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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Story from Middle-earth about the events of "The Lord of the Rings" being a lie
In the early 2010s, I read a book about a group of adventurers in Middle-earth who retraced the steps of the Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo, only to gradually learn that the history of the Ring and ...
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What exactly happened politically to the Kingdom of Arthedain after King Arvedui's death?
After King Arvedui died and Aranarth refused to ascend the throne after Angmar was defeated, what happened politically to the kingdom and the people, now that no king reigned the lands? Like, who ...
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Did Sauron put his soul/spirit into all of the Rings of Power?
In the same way that Melkor grew weaker across the ages by 'expending' himself into his monstrous creations, Sauron must have similarly expended himself into the creation of his Ring, which didn't ...
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What are the "Houses of Lamentation"?
In The Lord of the Rings, the Witch King says
"Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in
thy turn. He will bear thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond
all ...
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Why didn't Treebeard attack Gimli (or vice versa)?
The Ents seem to have considerable animosity toward the Dwarfs
After the Dwarves were put to sleep by Eru to await the coming of the Elves, the Vala Aulë told his wife Yavanna, "the lover of all ...
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Which species dance in Tolkien's works?
I know I at least saw the Hobbits dance, but I'm not sure about the others. And if they do dance, what kind of dances do they do (if known, if there isn't much description, ok)? I'm asking about all ...
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Did elves shed hair?
Us mere mortals have hairs that fall out everyday. Lucky ones have new hair grow back. But what about elves? This could have led to Feanor like scraping a couch Galadriel sat on. Wouldn't be hard to ...
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Why does Isildur claim to have defeated Sauron when Gil-galad and Elendil did it?
It is well-known that Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron, as in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Shadow of the Past Elrond says:
It was Gil-galad, Elven-king and Elendil of Westernesse who ...
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Did Roger Zelazny ever read The Lord of the Rings?
During one of the discussions of the Chronicles of Amber, the question arose whether Zelazny thought about creating an analogue of The Lord of the Rings, and how much did Tolkien influence him? Did ...
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Did Tolkien see all texts in his legendarium as all being found texts that he translated?
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were described by Tolkien as being historical documents that he found and then translated into the final published texts.
Did Tolkien see all of the following ...
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Why wasn't Aragorn more stealthy at Weathertop?
In the first book, Aragorn and the Hobbits set up camp and start a fire on the side of Weathertop. Why is stealth no longer necessary? Between setting off from the Shire and reaching Weathertop, the ...
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Why give gifts AFTER the cup of parting?
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel says:
‘We have drunk the cup of parting,’ she said, ‘and the shadows fall between us. But before you go, I have brought in my ship ...
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How to Pronounce Elanor?
A different question than one might normally find here, but I could think of no better place! How is Elanor- the flower from Lorien and Sam Gamgee's daughter- pronounced? Like the name Eleanor (EL-ah-...
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What are all the times Gandalf was either late or early?
Gandalf, who is ever-quotable is well known for saying:
A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.
I often cite this to re-assure my friends who're being harsh ...
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In Return of the King has there been any explanation for the role of the third eagle?
The below image is a screenshot of an Instagram Reel that uses a clip of Pedro Pascal to react to a clip of the eagles arriving at Mount Doom at the end of the Return of the King.
The image has a ...
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Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog? #2 [duplicate]
Follow-up question to Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog?
From the answers to that question, the dwarves apparently couldn't kill the Balrog because the Balrog is very powerful, so powerful ...
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Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog?
We read that the dwarves fled Moria after the Balrog killed Durin, their king.
My question is: was it beyond the power of the dwarves to kill the Balrog? If so, how come elves were able to kill them? ...
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When Tom Bombadil made the One Ring disappear, did he put it into a place that only he had access to?
I have often wondered when Tom Bombadil made the One Ring disappear after Frodo gave it to him, did Tom send it into a magical realm/another dimension that only he had access to?
Let's say that in a ...
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Did Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, and Gimli "wither and grow weary the sooner" in the Undying Lands?
In the Akallabêth, Elvish emissaries speak to the King of Númenor and others about what would happen if they came to Aman:
'The Doom of the World,' they said, 'One alone can change who made it. And ...
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Are the fires of Mt Doom lava, magma, or something else?
My son is learning about geology while reading LoTR. He wants to know if the fires of Mt Doom where the One Ring was forged were lava, magma, or something else. Are the fires described anywhere in the ...
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About orcs, elves, ents and trolls
I was discussing The Lord of the Rings with my son tonight, and we were puzzled by something—Treebeard tells Pippin and Merry that trolls are "mighty strong" but are merely weaker imitations ...
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When were Frodo and Sam first conceptualized as gay?
In my journey through the internet I came across this Reddit post which links a Cameo from Sean Astin (Sam in the LotR movies). If I understand correctly, he is responding to a question or paid for ...
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In what ways does the One Ring affect the wearer?
The key quote from Tolkien that answers this is contained in Letter 246, with my added emphasis:
It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power.
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At what point in the writing of The Lord of the Rings did Bilbo's "Translations from the Elvish" appear?
The original framing story for Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales, which later developed into The Silmarillion, was a sailor named Eriol/Ælfwine who chanced upon Tol Eressëa and was told the stories by his ...
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What happened to Frodo's house at Crickhollow?
In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo buys a house at Crickhollow after selling Bag End to Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. He goes there on the way to Rivendell, where it is revealed that Merry and Pippin both ...
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Compass/magnetic directions in Middle-earth
Maps in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have North/South/East/West marked on them, and I am wondering if anyone can tell me what these directions mean and how they are determined in-universe.
The ...
