Some questions

[WampusCat]

If it is going to be anything like the Bakshi version, I hope no remake comes in my lifetime. I may be a baby boomer, but his take appalled me.

[Passdagas the Brown]

I don't see how in this day and age, any adaptation of LOTR could even approach the horribleness of the Bakshi version.

Personally, I don't quite understand the fear of a remake being worse than Jackson's. IMO, it could be worse, but it just as likely that they would be far better.

And if not, you can ignore them and just watch Jackson's versions!

[kzer_za]

F. Which invented scene from the films (LOTR and Hobbit) do you consider closest to Tolkien, as in if you had not read the books for quite some time and recently saw the film you would think it was straight from the source material? On the other hand, which scenes from the book could be labelled “typical Hollywood/PJ inventions” if one were not really familiar with the source material? Rereading “Helm’s Deep” and Éowyn’s battle with the Witch-King made me chuckle a little bit: I could imagine people on Facebook et al. (Mind you, I do not put PJ’s critics on this site in this category) criticizing PJ for inventing “that silly and nonsensical game of Legolas and Gimli counting their kills during battle” or lambasting the writers for creating “that Mary-Sue character called Éowyn who serves as a crypto-feminist to appease the political-correct critics”.

I'm answering this late, but good question. I really thought Gimli's "dwarf women" speech was just another invented bit of a buffoonery, and I was surprised to later discover that it came from a part of the appendices I'd missed! On the opposite side, I remember being very surprised on one reread to find that Frodo does not actually fall into the Dead Marshes and Gollum does not actually save him! Somehow that scene had merged with the books in my mind.

One of the difficulties in picking invented scenes is defining "invented", because some of the good ones are closely derived from Tolkien. Someone mentioned "Where is the Horse and the Rider", for example which of course uses Tolkien's own words in a different context.

With that said, Theodred's funeral is definitely a good one. I've also always liked the little scene between Frodo and Gollum after Shelob's Lair, where Frodo wants to spare Gollum's life even after his treachery and Gollum briefly teeters on the edge of repentance. It's often overlooked and reminds me of the book version of Cirith Ungol in spirit. In Desolation of Smaug, I like most of the Bard stuff.

One more interesting note: Lurtz licking the blood from the dagger is sometimes criticized for being disgusting and un-Tolkien. But Shagrat does exactly the same thing after he kills Gorbag in the book.

[Jude]

On the opposite side, I remember being very surprised on one reread to find that Frodo does not actually fall into the Dead Marshes and Gollum does not actually save him! Somehow that scene had merged with the books in my mind.

I just reached this point in the books, and while Gollum doesn't save him, they do suddenly notice he's missing. When they go back and find him, he's standing in a daze, with slime dripping from his hands. My own conclusion is that he did fall in (although he wasn't necessarily submerged) and got himself out.

[Beutlin]

What's your take on the names of Gamling and Ioreth? Are their names not reminiscent of comic books? I do not really have a problem with their names but I find it a little bit odd that someone would name his newborn child "old man or woman". Or are these not their real names but just nicknames?



Did Tolkien use any other "speaking names" for his characters?

[Passdagas the Brown]

What's your take on the names of Gamling and Ioreth? Are their names not reminiscent of comic books? I do not really have a problem with their names but I find it a little bit odd that someone would name his newborn child "old man or woman". Or are these not their real names but just nicknames?



Did Tolkien use any other "speaking names" for his characters?

Many pastoral and rural cultures (and urban) have strong traditions of nicknames essentially replacing given names, so I see Gamling and Ioreth in that light.

[Smaug's voice]

On the
opposite side, I remember being very surprised on one reread to find
that Frodo does not actually fall into the Dead Marshes and Gollum does
not actually save him! Somehow that scene had merged with the books in
my mind.

I just reached this point in the books, and while Gollum doesn't save
him, they do suddenly notice he's missing. When they go back and find
him, he's standing in a daze, with slime dripping from his hands. My own
conclusion is that he did fall in (although he wasn't necessarily
submerged) and got himself out.

Could be a possibility.
Though since (I would expect) there was slime throughout the marshes, the slime could have come from anywhere. Including the wet floor beside the bog.

[Beutlin]

Now this is a completely random question:

What happened on Tuesday, April 2011, the day with the "most users ever online" (101!)? I would say on average there are no more than five people online. What happened that day? Fake accounts? Gathering of witches?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Bot attack.

[Jude]

You can reset that, if you want real statistics.