A couple of weekends ago, we dedicated an entire, spoiler-filled session to exploring the new character Tauriel, the…
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A couple of weekends ago, we dedicated an entire, spoiler-filled session to exploring the new character Tauriel, the Silvan captain of guards that Jackson, Boyens and Walsh are introducing into their adaptation of The Hobbit. .
For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log. And a reminder: tomorrow (Saturday June 22 at 6pm EDT) we’ll be discussing the Desolation of Smaug trailer. Continue reading “Hall of Fire chat log: Tauriel, captain of guards”
The Russian publisher Sezonoj has just published a reprint of the second edition of La Hobito, world famous work by J.R.R. Tolkien, as the ninth volume of the Mondliteraturo series of books. Continue reading “Esperanto Hobbit translation reprinted”
A couple of weekends ago, we discussed the character of Isildur in Hall of Fire. Was he, we asked, the true shaper of the Third Age? For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log. And a reminder: tomorrow (Saturday June 8 at 6pm EDT) we’ll be returning to the Hobbit movies for the first time in a while and examining the new details about Tauriel, and what they might mean for the films. Continue reading “Hall of Fire chat log: Isildur”
RingerSpy Bruta from The Netherlands shares with us his theory on the appearance of Smaug.
Just like everyone else I’ve been wondering what Peter Jackson’s version of Smaug will look like. There have been a couple of interesting articles by TORn about the appearance and size of the dragon. In TORn’s article ‘Analysis: just how big is Jackson’s Smaug?‘, Demosthenes calculated the size of the drake and Smaug appears to be immense. This is a compelling fact few can deny. Further evidence can be found in the following image of the gate of Erebor .
In comparison with Smaug’s tail, the dwarves are about the size of ants. From this it isn’t surprising that in the movie the dwarves are being crushed when Smaug enters through the front gate. In the second TORn article; “Could this be Smaug?!”, Smaug’s head is shown, but to me this is definitely not Smaug, I’ll explain why below.
The Kite theory
In my kite theory, Smaug will have some basic attributes in common with the dragonkite we see the children of Dale flying in the Prologue .
The evidence
If we look at the image, where Smaug pulverizes the dwarves, you can clearly see Smaug’s head. Under the nose and on the sides of his head, you can see his horns. At least, I assume they are horns because that would be the most satisfying explanation for these ‘sticks’. The stick on his nose could also be a tooth, or maybe the end of his kitedragon-like nose. But this isn’t the best picture in which we can see his horned head. When Smaug is swimming in Thror’s gold he dives up, at that moment, in a brief second, the other horns on the top of his head are visible.
According to my kite theory, Smaug will look something like the kite dragon. When Smaug’s eye is shown we can see some small horns on his head. Based on the picture above we can estimate how many horns this magnificent dragon has. The number of big horns on his head could vary from 5 to 8 or something like that. With this information I searched the web to get the most accurate and satisfying picture of Smaug’s head, as it would look in accordance with my kitedragon theory.
Peter Jackson’s first hint of the dragon?
I think there are similarities between the dragon and the kite, mainly because they came from the same people or group, with the same style, who are creating the look of this creature. So, working on this theory, it can’t be a coincidence that the dragon and the kite would be similar. Alongside of this, the kite may have been made as some sort of illustration of the real dragon as a “visual backstory”, to show that its existence has been handed down in legend amongst the people of Dale and as such would be another reason why there are so many similarities between the two.
The kite can, in this way, serve as a hint for the viewer because they do not get to see the real dragon yet. The audience only gets quick glimpses of the dragon, small signs of the creature, like wings, claws, feet and then at the end of the movie a potentially large spoiler: Smaug’s eye. From this perspective it isn’t unreasonable to surmise that Peter Jackson chose to show the kite in the Prologue of the movie as another type of teaser/spoiler. Because in the Prologue, we haven’t really seen anything of the dragon yet! It could be the first sign.
Of course, until the release of Desolation of Smaug, this will only be a theory, time will tell. One thing is certain though, Smaug is going to be awesome!
Bruta is a psychology student from The Netherlands, who first discovered Tolkien in 2000 and has been hooked ever since. The views in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of TheOneRing.net or its staff.
Last weekend, the Hall of Fire crew examined the confrontation between Gandalf, Theoden and Grima (plus much more) as we discussed the Two towers chapter The King the Tale of the Golden Hall. For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log.
And remember, tomorrow (May 25 at 6pm EDT) we’ll be discussing Isildur and examining to what extent he was the shaper of the Third Age. Continue reading “Hall of Fire chat log: The King of the Golden Hall”
…The boy nodded his understanding. “Can I ask you something?” The Jedi Master nodded. “What are midi-chlorians?” Wind whipped at Qui-Gon’s long hair, blowing strands of it across his strong face. “Midi-chlorians are microscopic life-forms that reside within the cells of all living things and communicate with the Force.”…
…”Use the Force, Luke.”…
…Raistlin lifted his thin, frail hand and allowed the spell component he had taken from his pouch to fall slowly from between his fingers onto the deck of the boat. Sand, Tanis realized. “Ast tasarak sinuralan krynawi,” Raistlin murmured, and then moved his right hand slowly in an arc parallel to the shore….
…”The One Power,” Moiraine was saying, “comes from the True Source, the driving force of Creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time.”…
Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo.
There seem to be almost as many ways of representing magic as there are fantasy writers. Role-players know the whole system with mages, spell components, spellbooks, the language of magic, etc. Jordan fans can tell you the ins and outs of the One Power, complete with a discourse on the varying characteristics of saidar and saidin, and the innumerable levels of strength among Aes Sedai. And Star Wars geeks (a word I use with love, considering that I myself am a dyed-in-the-wool geek!) were stunned when Lucas started explaining the universe-balancing Force with microscopic middlemen, instead of with the innate power of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. What ties them in common is that they each have a system, a framework with rules and laws almost more complicated than those of physics. Mages lose their spells after one casting, and must rest and recommit the words to memory before casting again. Aes Sedai spend years in training, because abuse of the One Power can too easily lead to death… and evidently you’ve got to be well-stocked on single-celled symbionts (is that even a word? My spellchecker sure doesn’t like it) to even make a dent in the Force. Fantasy writers delight in coming up with their own, hopefully brand-new systems, to give their books that added twist, that spark that no other sword-swinging Elf-hopping kender-singing dragon-flying books have. But what about Tolkien? Where is the system? What are the rules which govern the making of Rings of Power, which delineate the powers and limits of Istari, of Maiar, of Valar? He never talks about a framework or physical laws; we only see the results of the power’s use. Where does the power come from?
Continue reading “Tolkien and Magic: The Power of Individuality”
