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In our newest TORn Library feature, Brian Tither discusses the effectiveness of portraying Tolkiens’ story-telling via cinematography.<\/p>\nIn our newest TORn Library feature, Brian Tither discusses the effectiveness of portraying Tolkiens’ story-telling via cinematography.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It is often my experience that whenever The Lord of the Rings <\/i>and The Hobbit<\/i> movies are discussed it is said that they did a lot for Tolkien. This is because his heirs allegedly made a lot of money out of them from the increase in the sales of the books that they were based on, including an increase in sales for foreign-language editions of the books that did not exist before the movies were made. And these things are often said without any due consideration given to how the advent of the movies also created extra publishing costs. This includes the money that the publishers would have to pay to the movie studios for the publication of the cinematographic images on the movie tie-in editions of the books, and for the translation costs incurred for the new foreign-language editions. Furthermore, those translations could have adversely impacted on the etymologies that formed Tolkien\u2019s story-telling, which were based on the philology that makes up Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic that he specialized in as an academic. And those etymologies are more on my mind when it comes to considering what the movies did for Tolkien than any increase to book sales.<\/p>\n
Probably also these etymologies are what were on Christopher Tolkien\u2019s mind when he said just before the release of the movies that the books were peculiarly unsuitable for dramatic visual transformation but that was also a question of art. And maybe that is also one of the reasons why he has had books such as The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun <\/i>and The Fall of Arthur <\/i>published in recent years. This is because these include, along with verse written by his father in the Old Icelandic and Old English form, explanations of these forms by himself he having also specialized in these forms, as well as Middle English, as an academic. This is so to complement other publications such as A<\/i> Middle<\/i> English<\/i> Reader<\/i> and Vocabulary <\/i>edited by Kenneth Sisam (who was Tolkien\u2019s New Zealand-born tutor at Oxford University) and JRR Tolkien, which explains the Middle English form.<\/p>\n
These etymologies could also be on the Tolkien Estate\u2019s mind when taking out lawsuits against Saul Zaentz Ltd et al. This is because, besides these lawsuits testing whether or not there are parts of the movie franchises\u2019 that breach the intentions of the original deed of sale, it could test whether or not there are parts of the movie franchises\u2019 copyright that infringes on the etymologies\u2019 general use. This is due to the possible adverse impact that such misunderstanding of copyright could have on promoting what forms story-telling like Tolkien\u2019s so that the Estate can put any damages accrued from the lawsuits towards continuing this promotion.<\/p>\n
For example, in New Zealand the impact that such misunderstanding of copyright could have had is narrowing the focus of various \u2018Middle-earth\u2019 tourism campaigns to over considering the copyright demands of these franchises. This has meant that small businesses have had their trade limited to when the movie studios have said that it is alright to reference the books and movies. Meanwhile, such campaigns have not considered alternatives based on the etymologies that Tolkien derived his Middle-earth from that did not even reference the movies and the books. And this would have circumvented these copyright matters and given these small businesses alternative ways to operate their trade using the \u2018Middle-earth\u2019 term.<\/p>\n
Such alternatives could have involved consulting specialists in New Zealand in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic who gave public lectures on what formed Tolkien\u2019s story-telling at the time of the release of The Lord of the Rings<\/i> movies and have also contributed to this specialty throughout the world. This included at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, where prior to them other New Zealanders had contributed a lot to their English schools. Indeed this was something that Tolkien said of New Zealanders at Oxford in his valedictory address, when he retired from his academic chair. This was while alluding to his close contest for his professorship with Kenneth Sisam, and subtly pitching, at the same time, for New Zealand-born Norman Davis to succeed him, which happened. And all this could have been brought out in a \u2018Middle-earth\u2019 campaign that was focused on New Zealand\u2019s culture and heritage rather than the country being just a tourist and film-making destination, especially when considering that Sisam and Davis were graduates of New Zealand universities.<\/p>\n
Also, such intellectual property was drawn on to help with the movies\u2019 development through the productions\u2019 employment of linguist specialists attune to Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic literature who also helped with the promotion of The Lord of the Rings <\/i>movies to the latter\u2019s benefit. Meanwhile, it has been to The Hobbit<\/i> production\u2019s detriment so far that it has not been promoted in the same way. This is with the latter production being too caught up in promoting the movies through the cinematography that has been used for it, with the latter having not been received too well by all movie viewers.<\/p>\n
This raises the question about whether or not story-telling such as Tolkien\u2019s is any better off because of the movies than if the books had of continued selling at the rate that they always sold at in the near half-century that preceded the making of the movies. And this also raises the question about how effective film is in reflecting such story-telling. Henceforth, after briefly explaining the essence of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling, I will discuss the potential of such story-telling in the <\/i>first Hobbit<\/i> movie.<\/p>\nThe essence of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling:<\/h3>\n
The essence of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling is that the world of his stories provides the means to give the language used in it expression and meaning, for which Tolkien applied his philology training in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic. This is with an example being him creating the name and character of Hobbits by conflating the name of the character Hott, which is Old Icelandic for \u2018small\u2019, from The<\/i> Saga<\/i> of<\/i> King<\/i> Hrolf<\/i> Kraki<\/i>, with Hott\u2019s parents\u2019 habitation of a house built in a hole in the ground, who would be referred to as hol<\/i>–bytlan<\/i> or \u2018hole-builders\u2019 in Old English, (i.e. hol<\/i>–bytla<\/i> singular). This conflation was then worn down to \u2018hobbit\u2019 singular and \u2018hobbiton\u2019 plural, thus reflecting how English words commonly wear down in Middle English.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Hott\u2019s acquirement of the sword Gullinn-Hjalti, which is Old Icelandic for \u2018Golden-Hilt\u2019, and the bestowment of the name Hjalti on him after he becomes a warrior, is analogized in Bilbo Baggins\u2019 character transformation. This is seen in the Hobbit\u2019s name changing in meaning after he acquires a sword and becomes a warrior from \u2018Dweller-in-a-dwelling-in-a-bag\u2019 to \u2018Dweller-with-a-sword-from-the-ones-in-a-bag\u2019. This is when considering it as conflation of the Middle English words bilt<\/i> (dwelling) bo<\/i> (dweller) baggi<\/i> (bag) inne<\/i> (in) and the Old English words bil<\/i> (sword) bua<\/i> (dweller) bagge<\/i> (bag) anum<\/i> (ones). This is also enabled by Bilbo being referred to as a burglar by the Dwarves, which in Old English meant \u2018plunderer of a burg\u2019 (burg<\/i> meaning fortress), which, in turn, came to mean \u2019invader of a borough\u2019 (i.e. town) in Middle English and now means \u2018thief of a building\u2019, with Bilbo becoming more of a burglar in the original sense as the quest progresses.<\/p>\n