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How was Aragorn's legitimacy as king verified?
Similar to the question "How did Faramir know that Aragorn was the King in the Houses of Healing?". How was it verified that Aragorn was indeed the rightful king of Gondor and not an ...
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In the Return of The King movie, why does Gandalf cough while smoking?
So this is a minor nitpick, but it's been bugging me for a little while now.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, we can see that Gandalf is a casual pipe smoker; he seems quite adept at it, even able to ...
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How did Bill the Pony survive in "The Lord of the Rings?"
On the road to Moria, the Fellowship released Bill the Pony, who in my opinion is the true hero of The Fellowship of the Ring. At the end of the series, Sam is reunited with Bill who made his way back ...
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What exactly was the plan that drove the bulk of the Southlands subplot?
By the end of the first season of The Rings of Power, we learn that
So...whose plan was this, and what exactly was the plan? For example...
Or,
And given that
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Was Gandalf on Middle-earth in the Second Age?
Amazon's Rings of Power shows someone who may be Gandalf operating in the second age. When does Gandalf first arrive to Middle-earth in Tolkien's writings?
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Do we ever see a hobbit use their natural ability to “disappear”?
The Fellowship of the Ring prologue contains the following information about hobbits:
They possessed from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and
silently, when large folk whom they do not wish ...
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Could the Witch-king be killed without a Barrow-blade?
It seems to be widely assumed (see, e.g., https://middle-earth.xenite.org/could-earnur-have-slain-the-lord-of-the-nazgul/) that the Witch-king would have been somehow invulnerable to Éowyn's sword had ...
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In "The Rings of Power," what is Halbrand referring to when he says "The One?"
In the last episode of the show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, during the scene between Halbrand and Galadriel, Halbrand makes a reference to "The One", but I don't understand ...
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Was there a Baggins at Bag End after Frodo left for the Undying Lands? [duplicate]
In the beginning of the first LOTR movie, Bilbo narrates
"....There has always been a Baggins at Bag End and there always will
be."
But after Frodo leaves for the Undying Lands, who was ...
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What kind of beings are the three women that hunt down the istar [closed]
In the Amazon Prime Series, there are three magical beings clad in grey that hunt down one of the main characters and have several interactions with what are to become hobbits.
As shown in the last ...
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How well known is the effect of death in Middle-earth?
Out of universe, it is well established that when Elves die, they don’t “really” die, instead they go to the Halls of Mandos where they will probably reincarnate after some time.
Men go to another ...
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How are Orcs so prolific in Tolkien?
The question as to how Orcs reproduce is one that has come up many times, and the answer is basically, as they are just corrupted Elves they do it in the traditional fashion.
For the Orcs had life ...
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Did Gandalf and Sméagol ever meet before Sméagol got the One Ring?
I am thinking that since Gandalf enjoyed being with Hobbits and liked to visit them, I am wondering if there is anything in LotR canon that mentions whether he had visited the Stoor Hobbits during his ...
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Besides Galadriel and Glorfindel, were any of the elves living in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age born in Aman?
Both Galadriel and Glorfindel were Noldor born in Aman who followed Fëanor to Middle-earth, and are still there at the end of the Third Age (though yes, technically Glorfindel died, was reembodied, ...
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How did Uglúk escape Éomer's assault?
After Lurtz's death, Uglúk became the leader of the Uruk-hai who captured Merry and Pippin. Later on, Grishnákh's troops joined them.
When Éomer's riders attacked the troops, Grishnákh escaped ...
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How did Gollum follow the Fellowship through Lothlórien without being caught?
Lothlórien was guarded well. How did Gollum follow the Fellowship through Lórien without being caught by the Elves as the Fellowship was?
The Dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the ...
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Did Tolkien ever discuss the inconsistent number of recorded Human and Elven relationships
In Tolkien's legendarium he was very clear that there were three unions of elves and men. Which were those of:
Beren and Lúthien
Tuor and Idril
Aragorn and Arwen
Tolkien also describes at least two ...
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Did the ringwraiths develop a better sense of smell and if so, why?
In my understanding, ringwraiths were once humans. The books portray them as sniffing a lot and trying to pick up a scent. This is especially true in the first part where Frodo departs from Bag End.
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Who made the ring of Barahir
In JRR Tolkien's work the Ring of Barahir (RoB) was one of the key heirlooms of the Heirs of Elendil.
There is a relevant passage I recall, (I think it is from "Appendix A" of LotR, but my ...
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Who were the two large hobbits?
In the Lord of the Rings chapter "The Scouring of the Shire", there is this passage:
The hobbits at the gate still seemed ill at ease, evidently some rule or other was being broken; but ...
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What has appeared in Rings of Power S1 that is outside Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but still in Tolkien's writings?
While people are quite, and even singularly, focused on things that appear in The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power that aren't in Tolkien's writings anywhere, what I find interesting are things that ...
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How close is Amazon's 'The Rings of Power' to anything that existed in prior Tolkien works?
I was interested in watching 'The Rings of Power' as I enjoy most of what has been produced on Tolkien's works (minus 'The Hobbit'). I am hearing some horrible reviews, however, that make me question ...
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Did the Istari arrive in Middle Earth simultaneously? [duplicate]
From the wiki it is said that Saruman and one of the blue wizards came first, followed by Gandalf. Later Radagast and the other Blue wizard was sent.
Was this arrival practically simultaneous ("...
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Why couldn't the Ring be taken to Gondor by sea?
I'm currently listening to the Lord of the Rings on audiobook. In the Council of Elrond, they discuss a number of possible options for dealing with the Ring, including sending it to Valinor by ship, ...
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