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Something I regret about the Peter Jackson LORD OF THE RINGS movies is that they inevitably flatten and coarsen various aspects of the story: subplots are condensed or excised, plot elements simplified, action blown up, timeframes compacted, and characters sometimes made rather one-note. I don't think the results are bad — I have criticisms in spots, but the movies are faithful to the spirit of the book even in areas that one would expect to be difficult (like all the homoeroticism), and if some of the additions (like the dwarf-tossing jokes) are dumb, they make the movies work the way they need to for theatrical epics of this scale. In some ways, I think the movies improve on the story: The increased role of Arwen is welcome, for instance, and the movies create a sense of tension in character interactions that in the book are fairly cut-and-dried.

Still, there's a lot that's hard not to miss: Frodo's unjustified fear of Farmer Maggot, who turns out to be a brave friend; Bilbo's song of Earendil the Mariner; the way Rivendell and Lothlórien exist subtly outside of the normal flow of time; Gloin's account of Dain turning away the messenger from Mordor; Saruman of many colors; Gimli's courtly manners (the movie's version of him is a bit of a boor, but in the book, he's got the best manners of any of the major characters); Galadriel rejecting Celeborn's anti-dwarf prejudice; the subtler and more insidious treatment of Saruman's voice; Pippin's friendship with Beregon in Gondor; the madness of Denethor and the palantír of Anor (which made a great impression on me as a kid); Éowyn's courage in facing the Lord of the Nazgûl (who in the book threatens to have her dragged away "to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness" to be tortured forever!); Aragorn's argument with Ioreth about the virtues and etymology of athelas (one of the points of the book that seems closest to Tolkien's philologist's heart, TBH); the escape of Saruman from Treebeard; Frodo's compassion for Lotho and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and pity even for Saruman.

This is an area where Phil Dragash's superb (albeit unauthorized) Soundscape audiobook project, which I've mentioned before, really fills in a needed gap. It's enough like the movies, particularly the music, to evoke a similar vibe, but it's an unabridged performance, so it omits only the introduction and the appendices. As an unabridged version of a very large book, it's a big time commitment (at least three times the combined length all three Extended Editions), but there's much to savor.

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Sometimes I randomly remember that Boromir only went to Rivendell in the first place because the road there from Gondor was full of perils and he didn’t want his beloved little brother to walk that dangerous path so he took the task upon himself like he took every task upon himself to spare Faramir and I just break down.

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This shot from The Two Towers looks like a renaissance painting. Frodo lifting the Elvish rope over Gollum's neck, both of them stunned by Frodo's merciful nature. Gollum's eyes in shadow, because that is all that he has known for so long. Sam standing in the light and holding the rope, presented as the voice of reason to Frodo's voice of compassion. A pained expression on Sam's face, as if he can already foresee how this will end. Incredible cinematography.

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Haven`t drawn too much because i was away so here are some older Lotr paintings from my sketckbook, plus a Thorin pencil sketch

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Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in LOTR

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thráin ii’s children: thorin, frerin, and dís (not in order)

i imagine that frerin is a craftsman, dís tends to the ravens of ravenhill, and thorin is a musician :)

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Just some of my favorite BTS photos from The Hobbit and LOTR!

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GRAPHIC/GIFSET TAG MEME: favourite member of the fellowship — tagging @daenerys-stormborn & @tomcriuse (tagged by @lotrlorien ♥)

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Have said it before and will say it again: If Frodo had actually been able to throw the Ring into the Fire by himself, that would’ve meant he was some kind of Superman. The point of Frodo is he’s NOT Superman. He’s a regular ordinary guy who volunteers to do the impossible.

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daily affirmations: you are isildur’s heir, not isildur himself. You are not bound to his fate.

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Art by Ami Thompson

#the lord of the rings #lotr #eowyn #art #jrr tolkien

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Bugs Bunny could have simply walked into Mordor. He would have shown up at the gates of Mordor in a disguise and been like "Evil volcano inspection unit" and flashed a fake ID badge to the confused orc.

#lotr