Bearing this in mind, and both The Lord of the Rings <\/i>and The Hobbit <\/i>movie productions\u2019 employment of linguist specialists attune to Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic literature, as I referred to above, I have come to the conclusion that the potential of The Hobbit <\/i>movies is such that they could have delivered more of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling than they have, and probably will, but are also limited in doing so. I will now attempt to illustrate how more of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling could have been portrayed in the first movie.<\/p>\n The movie begins with Bilbo narrating as he writes to Frodo: \u2018My dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told you everything that there was to know about my adventures. And while I can honestly say that I have told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it. I am old now, Frodo. I\u2019m not the same Hobbit that I once was. I think that it is time for you to know what really happened\u2019. I refer to these words because they are seemingly intended to introduce the movies as an embellishment of the book and how the Ring will be more potent in the movies, which will probably be introduced at the beginning of the second movie and developed more from there. And for this the movies will probably embellish on how Tolkien changed the story of Bilbo and Gollum\u2019s encounter in The Hobbit\u2019s <\/i>first edition for the book\u2019s subsequent editions to increase the Ring\u2019s potency, which is also probably why the first movie ends not too long after the Ring comes into Bilbo\u2019s possession. I refer to this to make the point from the outset that my own proposals are merely an embellishment of the movies and probably do not do much more in bringing the essence of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling to the audience. To a certain extent it is fortuitous that Bilbo is seen handling Sting as he is heard narrating to Frodo; that amidst the introductions to Gandalf and the Dwarves Bilbo says the opening line of the book: \u2018In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit\u2019; and that there are some, albeit minute, references to his parentage, which is said to be expanded on more in the movie\u2019s extended edition. This is because all of these things indicate right from the beginning of the movie how Bilbo\u2019s character transforms from merely being \u2018a dweller in a dwelling in a bag\u2019 to becoming \u2018a dweller with a sword from the ones in a bag\u2019 as his name indicates.<\/p>\n However, the movie\u2019s extended edition\u2019s references also could have gone beyond introducing Bilbo\u2019s mother Belladonna, whose name reflects how Hobbit lasses are usually given flower names, and Bilbo\u2019s maternal grandfather the Old Took, to introducing Bilbo\u2019s father Bungo. This is because \u2018took\u2019 translates as \u2018fool\u2019 with it coming from the Germanic origins of the first syllable in Tolkien, with the second syllable translating as \u2018hardy\u2019 from those origins, while \u2018bungo\u2019 translates as \u2018builder\u2019, which is also reflected in Bag End being a bungalow, or a \u2018low building\u2019. And this all could have been reflected in foolishness being shown by some of the Tooks to Bungo as he uses his building skills at the Old Took\u2019s party portrayed in the movie\u2019s extended edition. This is because it could have highlighted how Bilbo is a conflation of the foolishness of the Tooks and the hardiness of the Bagginses, thus suggesting that Tolkien intended to not only reflect the importance of parentage in Anglo-Saxon warrior society but something about himself through Bilbo\u2019s parentage.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, if there had of been some discussion at the party about the Tooks descending from Elves\/Fairies, and the Old Took\u2019s friendship with Gandalf being evidence of that, it would have set up Gandalf\u2019s wandering into the story with his staff in hand as portraying him as the \u2018Elf with a wand\u2019 or the \u2018wandering Elf\u2019, as his name can translate from various Old Icelandic sources, that the people of Middle-earth mistake him to be, due to there being only five Wizards in Middle-earth. Also, this could have reflected how the Hobbits were divided over calling the Eldar people Elves or Fairies, which could have been reflected more in Gandalf\u2019s use of \u2018fairy-dust\/elven-magic\u2019 at the party. Furthermore, this would have anticipated Gandalf\u2019s affinity with the Elves being enabled more later on, as opposed to Saruman\u2019s affinity with Men and Radagast\u2019s affinity with birds and beasts, in Gandalf\u2019s efforts to persuade Thorin to seek the assistance of the Elves of Rivendell in order to be able to translate Thror\u2019s map.<\/p>\n In the meantime, in Bilbo\u2019s narration about the rise and fall of the Dwarves\u2019 kingdom of Erebor and its visual representation Thror can be seen to be living up to what his name could translate as from Old Icelandic. This is through him seeming to \u2018thrive\u2019 in the wealth that the mining beneath the Lonely Mountain brings him and the greed that it brings him. And this is said to be expanded on more in the movie\u2019s extended edition, particularly in Thror\u2019s dealings with Thranduil, which, in turn, establishes the problematic relationship that exists between the Dwarves of Erebor and the Elves of Mirkwood. Meanwhile, Thorin could be seen to be \u2018daring\u2019, as his name can translate from Old Icelandic, during Smaug\u2019s takeover of the Mountain, which anticipates him later being \u2018daring\u2019 when undertaking the quest to take back Erebor. And this is after he \u2018dares\u2019 to fight Azog the Orc, the slayer of Thror, only with an oak-branch for a shield in the Battle of Azanulbizar outside Moria, which leads to him being named Oakenshield. This, in turn, derives from the Old Icelandic name Eikinskjaldi<\/i>, which is listed amongst the dwarves\u2019 names in the Old Icelandic poem Voluspa <\/i>from which Tolkien derived most of his Dwarves\u2019 names for his legendarium.<\/p>\n However, at the same time, if this \u2018daringness\u2019, during Smaug\u2019s takeover of the Mountain, had of extended to Thorin rescuing Thrain from Smaug\u2019s dragon-fire, while Thrain attempts to retrieve the Arkenstone as it gets lost amongst the treasure-hoard instead of Thror, then Thrain would have been seen to be \u2018yearning\u2019, as his name can translate from Old Icelandic, for his people\u2019s wealth. This is so to anticipate that Thrain\u2019s \u2018yearning\u2019 is to be expanded on in the movies to come. And this could have taken liberty with the Arkenstone being associated with Thrain\u2019s namesake Thrain the Old, the first King under the Mountain, in the book, by having the younger Thrain being seen as the Dwarf that finds the Arkenstone during Bilbo\u2019s narration.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, an opportunity for Balin to be seen \u2018burning\u2019, as his name can translate from Old Icelandic, from being \u2018burnt\u2019 by Smaug\u2019s dragon-fire as the Dragon takes over the Mountain is also lost when Thorin pulls him out of the dragon-fire\u2019s path. And that would have anticipated how the Dwarf\u2019s entombed corpse becomes \u2018burnt\u2019 up by the Balrog, or the \u2018burning-power\u2019, when the latter wipes out the colony that Balin attempts to establish later on in Moria. In addition, this opportunity might have been provided by Dwalin being also present when Smaug takes over the Mountain with the Dwarf being seen \u2018dawdling\/delaying\u2019, as his name can translate from Old Icelandic, in coming to Balin\u2019s assistance thus anticipating how he \u2018delays\u2019 his lifespan beyond the other Dwarves. Furthermore, Dwalin could have been seen to be \u2018delayed\u2019 by Bilbo\u2019s \u2018dawdling\u2019 to open the door of Bag End for him on the day of the unexpected party. This is while Balin still could have had a singed look about him from being \u2018burnt\u2019 by Smaug\u2019s dragon-fire when he comes to Bag End and joins Dwalin where it is \u2018found\u2019 out by Bilbo that they are brothers, in which if it had of been highlighted that they were the sons of Fundin, would have alluded to what the latter name can translate as from Old Icelandic.<\/p>\n In addition, if all of the Dwarves had of come, with the exception of Thorin, to Bag End in the groupings that they do in the book then that would have helped the introduction of the other Dwarves through highlighting what their names can translate as from Old Icelandic, which could have been expanded on in the movies to come. This also could have resulted in them all anticipating how, like the characters that they are based on in Tolkien\u2019s legendarium, they all live up to what their names\u2019 characterize as, when considering the individual Dwarves\u2019 histories in the latter. And for this the gag about the Dwarves wrecking the plumbing in the bathroom could have been expanded on by Fili and Kili getting out their respective mining apprenticeship \u2018filing\u2019 and \u2018wedging\u2019 tools upon their entry into Bag End. This is so to mine what they think is mithril in the copper that Bilbo boils his water in for his baths in the room that his bathtub is stored in, which is what bathrooms are designed for in Hobbit-holes. Meanwhile, representing this would have alluded to how Frodo and his companions demonstrate this when they each have a bath on one occasion in The Lord of the Rings, <\/i>which was a scene Tolkien included in the book to expand on his reference to bathrooms in Bilbo\u2019s Hobbit-hole in The<\/i> Hobbit.<\/i> Furthermore, this \u2018mining\u2019 could have happened in the movie while Bilbo is distracted by the arrival of each group of Dwarves at his door.<\/p>\n In the meantime, after Dori, Nori and Ori enter into Bag End they could have applied their respective mining specialist \u2018boring\u2019, \u2018chipping\u2019 and \u2018violating\u2019 tools to speed up the process of getting out what turns out to be lead-work in the copper. And this could have played on the idea that they are all too long out of touch with mining for anything other than coal to recognize what mithril is. This also could have anticipated how Fili and Kili do not live long enough to outgrow their apprenticeships, while Dori, Nori and Ori carry on their specialties until they die, which in Tolkien\u2019s legendarium is suggested by the way Ori\u2019s \u2018violating\u2019, along with the mining by the rest of Balin\u2019s colony, \u2018violates\u2019 the domains of the Orcs and the Balrog in Moria, who, in turn, \u2018violate\u2019 the domains of the colony.