The Road Goes Ever On and On: Everything Tolkien

[Narnian_Archer]

A friend of mine went to Britain and bought an English version of the Lord of the Rings for another of her friends who went camping with me not long ago, and she letme take a peek inside. FINALLY I have begun to read the Lord of the Rings after years of being a devoted fan to the films (each part of which I have seen 5 times, and the first part 6) and The Hobbit book!! I have to admit, I was completely blown away by the detailed description and intricacy in what seem to be minor details, like the history of Hobbiton. I hope I will be able to acquire a book of my own, but for now I shall have to be content with an digital version.

[Varnafinde]

Good to see a new lover of the books!
You will find some differences from the movies in a few places - in most of the cases, I prefer the book versions. But some of the changes are just cuts to keep the movies down to a reasonable length.
Now you'll get the full value!

[AslansChild]

[color=#006600] PJ also has cameos in TTT and TRotK (EE on that last one).

Yeah, I noticed that, I would just see him and his children randomly, although I saw him in the theatrical versions in TROTK, although very briefly. Twice.

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Has anyone had a chance to see this video? I thought it was very funny:

Ian McKellen’s one-man show to raise funds for the benefit of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal is in Wellington this weekend for its final few shows. Here’s a snippet of video from the last night’s show at the Opera House that features cameos from cast members from The Hobbit, and the locals.

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I have a question concerning The Hobbit. Why won't Aragorn be in it? In the appendix's of the LOTR, it mentions that he more or less banished/took Smeagol away from the Hobbits after he had murdered Feagol, and put him where he was in the LOTR, like we see in the beginning of TROTK. But in the Hobbit trailer, Smeagol's already Gollum and such, etc. Also, Aragorn's known Gandalf before TFOTR, so why won't we be seeing him? And why is LegoLas going to be in it, when TOR.net says that his father

Thranduil is believed to have been the very same Elven King in “The Hobbit” who kept Bilbo and his Dwarven companions imprisoned during their journey to confront Smaug.

Would LegoLas even be born?

Just curious.........

[fantasia]

Oh my, I went looking through my copy of LotR and couldn't find anything I was looking for, so someone who is better versed in both LotR and Sil will be able to give you a more detailed answer AslansChild, but I can at least give you the general version.

Would LegoLas even be born?

The elves were the first race created in Tolkien's world, and they're immortal. I couldn't find the specific date that Legolas was born, but it's possible he was born even before the dwarves and humans were created. So yes, he was alive during the time of the Hobbit and probably several thousand years old already. In the time LotR was written, I think Arwen was the youngest elf and she was ... very old.

In the appendix's of the LOTR, it mentions that he more or less banished/took Smeagol away from the Hobbits after he had murdered Feagol, and put him where he was in the LOTR, like we see in the beginning of TROTK. But in the Hobbit trailer, Smeagol's already Gollum and such, etc. Also, Aragorn's known Gandalf before TFOTR, so why won't we be seeing him?

The incident that you are remembering with Aragorn and Gollum was not after Smeagol murdered Feagol. Smeagol was driven out by his own people and went to live in the Misty Mountains shortly after Sauron was destroyed. Aragorn and Gandalf were not involved (Aragorn certainly wasn't alive and Gandalf didn't know of Gollum's existence until the Hobbit). That part was fairly accurately portrayed in the beginning of RotK.
The part you're talking about with Aragorn, Gandalf and Gollum occurred shortly (relatively) before Frodo left to take the ring to Mordor.
And just to clarify, the adventure in the Hobbit and the adventure in LotR take place about 100 years apart from each other if my rough estimates on Bilbo and Frodo's ages are correct. Aragorn may not have been born yet in the time of the Hobbit, I don't think he was.

So the short answers to your questions are that, yes, Legolas was definitely around during the Hobbit, but I don't think Aragorn was, and if he was, he was a small child.

All of that is from memory so someone can correct me if I'm way off. But I think that's pretty accurate.

[AslansChild]

]The elves were the first race created in Tolkien's world, and they're immortal.

If they're immortal, how can they be born, and why do they die?
I mean, in TROTK, Arwen

SHOW SPOILER

"sees" her son with Aragorn, so...he had to have been born.

And in TTT,

SHOW SPOILER

Haldrir dies.

So...I'm all confused. And even though Aragorn is part Elf, Elrond says that "either by the sword or the slow decay of time...Aragorn will die." And yet Arwen will live...eternally?

Aragorn may not have been born yet in the time of the Hobbit, I don't think he was.

I don't know, in this interview:

http://fss.live.com/krl/block.aspx?OS=6 ... rove=false

Viggo Mortensen says that:

– you know there’s a 60 odd year time span between the end of “The Hobbit” and the beginning of “The Lord of the Rings.” So they could feasibly have done that, since Aragorn lives much longer than humans do, being part Elf and all that.

I dunno...

[daughter of the King]

If they're immortal, how can they be born, and why do they die?

Just because they are immortal doesn't mean they can't have children. Elves get married, have kids, have grandkids, etc. Arwen is off visiting her grandmother Galadriel at the time Hobbit takes place if I'm remembering correctly. Elves also do not age, or at least not very much. Instead, they grow weary of Middle-Earth and sail West to the land of the Valar (the name of the land is escaping me at the moment [Tol Eressea?]). They also do not get ill. However, they can be injured, and they can die in battle. A few Elves are different (Arwen is one of these) in that they choose to not sail but instead decide to live as a mortal and eventually die. This choice was given to the Half-Elven (Elrond, his brother, and Elrond's children).

