# Some Fellowship of the Ring questions from someone who is more familiar with the movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272 "2011-04-05T15:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/41 "2011-04-06T00:59:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The one that gets me is “O Elbereth Gilthoniel” to “O come o come Emmanuel”. > > Well, you might argue that the water-horses in the flood at the Ford were elementals, I suppose. And the Maia associated with particular elements (the Balrogs for fire, for instance) might also be called elementals, though you wouldn’t summon those. I noticed as a teen that one of Galadriel’s songs in the books can be sung to _Greensleeves_. (“I sang of leaves…”) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/42 "2011-04-06T01:49:12Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Tolkien’s timelines are _long_. You can say that again. One of the things I didn’t like about the movie was the compression of scale, timewise. Someone who hadn’t read the book would get the impression that the span between Bilbo’s party disappearance and Frodo’s (along with Sam) being shoved out the door of Bagend by Gandalf was, oh, a couple months. Nope. More like twenty years. Frodo was, in fact almost exactly the age Bilbo was when _he_ was given a push to start _his_ adventure by the selfsame Gandalf. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/43 "2011-04-06T02:37:16Z")
Novelty Bobble - Here’s the link you need [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905) and it will take more than 3 hours of your time ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/44 "2011-04-06T03:11:23Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > IIRC, the narrowness and fragility was the point. It was a defensive tactic at the entrance to the caves; an invading army would have had to cross one by one. And dwarves didn’t believe in curbs or guard-rails, either. Kind of ironic, given that dwarves weren’t particularly known for grace or dexterity. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/45 "2011-04-06T03:28:37Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Or…bloody hell, how about a blaxploitation version? “The Brotherhood of the Bling” > Morgan Freeman as Gandalf? Samuel L. Jackson as Saruman? Prince as Gollum? > > “I’m gonna git 2nd age on your ass” > “I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my pimp” > > come on! this thing writes itself. > > My god I’m a genius. Where’s Michael Bay’s number? A rather tardy genius. 🙂 Years ago MAD TV did “Lord of the Bling”. Gandalf played by Bill Cosby! Putting on the Ring turns you WHITE! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/46 "2011-04-06T05:06:39Z")
[Middle Earth Wizards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_%28Middle-earth%29) courtesy of wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/47 "2011-04-06T17:31:38Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > IIRC, the narrowness and fragility was the point. It was a defensive tactic at the entrance to the caves; an invading army would have had to cross one by one. The dwarves feared elves that much? It was Lothlorien on that side wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/48 "2011-04-06T17:53:37Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > **HEAVY SIGH** > This has been explained many times before… of course if you hold your staff in the middle, as if it were a regular old walking stick, you’re gonna block out the signal! You need to grip it at the top and bottom; then you’ll see your signal improve quite a bit.:smack: Nah, it wasn’t the signal strength. It was a problem with the mailer daemon. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/49 "2011-04-06T18:12:29Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > The dwarves feared elves that much? It was Lothlorien on that side wasn’t it? Depends on when it was built. Gimli calls it “the ancient defence of our people”. We know that Khazad-dûm was inhabited at least by the 1st age and more than likely after the elves “awoke”. That places the foundation of Khazad-dûm during the period where Melkor was making Middle Earth an unpleasant place. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/50 "2011-04-06T18:36:37Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > during the period where Melkor was making Middle Earth an unpleasant place. You mean like, Narcs and Democrats? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/51 "2011-04-06T18:40:09Z")
Warg riding socialist barristas. ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/52 "2011-04-06T19:02:16Z")
Wizards in LOTR, and elves, are fundamentally different from other magic users. IIRC correctly, The Mouth of Sauron was described as a powerful sorcerer. I think he would be closer to the standard fantasy model of a magician - spell casting, potion making, etc ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/53 "2011-04-06T19:05:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And dwarves didn’t believe in curbs or guard-rails, either. Kind of ironic, given that dwarves weren’t particularly known for grace or dexterity. 😃 If there were rails, they’d just spend all day _leaning._ Ever see a dwarf lean? Plus, do you know how heavy spit gets when it hits the bottom of that Pit? Caved poor Arlin’s head in, it did. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/54 "2011-04-06T20:29:19Z")