<\/p>\n During this Oin could have been seen coming \u2018alone\u2019 to Bag End where he joins his \u2018friends\u2019 and brother at the door in anticipation of his dying \u2018alone\u2019, in the future in the last days of Balin\u2019s colony, entangled in the tentacles of the Watcher in the pool outside the Elven way into Moria that opens to the Elvish word for \u2018friend\u2019, thus indicating two possible Old Icelandic sources that his name could come from. Meanwhile, Gloin could have been caused to \u2018glow\u2019 by the sun setting at his arrival at Bag End to anticipate him being illuminated by his \u2018little gem\u2019 of a son, Gimli, who goes into the West as the sun sets with Legolas in the future after Aragorn\u2019s death. Then Bifur\u2019s \u2018trembling\u2019 and Bofur\u2019s \u2018tumbling\u2019 could have caused them and \u2018tubby\u2019 Bombur to fall onto Bilbo when he opens the door to them and Gandalf, anticipating how when the Dwarves get older Bombur gets so overweight that he needs six young Dwarves to lift him from his couch to his chair at the table because Bifur and Bofur are too feeble then to do it.<\/p>\n Bilbo could have then discovered that the \u2018plumbing\u2019 had been destroyed in the bathroom, during which Oin and Gloin could have explained to the other Dwarves that they were attempting to mine \u2018lead-work\u2019 from the copper, which is otherwise known in a very strange tongue of Men as plumbum<\/i>, the Latin origin of the word plumbing. And this would have reflected how until the Old Icelandic people were introduced to things like plumbing, crockery and cutlery they had to have \u2018launder-day\u2019 to clean up their mead-halls. This was after they celebrated \u2018Sun-day\u2019, \u2018Moon-day\u2019, \u2018Tyrs-day\u2019, \u2018Odins-day\u2019, \u2018Thors-day\u2019 and \u2018Frigg-day\u2019 to mark their \u2018wake-days\u2019, with plumbing etc coming from the Romans who, meanwhile, celebrated amongst their weekdays \u2018Saturn-day\u2019. Meanwhile, this could have then been expanded on in the movie by Bilbo next seeing Dwalin throwing his crockery, cutlery, food and beverages towards the other Dwarves, after Dwalin and Balin have set up the dining-room for them to eat in, which he gets upset at. This then could have led to most of the Dwarves singing the song beginning: \u2018Chip the glasses and crack the plates\u2019 as they catch the crockery, cutlery, food and beverages and throw these things around amongst them.<\/p>\n Then Balin could have put a stop to this by calling everyone to order and telling everyone that Thorin would not be coming because he was meeting with the rest of their people and they were to meet him at The Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. Then Balin could have started explaining what is going on to Bilbo, which could have led to Bilbo fainting and shrieking and to Gloin expressing his reservations about Bilbo being the burglar that they require, which gets Bilbo\u2019s ire up enough, because of the way that the Dwarves \u2018burgled\u2019 his home, to want to join the quest like in the book. The scene then could have ended with Balin beginning to tell Bilbo about the Dwarves\u2019 kingdom of Erebor as Bilbo narrated it at the beginning of the movie, all which would have shortened the Bag End scene in the movie leaving the rest to be represented in a scene in The Prancing Pony Inn, which I will explain more below. Then Bilbo could have been seen waking the next morning to Gandalf and the Dwarves having gone from Bag End, dirty dishes etc, then hesitating between washing up and running off to join the others and then deciding to do the latter. This then could have been followed by him being seen running past Holman Greenhand and young Hamfast Gamgee, Samwise\u2019s future gaffer, coming up the Hill to do his gardening, during which he asks them to \u2018guard\u2019 the Hill from the Sackville-Bagginses taking over Bag End while he is away, like the latter do in the book. And this would have alluded to how in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> the word \u2018garden\u2019 was intended to link up with the word \u2018guardian\u2019 and the Gar-Dena or \u2018Spear-Danes\u2019 in Beowulf, <\/i>which is highlighted in Bilbo being the guardian of Frodo and in Sam becoming \u2018Gardener of the Hill\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Holman and Hamfast could have been introduced in the movie\u2019s extended edition the day before gardening at Bag End, after Bilbo finishes talking with Gandalf, while Otho and Lobelia Sackville-Bagginses could have been introduced in the Hobbiton market. And during this Bilbo could have been seen defending young Drogo Baggins and young Primula Brandybuck, Frodo\u2019s future parents, from the Sackville-Bagginses. This is after the latter could have tried to \u2018drag\u2019 Drogo, as his name can translate, away from Primula because the Brandybucks live on the east side, and therefore the \u2018wrong\u2019 side, of the Brandywine River where the Brandybucks fool around in boats. This would have alluded to how Drogo and Primula end up \u2018drowning\u2019 there in the future as Drogo\u2019s name also can translate, hence leaving Frodo orphaned. Also, it would have alluded to the differences between the Shire\u2019s West Farthing and East Farthing Hobbits.<\/p>\n Furthermore, during this Bilbo could have also said that if he did not stand up for the Hobbits the Sackville-Baggins would end up developing the Shire into nothing more than lots of cul-de-sacs. And this would have referred to Tolkien\u2019s dislike of French terms and their influence on the English language after the Norman Invasion in 1066, and how he reflected this in naming Bilbo\u2019s Hobbit-hole Bag End. This is because cul<\/i>–de<\/i>–sac<\/i> translates as \u2018end of the sack\u2019, while the Old English conflation of baggi<\/i>–ende<\/i> is the English equivalent. It would also have alluded to how at the end of The Lord of the Rings<\/i> Frodo and his companions rouse up the Shire against Saruman\u2019s ruffians, who descend from Saruman\u2019s cross-breeding of Men and Orcs, who took it over while they were away due to Lotho Sackville-Baggins buying up a lot of Shire land with Saruman\u2019s money obtained from the Orcs plundering the Dwarves\u2019 treasure hoards. This included Bag End which Frodo sells to the Sackville-Bagginses before he leaves on his quest to give the Hobbits of the Shire the pretext that he was returning to live with his mother\u2019s family in Buckland. Notably the names Otho, Lobelia and Lotho are of French origin, with Lobelia\u2019s name referring to a French rose.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the differences amongst the Hobbits of the Shire\u2019s four Farthings could have been reflected, as Bilbo runs to catch up with Gandalf and the Dwarves, in lyrics in the music score derived from Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern Middle English. Because a Middle English society is something like what Tolkien represents in The Lord of the Rings,<\/i> in his portrayal of the Shire. This also could have been expanded on by Holman saying to Hamfast, after they hear Bilbo say before he runs off that he was off on an adventure with some Dwarves to get back their treasure from a Dragon: \u2018Dwarves and Dragons! Cabbages and Potatoes are better for you and me! We don\u2019t need to go where folk are queer. We\u2019ve got all we need here\u2019. This would have reflected how Holman and Hamfast\u2019s names are Old and Middle English for \u2018man at home\u2019 and \u2018stay at home\u2019, respectively, which, in turn, indicates how people in Middle English society never travelled very far and regarded people living in other parts with suspicion, which is something that Hamfast demonstrates in The Lord of the Rings<\/i>.<\/p>\n Then Bilbo could have been seen meeting up with Farmer Maggot and his son, who are travelling towards Hobbiton, who could have told him that they had seen Gandalf and the Dwarves passing by. Then as Bilbo runs onwards Maggot senior could have said to Maggot junior that Bilbo\u2019s mixing with outlandish folk will only land him in trouble and there could be trouble coming too. And then Maggot senior could have added, in the movie\u2019s extended version that he wanted to be home within three days because he was expecting Tom Bombadil, who had to rescue him from Old Man Willow a week earlier when he was in the Old Forest. Then he could have added, in turn, that Tom had said that the trees were getting stirred up by trouble in lands to the east of the Barrow-downs, and Tom had gone to the Barrow-downs to investigate what the Barrow-wights were doing, which could have alluded to the Necromancer\/Sauron awakening the dead in the movie.