alan lee procession

“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.

Ted Nasmith - At The Falls

“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 which is relevant.  On page 2 Richard Armitage talks about greed, dragon sickness, Thror, and Thorin’s feelings about it all.

Middle-earth’s biology as shown in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by archedcory1 in Discussion, Hobbit movie

≈ 122 Comments

Tags

animals, biology, essay, middle-earth, smaug, thranduil’s deer

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.Thranduil

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

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.

shetlandpony
Icelandic Horse with winter fur

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.
warg

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.

rabbit

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:

radagasthedgehog

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.

hedgehog

European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

Eagles
bilboeagle

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!

eagle
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

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:

MinaMini

Mina the Golden Eagle

0410largwai

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).

eurasianjay
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.
Robin
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.

americanrobin
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

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.

thrush
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

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.”

Ribbed membrane of a flying lizard, Draco volans, Borneo
Draco volans

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.
smaug
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.

moth

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.

emperorgum2

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:

Azog2

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.
goblin
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.
dwarfunderthings
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!

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