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4 reasons they CANNOT just fly the Eagles to Mordor

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4 reasons they CANNOT just fly the Eagles to Mordor 1.) The Eagles are their own complex race, with linguistic capabilities, societal structures, and political alliances. For example, they converse with Gandalf and Bilbo in the Hobbit, are mentioned to be ruled by Thorondor “Lord of the Eagles”, and ally themselves with the armies of Men and Elves. So, taking this into consideration, saying “why can’t the Eagles just fly the ring to Mordor” is pretty much the equivalent of saying “why can’t the Elves just kill all the Balrogs”. Just because the Eagles technically can drop the ring into Mount Doom doesn’t mean they will, all external factors such as casualties and complications considered.  2.) If the Eagles did agree to fly the ring to Mount Doom, they definitely would have been noticed. The main virtue in entrusting the ring to a band of nine generally inconspicuous companions was that they would attract the least amount of attention as possible. Sauron already knew that the free ...

Who is Tom Bombadil?

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  “Hey dol! Merry dol! ring a dong dillio! Ring a dong! Hop along! Fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!”   - Tom Bombadil, The Fellowship of the Ring Who is Tom Bombadil? Well, he certainly is a “merry fellow”.  *Note: this post mainly includes information from the Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, and Silmarillion (not any of Tolkien’s additional books)* Background Tom Bombadil meets Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin on their way to the Prancing Pony in the Fellowship of The Ring book. He is described as having a long brown beard, bright blue eyes, jolly appearance; wearing yellow boots with a blue jacket and hat. Singing in a careless nonsensical fashion and collecting water lilies at a stream, he first encounters the hobbits when he saves Merry and Pippin from being killed by a willow tree. At Tom’s home in the forest, the hobbits meet his wife Goldberry, listen to his strange tales, and take a short rest in safety. To the hobbits’ great surprise, Tom pu...

Perspective in “The Hobbit”

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 Perspective in The Hobbit Introduction The Hobbit is an excellent, lighthearted adventure novel written for children by JRR Tolkien. However, don’t be fooled by the silly jokes and linear story. The Hobbit is more complex than it seems, where perspective and relative tone underscore major world-building principles.  Perspective and relative tone  In-universe, The Hobbit was written by the main character Bilbo Baggins. Within the book, Tolkien presents himself as a translator and narrator of Bilbo’s tale rather than the author. Even without being introduced to Bilbo as a character, his perspective and personality become apparent through the book’s writing style, especially when compared to the Tolkien’s other books. Even though the real life author is the same, The Hobbit does not share the same tone or style as The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion . The differences in tone and style therefore seem to be purposefully incorporated as an indication of the different...

Silmarillion Genealogy Table

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Review: “The Lord of the Rings: The War of The Rohirrim”

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The recent Lord of the Rings movie, “The War of the Rohirrim” tells the story of Rohan’s conflict with the Dunlendings and the siege of Hornburg. The original tale, located in Appendix A, under “The House of Eorl”, focuses mainly on the king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. The new movie also focuses on Helm’s daughter Hera though. Much of the movie is about how Hera came to be the hero of her people, “But do not look for tales of her in the old songs. There are none.” Warning: this post contains spoilers  What was done well: • Almost nothing from Tolkien’s original tale was removed, staying true to the short passage in the appendices that the movie was based off of.   ◦ This is an uncommon virtue, as most book to movie adaptations remove a lot of original content from books  ◦ Many specific details that were not necessarily crucial to the plot, like Helm using his fists against his enemies, were preserved.  • Most of the storyline added just for the movie was within r...

Character Analysis: Fëanor

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Fëanor is certainty one of the most complex characters featured in Tolkien’s Silmarillion. Most people either love or hate him, but in this article we are going to do an in depth analysis of this dynamic character.  A Brief Background: Fëanor was skilled in many crafts, but especially known smith work. His most prized creations were the three silmarils, gems containing the light of Valinor. He was also a prince of the Noldor, who became king after his father, Finwe, was killed by Melkor. When Melkor killed Finwe, he also stole the silmarils. In response, Fëanor and his sons swore terrible oaths vowing to stop at nothing to retrieve the gems. Fëanor and many of the Noldor left Valinor, declaring war on Melkor, who was now known as Morgoth. Not long after arriving in Middle Earth, Fëanor died fighting many balrogs and his oldest son Maedhros became king.  Many do not like Fëanor, because he committed horrible deeds, and was responsible for much suffering. He initiated the ki...