As for Aragorn, he was born in 2931. The events in The Hobbit take place in 2941, so Aragorn is only ten at the time. While it is possible he may have met Gandalf and the Dwarves at the time, it is doubtful because they were concealing Aragorn's identity until he was older. Aragorn's mother brought him to Rivendell to protect him after his father was killed, and he was not told who he really was or anything about his ancestry until he was an adult. Aragorn meets Gandalf as an adult in 2956 and begins to hunt for Gollum in 3001, the year Bilbo left the Shire at the start of LotR. So yes, there are 60 years in between Hobbit and the start of LotR, but the odds of Viggo Mortensen having a cameo as Aragorn are pretty slim. Frodo doesn't leave the shire until eighteen years after Bilbo. Frodo actually talks about that in one point in the book if I'm remembering right because Bilbo had his adventure when he was fifty, and Frodo is having his adventure at the same age. Frodo's actually ten years older than Boromir.

My dates all came from Appendix B. There's a really long timeline that includes some events from the First and Second Age as well as several details of the Third. It even has the years in LotR by month and day so you could read what happens each day. I'm not patient enough for that, although I know some people have done it.

In the time LotR was written, I think Arwen was the youngest elf and she was ... very old.

She was 2777 the year Frodo leaves the Shire. Aragorn was 87, which I believe is the age he tells Eowyn in the extended TT.

Edit: I see FK answered your questions pretty well. Feel free to ignore me and my geekiness.

[Varnafinde]

The elves were the first race created in Tolkien's world, and they're immortal. I couldn't find the specific date that Legolas was born, but it's possible he was born even before the dwarves and humans were created. So yes, he was alive during the time of the Hobbit and probably several thousand years old already.

The first elves were created before the humans, but I don't get the impression that even Legolas's grandfather (who was killed in the war when Sauron lost the Ring) was among those, so Legolas wouldn't be that old. I don't think his birth date or year is given anywhere, but it's still reasonable to believe that he is a few thousand years old, probably older than Arwen. He says of Fangorn Forest:

'It is old, very old. So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace.'

And although elves are for all practical purposes immortal, they don't necessarily live eternally.
They live till the end of the world. They are bound to the world, and age along with it.

Even when they are killed, they are still bound to the world, and stay in a place called the Halls of Mandos. When we reach the end of the world, then the elves will die. They have no promise of (although some of them hope for) a life after the end of the world.

Whereas humans are free of the world when they die, and the elves do not know where they go, only that it is not to the same place as where the elves go.

P.S.
daughter of the King: I love your geekiness

[Bookwyrm]

And even death for an elf isn't a true death. They live in the Halls of Mandos for a time and then take on a new body. That's why second marriages are pretty much non-existent and children are somewhat rare; the species cannot ever die out so there's no pressing need to pop out children as frequently as possible the way humans had to.

[stargazer]

Saw a trailer for The Hobbit in front of Brave today. Wonderful to see it on the big screen! The song gave me goosebumps.

[fantasia]

For those who haven't seen this yet, there are 10 new pictures from The Hobbit that can be found here...*spoiler alert for at least one photo*
http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,2048313 ... l#21179581
And TORn's arcticle on EW's magazine cover...
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/07 ... obbit-set/

[daughter of the King]

You beat me to it, FK.

Is Elrond holding what I think he's holding?

SHOW SPOILER

It looks suspiciously like a certain map to me. Ooh, and Bilbo is fighting spiders. I'm not entirely certain of the Dwarf picture. When they're fleeing from the goblins, perhaps?

I love that last one of Bilbo. He looks like he's ready to set out on a Tookish adventure.

[7chronicles]

I LOVE ALL the new photos! And Gollum looks so amazing again!!!!
Its so nice to see him again!!!

Another photo from the magazine!

Dwalin and Balin!!!!!!


Bigger version:
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/7983 ... oewipa.jpg

I LOVE Graham McTavish, he plays one of my favorite characters in Uncharted 3, and plays an awesome bad guy in Uncharted 2!!!! He does an Awesome Russian Accent!

Graham McTavish was actally in the middle of Mo-Capping in Uncharted 3 when we was given the role of Dwalin. His character in the game was originally going to be in the whole game, but since he got the role of Dwalin, they had to shorten his characters part in the story (bummer to because I Loved him in the game!)
A scene in the game was written in where his character gets a broken leg and has to back out of the adventure.

I find it hilarious because every character he plays in bald!

Graham McTavish

Zoran Lazarevic - Uncharted 2

Charlie Cutter - Uncharted 3


EDIT: It's a wrap!
Link:
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/07 ... ts-a-wrap/

[AslansChild]

EDIT: It's a wrap!
Link:
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/07 ... ts-a-wrap/

Hallelujah! Now...when do we see the next trailer? Comic-Con anybody? I'm anxious to see Smaug.

Anybody see this yet? I thought it was pretty funny, the Hobbit cast were guest stars in a music video. Song's pretty good too.

[7chronicles]

Hallelujah! Now...when do we see the next trailer? Comic-Con anybody? I'm anxious to see Smaug.

I want to see Smaug too! But I don't think we will see him at all until next year.

But here is a new Comic-Con poster to tide us over!

[fantasia]

Oooh, I missed that filming had wrapped. Very cool. Way to go Hobbit actors and everyone involved up to this point!!

I did see the Comic-Con poster this morning and was kind of 'meh' about it. Gandalf's arm almost looks detached from his body. And the photoshopped colors were a little weird to me sooo... definitely preferred the teaser poster, but hey, it's news.

@AslansChild, I'm with you, I'm dying for the official trailer. I was hoping it'd be out with the summer blockbusters but nothing so far. Maybe Comic-Con? Maybe The Dark Knight Rises? I guess we'll see.

[7chronicles]

Look what I got in my email!!!!
I can't wait to see what else WETA will be coming out with!
My wallet is killing me!

Price: $250
Available at Comic-con for pre-order, the rest will be kept at the WETA Cave.