How did you imagine things in the books?
 

Before seeing the PJ verison of Middle-Earth the things I came up with in my head were quite different. For example...<P>Rivendel: It is called the last homely house in the books and I know that it meant it was like a home away from home but I could help thinking of an ugly house. I pictured in my crazy imagination a old farm house with peeling paint that was inhabitated by hicks. When they talked about sitting on the porch of the House of Elrond I could help think of them all sitting in rocking chair and porch swings. Ok don't throw things at me because this is only how I imagined it in the Hobbit for when I read the Fellowship it was closer to PJ version even when I didn't see the movie yet.<P>Gollum: Before I figured out the stuff about the ring I thought Gollum called himself 'my precious'.<P>So how did you imagine things while reading the books?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I pictured in my crazy imagination a old farm house with peeling paint that was inhabitated by hicks. When they talked about sitting on the porch of the House of Elrond I could help think of them all sitting in rocking chair and porch swings. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Oh yeah! Man, if there is ever a spoof with the last homely house and a spoof-writer who has actually read the books...<P>I was amazed by how accurate to my mind most of it was actually. Some of the characters have been a little different- Celeborn, for instance, and Faramir (although David Wenham is no bad thing!)- but most were actually very well cast. <P>One thing got me though- the wargs. I mean, come on, in the Two Towers, they looked like freakin' warthogs.

I found things in the movie to be quite similar to the descriptions in the book. However, my image of Ithilien was different from that in the Two Towers, and I didn't much like the movie version of Osgiliath. The Dead Marshes looked exactly as I had envisioned them, and I think the best accomplishments were Weathertop and Moria in the first movie and Helm's Deep in the second. Alas, I thought Edoras was too lowly seeming and the Golden Hall too shabby, and Fangorn, sadly, looked a bit too computer-generated for my old fashioned tastes.

i couldn't imagine the battles; i always saw in my mind an army with something like 50 orcs when it should have been 10 000 strong.<P>lothlorien was much more cheery place in my imagination and the golden hall...well, not so lame as in the film.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> One thing got me though- the wargs. I mean, come on, in the Two Towers, they looked like freakin' warthogs. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>What - you mean the button-eyed hyena-lemming mutants? Yes, terrible weren't they.

I got a really wierd mental picture when my dad was reading RotK to me when I was about 6 years old, in the part when Denethor almost burns Faramir there is a sentance something like "They carried Faramir out on the bier that he had been brought on," I can't remember the exact words. I didn't know the word "bier" but I knew the word "beer" so I thought he was being carried on a can of beer.

The elves were the most shocking difference for me. I was first introduced to Middle-earth when I saw the animated Hobbit. Their elves are really ugly with that sort of greenish glow, but that's how I pictured them sort of. Besides there is a sentence or two that mentions a glow about them. But I love the elves now in the movie. Aragorn was different too.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>lothlorien was much more cheery place in my imagination<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Same here. I actually pictured Lothlorien more like Rivendell was in the movie; brighter and more welcoming, while I saw Rivendell more like Lorien was in the movies! <P>So far (aside from the items stated above) things have been pretty much how I imagined them. There were a few outstanding differences, but overall things were pretty good. Except Faramir; I didn't picture him as that much of a jerk...<P>Abedithon le,<P>~*~Aranel~*~

When it comes to the subject of the winged Nazgul I imagined pegasus horses and one of my friends thought it was some kind of crow.<p>[ July 16, 2003: Message edited by: Silmiel of Imladris ]

(My first post ever...)<BR>Much of the way I imagined things in the books were based on creature descriptions I've acquired from those Dungeons and Dragons RPGs from the eighties (which were probably based on Tolkien-lore, me thinks). <BR>I imagined Rivendell to be much more laid-back and"warm-looking", and not really with that streamlined perfection as in the FotR movie. <BR>I thought of Frodo as someone un-Elijah looking (though Mr. Wood is a good actor for the role); i.e., I thought of him as a bit "rounder" and older-looking. I definitely imagined Faramir differently. And oh, I believe Legolas should have dark hair; he ain't high-elven.<BR>The movies are great, though much of the alterations were rather upsetting especially the part where Faramir takes Frodo to Gondor.

I agree, i was also very upset about Faramir taking to frodo to (osgiliath, not gondor ) I also was very upset with the portrayal of Meduseld and the Golden Hall of Theoden. They made it look like a farm, with no protection other than 30 or 40 people. On the plus side though, helms deep was almost exactly as I had pictured it. Also, to agree with an earlier post, I thought lothlorien to be a much more happier place than portrayed in the movie, but with the turmoil outside its borders and the circumstances to come, I guess it might have actually been that way towards the end. last but not least.... was anybody else upset that Treebeard and the ents did not show up to help in the battle of helms deep like they were supposed too???? (not to mention the elves showing up? I think tolkien would roll in his grave if he seen that!!)

Thanks for the correction! <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>(osgiliath, not gondor ) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Forgive me for my carelessness <BR>Anyway, speaking of ents, I had thought of the ents as sort of the "heroes" of <B>'Towers'</B>. The movie-ents looked amazing, though I recall reading Treebeard remarking that they weren't supposed to be that "bendable". <BR>On elves - I had sort of pictured them to have wrinkle-free skin; still young-looking despite the years. <BR>And I didn't imagine Haldir to be that pathetic.

Yes, the Meduseld interpretation was quite pathetic. I always imagined it made out of pure gold, and Edoras to be bigger and better protected than it appeared in the movie. <P>Rivendell seemed to be too straight-laced and Lothlorien too dark. However, Hobbiton was just perfect . <P>Minas Tirith (in the few seconds of the first movie) looked more the Muddy Grey City than the White City <P>-Aredhel

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> And I didn't imagine Haldir to be that pathetic. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Hey hey hey! I thought Haldir was cool. Just like I pictured him. The stuff about the ents and the moving trees that eat things (I forgot what they are called.) are supposed to be in ROTK, or so I heard. But that could mean nothing.