Quoth **GythaOgg** : > [@](#): > > I noticed as a teen that one of Galadriel’s songs in the books can be sung to Greensleeves. (“I sang of leaves…”) Well, yes, but that’s just because _every_ song ever written can be sung to Greensleeves. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/55 "2011-04-06T20:38:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **GythaOgg** :Well, yes, but that’s just because _every_ song ever written can be sung to Greensleeves. Oh yeah? How about _Strange Fruit_? Robert Johnson’s _Hot Tamales_? mister smarty pants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/56 "2011-04-06T20:40:41Z")
more timeline oddities: According to the LotR timeline here [Timeline of Arda | The One Wiki to Rule Them All | Fandom](http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_Arda) , Smeagol obtains the One Ring in TA 2463, just a little after Sauron entered Dol Guldur (to be called “The Necromancer”). It takes Gandalf four hundred years before checking into this Necromancer dude, and confirming that it’s Sauron. (Bilbo finds the One Ring 90 years after _that_.) In all that time, Sauron did not sense Smeagal wearing the ring? Gollum never wore it? Are the Misty Mountains made of lead? (My apologies. I wasn’t sure if this should go here, or the “Who’s the most incompetent” thread.) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/57 "2011-04-06T21:08:53Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > arghhhh! you swine! That is seared into my brain now. > > Actually, much as I loved the films and books I reckon there is mileage in redoing it as a musical. > > Or…bloody hell, how about a blaxploitation version? “The Brotherhood of the Bling” > Morgan Freeman as Gandalf? Samuel L. Jackson as Saruman? Prince as Gollum? > > “I’m gonna git 2nd age on your ass” > “I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my pimp” > > come on! this thing writes itself. > > My god I’m a genius. Where’s Michael Bay’s number? As mentioned MadTV did the Lords of the Bling and it’s pretty funny. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/O8jW19Ibjyo/hqdefault.jpg "MadTV - The Lords of the Bling 1 (first episode)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8jW19Ibjyo) Here’s part two, “The Tale of the Two Ta-Tas.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jcwWbMLmqEc/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGEggQyhlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBvTcMovPt_brM56DemBw7bGjgofw "Lords of The Bling: The Two TaTas") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcwWbMLmqEc) It’s got: Lil’ Kim as Froho Bill Cosby as Randalf the Wizard ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/58 "2011-04-06T22:30:08Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > more timeline oddities: > > According to the LotR timeline here [Timeline of Arda | The One Wiki to Rule Them All | Fandom](http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_Arda) , Smeagol obtains the One Ring in TA 2463, just a little after Sauron entered Dol Guldur (to be called “The Necromancer”). > > It takes Gandalf four hundred years before checking into this Necromancer dude, and confirming that it’s Sauron. (Bilbo finds the One Ring 90 years after _that_.) > > In all that time, Sauron did not sense Smeagal wearing the ring? Why should he have? Sauron never sensed Bilbo or Frodo donning the Ring, either. What caught Sauron’s attention was Frodo _claiming_ the Ring, something Gollum probably never did between the time he picked it up and the time he lost it. > [@](#): > > Gollum never wore it? He had not faded and become a Wraith, so he probably wore it only when going hunting for Orc-meat. > [@](#): > > Are the Misty Mountains made of lead? Sufficient thickness of stone would quite possibly block even Sauron’s sight. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/59 "2011-04-06T22:50:47Z")
> [@Stormcrow](#): > > Seek for the Sword that was broken: > In Imladris it dwells; > There shall be counsels taken > Stronger than Morgul-spells. > There shall be shown a token > That Doom is near at hand, > For Isildur’s Bane shall waken, > And the Halfling forth shall stand." > [@Scissorjack](#): > > Which you can sing to the tune of The Yellow Rose Of Texas. Scansion is totally wrong. I think every stress in the last 2 verses is on the wrong syllABle. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272/60 "2011-04-06T23:29:13Z")
> [@MHaye](#): > > Why should he have? > > Sauron never sensed Bilbo or Frodo donning the Ring, either. What caught Sauron’s attention was Frodo _claiming_ the Ring, something Gollum probably never did between the time he picked it up and the time he lost it. Didn’t he? In the movies, at least, every time Frodo puts on the Ring, Sauron’s Giant Flaming Vagina shows up to yell at him. That sure sounds like him sensing something going on with his ring. And Gollum never claimed the Ring? Man, what do you think he was talking about, all the times he was muttering about “his precious?” That’s the Ring he’s talking about, and he’s unambiguously saying that it’s his - not Sauron’s, not Frodo’s, but _his_. Bitching about other people having his Ring is pretty much his defining character trait. If that’s not claiming the Ring, I don’t know what is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fellowship-of-the-ring-questions-from-someone-who-is-more-familiar-with-the-movies/577272.md?page=4)