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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Was the "Eye of Sauron" Sauron's actual physical form?
During the time frame of The Lord of the Rings, was the Eye of Sauron Sauron's actual physical form? If not, what form did he have?
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What is the true origin of the Orcs?
There are a bunch of theories about the true origin of the Orcs. Tolkien tried out a few different origins for his Orcs throughout his life but died before he could fully revise The Silmarillion with ...
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Would the One Ring even work for anyone but Sauron?
The temptation of the One Ring, we quickly learn, is always tied up with power: each character's fantasies of possessing it seem to be about what they would do with great power. Even Sam, as I recall, ...
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Who or what was Tom Bombadil?
The most iconic of Middle-earth questions:
Who or what was Tom Bombadil?
Was he an elf? Was he akin to Gandalf, and one of the wizardly stock? Was he something… else?
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In what time period does The Lord of the Rings take place in the real world?
I know that The Lord of the Rings is located in Middle-earth and by the looks of clothes and props, we're looking at well before the 18th century.
What's the best guess at the time period that The ...
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Did Eru Ilúvatar trip Gollum?
The Fandom LOTR wiki lists four times Eru Ilúvatar intervened in the history of Arda:
creating Elves and Men
removing Aman from the spherical Earth
resurrecting Gandalf
making Gollum trip
In a ...
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Why didn't Sauron find Bilbo when he put on the ring like Frodo?
When Frodo put on the One Ring, both the Nazgûl and Sauron himself found Frodo. However when Bilbo had the ring and possibly used it many times, Sauron sought Gollum to get a hint on where to look for ...
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Why didn't Gandalf or Frodo Fly to Mount Doom?
Why didn't Gandalf use his eagles to fly over Mount Doom and drop the ring? I know he feared what he would do if the ring overpowered him, so why not just give Frodo an eagle?
And, if there would be ...
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What is the timeline for The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy obviously covers a lot of time. How many months/years pass from the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring until the end of The Return of the King? A timeline of events ...
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Is Gandalf the Gray's power actually limited or did he merely promise to not use it?
We know that the Maiar sent to Middle-earth as Istari are not using their full Maiar power. Gandalf the Gray is more than a human power wise, but not nearly equal to his full real power.
Is it known (...
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What are the main reasons the elves did not show up in force to defeat Sauron?
During The Great Battle of the Last Alliance, there were an estimated 100,000 elves that fought with the armies of Isildur. This was one of the first scenes in the first LOTR movie. However, in the ...
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The Half-Elven and their choices
Eärendil and Elwing were given the choice of kindreds after their journey to Valinor. This choice was extended to their sons (specifically sons, not daughters or grandchildren).
Elrond chose the race ...
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Are Tolkien's orcs immortal?
Orcs were the most commonplace villains serving the Dark Powers in all of Tolkien's Legendarium, a race of sentient beings bred by the evil Vala Melkor (Morgoth) during the time of the Great Darkness.
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What happened to elves when they died or lost the will to live?
I understand that the elves want to Valinor when they died. However, sometimes they took boats to Valinor, such as at the end of Lord of the Rings, and other times they died of injury and had no ...
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Why Did J.R.R. Tolkien Capitalize Certain Words Throughout His Books?
Why did J.R.R. Tolkien randomly capitalize various words throughout his books?
My husband asked me this question today and we were wondering if there's any rhyme or reason to Tolkien's capitalization ...
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Where do Orc babies come from?
I've not seen/read any female Orcs mentioned in the movies or in the books. In one of the movies, an Uruk-hai is momentarily shown emerging from a giant, grown-Orc sized flesh packet. So are they ...
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What are the powers shown by the Rings of Power?
We all know that "almost every creature" who puts on the One ring became invisible and that the creator (Sauron) can use it to control the other rings.
But the other rings:
The Nine
The Seven
The ...
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Why didn't Sauron become invisible while wearing the One Ring?
I'm curious as to why Sauron is the only being/person shown wearing the One Ring who does not become invisible?
Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, and Samwise all become invisible while wearing the One ...
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Did the Ring Bearers and Gimli die in Valinor?
A comment on a recent question stated
The Undying Lands doesn't prevent mortals from dying so, in fact, [Frodo] died... maybe sixty years (or more, if his life was prolonged) after the end of the ...
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Were there two elves named Glorfindel?
In the Silmarillion, an elf named Glorfindel is killed in a duel with a Balrog at the battle for Gondolin. (He kills the Balrog as well.) Then in The Fellowship of the Ring, an elf named Glorfindel ...
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Do the beacon lighters really live on top of the mountains?
Following this image I found online:
Do the beacon lighters really live on top of the mountains?
It seems really cold on top of some of these mountains and there are no villages or whatsoever.
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Who made the decision for Gandalf's promotion from 'grey' to 'white'?
In the first book of the LoTR, after his fight with the Balrog of Moria, Gandalf the Grey changed to Gandalf the White.
My question is, who made the decision to 'promote' him from grey to white? Was ...
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Could the One Ring be destroyed in any manner besides Mount Doom?
Was there something more mystical about Mount Doom that meant another volcano wouldn't work and no matter how much energy was put into it, it would not be destroyed? A comment mentioned that not even ...
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How did Sauron remain in control of the Nazgûl?
The One Ring gave Sauron control of the Nine, yet when it was taken from him he still possessed the power to control them (or, at least he regained it towards the end of the third age). Why is this? ...
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Who were the Nazgûl before they became wraiths?