<\/p>\n This also would have alluded to how \u2018Maggot junior\u2019, who Frodo and his companions encounter as they travel through the Shire in The<\/i> Lord<\/i> of<\/i> the<\/i> Rings,<\/i> is possibly a conflation of the occasional farmer and Dwarf that Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves pass by as they travel through the Shire. This is with the name Maggot possibly alluding to how dwarves in Old Icelandic literature were made from the maggots embedded in the flesh of Ymir the giant, from who Midgard, the Old Icelandic Middle-earth, was created by Odin and his brothers. This naming also makes Farmer Maggot an anomaly among Hobbits because of his attitude to outlander folk like Gandalf and the Dwarves, while associating at the same time with Tom Bombadil, who along with Goldberry his spouse, is an anomaly in The Lord of the Rings, <\/i>who Frodo and his companions encounter after they leave the Shire, along with Old Man Willow and a Barrow-wight.<\/i><\/p>\n Then after Bilbo joins Gandalf and the Dwarves in the first Hobbit<\/i> movie, and the montage of scenes that follow, there could have been the scene of them at The Prancing Pony Inn, which I referred to above. And this could have embellished on how in The<\/i> Hobbit<\/i> Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves pass through lands, where people spoke strangely and sang songs that Bilbo had never heard before, before going into lands where there were no people left or inns. During this scene there could have been snatches of Tom Bombadil\u2019s verse sung by Bree-men, while Bilbo could have got drunk on whole pints of beer and the Dwarves could have demonstrated their eating habits. Then Bilbo could have stood on a table and recited the long version of \u2018Hey diddle diddle\u2019 that he composes in The Lord of the Rings<\/i>, at least in the movie\u2019s extended version, after which he could have been asked to repeat the verse about the cow jumping over the moon, which could have been retained in the theatrical release. During this he could have leapt off the table, broken all the crockery on it and fallen on top of Thorin, who could have just entered the room and, consequently, gets a bad first impression of Bilbo. This is instead of one of the Dwarves singing the song in Rivendell, in the movie\u2019s extended edition, so to suggest that there could be enough wit about Bilbo when he is sober to do things like cause the Trolls that capture him and the Dwarves to argue about how to cook them until dawn turns the Trolls to stone. And it would have alluded to how Thorin also has a bad first impression of Bilbo when the Hobbit\u2019s opening of his front door in The Hobbit <\/i>causes Bifur, Bofur and Bombur to fall on top of Thorin.<\/p>\n Balin then could have been seen greeting Thorin, at which Thorin could have asked Balin why they had not met him at Fornost. Then Gandalf could have discovered that the innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur\u2019s grandfather, had forgotten to give him a message from Thorin urging the company to meet the Dwarf at Fornost where he was meeting with his people because the innkeeper only knew Fornost Erain, Norbury of the Kings, as Deadmen\u2019s Dike. And this would have alluded to how the Bree-men in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>did not know of the guard that the Rangers, who descended from the kings, who the Bree-men were scornful of, had on Bree-land. This would have also alluded to Barliman forgetting to send a message to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>from Gandalf urging Frodo to leave the Shire immediately for Rivendell, which Frodo, consequently, does not do only jeopardizing his position. This is because of the Nazgul\/Black Riders\u2019 rise, which Gandalf, after leaving Frodo, hears about from Radagast who urges him to go to Saruman for aid immediately, which leads to Gandalf being imprisoned by Saruman in Orthanc after he discovers that Saruman has become a traitor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the first Hobbit<\/i> movie some unsavoury looking Bree-men in the inn could then have been heard saying: \u2018Did you hear? It\u2019s Thorin Oakenshield. Come let\u2019s go tell Yazneg\u2019. This would have suggested that Saruman had already begun his cross-breeding of Orcs with Goblin-men, which is seen in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>movies, by cross-breeding Men with Goblins who the unsavoury Bree-men act as agents to. And this would have alluded to how in the <\/i>book <\/i>Frodo and his companions encounter one of Saruman\u2019s ruffians who take over the Shire while they are away, who they see in the company of some of the unsavoury Bree-men when they stay at the inn. This is while the latter see Frodo disappear after he \u2018accidentally\u2019 puts on the Ring while he is singing Bilbo\u2019s embellishment of \u2018Hey diddle diddle\u2019, which the ruffian and the unsavoury Bree-men report to the Nazgul\/Black Riders who attack the inn as Frodo and his companions sleep watched over by Aragorn. Meanwhile, in the first Hobbit <\/i>movie the unsavoury Bree-men could have been present with Yazneg when they see Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves camping on the Weather-hills.<\/p>\n Then the scene could have changed in the inn to Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves in a private room talking about the map and key of the Lonely Mountain etc. Then Thorin could have been seen expressing to Gandalf his reservations about Bilbo and then talking to Balin about the rest of their people not wanting to be involved in the quest. Then the scene could have changed to Bilbo telling Gandalf that he was thinking of returning home, at which Gandalf could have encouraged him to continue going onwards on the quest referring to how the Hobbit\u2019s ancestor the Bullroarer defeated the Orcs who invaded the Shire. This is with Gandalf making the reference to all good stories needing embellishment after adding that the Bullroarer\u2019s knocking off the head of the chief Orc\u2019s head with a club and its going down a rabbit hole led to the game of golf being invented at the same time. This also would have referred to, at least in the movie\u2019s extended version, how the poem that Bilbo recites in the inn is an embellishment of \u2018Hey diddle diddle\u2019. Then the Dwarves could have been seen and heard singing the song beginning: \u2018Far over the Misty Mountains\u2019.<\/p>\n Then there could have been an embellishment of Gandalf, at least in the movie\u2019s extended edition, referring to the Rangers protecting the lands west of the Misty Mountains from evil as he, Bilbo and the Dwarves are seen passing through the Lone-lands by ruins with a wicked look about them as they do in the book. This would have alluded to how Aragorn, who descends from the Rangers, refers to these things in The Lord of the Rings, <\/i>as he leads Frodo and his companions by these ruins. And this could have happened in the <\/i>first Hobbit<\/i> movie as Gandalf tells Bilbo about the North Kingdom\u2019s decline, especially since Galadriel, at the White Council meeting in Rivendell later on, refers to the Men of the North entombing the Witch-king of Angmar. Gandalf, during this, also could have referred to how the Rangers had often worked with Hobbits, such as the Bullroarer and his descendents and other families in the Took and Old Buck clans, like the Maggots and the Brandybucks, to keep the Shire safe. This could have then been followed by the Rangers being seen later with the Elves hunting the Orcs and Wargs who pursue Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves from Trollshaws who had alerted the Elves to the Orcs and Wargs being seen near the hidden entrance into Rivendell.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Gandalf and Radagast\u2019s meeting in Trollshaws, in which Radagast alerts Gandalf to the Necromancer\/Sauron and the Nazgul\u2019s rising, obviously derives from Radagast alerting Gandalf to the Nazgul\/Black Riders\u2019 rising in The Lord of the Rings.<\/i> This is while Radagast, in the movie, seems to take too much after the fool that Saruman perceives him to be in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>rather than the \u2018spirit of counsel\u2019 that his name can translate as from Old English and Old Icelandic, which is how Gandalf seems to view him in the book. This could have been avoided, in the movie, by Radagast not being so enamoured by the birds and beasts that are his friends and if he went around on a horse like he does in the book rather than a rabbit-pulled sled. In addition, when Radagast tells Gandalf about what he saw at Dol Guldur he could have added that Iarwain Ben-adar\/Tom Bombadil had told him that he had seen images of the kings of old coming out of their barrows in the Barrow-downs.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Radagast\u2019s meeting with Gandalf could have happened while Bilbo and the Dwarves encounter the Trolls and the only time that they see him is when he suddenly comes riding out of Trollshaws to act as a decoy for them as they run towards the hidden entrance into Rivendell. This is so that they have no interaction with him as in the book. In addition, in the movie, when Gandalf tells Bilbo about the Wizards in Middle-earth, he could have referred to how skilled and crafted Saruman was to allude to how the latter is the \u2018man of skill\/craft\u2019 that his name <\/i>can <\/i>translate as from Old English and Old Icelandic. Meanwhile, given that Lindir\u2019s name is related to Old English and Elvish words for \u2018song\u2019, Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves\u2019 entry into Rivendell, in the movie, where they are met by Lindir in Elrond\u2019s absence, could have been heralded by the Elves singing the song that they welcome the company to Rivendell with in the book. And the company could have heard this as they make their way through the hidden entrance into Rivendell. This is especially because the song that the Goblins sing in the book, after capturing the company, is sung by the Great Goblin, in the movie, and because the two songs appear to complement each other.