Cool and Interesting Facts

There are some interesting facts surrounding The Lord of the Rings. Some facts are about the books and others are about the movies.  Many of these facts came from various websites (http://shinningevenstar.tripod.com/id19.html; http://bardscribe.hubpages.com/hub/Interesting-and-Little-Known-Facts-about-JRR-Tolkien; http://www.empireonline.com/features/lord-of-the-rings-100-facts/; http://www.lotrrulesall.i8.com/funfacts.html; http://scrapbook.theonering.net/scrapbook/movies/promotional/view/12189 ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy#The_Fellowship ) and I thank them.

So the Facts start:

Here are the Major Actors of the The Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson:

Aragorn: Viggo Mortensen

Frodo Baggins: Elijah Wood

Boromir: Sean Bean

Merry Brandybuck: Dominic Monaghan

Samwise Gamgee: Sean Astin

Gandalf: Ian McKellen

Gimli: John Rhys-Davies

Legolas: Orlando Bloom

Pippen Took: Billy Boyd

Bilbo Baggins: Ian Holm

Arwen: Liv Tyler

Lord Celeborn: Marton Csokas

Lord Elrond: Hugo Weaving

Lady Galadriel: Cate Blanchett

Eowyn: Miranda Otto

Faramir: David Wenham

King Theoden: Bernard Hill

Treebeard (Voice): John Rhys-Davies

Smeagol/Gollum: Andy Serkis

Grima Wormtongue: Brad Dourif

The One Ring (Voice): Alan Howard

Sauron: Sala Baker

Saruman: Christopher Lee

Witch-king of Angmar: Shane Rangi, Brent McIntyre, Lawrence Makoare, Andy Serkis (as Voice)

Isildur: Harry Sinclair

Peter Jackson: Director

J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of The Lord of the Rings

Now that you know who everyone is, we can get to the fun and interesting part…

     Orlando managed to get all of the actors in The Fellowship to get a tattoo of the Elvish Number 9 except for John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)

     Viggo broke a toe or two while kicking a helmet. (See a vid of it in my previous post)

     Gimli’s beard was made from the hair of the belly of a yak.

     Lord of the Rings  was a major influence for Star Wars

     The face of the Nazgul is based off the face of a salmon

     There was over 6 million feet of film shot

     Rhys-Davies (Gimli) was the tallest member of the Fellowship.

     Astin had to gain 30 pounds to play Sam, oh how delicious…

     The Crown originally made for Aragorn’s Coronation was too big, the Jeweler had taken Viggo’s head measurements all wrong, it fell around his neck and on his shoulders.

     There were 1600 pairs of hobbit feet total used in the making of the films.

     Tolkien’s aunt lived at a Bag End, this is where Tolkien got his inspiration for Bag End in the Shire.

     “The cave troll in Moria is ‘not really evil; he's just fallen into bad company’, claimed Jackson.”  

     The battle cries of the Orcs in Helm’s Deep were actually 25,000 cricket fans chanting along with words displayed on the big screen.

There are so many more sweet facts that you might find interesting, but I don’t feel like typing them all up… check out the URLs above and read to your heart’s content…

READ THE BOOKS IF YOU HAVEN’T!! THEN WATCH THE MOVIES AND WONDER IN THEIR GREATNESS.

The original book covers.

http://sarahfritzler.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/lord-of-the-rings-lawsuit-hots-up/

http://collider.com/lord-of-the-rings-extended-edition-blu-ray-review/97669/

http://moviemusicuk.us/tag/howard-shore/

Funny Moments with Gimli (and one with Aragorn)

Despite the seriousness of the themes of The Lord of the Rings the Book and the Movie both have an overarching tone that is generally that of suspenseful adventure, lighthearted, slightly humorous, and excited in a suspenseful sort of way. Sure, there are gloomier spots and happier funnier spots, but Tolkien did a great job on the Tone. But I don’t want to talk about Tone and mood, that is no fun to talk about, but I know what is… in Peter Jackson’s Movies, he inserts bits of humor all over the place. In general, they surround Gimli…which is funny in and of itself. So here are some clips I found and have been shown. Enjoy them! Oh, yeah … They are funnier if seen while watching the movie.

When saving him from a fall... 

 Right before The Battle at Helms Deep

Final count at the end of The Battle at Helms Deep

Or..If you prefer an omnibus...

