J.R.R. Tolkien's
Lord of the Rings remains a full-on cultural phenomenon, with movies, video games,
comic books, and even new novels coming out all the time.
But while you might think you know everything there is to know about elves, orcs, and hobbits,
some of that might not actually be accurate.
Here are some false "facts" about The Lord of the Rings you always thought were true...
Hobbits are weak
Perhaps the biggest misconception regarding the world of Middle-earth is that hobbits
are, as a race, pretty weak.
Sure, the four main hobbits each get heroic moments, but they're treated like outliers.
In the books, though, there's another ending we don't see in the movies, where a de-powered
Saruman conquers the Shire and we get to see the true mettle of the hobbit race.
Led by Merry, Sam, Frodo, and Pippin, the hobbits free themselves and slaughter a whole
army of ruffians sent against them.
Turns out all those extra breakfasts made them pretty strong!
Comic relief
Some fans believe that Samwise Gamgee is little more than a source of comedic relief.
It's understandable, given Sean Astin's charming performance, which was filled with meme-worthy
moments about "po-tay-toes" and sharing the load.
But the most badass Samwise moment is one that's all too easy to overlook.
When Sam thinks Frodo has been killed by Shelob, he takes the ring and prepares to finish the
quest alone.
That would be heroic enough, but when he finds Frodo alive, he simply hands the ring back
over.
It may not sound like much, but he's pretty much the only character who is able to resist
the ring's temptation.
Even Gandalf refused to take the ring because he knew he'd be corrupted.
"Don't tempt me Frodo.
I dare not take it.
Not even to keep it safe."
And Frodo himself gave in to the ring at the end, only finishing the quest because Gollum
bit his finger off.
Samwise?
He doesn't seem tempted at all — just scared of how the ring affects everyone else.
That makes Sam more than just, well, this:
"Potatoes!"
Next stop: Valinor
One of the many endings in the Return of the King movie shows Frodo and Gandalf taking
a fateful boat trip.
They're heading off to Valinor, the legendary Heaven-on-Middle-earth, where the gods live
in harmony with their immortal children, the elves.
Heading to Valinor or staying with Aragorn was the choice Arwen had to make, remember?
So you'd justified in assuming that getting to Heaven is probably a pretty difficult thing
to do.
But, in fact, it's pretty much as easy as just building a boat and sailing there — which
is exactly what Legolas and his hetero-life partner Gimli do in the books in order to
join their departed friends.
That...doesn't seem so hard.
Get rich or die trying
Fans of the films can be forgiven for thinking that when you lose the One Ring, you instantly
age.
After all, Bilbo seems hale and hearty during his birthday celebration at the beginning
of The Fellowship of the Ring, but when we see him at the end of The Return of the King,
he's a shriveled old man.
But, in fact, it's exactly the opposite.
After all, Gollum has been alive for centuries thanks to the ring's power, surviving for
several decades after losing the Ring to Bilbo.
The Ring doesn't age you, it extends your life.
So why does Bilbo look so feeble after giving up the Ring?
Well, turns out the movie forgot to mention the simple fact that there's actually a 20
year gap between the opening and closing scenes of the trilogy.
So Bilbo's aging is simply due to the natural passage of time.
Thanks for confusing everyone, movie!
Helm's Deep
Among diehard Lord of the Rings fans, there are four words almost guaranteed to inspire
blind rage: "elves at Helm's Deep."
(our reaction to nearly all of the Orcs being CGI in The Hobbit trilogy)
This, of course, was a major part of the climax of The Two Towers movie, with a small company
of elves arriving to help the humans drive off a huge army of invading orcs.
But not only is this not in the books, it runs directly counter to one of the main themes
of the books, which is the decline of the elves, who are sailing off to Valinor and
leaving the affairs of the mortal world behind.
Frankly, if the elves cared enough about the world to get involved at Helm's Deep, they
probably could have prevented Sauron's return in the first place, only they weren't really
paying any attention.
The great eye
If it weren't for Sauron being a giant eyeball, the internet would never have had one of its
more enduring and beloved memes.
But that whole giant eyeball thing is a creation of Peter Jackson, who used it to make the
implicit threat of Sauron more explicit.
In fact, while Sauron doesn't physically show up in the books either, Tolkien's letters
indicated that Sauron did, in fact, have a physical form at the time of the Return of
the King.
We don't know exactly what he looked like, but chances are it was less like a giant eyeball
and more like, uh, Michael Fassbender.
Or something.
Old man Aragorn
Thanks to Viggo Mortensen and the face that launched a thousand fanfics, it's easy to
take Aragorn's age at face value.
After all, Mortenson was 43 years old when Fellowship of the Ring came out, and it seemed
a reasonable age for a seasoned warrior who can still kick major butt.
However, the character of Aragorn is actually nearly ninety at the time of the movies, eventually
living to be two-hundred-and-ten before passing away in super slow motion.
Of course, this wasn't really discussed much in the movies.
Though a deleted scene from Two Towers pretty much explains the whole thing.
"You are one of the Dunedain—a descendent of Numenor, blessed with long life.
It was said your race has passed into legend."
"There are few of us left.
The northern kingdom was destroyed long ago."
Faramir is a jerk
When Faramir captures Frodo and Bilbo and almost delivers them to his creepy dad, it
kind of makes sense, because after all he is Boromir's brother, and Boromir was seduced
by the dark side of the Force.
(our reaction to the prequel trilogy)
But as fans of the books well know, Faramir is actually nothing like his brother.
In the original story, Faramir figures out what Frodo and Sam are doing.
And rather than taking the ring and turning them over to his exceptionally creepy dad…
"Come, sing me a song."
...Faramir actually helps them on their journey, and isn't tempted by the ring at all.
Thanks to Peter Jackson, though, tens of millions of viewers think Faramir is just another jerk.
No man's land
One of the most powerful and progressive moments from Return of the King is when Eowyn the
shield-maiden defeats the Witch-King.
The Witch-King feels pretty confident because of a prophecy that basically says no man can
kill him, at which point Eowyn does the most epic of mic drops.
"I am no man."
"Damnnnnnnnnn!!"
It's a powerful moment, but if you think she won just because she's a woman, you're wrong.
It was actually because she had a ton of help from Merry.
Before Eowyn gets her awesome killing stroke in, audiences see little Merry stab the Witch-King
with his blade.
The movies glosses over the importance of these blades, with Aragorn simply handing
them out at Weathertop.
Tolkien, however, made clear that these blades were forged by the Rangers years ago with
magical enchantments specifically made to hurt the Witch-King.
In the books, Merry stabs the Witch-King with one of the only weapons that can hurt him,
opening the door for Eowyn to complete the prophecy.
Those eagles
Okay, everyone in the entire world seems united by one thing: wondering why the heck the ring
gang didn't just ride those giant eagles into Mordor in the first place!
But this question has already been answered if you pay close attention to the plot.
The whole reason they sent a tiny group to destroy the ring in the first place is because
Sauron is constantly watching everything.
"One does not simply walk into Mordor.
Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs.
There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful."
So while a couple teeny tiny hobbits might go unnoticed, a flock of massive eagles would
have been really obvious, and easy prey for the Nazgul and their Fellbeasts.
The eagles were only able to fly in after Sauron was defeated.
Question answered, internet!
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