<\/p>\n This is so to demonstrate how the Elves of Rivendell and the Goblins differ from each other, which is also reflected in how the Elves of Rivendell live in the open air in a valley, while the Goblins live underground beneath the mountains, which suggests how light-elves live above the ground in Alfheim, or Elf-home, while dark-elves live below the ground, in Old Icelandic literature. It also is reflected in the way that the Elves name the two Elven swords that Gandalf and Thorin find in the troll-hoard Glamdring and Orcrist, which, respectively, translate from Elvish as Foe-hammer and Goblin-cleaver. This is while the Goblins call them Beater and Biter, respectively, which suggests that in their own tongue, which is a corruption of the Elven tongue, they have corrupted the Elven names for them.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in Rivendell, the differences between Elves and Dwarves could have been demonstrated by the Elves singing about Earendil the Mariner and the Dwarves singing about Durin the Deathless with their songs being based on ones that Bilbo and Gimli sing in Rivendell and Moria, respectively, in The<\/i> Lord of the Rings,<\/i> with Bilbo\u2019s song being commented on by an Elf called Lindir in the book. <\/i>This would have illustrated how the Elves are immortal and once upon a time could have gone back and forward from the West, while the Dwarves could have reincarnated constantly from the stone that they are thought to be made from, which suggests that the differences between the Elves and the Dwarves also reflect the differences between the light-elves and the dark-elves of Old Icelandic literature. Furthermore, the song about Earendil, in the movie, would have introduced the relationship between the Men of the North to the Half-Elven who both descend from Earendil, which Elrond, Earendil\u2019s son, could have referenced at the White Council. This is while the song about Durin, in the movie, would have introduced Durin\u2019s Day, which is referred to while Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves stay in Rivendell. Notably Earendil is the Old English name for Venus, and translates as: \u2018shining light\u2019. Meanwhile, the poem that Bilbo recites at Rivendell was an expansion of two lines from an Old English poem that translate as: \u2018Hail Earendil, brightest of angels\/ above the middle-earth sent unto men\u2019, which was introduced to Tolkien by his tutor Kenneth Sisam.<\/p>\n Furthermore, during this there could have been flashback scenes of Earendil sailing his ship to the West and of Durin awakening in Moria, which could have been enabled by lyrics in the Elven and Dwarven languages that Tolkien invented from Old Finnish and Old Hebrew being in the background music score. And similarly this could have happened in the following movie if the Elves of Mirkwood had of sung about the loss of the Elven lovers Nimrodel and Amroth due to evil awakening in the mountains like Legolas does in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>when the Fellowship of the Ring comes to Lothlorien. Also, during this, besides scenes of Nimrodel and Amroth, there could have been scenes of the Dwarves awakening evil in the mountains after being commissioned by the Elves to mine for them, with lyrics in the Elven and Dwarven languages being in the background music score using the Elven language that Tolkien invented from Old Welsh.<\/p>\n This, in turn, could have reflected how the Rivendell and Mirkwood Elves differ from each other, which could have been seen in how they treat the Dwarves differently, which suggests that the differences between both groups of Elves also reflect the differences between the light-elves and dark-elves of Old Icelandic literature. This is also suggested by the way Thranduil, Legolas\u2019s father, has his hall inside a mountain, which the Dwarves assisted in the making of, which, in turn, differs from the Goblins\u2019 halls in that it has a cleaner air. And it is suggested by the enchanted river that borders Thranduil\u2019s realm, which is probably intended as a permanent defense against the dark creatures of Mirkwood, while Elrond will only enchant the river that borders Rivendell when he needs to, which is demonstrated in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> when he rouses the river against the Nazgul\/Black Riders as they pursue Frodo over the river\u2019s ford.<\/p>\n In the meantime, in Rivendell, as Elrond translates Thror\u2019s map, there could have been a brief scene of the secret entrance into the Lonely Mountain being illuminated by the sun as Elrond speaks to highlight how Durin\u2019s name translates from Old Icelandic as \u2018Door-Guardian\u2019. Meanwhile, at the White Council meeting, when Galadriel refers to the Men of the North entombing the Witch-king of Angmar, there could have been a brief scene of these Men defeating the Witch-king in anticipation of it and the events leading up to it being expanded on in the movies to come. This is while, when Elrond refers to there being peace in the lands for four hundred years, there could have been a brief scene of him with his spouse Celebrian (also Arwen\u2019s mother and Galadriel\u2019s daughter) making their way over the Redhorn Gate with an entourage of Elves towards the Dimrill Dale and being waylaid by a company of Orcs. This is so to introduce Elrond\u2019s reluctance to commit himself with the Council to Gandalf\u2019s plans and in anticipation of him and Galadriel, in the following movies, talking about Celebrian\u2019s premature departure into the West being caused by evil awakening in the mountains as the Council ready themselves for the preeminent battle with Dol Guldur, in which Galadriel tries to reassure Elrond about this plan.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there is said to be a discussion at the Council about the Rings of Power in the movie\u2019s extended edition, in which there could have been close-up scenes of the Three Elven Rings on Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel\u2019s hands, Thror handing the Ring of Durin to Thrain and of the One Ring falling to the bottom of the Anduin. This is so to complement with Bilbo, in the movie\u2019s extended edition, looking at the Ring on Sauron\u2019s hand on the mural showing Isildur cutting the Ring off the Dark Lord\u2019s hand, which is near where the shards of Narsil are bestowed. In addition, perhaps there also could have been brief scenes of four of the bearers of the Dwarves\u2019 Rings throwing them away towards the Dragons to consume, two of the other Dwarf Ring-bearers having their Rings taken off them by the Nazgul and Sauron, as Anatar, entreating with Celebrimbor in anticipation of the movies to come expanding on these things so that The Hobbit <\/i>movies can dovetail with The Lord of the Rings<\/i> movies. Notably these things would have referred to things discussed in the Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>that do not make it into the movies.<\/p>\n Furthermore, because Galadriel says to Gandalf that the Dwarves\u2019 quest has set in motion things that they are yet to understand there could have been Old Icelandic-like lyrics in the music score as Bilbo and the Dwarves ascend the Misty Mountains. And these could have reflected something like the creation of Midgard from Ymir the giant by Odin and his brothers, as I referred to above, which is described in the Old Icelandic poem Voluspa,<\/i> which, in turn, also describes how the dwarves were created by the gods whose names are listed in the poem, from which Tolkien derives the names of most of his Dwarves in his legendarium, as I said above.<\/p>\n For example, the lyrics could have described the sun rising above the Mountains after the stars and moon had set, while the powers sat in their thrones and decided the fate of the world as the children of Durin and the other fathers of the Dwarves ascended above the earth. This is with the Dwarves being said to come from the North, South, West and East, the latter which would have referred to the points of the compass being derived from the names of the dwarves that hold up the sky above Midgard in Old Icelandic literature, who are listed amongst the dwarves in Voluspa.<\/i> During this East could have been stated first to indicate how sometimes that is so in Old Icelandic literature, which Tolkien alludes to in The<\/i> Hobbit<\/i> by having East at the top of Thror\u2019s map. Then the Dwarves all could have been named in their family groups along with their occupations: Thorin, Fili and Kili, descendents of kings, being most directly descendent from Durin; Balin and Dwalin, Oin and Gloin, Dori, Nori and Ori, descendents of warriors, merchants and miners, respectively, according to the degree of their respective descents from Durin; and Bifur, Bofur and Bombur descendents of trades-people, being not descendent from Durin at all. This is to anticipate these things being expanded on in the movies to come.