I express my gratitude to Peter Jackson for telling the whole world about the struggle between Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo. However, the original trilogy and all kinds of additions to it offer us a scattering of surprising and little-known facts.
10. Sauron's ring did not make him invisible
When Bilbo, Frodo, or Sam put on the Ring of Power, they became invisible. Sauron made him to conquer Middle-earth, so you might think invisibility was meant to be part of his tactics. In this case, the Dark Lord could be sure that no one could destroy him. And yet, when the elves and humans attacked him, they were able not only to win, but even to cut the Ring off right from their finger! Despite the fact that Sauron never parted with him, he did not become invisible. How could this happen?
The ring does not make just any person invisible. It transfers bodies from the physical world to the invisible world of Spirits. Sauron, like Gandalf, belonged to the Maya race - a variety of younger spirits that simultaneously exist in two worlds and therefore cannot be transferred to where they already live.
In the fight against Middle-earth, the Ring's ability to make a person invisible still played into the hands of Sauron. The person who wore the Ring of Omnipotence gradually fell under its spell, became addicted, and, in the end, turned into a slave to the Ghosts of the Ring (Nazguls). Hobbits such as Bilbo, Frodo, and even Gollum proved to be resistant to the dark forces of the Ring by wearing it for a short time.
9. It is worth losing the ring and your old age is just around the corner.
One of the most striking scenes in Peter Jackson's film is meeting Bilbo Baggins in Rivendale. He appears to us as a rather cheerful hobbit when he escapes from his 111th birthday, but when Frodo next meets his uncle, Bilbo looks much older than his years. It is logical to assume that due to the unexpected parting with the Ring, the hobbit has aged dramatically. If so, what about the other bearer of the Ring, Gollum?
The main action of the novels "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Two Strongholds" takes place 80 years after the events described in the book "The Hobbit or There and Back". Despite the fact that all this time, Gollum remained without the Ring, in the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" he remains nimble enough to chase the victim, make his way over the rocks and fight the younger Sam. Not bad for a 500 year old hobbit!
The only reason for this is, apparently, the destruction of the Ring. Bilbo feels all his past years when he sets sail with Frodo at the end of The Return of the King movie and the book of the same name.
8. Other Rings of Sauron grant wishes, but beware of pitfalls
The Lord of the Rings trilogy focuses on the One Ring, which Frodo and his friends seek to destroy. However, Sauron made 19 more rings, including 7, which were passed on to the most influential dwarf royal families. One of them was mentioned in the novel The Hobbit or There and Back and in The Lord of the Rings.
In "The Hobbit or There and Back," Gandalf gives the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield a key with which to sneak into the lair of the dragon Smaug. The magician took this key from Thorin's father Thrain, while Sauron kept him in prison for the return of one of the 7 rings. While Thrain was in possession of the ring, it made him greedy for gold, and this in the end could lead to mania (as was the case with Thrain's father Thor) or death (as happened to Thrain himself).
From the book it becomes clear that all the wealth of the gnomes was based on the power of the rings. Smaug attacked Thorin's men in search of gold and took possession of it. These events preceded the events described in the book "The Hobbit". And Bilbo's discovery of the Ring of Omnipotence - preceded the entire epic "The Lord of the Rings". Even the seasoned traveler Balin, who was later killed by the Orcs in Moria, tried to find the lost ring of Thrain.
7. Why not give the Ring to Gandalf to defeat Sauron?
For a long time, fans have been arguing about which of the two sides should win the battle. The Lord of the Rings, with its huge number of battles and characters, provides a lot of food for such controversy. But this question has already been answered by the author of the epic - John Ronald Ruel Tolkien.
While the author was alive, he received a large number of letters from fans and his detailed answers about Middle-earth were subsequently collected in Letters from J.R.R. Tolkien ". In one such letter, he described the battle that could have taken place between Gandalf wearing the Ring and Sauron. Tolkien said that the battle would be very short - the owner of the Ring is Sauron, and he would find a way how It could help him in this battle. At the same time, Gandalf could have had great power, the Dark Lord by this time would have spent part of his power on the conquest of people and other races.
Tolkien believed that if Gandalf had won, the situation in Middle-earth would have become much worse than with Sauron's victory. The author was confident that Gandalf would eventually become a smug ruler who believed that the world could only be changed by force.
6. How could orcs exist
Tolkien's Letters shed light on what the readers of The Silmarillion were pondering. Orcs are not a separate race, but former elves, over whom the hand of Darkness has stretched out. This fits well with the author's main idea: Evil (such as Sauron) cannot create anything, only destroy. But once you stop thinking about it, many questions arise.