This is Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) breaking his toe (by kicking a helmet). 
Just FWI...WATCH THE MOVIES AND READ THE BOOKS!!! BUT READ THE BOOKS FIRST!!!

Return of the King

http://thethunderchild.com/Movies/VertliebViews/ReturnoftheKing.html

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Mount_Doom

The third and final book of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy is called, The Return of the King. Many might be wondering, “Who is this king of which Tolkien speaks?” Aragorn. One of the Dunedain. The King of Gondor.  The story begins with Gandalf riding to Minas Tirith with Pippen. This was after Isengard fell and Pippen looked into the Palantír. When they get into Gondor, into Minas Tirith and meet the Steward of the City, Denethor, who does not like Gandalf at all. Pippen swears himself to the steward and acts as an intermediary between Gandalf and Denethor. The World becomes dark as Mordor leaks darkness over the world, creating gloom and feelings of doom.  Aragorn, who was travelling with the rest of the Riders of Rohan toward Minas Tirith, realized that the riders would not get there in time to help with the upcoming battle at Minas Tirith, and so he rode the Path of the Dead, a feared path. Gimli and Legolas accompany him. With the help of the dead, Aragorn captures some of the enemy’s boats and floats down the river to Minas Tirith, with some of his Brethren, the Dunedain, and men of southern Gondor, to turn the tide of the battle. This was the largest battle in the War of the Ring. After this victory, Aragorn enters the City and heals those who were wounded by the Witch-King (the Head of the Ring-Wraiths) thus fulfilling the prophecy about the return of the king. After the battle, the Captains of the West decide to assault Mordor itself, in order to distract Sauron’s attention from Frodo and Sam. As all of these events are occurring, Frodo is rescued from Cirith Ungol by Samwise Gamgee. They make their way through Mordor as the Ring grows heaver on Frodo. Finally they reach Mount Doom, and the Cracks of Doom. Frodo then claims the Ring, at the very Cracks. However, Gollum appears out of nowhere and tries to wrestles the Ring from Frodo. Finally he bites Frodo finger off that wore the Ring. Then Gollum stumbled and fell into the Cracks of Doom, destroying him, and more importantly, the Ring. Sauron fell, and the Third Age ended.  Back in the Shire, the Hobbits find that a Police state had fallen upon the Shire, and it was being destroyed by the “Police,” Men. They soon learn that the leader of the “Police” is Saruman. However, he is easily overthrown by a rebellion fostered by the Four Hobbits. Saruman is then stabbed in the back by Wormtongue.  A little later, all of the Ringbearers and Gandalf, and an elf or two left Middle Earth for the unknown across the sea.

http://www.theboxset.com/review.php?id=237

Battle of the Hornburg (AKA Battle of Helm's Deep)

http://www.councilofelrond.com/encyclopedia/battle-of-the-hornburg/

I love the Battle at Helms Deep (or more correctly known as the Battle of the Hornburg). This is one of the places that J.R.R. Tolkien really shines. This is one of the best portions of the whole trilogy, but that is just my opinion. It is full of suspense and conflict, which is fully understandable for a battle scene.  This was the second largest battle of The War of the Ring. There are many notable differences between the book’s battle and the one in Peter Jackson’s Film, “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” In the book, there is no elfish reinforcement; there are 2000 defenders, one of whom is Eomer, son of Theoden King of Rohirrim.  When Gandalf arrives, it is upon demoralized orcs, Uruk-Hai and Dunland Men, and it is with the remaining forces of Rohirrim who had been driven from another Garrison, not with Gondor, for the White City had enough problems of its own.  Also in the book, The Huorn “Forest” is there to help surround Saruman’s army and, in the end, to annihilate the remainder of it.  This battle is a turning point in the War of the Ring. It spells the doom for Saruman.  At around this time in Isengard, the Ents and some of their Huorn “forests” and their tree “flocks” destroy Isengard and trap Saruman and Wormtongue in the Isengard Tower, closing the defeat of Saruman.  This Chapter of the book and this Scene of the Movie is amazing, read and watch them. I will not tell you all, for that would ruin the surprise!!

http://stophittingyourbrother.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/of-facebook-radio-family-the-battle-of-helm%E2%80%99s-deep-and-911/

http://s6.invisionfree.com/The_Library/ar/t106.htm

http://www.comicvine.com/aragorn/29-62741/all-images/108-272386/aragorn_04/105-670585/

Enjoy this, But still watch the whole movie if you haven't, and READ THE BOOKS!!!!