<\/p>\n In addition, Voluspa<\/i> also describes scenes in Ragnarok, or the twilight of the gods, which events in The<\/i> Hobbit<\/i> allude to, which, in turn, the music score using the Old Icelandic-like lyrics could have alluded to as they happened, in the movie. This could have started as Radagast\u2019s house in Rhosgobel with the tree growing through it is scuttled over by Spiders of Mirkwood to suggest the shuddering of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world, in Voluspa<\/i>, when Surt the fire-giant and his kin are awoken at Ragnarok, which could have happened again, in the movie to come, when Bilbo and the Dwarves encounter the Spiders themselves. Meanwhile, it also could have happened, in the first movie, when Radagast discovers the Necromancer\/Sauron and the Witch King in Dol Guldur, to suggest the awakening of Surt and his kin. And it could have happened when Radagast tells Gandalf how Tom Bombadil told him that he had seen images of the kings of old coming out of their barrows in the Barrow-downs, when the Trolls turn to stone and when their troll-hole is discovered by Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves, to suggest the rocky cliffs cracking open, the troll-women being abroad (if ignoring the gender difference) and the men treading the road to hell as the sky splits apart at Ragnarok, in Voluspa<\/i>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as Bilbo and the Dwarves encounter the Stone-Giants it could have happened at a greater volume suggesting how, in Voluspa<\/i>, at Ragnarok the land of the giants groans, while the gods and the elves are in counsel and the dwarfs howl before their rocky-doors in the walls of the mountains. This would suggest that the Stone-giants, the White Council, the Elves and the Dwarves, in the movie, analogize the giants, gods, elves and dwarves of Old Icelandic literature. Then when Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves encounter the Orcs and Wargs on the other side of the Misty Mountains it could have happened at its greatest volume in the movie to suggest how, in Voluspa<\/i>, Garm the hell-hound breaks his bonds and Fenrir the wolf slays Odin before he is slain by Odin\u2019s son Vidar at Ragnarok, when Azog appears, in the movie, on his Warg and another Warg attacks Thorin before being slain by Bilbo.<\/p>\n Furthermore, in the movie, it could have trailed off as the company is taken by the Eagles to the Carrock to suggest how the eagle in Voluspa<\/i> flies over the mountains of the new world that rises after the fall of Midgard at Ragnarok. Then it could have been part of the movie\u2019s final scene when Smaug\u2019s eye and snout are seen to highlight how it could have been part of Bilbo\u2019s \u2018conversation\u2019 with Smaug, when Smaug flies from the Lonely Mountain over his Desolation to attack Esgaroth and when the Dragon is slain by Bard and falls on Esgaroth in the movies to come. This is so to suggest Thor, described as Odin\u2019s son in Voluspa<\/i>, advancing to slay the Midgard serpent, which has it girdled body wrapped around Midgard and was parented by the mischief-making god Loki and the giantess Angrbodr. And this is also to suggest the dragon Nidhogg flying up from the hills and Midgard sinking in a conflagration of steam at Ragnarok as a result of Thor slaying the Midgard serpent, in Voluspa<\/i>, as the sun turns black and the bright stars vanish from the sky as a high flame plays against it.<\/p>\n In addition, it could have been coupled with scores in the latter movies where these things happen that have both Old Icelandic-like and Old English-like lyrics in it describing something like Sigurd\u2019s slaying of Fafnir the dragon in its lair in The Saga of the Volsungs <\/i>and Beowulf\u2019s encounter with the dragon terrorizing the land of the Geats that Beowulf rules over in the last part of Beowulf. <\/i>Also, it would have complemented with Aragorn in the third Lord of the Rings<\/i> movie making a speech at the Black Gate to the armies of the West as Frodo and Sam make their way up Mount Doom on the final stage of their quest to destroy the Ring. This speech refers to how there might be a time when the courage of Men fails, when they forsake their friends and break all bonds of fellowship in an hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down, which references a verse in Voluspa<\/i> that describes these things happening, amongst other things, as Ragnarok approaches. Meanwhile, in the first Hobbit <\/i>movie, when Bilbo and the Dwarves are sheltering in the cave that turns out to be the doorstep of the Great Goblin\u2019s domains, after Bilbo seriously considers returning to Rivendell, Balin could have said to Thorin, at least in the movie\u2019s extended edition, that they should not dare go any further without Gandalf because they do not know the pass very well and whether or not they must go over or around or under the Mountains. Then Gloin could have said that if they were further south they could have gone over or around the Mountains above their ancient kingdom or actually through Khazad-dum\/Dwarrowdelf, known as the Black Pit by Men and Moria by Elves.<\/p>\n Then Balin could have said that after the Battle of Azanulbizar Dain had advised the Dwarves against entering Khazad-dum after Dain saw the nameless fear through Durin\u2019s Gate during the battle at which Dain had said that the world must change or some other power must go in there before any Dwarf passed through there again. Then Gloin could have sighed and said that long had their fathers worked there and they had wrought the images of the Mountains into works of metal and stone and tales and songs. Then he could have given the Dwarves, Elves and Men\u2019s names for the Mountains and the Dale on the east side of them. Furthermore, perhaps as Balin speaks, there could have been a brief scene of Dain seeing the Balrog to allude to the meaning of Balin\u2019s name and a scene of Dain looking \u2018death-like\u2019 as his name can translate speaking to Thorin, Balin and Dwalin at Azanulbizar. Meanwhile, as Gloin speaks, there could have been a brief scene of the rising sun illuminating the Mountains above Moria to allude to the meaning of Gloin\u2019s name and a scene of the Dwarves forging images of these Mountains in their metal work.<\/p>\n This would have alluded to Balin\u2019s future failed attempt to re-colonize Moria after mistakenly thinking that the world had changed sufficiently for such a venture and to Gandalf being the power that eventually goes into Moria and slays the nameless fear, i.e. the Balrog. Also, it would have alluded to how Gimli Gloin\u2019s son in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> gives all the Dwarves, Elves and Men\u2019s names for the Dwarves\u2019 ancient kingdom, the Mountains that it lies beneath and the Dale on the east side of them, while the Fellowship must decide to either go over or around or under all of the Misty Mountains as Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves have to in The Hobbit. <\/i>This, in turn, would have alluded to how in an Old Icelandic poem called Alvissmal<\/i> Thor comes to Alviss\/All-wise the dwarf and keeps asking him questions about the different races of beings\u2019 terminology for natural phenomena until dawn seems to turn the dwarf into stone, which Thor seemingly causes so to prevent Alviss from marrying his daughter. And that, in its turn, is alluded to by Gandalf, in The Hobbit,<\/i> keeping the Trolls arguing about how to kill and cook Bilbo and the Dwarves after they capture them, until dawn turns the Trolls into stone, which is changed in the first movie to Bilbo trying to advise the Trolls how to do this et al until dawn turns the latter into stone.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Balin and Gloin\u2019s conversation at the Great Goblin\u2019s doorstep in the movie also could have happened after Fili and Kili go to the back of the cave and make a discovery there with their respective \u2018filer\u2019 and \u2018wedger\u2019 of what could be another chamber. This, in turn, prompts them to call Dori, Nori and Ori to come over to them with their respective \u2018borer\u2019, \u2018chipper\u2019 and \u2018violator\u2019 to open up things more. Then after the conversation between Balin and Gloin, Oin and Gloin could have been called over by Fili and Kili to inspect a vein of what may be mithril at the back of the cave, which prompts everyone to come over. Then Oin and Gloin could have told Fili and Kili that it is not mithril, at which Thorin, Balin and Dwalin could have drawn their weapons and said that it could be a trap. Then the ground could have begun to open, at which Bifur, Bofur and Bombur\u2019s respective \u2018trembling\u2019, \u2018tumbling\u2019 and \u2018tubbiness\u2019 could have caused them all to fall into the Goblins\u2019 wooden cage below. Perhaps also during this Dwalin could have tried to \u2018delay\u2019 the trap\u2019s mechanism with his weapon, while Oin could have got caught up \u2018alone\u2019 in it, after attempting to assist Dwalin, before falling into the wooden cage below with all his \u2018friends\u2019 to anticipate what happens to him in the last days of Balin\u2019s colony, as stated above.<\/p>\n Then after the Dwarves are captured and taken by the Goblins to the Great Goblin, and after they hear from him that Azog is alive, the scene could have changed to the Dead Marshes where Gollum\u2019s voice could have been heard in a voice-over singing the song beginning with the words: \u2018The cold hard lands\u2019, without referencing the \u2018fish\u2019 riddle, as the camera sweeps over images of the dead waking in their barrows under the Marshes. This is because the verse alludes to Gollum saying it to Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings, <\/i>when he leads them to the Marshes, not long after they first meet. And that, in turn, alludes to how in The<\/i> Saga<\/i> of<\/i> King<\/i> Heidrek<\/i> the Wise<\/i> Hervor, the king\u2019s mother, retrieves the sword Tyrfing from her father Angantyr\u2019s barrow, which is similar to the barrows in the Marshes. This is while the spirit that guards Angantyr\u2019s barrow in the saga suggests the Barrow-wight that guards the barrow in the Barrow-downs from which the Hobbits get their swords early on in the book. And this would have indicated, in The<\/i> Hobbit<\/i> movies, that the Necromancer\/Sauron\u2019s power, which causes the corpses to exist as they do in the Marshes, has been used by him to raise Azog from the dead as well as others. This includes Thrain, which various media has suggested, and Elrond\u2019s brother Elros, from who the Men of the North descend, whose name has been credited for the later movies. This is while Gollum has a sense of this in being, up to that point, the Ring-bearer.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, when Gollum sings the line in the verse stating: \u2018But stream and pool\u2019 the scene in the first movie could have changed to Bilbo awaking to seeing the Goblin who tried to capture him nearly dead and Gollum crouched over it, during which Gollum drops the Ring and Bilbo picks it up. Then the action could have resumed from there as it does in the movie up to the riddle-game between Bilbo and Gollum.<\/p>\n Then Bilbo and Gollum could have told all of the riddles in The Hobbit <\/i>and in the same order in at least the movie\u2019s extended edition. This is because one of the earlier ones in the book about \u2018sun on daises\u2019, which is not in the movie, brings up memories for Gollum of when he lived in a house built in a hole in the ground in the Vales of Anduin. And this could have been shown in flashbacks in the movie where Gollum is seen as Smeagol with Deagol and their grandmother living in their house, which they could have referred to as a smial to allude to Tolkien devising the word for \u2018burrow\u2019 for Hobbit-holes out of the same Old English word that he created Smeagol and Smaug\u2019s names, which sounds similar to the Old English word that he created Deagol\u2019s name from, which, in turn, means \u2018secret\u2019. Meanwhile, the latter could have been indicated in a flashback where Deagol says a riddle about \u2018eggses\u2019 to Gollum as Smeagol, who is seen teaching their grandmother to suck eggs at the same time, after Bilbo asks Gollum the same riddle. This is so to suggest the affinity existing between Bilbo and Gollum because they are both Hobbits\/Holbytlan, which leads to Bilbo sparing Gollum\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Also, such flashbacks could have informed possible scenes in the next movie where Bilbo and Beorn talk about the Hobbits\/Holbytlan originating in the Vales of Anduin, and later Bilbo and Bard talk about the name Hobbit wearing down from the Eotheod\/Rohirrim\/Beorning\/Barding name of Holbytlan for half-sized people who lived in holes in the ground. And during these scenes there could have been images of Smeagol and Deagol\u2019s people in their smials in the Vales. These, in turn, could have drawn on a conversation that Theoden, Merry and Pippin have outside the ruins of Isengard in The Lord of the Rings<\/i>, which was not in the movies and happens while Frodo, Sam and Gollum are outside the Black Gate into Mordor where Gollum tells the Hobbits about how when he was young and lived by Anduin with his people he used to hear tales about the Men of Gondor.<\/p>\n This is so to highlight the Eotheod\/Rohirrim, Beornings and Bardings\u2019 kinship and their languages\u2019 similarity with the Hobbits\/Holbytlan, which could also have been expanded on in the movies to come. For example, the Beornings and the Bardings\u2019 respective music score themes, could have had Old English-like and\/or Old Icelandic-like lyrics that complemented the Old English-like ones used for the Eotheod\/Rohirrim theme in The Lord of the Rings <\/i>movies and complemented with the Middle English-like ones that could have been used in the Shire theme in the first Hobbit<\/i> movie. And perhaps the latter also could have complemented with Elvish-like and Dwarvish-like lyrics if Bilbo also had similar conversations with Thranduil and Dain about the Hobbits so to represent the variations between the Stoor-Hobbits, Fallohide-Hobbits and Harfoot-Hobbits respective dialects.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the movie could have had the \u2018fish\u2019 riddle in its expanded form as said by Gollum to Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> when they first meet. This is because it references an island, thus alluding to Angantyr\u2019s barrow\u2019s location in The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise<\/i>, and the riddle itself alluding to a riddle contest that happens between Heidrek and Odin, who uses the alias Gestumblindi. There Odin asks a riddle which includes the question: \u2018What lives without breath?\u2019, for which the answer is \u2018fish\u2019, which is alluded to in a line of the \u2018fish\u2019 riddle that Gollum asks of Bilbo, while the expanded version that Gollum tells the Hobbits alludes to other things in the riddle that Odin asks Heidrek in the saga. Meanwhile, in the latter, Odin ends the contest similarly to how Bilbo ends his contest with Gollum by asking Heidrek a questionable non-riddle where he asks the king: \u2018What did Odin whisper in the ear of his son, before Baldir was carried to the pyre?\u2019 This refers to Baldir\u2019s fate at Ragnarok, and indicates to Heidrek that he has been contesting with Odin who is the only one that could know the answer to that question.<\/p>\n In addition, a riddle about \u2018a fish on a little table, a man sitting nearby on a stool and a cat having the bones\u2019 that is also not told in the movie, which Bilbo tells in the book after Gollum tells the \u2018fish\u2019 riddle, alludes to an Old English riddle about a lot of complicated relationships amongst five people sitting at a table for which the answer is Lot\u2019s incestuous family. This suggests that the riddle said by Bilbo is slightly risqu\u00e9, which, in turn, suggests that when he next asks Gollum:\u00a0 \u2018What have I got in my pocket?\u2019 he could be alluding to an Old English riddle about a key in a man\u2019s pocket, which also could be referring to a certain part of a man\u2019s anatomy. This, in turn, indicates that the question Bilbo asks Gollum, in a sense, is a riddle, which would have been maintained in the movie if the riddle about \u2018a fish on a little table et al\u2019 had not of been omitted. And obviously Tolkien did not turn the question into a similar riddle because he was telling the riddles to his children when telling The Hobbit<\/i> as a bedtime story and in all versions of the story he did not want Gollum to guess that Bilbo has got the Ring, or at least not straight away.<\/p>\n Furthermore, because The Hobbit <\/i>was a story that Tolkien told his children, Bilbo and Gollum\u2019s encounter in the story is a toned down analogue of Loki and the dwarf Andvari\u2019s encounter in The Saga of the Volsungs<\/i> where Loki tricks Andvari out of his gold, including a ring that causes problems for its possessors. This is because the \u2018fish\u2019 riddle in The Hobbit <\/i>can allude to how Andvari can turn into a pike and is asked a question by Loki referring to that after the god captures him in a net.<\/p>\n Also, Tolkien wrote the lays in The<\/i> Legend<\/i> of<\/i> Sigurd and Gudrun <\/i>before he wrote The Hobbit,<\/i> in which he titled Loki and Andvari\u2019s encounter:\u00a0 \u2018Andvara-Gull\u2019. This suggests that it is analogized in Bilbo and Gollum\u2019s encounter because the Old Icelandic word gull<\/i>, which the word \u2018gold\u2019 originates from, also can mean \u2018precious treasure\u2019, and suggests that Gollum is referring to the plural gullum<\/i> when he alternates between saying \u2018gollum\u2019 and \u2018precious\u2019, which, in turn, indicates that he is referring to both the Ring and himself as \u2018precious\u2019. Hence when Tolkien changed the story of Bilbo and Gollum\u2019s encounter from The Hobbit\u2019s <\/i>first edition, where the Ring is offered as a present by Gollum to Bilbo if he wins the riddle game, to the one where Gollum offers to show Bilbo the way out of the Orc-tunnels instead, in the book\u2019s subsequent editions, Tolkien went back to the story about Loki and Andvari\u2019s encounter in the saga in order to devise the change.<\/p>\n And in doing this Tolkien managed to make Sting more analogous of Gullinn-Hjalti in The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki<\/i> than he does in The<\/i> Hobbit\u2019s<\/i> first edition where he has Bilbo gain Sting surreptitiously like Hott Hjalti gains Gullin-Hjalti in the saga.