For example, how do orcs breed? In the films, it has been shown that Saruman takes the orcs out of some kind of cocoons. The Silmarillion stated that orcs reproduce like all other races. Where, then, are the orc women? In the entire trilogy, there was not a single mention of them. Also, why are the children of former elves also orcs and not elves?
This dilemma also raises questions about whether orc souls end up in the Halls of Mandos (a kind of so-called purgatory where souls go after death) and whether they undergo reincarnation after that.
5. Gimli and Legolas: brothers forever
In the films of Peter Jackson, the connection between Gimli and Legolas, representatives of two completely different races, is emphasized with great humor. Throughout the war, they fought side by side, and many are interested in the question of how their fate developed in peacetime. The appendix to The Return of the King gives a surprising answer to this question.
After Aragorn dies, Legolas builds a boat and sails to Valinor (also known as the Undying Lands), where the elves and the bearers of the remaining rings have already left. I must say that there, all mortals gain immortality. So Legolas went to heaven, but he also took Gimli with him!
From the application, we learn an amazing thing: the elves and the Higher powers of Middle-earth took the dwarf to paradise! Gimli wished to see the beauty of the elves Galadriel for the last time, and she, using her power and influence, opened the way for him to heaven. Thus, the friendship between Gimli and Legolas continues!
4. It makes no sense to look for a connection with reality in Tolkien's books.
Given the period in which The Lord of the Rings was written, some readers may find a connection between the characters and events in the trilogy and reality. For example: the Dark Lord Sauron may be associated with Hitler, and the head of the White Council Saruman - with Mussolini. Someone might think that the Ring of Omnipotence is an allusion to an atomic bomb.
However, allegories are completely alien to Tolkien.Unlike his friend Lewis, who in every possible way hinted that Aslan in his books about Narnia was Jesus Christ, Tolkien believed that the allegories caused the reader to prejudice the author. The reader will only like books where events will develop according to their own scenario, which does not depend on reality, Tolkien said, and therefore it makes no sense to look for any hints of a real event in his books.
3. Middle earth is really a solid plain
Some facts from the history of Middle-earth, touched upon in "The Silmarillion" look very strange, especially for fans of high-quality fantasy. For example, long ago, Middle-earth was one big plain. This led to the emergence of a large number of questions, especially acute on the topic of gods, elves and magic.
If we talk about these three things, the question arises, what prevented people from immediately going to the Undying Lands? Absolutely nothing: people from Numenor promised to stay, but they did not keep their promises and left these lands in search of immortality. The god Ilúvatar was angry, and the people, and behind them the whole island of Numenor, were swallowed up by the ocean waters.
The same Iluvatar changed the relief of the planet so that no one else would have to leave Middle-earth until it was known exactly where to sail. If this fact did not seem so strange to you, then read on: Sauron dies when Numenor is flooded, and his spiritual essence returns to Middle-earth and takes with him, for one thing, the Ring of Omnipotence.
The latter fact is even darker than the stories of Edgar Poe. A handful of people from Numenor made it to the Undying Lands, but only to be buried under the mountain by the wrath of God. But since people there cannot die in the literal sense of the word, their souls were doomed to wander forever in darkness, feeling pain and loneliness.
2. White nationalists are crazy about the "Lord of the Rings"
We live in a tumultuous time of a huge number of different fanatics, for whom the idea of multiculturalism is in the first place. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is used by white nationalists as a role model and pride in their idea.
With a few exceptions, they are influenced by the situation in the Caucasus. Light magicians, light people and light hobbits go to fight Sauron - the Dark Lord and the "Darkness in the East". Most of Tolkien's books are associated with the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. White nationalists take what is written in Tolkien's books literally, for example: Orcs are clear representatives of "darkness" as black people.
1. Tolkien is the one who will make you read the legend of Beowulf
Many students know Beowulf as the Scandinavian legend of an unconquerable warrior who defeated many demons before being killed in battle with a dragon. Over time, people began to forget about the poem, and now it is of interest only to a narrow circle of people.
In 1936, Tolkien gave a lecture: "Monsters and Critics." In it, he convinced scientists and ultimately the whole world that monsters themselves are amazing creatures that are reflected in the nature of man himself. Human life has value and meaning precisely because of the "monsters". We, like Beowulf, oppose evil, but we cannot always defeat it.
These ideas are at the heart of The Lord of the Rings. Characters such as Frodo end up fighting, not so much with the orcs and Black Riders, but with their own fears and temptations within themselves. It is in this sense that Tolkien introduces Frodo to us as a man who has come down to the very heart of Mordor, who is essentially a reflection of the dark side of the hobbit himself. Only then comes the understanding of one's own soul and the attainment of spiritual eternal life.
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