Questions tagged [the-lord-of-the-rings]
For questions about the trilogy of movies or books, 'The Fellowship of the Ring', 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King'. Always use in conjunction with the [tolkiens-legendarium] tag and, for movie questions, the relevant movie tag, e.g. [fellowship-of-the-ring].
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Why does Frodo keep referring to the party as if he were alone? (In the first book.)
Frodo keeps saying that he ("I") am going to take this or that way, even though they are four Hobbits and as many ponies. They are a whole little party/fellowship already before Rivendell.
I ...
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What type of writing did the Hobbits use?
In the books, is there any information on what type of letters the Hobbits used when writing or printing? The Elvish scripts, runes, or something else?
Thanks!
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Why did Merry (apparently) not get to experience the first adventures with the other three hobbits?
I feel like an idiot for asking about this, since I'm currently and carefully (or so I thought) reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm at the chapter where they are just at the ferry with Merry ...
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Why didn't the Valar make a Ring of Power?
Sauron made the One Ring to rule them all by transferring some of his essence into it as a power amplifier.
Morgoth also did this in a different way, using the whole of Arda as a Ring.
Why didn't the ...
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Why not march over Rivendell and take the ring?
After the battle on Weathertop the Nazgûl learn Frodo has the one ring and follow him to Rivendell, where Glorfindel defeats them.
They have however by that time acquired the knowledge about the one ...
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Did the eagles from Tolkien's works have other appearances where they saved the day?
The eagles play a pivotal deus ex machina role in both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. I have not read any of the background works about Middle Earth and would like to know if they played any ...
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Why didn't Helm's Deep have a trebuchet? [duplicate]
I am wondering if there is a reason why Helm's Deep did not have a trebuchet(s).
There were trebuchets mounted at numerous locations throughout the city of Minas Tirith in Gondor, so the Gondorians ...
user143126
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Did Sauron have a sword?
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings lore there were present the common types of weapons as bows, arrows, spears, axes, pikes, maces, swords, etc.
In high fantasy, swords have played a preponderant ...
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How did Sauron withstand the seven-year siege of Barad-dûr?
We all know that the Siege of Barad-dûr, a key event of the War of the Last Alliance, lasted seven years (S.A. 3434-3441). During that period of time the Last Alliance of Elves and Men kept the bulk ...
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Why does Glorfindel have a saddle?
In FotR I, ch. XII, Glorfindel mentions his saddle:
'You shall ride my horse,' said Glorfindel. 'I will shorten the stirrups up to the saddle-skins, and you must sit as tight as you can.
Later in ...
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Why did Peter Jackson add Aragorn's line "Let's hunt some orc"?
In the final sequences of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Aragorn says the phrase "Let's hunt some Orc". Was Aragorn referring to a particular Orc?
The ...
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Why didn't Bilbo see what Frodo saw when he put on the ring?
When Frodo put on the ring at Amon Hen, he could see telescopically for hundreds of miles. And when he put it on at Weathertop, everything became dim and dark except the Ringwraiths.
Yet the first ...
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Were Isildur's traces of the ring in the right order?
Copied from this answer, as I don't have an English copy of LotR:
Already the writing upon it, which at first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read. It is fashioned in ...
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What's with the Red Arrow?
In The Lord of the Rings, Book V, chapter 3, "The Muster of Rohan", Hirgon brings the Red arrow from Denethor, as a sign that Gondor desperately needs Rohan's help in the coming battles.
He ...
user128845
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Why didn't Eru Ilúvatar trip Isildur?
Eru tripped Gollum, according to the LOTR wiki, thus destroying the One Ring. If he wanted it destroyed, why didn't he do something earlier, when Isildur took the Ring for his own when he was at the ...
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If Frodo had put on the One Ring in Moria, would he have been invisible to the Balrog?
I am wondering if a Balrog would have been able to see someone who was wearing the One Ring.
Smaug was unable to see Bilbo when he was wearing the One Ring, so it makes me think that if Frodo had put ...
user143126
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What’s the threshold of power for a wielder of the one ring to defeat Sauron?
Through the series I recall there are different implications (or at least that’s my recollection of it) on who could use the ring to obtain enough power to defeat (and replace as Dark Lord) Sauron and ...
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Was Saruman truly a puppet? [duplicate]
This quote got me thinking:
The world is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard... and Mordor? To stand against the might of Sauron and Saruman... and the union of ...
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Is there any solid evidence that Sauron was originally called Mairon?
It's common knowledge now that Mairon was a smith of Aule and one of the greatest smiths to be known before he became corrupted and commonly known as Sauron. I want to know if anyone knows any ...
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Did Tolkien actually use asterisms in the Lord of the Rings?
I own a version of The Fellowship of the Ring that I'm enjoying a lot, and now that I'm nearing the end I thought I might as well buy an ebook on Amazon containing all three books so I can go on with ...
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Are the Istari speaking the langauge of Eru Iluvatar when speaking spells?
Eru Illuvatar and the Ainur express 'magic,' or their godly powers, through the usage of song and words. Is the magic we see in Middle-Earth a translation of Eru's language, or is it vaguely ...
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Since the Mirror of Galadriel could show what might happen in the future, could it have shown Frodo that he would succeed at destroying the One Ring?
I am wondering that if the Mirror of Galadriel could show Frodo what might take place in the future, could it have shown him that he would succeed in his quest to destroy the One Ring?
user143126
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What are the differences in the description of Meduseld, the Golden Hall at Edoras?
I recently read that the description of the Golden Hall I am familiar with might be incomplete.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter 6, "the King of the Golden Hall"...
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Any significant textual differences between the 1954-5 Lord of the Rings and later editions?
I know that Tolkien made meaningful changes to the content of The Hobbit — both in the 1955 second edition and the 1966 third edition — to align it better with the world and plot depicted in The Lord ...
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Does the German movie translation of Lord of the Rings intentionally use 'du' in this way?
Over on the German Language StackExchange, RDBury asks Is Gandalf really on 'du' terms with the Balrog? (Odd 'duzen' example)
I don't speak German, but I get the impression from their question:
...
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What did the Valar think of Eru Ilúvatar sending Gandalf back to Middle-earth?
I would like to know if there is anything written in LOTR canon about what the Valar had thought about Eru Ilúvatar sending Gandalf back to Middle-earth as Gandalf the White.
For example, did all of ...
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How fast did the Three Hunters go?
In LOTR book 3, Éomer comments on the Three Hunters' speed:
'It is now the fourth day since he was slain,' answered Aragorn, 'and since the
evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of ...
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Why were the Easterlings and Haradrim fighting for Sauron? [duplicate]
Sauron's army contained a mixture of Orcs, Easterlings and Haradrim. From my understanding of the books and films the Orcs are created by Sauron and act as his slaves. So the Orcs don't have much of a ...
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In Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Films, what is the eventual fate of Samwise? [closed]
Reference this related question for context.
In the film adaptation, the ship that Frodo and Bilbo took was the last ship to leave for the Undying Lands.
So, in-universe of the films, what eventually ...
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Why were they called the Corsairs of Umbar?
In Tolkien's Middle-earth, the region of Umbar is some distance almost due south of Gondor. It's inhabited by a fierce seagoing people, descendants of evil Númenóreans and Haradrim, feared for their ...
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