(Always be wary of a person who uses more than 5 exclamation points, they might be CRAZY!!!!)

The Two Towers

http://6ringbinders.ringimagesring.com/lord-of-the-rings-two-towers/

All right I’ll tell you of the The Two Towers book. This is the second book in the trilogy. This is the book that really gets the action rolling. This book is divided into two parts, the first following the remnants of the Fellowship; Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Merry, and Pippin in their adventures. And the second part following the two Hobbits who struck out on their own; Frodo, and Sam, in their adventures. In the first part, Merry and Pippin are captured by the very Orcs who had killed Boromir, and are carried away captive in the direction of Isengard, these Orcs' headquarters, the home base of Saruman, a corrupted Wizard. Fortuanatly on the way they are able to escape. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas chase after the Orcs that have carried the Hobbits away. Along the way they meet the Riders of Rohan, led by Eomer. The Hobbits meanwhile meet in the forest that they escape into an Ent named Fangorn who after learning their story, calls an Ent assembly, to crush Saruman, who has been treating them and their Forest cruelly. The three companions searching for the Hobbits in the forest find Gandalf, “reborn”, now Gandalf the White. Later after Gandalf led them to the King Theoden and exposes Wormtongue, the King's advisor, as a spy for Saruman. They head to Isengard and are surprised to find it nearly all destroyed, except for Orthanc the Tower, and Merry and Pippen sitting there waiting for them. Wormtongue is in the tower with Saruman. Wormtongue tries to kill Gandalf by throwing something at him, however he misses. What he threw was a “seeing stone” a Palantir, which is a very important thing, (READ THE BOOKS IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!) Meanwhile Frodo and Sam meet Gollum, “tame” him and force him to lead them to Mordor. When they got there they see the impregnable gate into Mordor, and Gollum tells them of another way. Along the way they meet Faramir, Bother of Boromir. Gollum leads the Hobbits up a path into Mordor, where Shelob, the First Spider lives, she is HUGE! (A lot like Aragog in Harry Potter, only more..uh..badder? Let's just say that J.K. Rawlings got her idea from Shelob and dumbed,and watered it down into Aragog in order to not scare any young children.) She stings Frodo, Sam wounds her, and she flees. Sam thinks that Frodo is dead and so takes upon himself the burden of the Ring. Orcs find Frodo and carry him away to search for the Ring. Sam follows. A door gets slammed in his face, separating them, and Sam hears through it that Shelob likes her prey alive, which meant that Frodo was still alive. Sam feels horrible, and scared. I like this book a lot, and I think this book is only second to The Return of the King READ IT!!! PLEASE? Pretty please? You'll enjoy it.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Ents

Enjoy!!

Wait for it

Some of you may be wondering when I was going to tell you all about the next book in my most charming manner. Well you can stop wondering now…because it will be very soon, just as soon as I finish this page. And so finish the book…JK, I already finished the book.

Frodo Baggins

http://most-tranquil.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-lord-of-rings-marshmallows-and-hot.html

Well, I have told you all about The Fellowship of the Ring, and have told you about Frodo, the main, main character, well, I haven’t told about him really, only mentioned him upon occasion, which is why I am composing this blog post.  There are many opinions on this character, some are strong, others not, some are derogatory some are not. Many think that this guy is a “Wuss”, and others think he is a “Stud”. What do I think? Well… he is a Hobbit in possession of the most corrupting, powerful, and evil thing on Middle Earth, besides Sauron himself, (that last phrase is even a little debatable.) Let us consider, Boromir wasn’t even in possession of the Ring and fell under Its power, as did many others before him; Frodo only finally succumbed to the power of the Ring at the very end, at the very Cracks of Doom.  What do I think? He was a Stud. Nah…well… Frodo was from the Shire, and was a cousin of Bilbo’s, and eventually his heir, which is how he inherited the Ring. Frodo was a caring sort of Hobbit, quite unlike the Sackville-Bagginses. He also had a strong sense of loyalty to a cause. He realized that it was the Ring that had splintered the Fellowship and would continue to do so, and so left the Fellowship, so the rest would not be harmed; he also knew that the quest would only be accomplished if he went alone, and so he did. Frodo also loved poetry as his mentor, Bilbo, did. He is also a downright charming fellow.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Frodo_Baggins 

http://www.squidoo.com/LOTR-v-HarryPotter?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster