What's stronger : a Witch King, or a White Wizard?
And what happened to all of those magic rings anyway? Keep watching to find out
everything you didn't know you wanted to know about the mythology of Lord of the Rings.
Right from the get-go, elves and dwarves clearly have some serious beef. Indeed,
these two ancient Middle-earth races are at odds at practically every step. In The Hobbit,
the dwarves are less than friendly with the elves of Rivendell,
and they're later straight-up imprisoned by the elves of Mirkwood. In The Lord of the Rings,
Gimli and Legolas begin their friendship at odds, the elven princeling hates the
idea of going into Moria, and the dwarf is nearly refused admission into Lothlorien.
"Ishkhaqwi ai durugnul!"
"That was not so courteous."
The animosity between elf and dwarf is a theme that stretches far back
through their ancient histories, which are told in The Silmarillion. This book
reveals that the root of the conflict can be found in each race's creation.
Middle-Earth's dwarves were brought into being by an angelic creature named Aulë,
who made them in an act of disobedience. As he waited for the Creator, Ilúvatar,
to bring the elves into the world, Aulë became impatient,
so he made the dwarves instead. Ilúvatar caught Aulë red-handed, but the Creator chose to give
these new creations their own individual wills. However, he also told Aulë that:
"Often strife shall arise between thine and mine,
the children of my adoption and the children of my choice."
This immediately set the tone for the dwarves to live fiercely independent lives,
separate from the other Children of Ilúvatar — and often in direct competition with them.
"The age of men is over. The time of the orc has come."
In The Two Towers, Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin that orcs were
made in mockery of elves during Middle-Earth's Great Darkness.
However, Tolkien never totally clarified the exact origin of the orcs. Nevertheless,
in The Silmarillion, he does offer one very compelling account for their creation.
Tolkien explains that, when the elves first came into existence, they were alone in Middle-Earth,
living in childlike innocence in a world of perpetual starlight. Eventually,
they became afraid of wandering off alone, as an unknown being they called "the Hunter" had
begun to carry them off. This Hunter turned out to be the Dark Lord Morgoth and his servants.
The fate of his captives was uncertain, but it was surmised by the wise of Middle-earth that:
"By slow arts of cruelty [the elves] were corrupted and enslaved;
and thus did [Morgoth] breed the hideous race of the orcs in envy and mockery of the elves,
of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes."
While the orcs likely began as corrupted elves, before long,
they had taken on their own attributes. But even as the enemies of Middle-Earth's Free Peoples,
Tolkien points out that, deep in their dark hearts, the orcs still loathed the maker of
their misery. The creation of the orcs has been referred to by Tolkien as Morgoth's vilest deed,
and the one that caused the most offense to Ilúvatar.
So, you know where orcs come from… but what's the deal with Uruk-hai?
How are Saruman's oversized servants different from their orcish counterparts?
After all, they appear to have orcish features, but they're uncommonly tall
and muscular. Much like the history of the orcs themselves, Tolkien was never crystal
clear about the answer to this question. But he does offer a few hints in The Two Towers.
"Whom do you serve?"
"Saruman!"
First of all, it seems fair to suggest that the Uruk-hai are
an offshoot breed of orcs. In other words, they are, at least partially,
part of the "orc family tree." In The Two Towers, Treebeard states that:
"[Saruman] has been doing something to [the orcs]; something dangerous.
For these Isengarders are more like wicked men."
He adds that normal orcs cannot stand the sun, but the Uruk-hai can,
even if they don't exactly love it. From there, Treebeard wonders:
"Are they men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of orcs and men?"
During the Battle of Helm's Deep, the Uruk-hai are also referred to as
"half-orcs and goblin-men." While the truth remains hazy, it appears that the White Wizard
may have crossbred orcs and men to create his own breed of soldier.
The exact purpose of the One Ring is kept vague in both the Lord of
the Rings films and the books. However, if you cobble together enough of the facts,
it is possible to paint a better picture of the true power of everyone's favorite trinket.
In The Silmarillion, Sauron forges the One Ring partway through the Second Age.
When this happens, he binds the other Rings of Power to it in order to gain an intimate
level of domination over their owners. In essence, Sauron is able to use the
Ring to see what the other Ring-bearers are thinking — and even control their thoughts.
"One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."
However, Sauron's initial plan backfires, and the elves prove strong enough to resist his will.
Nevertheless, the One Ring retains its control over most of the other Rings of Power,
existing primarily as an instrument of evil domination.
While this is the primary purpose of the One Ring, it also provides the wearer with
several other advantages. Obviously, it can make an individual disappear when
they want to. It can also slow the aging process, or even halt it indefinitely.
On top of that, when Sam briefly puts on the Ring after fleeing Shelob's lair,
he is able to understand the conversation of nearby orcs. In the text, Tolkien suggests
that the Ring may have given him the ability to translate the orcs' language.
Notably, the same thing happened to Bilbo when he encountered the spiders of Mirkwood in The Hobbit.
The timelines of Peter Jackson's movies and Tolkien's books come to cross purposes
fairly early in the telling. Arguably, this throws off the timing of the whole story,
leading to the question: how long does Frodo have the One Ring before he becomes Mordor-bound?
The correct answer, in the books, is 17 years. Frodo receives his inheritance from Bilbo
on his 33rd birthday. In the movie version of that long-expected party,
Merry and Pippin are practically full-grown when they get into trouble with Gandalf.
This gives the understandable impression that very little time passes between that event
and the moment at which the four hobbits begin their quest.
The truth is, though, in the book version of The Fellowship of the Ring, a whopping 17 years elapse
between Frodo getting the Ring and Frodo leaving the Shire. And that's 17 years exactly — in fact,
he receives the Ring on his 33rd birthday and departs the Shire on his 50th. In the novel,
this goes a long way in explaining why he's so attached to the Ring right from the get-go.
While John Noble does a fantastic job portraying Denethor on the silver screen, the cinematic
version of the Steward of Gondor doesn't exactly do justice to the book. He's arrogant to a fault,
blinded by pride, and literally tells his men to leave Minas Tirith when it comes under attack.
"Abandon your posts! Flee, flee for your lives!"
Worst of all, he orders Faramir to attack Osgiliath, when there's no question that
he's going to be mown down by an army of orcish archers. All of this behavior is so over the top
that it begs the question – what the heck is going on? Well, if you turn to the original text, the
answer becomes clear. Namely, the fact that his poor judgment is far more nuanced in the books.
Denethor isn't a mad tyrant openly trying to kill his son. On the contrary, while he does
make his disappointment in Faramir clear, he doesn't send his son on a suicide mission.
Instead, when Faramir retreats to Minas Tirith to report on the situation in Osgiliath,
Denethor simply asks him to return and bolster the defenses. More generally,
the steward's hopeless despair comes about because he has been battling Sauron's will
through one of the palantir. All in all, the book version of Denethor is a deeply
flawed man — but he's also strong and noble, and gives everything he has to the defense of Gondor.
Hobbits are a curious people. They share similarities with men, dwarves,
and even elves at times, which often leads to the question of
whether or not Tolkien meant for them to be related to any of these other races.
Well, they are related to one of them — men, to be precise. At least, they're most likely related to
them. Again, Tolkien left this one with a little open-ended. In the prologue to The Fellowship
of the Ring, he spends a decent amount of time breaking down the history, ancestry,
and culture of the Little People. In the middle of the breakdown, he straight-up states that:
"It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement hobbits are relatives of [men]."
While this is presented as an obvious fact, he also points out that:
"The beginning of hobbits lies far back in the Elder Days that are now lost and forgotten."
He also points out that the true relationship between hobbits and men, quote, "can no longer
be discovered." So, while Tolkien refuses to make any specific connection between the two,
he all but declares that hobbits are a miniature version of the Big People.
A number of Rings of Power appear throughout The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.
Nine rings are wielded by mortal men doomed to die. The three elven rings
are used to keep all that is good and holy intact. And, of course,
there's the One Ring itself, which serves as the focal point of the entire story.
But what about the seven dwarven rings? These are shown briefly at the beginning
of The Fellowship of the Ring, and they're mentioned every time the
Ring poem is recited. But that's about it. So, what happened to them? Well,
Gandalf provides a bit of clarity on the subject in The Fellowship of the Ring, when he hastily
brings Frodo up to date on the long lore of the Rings of Power. He briefly mentions that:
"Seven the dwarf-kings possessed,
but three [Sauron] has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed."
This is partially confirmed later on, when Gandalf suggests that dragon-fire could destroy the lesser
rings. Then, at the Council of Elrond, Glóin informs the group that a messenger from Mordor
asked for the dwarves' help in hunting for the One Ring. The price offered in exchange?
"Three rings that the dwarf-sires possessed of old."
One of the biggest issues that many fans have with the Lord of the Rings movies
comes from a scene in the extended edition of The Return of the King,
in which the Witch-king confronts Gandalf on the walls of Minas Tirith.
“This is my hour!"
Faced with the awesome power of the White Wizard, Sauron's captain nonetheless overpowers him,
destroying his staff and sending him hurtling to the ground.
So is Gandalf the White really weaker than one of the Nazgûl? While this is a generally speculative
question, it's probably safe to assume that Peter Jackson and company overstepped a little here.
That's not a knock against the Witch-King, of course. Angmar's erstwhile ruler is thousands
of years old, wields a Ring of Power, and is backed by the strongest being in Middle-earth.
But we're not comparing him to a run-of-the-mill mortal, here,
or even an elven lord. This is Gandalf. He's an angelic being placed inside a mortal body; one
who is older than time itself — and happens to be secretly wielding one of the elven Rings of Power.
No matter which way you slice it, the Witch-king would never be able to defeat Gandalf this easily.
In the books, the two characters do briefly face each other, but before they can come to blows,
the Rohirrim arrive and the Witch-King retreats. Still,
it's probably safe to say that the Witch-King probably wouldn't have won that fight.
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