I recall reading somewhere of the history of the nine riders, but I cannot remember where it was. (It seems perhaps they were from northern kingdoms?)
The leader of the Nine was the Witch-king of ...
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Is Tolkien prejudiced against the East?
In Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series, there are generally two groups of Men. The good ones are coming from the West (Dúnedain, Men of the West), and the bad ones, the Easterlings, mostly fight ...
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Of Half-elven and mortal life
When half-elvens choose mortal life, how would their bodies behave?
Half-elven are always elves by nature. Ever since they're born, their physical body and behaviour would be elvish - they have keen ...
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What is the significance of Saruman's Ring?
At the council of Elrond, Gandalf tells of his encounter with Saruman.
But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. ...
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Are orcs and goblins really the same thing?
Are orcs and goblins really the same in The Hobbit and LotR, and where does it say that? Are they variant sub-races or something, explaining the different physical attributes? Or is my assumption they ...
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What effect would the One Ring have on other people?
We know that for hobbits, the One Ring makes them invisible. But, at least according to the movie, Sauron was not invisible when he was wearing the ring. What effects would the ring have on other ...
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Why didn’t they just take the ring to Valinor?
At the end of ‘The Return of the King’, Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf and others boarded a boat and left Middle-earth for Valinor.
Is there any canon explanation why they couldn’t just take the ring there in ...
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Why didn't Gollum grow old and die after he lost the One Ring to Bilbo?
Gollum had his life largely extended because he possessed the One Ring. He appeared to be an old, deformed, and twisted creature.
According to this list, he had the Ring for 478 years. His loss of ...
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Who or what is the oldest sentient being in Tolkien's lore?
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Histories of Middle Earth, all lore related to this universe is acceptable fodder. Regardless of their power, susceptibility to The One Ring, ...
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Could Gandalf have killed the Witch-king?
There was a prophecy about the Witch-king of Angmar saying that 'No man could kill him'.
The actual quote:
"He will not return to this land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of a man ...
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Are Tolkien Elves taller or shorter than Men? [duplicate]
Are Tolkien Elves taller or shorter than Men?
In general fantasy, elves are frequently smaller than humans. But I seem to recall that in Tolkien they aren't.
Based on this SFF.SE comment
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Why can Arwen decide her mortality?
I want to know what the books say about this.
In the movie Arwen gives her necklace (Evenstar) to Aragorn, and he says that she cannot give it away (I am not sure if this could also mean her ...
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What is the point of Sauron making the One Ring?
Why would Sauron make himself a ring that he invested most of his power in? Wouldn't it be better to keep the power in his physical form and not risk leaving his power in a physical form that could be ...
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Were there any differences between the Rings of power given to the Dwarves and the Men?
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
Were the Seven Dwarf-destined rings actually different (aside from possibly physical fit due to finger size ...
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Was Aragorn's claim to the throne legitimate?
In a recent post to The Toast, Austin Gilkeson argues that Aragorn, son of Arathorn's claim to Gondor's throne is invalid. The author goes into various details, but the core argument is:
Gondor’s ...
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Why was Gandalf afraid of the Balrog of Morgoth?
As depicted in the film, Gandalf appeared to be shaken and in fear of the Balrog of Morgoth, even just as Saruman mentioned it. Why was this so? Did they have any previous encounters?
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What are Gandalf's powers?
Gandalf is a wizard. He is also the Tolkien equivalent of a mortal angel (if I understand what the Maiar are correctly.) What are his powers though? Specifically what magics does he use in The Hobbit ...
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Why don't elves have more babies?
Is there a particular reason the elves die off so fast? After the first war against Sauron, I recall the elves being decimated, to the point that they're almost useless army-wise in the trilogy. But I'...
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If Galadriel had claimed the One Ring, would Sauron have become her servant, or would have Galadriel become his servant?
This question was inspired by the Andres F answer to another question. In his answer he stated
"we are told that if she ever took the One Ring, she would become way
more powerful than Sauron ...
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Why do people say that Peter Jackson can not make LOTR/Hobbit sequels?
I was reading a couple of posts on forums where people said that "The Silmarillion" would make a great basis for an action movie, a sequel (or would that be prequel?) to LOTR and Hobbit.
But someone ...
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Why would Gandalf (as ring-lord) be worse than Sauron?
I've just come across a point that I've thought about before, and thought it would be good to get some other stances on it. See this letter, emphasis mine:
In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it ...
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Did the Nazgûl retain their Rings of Power?
In The Fellowship of the Rings, Frodo sees the true appearance of the Nazgûl:
He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, ...
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What special powers did the Dwarf rings give their users? [duplicate]
I think it's fairly well explained what powers were given to the One Ring, Elves, and Humans, but the dwarf rings are little explained in the series. Why were these rings important, or what kinds of ...
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What would have happened if Saruman had gotten the One Ring?
If the Uruk Army sent by Saruman had captured Frodo and had gotten the One Ring to Saruman, what would Saruman have done with it? Would he have given the Ring back to Sauron or would he have kept the ...
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Why were there 3-7-9 Rings of Power?
Is there any data in Tolkien (books/letters/etc..) to explain why there were precisely 9 Men rings and 7 Dwarf rings and 3 Elf rings? (the latter assumes that Sauron planned the number of Elvish rings ...
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Why are there rings for Dwarves and Elves and Men, but not Hobbits or Orcs?
Simple: every other race in Middle-earth has rings, why do Hobbits and Orcs not?
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