<\/i> Also, he does this by enhancing the affinity between Bilbo and Gollum, which is suggested not only in Bilbo\u2019s name analogizing Hott Hjalti, as referred to above, but in Gollum\u2019s name being similar to gullinn<\/i> and in the way Bilbo demonstrates the strength and nobility of Hott Hjalti in sparing Gollum\u2019s life when he has the chance to slay him in his invisible state when Gollum is in the way of him escaping from the Orc-tunnels. This is also portrayed in the movie when Bilbo is seen hesitating between slaying Gollum with Sting when Gollum is in the way of him joining Gandalf and the Dwarves as he sees them running out of the Mountains, or demonstrating his courage by sparing Gollum, and choosing the latter, thus heeding Gandalf words to him on first giving him the sword that true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.<\/p>\n Unfortunately this theme becomes diluted later on in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> movies in Sam not being hesitant about slaying Gollum on Mount Doom like in the book. And this could have been achieved if Frodo had given Sting to Sam on the plains of Gorgoroth and told him how Gandalf had said to him that it was pity that stayed Bilbo\u2019s hand from slaying Gollum who still may have a part to play before the quest is all over, which is also why Frodo spares Gollum\u2019s life. This is a theme that Tolkien extended on by making Sting partially an anti-thesis of Tyrfing in The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise<\/i> with the latter being cursed to bring death to its bearer after performing three shameful deeds with it, while Sting, it seems, saves the lives of the three Hobbits because they each demonstrate compassion towards Gollum. In The Lord of the Rings <\/i>in order to increase the potency of the Ring Tolkien came up with the idea that Bilbo made up the story about it being offered to him by Gollum as a present, when the Hobbit first told the story to the Dwarves, in order to clear himself of the name \u2018thief\u2019 that Gollum gave him for running off with the Ring. This is while Gollum made up the story up about the Ring being given to him as a birthday present by his grandmother, when being interrogated by Gandalf after Aragorn captures him, so to clear himself of the name of \u2018murderer\u2019 for slaying Deagol in order to gain possession of the Ring. However, these are things that are probably not going to be referred to in the movies to come with Bilbo possibly not telling anyone about the Ring in his possession until sixty years later when the Ring increases in potency for him again, and he tells Gandalf of his possession of it. Meanwhile, if there is any reference to Aragorn hunting Gollum and Gandalf interrogating Gollum at all because of what Bilbo tells Gandalf (say at the end of the final movie by Gandalf to Elrond and\/or Galadriel) it probably will not refer to Gollum making up his story.<\/p>\n These things point yet again to how stories can be embellished, which is demonstrated also at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings<\/i> when the Hobbits drinking with Hamfast Gamgee in The <\/i>Ivy <\/i>Bush <\/i>Inn speculate about whether it might have been Drogo\u2019s weight or Primula pushing him in the river and him pulling her in after him that caused Frodo\u2019s parents to drown in the Brandywine River when they go boating. And this, in turn, suggests the speculation that could have happened in Smeagol and Deagol\u2019s Holbytlan society in the Vales of Anduin when Smeagol returns from his fishing-trip with the Ring without Deagol, before Smeagol is exiled from this society.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, it is quite possible that the second movie will begin with Bilbo dreaming about the Eye of the Necromancer\/Sauron and about Smaug talking incomprehensibly to him to suggest that the reason why the Ring left Gollum was because it had felt the call of its Master and was trying to get back to him, which led to Smaug waking up in his lair at the end of the first movie because the Necromancer\/Sauron is drawing all evil to him and so is the Ring. This suggests that the second movie could possibly be about Bilbo gradually discovering the Ring\u2019s potency and how this finally becomes clear to him at the movie\u2019s end in his \u2018conversation\u2019 with Smaug.<\/p>\n This is while, in the third movie, Bilbo possibly discovers that this potency comes from Sauron at the point when the White Council seems to defeat Sauron and consequently the Ring becomes dormant for the next sixty years until Sauron rises again with the only effect it having on Bilbo is to increase his longevity. This also would explain why Gollum feasibly could have had a sense of the Necromancer\/Sauron\u2019s power to raise the dead when he bears the Ring. Hence at the beginning of the first of The Hobbit <\/i>movies when Bilbo is seen writing to Frodo telling him about what really happened in his quest he could be doing it with the intention of giving the Ring to Frodo because he is now too old to bear the responsibility of it and he is doing this on Gandalf\u2019s advice with the understanding that Gandalf will take care of Frodo.<\/p>\n These things of course might make it more difficult for The<\/i> Hobbit<\/i> movies to potentially illustrate how more of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling could have been portrayed in them, which is perhaps a discussion I might attempt after seeing the second and third movies.<\/p>\n In the meantime, bearing in mind both The Lord of the Rings <\/i>and The Hobbit <\/i>movie productions\u2019 employment of linguist specialists attune to Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic literature, as I referred to above, the potential of the movies is such that they could have delivered more of Tolkien\u2019s story-telling than they have, and more than they probably will, if they took more into account that Tolkien was a philologist who specialized in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic and how that specialty formed his story-telling. This has been demonstrated in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> movies having had a better reception than The Hobbit<\/i> movies have to date because the promotion of the former was embedded in the literary canon that the books came from and how that contributed to the movies\u2019 development. Meanwhile, the promotion of the latter has to date been too embedded in the cinematography used in bringing the story to the audience, which was not received too well by all of the movie viewers, which, in turn, demonstrates that, as such, the cinematography is limited in portraying story-telling like Tolkien\u2019s.<\/p>\n This reiterates why Christopher Tolkien said that the books <\/i>were peculiarly unsuitable for dramatic visual transformation but that was also a question of art, which is perhaps why he has had verses of his father\u2019s published in recent times, in which he explains where his father\u2019s story-telling comes from. And perhaps this is in the Tolkien Estate\u2019s mind in having taken out lawsuits against Saul Zaentz Ltd et al so to demonstrate that the general use of the etymologies that the books draws on cannot be restricted by the copyright attached to the movie franchises when testing whether or not there are parts of that copyright which breach the intentions of the original deed of sale of the books\u2019 film rights. This is so that the Estate can continue to promote Tolkien\u2019s story-telling.<\/p>\n Hence, it is not enough to say that The Lord of the Rings <\/i>and The Hobbit<\/i> movies did a lot for Tolkien because his heirs allegedly made a lot of money out of any increase in book sales that consequentially may have happened.\u00a0 This is because this does not only omit to take into account how the advent of the movies also created extra publishing costs but also the effects that it has had on what actually constitutes Tolkien\u2019s story-telling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian lives in Wellington New Zealand on the main drag to both Victoria University where he was taught Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic at undergraduate level by an Oxford University PhD graduate and the Embassy Theatre where the red carpet rolled out for all New Zealand premieres for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our newest TORn Library feature, Brian Tither discusses the effectiveness of portraying Tolkiens’ story-telling via cinematography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":76027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[331,7,4,148,152],"tags":[1788],"class_list":["post-83263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenbooks","category-hobbit-book","category-hobbit-movie","category-hobbit","category-tolkien","tag-library"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/placeholder-image.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-lEX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83266,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83263\/revisions\/83266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The first Hobbit<\/em> movie:<\/h3>\n
\n<\/p>\n1. Bag End and Erebor:<\/h4>\n
\n<\/p>\n2. The Shire, Bree and the Lone-lands:<\/h4>\n
\n<\/p>\n3. Rivendell and the Misty Mountains:<\/h4>\n
\n<\/p>\n4. Over Hill and Under Hill:<\/h4>\n
\n<\/p>\nThe next two Hobbit movies:<\/h3>\n
Conclusion:<\/h3>\n