I imagined Lothlorien to be full of green grass and flowers and golden light everywhere because of the leaves. I actually found Fangorn very hard to imagine, but in the movie it looked like it was made of rubber. I have a very clear picture of the Barrow Downs though, the grass green and the sun shining but those rocks sticking out of the hills disconcertingly. And the Wargs...I thought they would actually look like *wolves*.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>the moving trees that eat things (I forgot what they are called.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Those would be <B>huorns</B>, m'dear.<P>Abedithon le,<P>~*~Aranel~*~

I agree with above, Haldir was the way I pictured him in the books. Craig did a great job. I also thoght the Golden Hall should of been better, it did look like a barn! And what about the Entdraut? and I thought Gollum was different in the movies than in the books, in my opinion. Lorien was dark, and I always thought of more trees, where are all the trees? And Rivendell, well I thought it was not so pretty, I mean it looked more like how Lorien should be! Also Aragorn was different, I thought of him older, and with a hat. He should have a hat, who agrees?

Unfortunately I don't have the "Spoilers" list with me, but I think that the trees that were supposed to be at Helm's Deep will be in the TTT Extended Edition as well as Pippin and Merry drinking the ent draughts. Maybe if you go to google and type in *Spoilers* things might come up...

I pictured Helm's Deep as being somewhat different, as in a different position in the mountains. I saw it as being in a mountain pass, so it could have been attacked from both sides.<P>The same applies to Edoras. I think I have a habit of seeing things pretty much as they are in the movies, but at a different angle or position. But I'm generally accurate.<P>I used to see Gollum as an actual person. But when you're 3 it's hard to establish that he is... well, not quite so human and normal. And I didn't pick up that Bilbo was short. I just imagined two ordinary men sat on a rock in the middle of a cave. But still pretty impressive for a three year old, I think. I got most of it, considering I don't think I actually followed or understood the majority of the book.

Elle, yes he should wear a hat. Preferably pointy.<P>

Things were almost the same in the movie as in my head, even the characters in some ways. Scary.. The only thing that was really different for me was Moria.. I never saw it like that and I thought it was so much better than my idea (hole in the ground really..) I loved it all!

Moria was everything I expected it to be. Although I am waiting to see how acurate my image of Cirth Ungol is compared to PJ's. Probably not very because the thing had so many different passages and places were one could not climb down but had to climb up and the other way around. I was hard for me to picture something that was 'made to keep things in than out'.

The one jarring visual difference from the movie was Rohan. Everything about it. I had pictured a much greener and open place. And Edoras didn't look at all like the center of such a large, powerful and respected military force!

Please bear in mind that this is the Books forum. I am sure everyone is capable of imagining things outside of the movies.

Probably one of the biggest surprises was Theoden's hall. From the books, i pictured an almost medieval castle type thing. In the movie, it looked like a woodland lodge. and not a very nice one either. Another shock was Faramir. He didnt seem like such a creep in the books.

Since the bookss,especially ttt and rotk are dark,in an absolutly good way, imagine everything dark and evil ,exept i look at the opposing good things extremely possitively.Thats just me.

This thread has more to do with the movies than with a discussion of the book - I'm moving it to the Movies forum. Please continue there.

In TTT I was surprised by the wargs and the flying nazgul steeds.<BR><B> Wargs: </B> I always thought they were huge wolves not the muntant cretures Saucepan discribed above. Odd <P><B> Flying steed thingies:</B> They obuviously pictured them as huge reptile thi ngs but I didn't. I always thought the were huge, black, bigbirds(Seasame street) that flew, but in the movie they were huge reptiles dragonish things. Very odd <P>(odd)Forever~Earwen

Edoras looked like it housed a population of 20 people in the movie. Hello, PJ, this is a city!<P>Also, the distance from Minas Tirith to Mordor and the Dead Marshes to Mordor should be more than a few football fields.

Welcome to the Downs, GrimaWormtounge! <P>Actually, I found next to no problems with anything in the movies. Especially the locations, each one was awesome... exactly as I had imagined them. I loved the eternal Autumnn of Rivendell..<P>I think the main things that I had to get used to were the actor and actress who played Eomer and Eowyn. They were a bit different somehow than I had imagined them, but it didn't take long to adjust.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I loved the eternal Autumnn of Rivendell.. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Was that done for any particular purpose? My head has just announced to me that the use of Autumn was to represent the waning of the elves and their time in Middle Earth. Spring and Summer were the First and Second Ages, perhaps, Autumn the Third Age, and Winter representing the time when the elves are no longer dwelling in Middle Earth, ie. Fourth Age and onwards. Not literally where the world becomes an everlasting winter, but a metaphorical season. Just a thought.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Edoras looked like it housed a population of 20 people in the movie. Hello, PJ, this is a city! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I only got used to that after a quite a few viewings. It was only later on that I really noticed exactly how many smaller buildings there were spread across the hill. But yes, it wasn't the most impressive city ever built, but I can appreciate how it might fit in with the culture of the Rohirric people and their origins in the Anglo-Saxon cultures. Was Edoras supposed to represent an Iron Age hill-fort, by any chance? They were never very big either, but they were thought of as impressive in their time. Even though they were quite advanced, the technology of the times didn't exactly allow for the construction of their equivalent to New York.<P>The distance between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath shocked me. They seemed far too close for two major cities. And Minas Tirith was far too close to Mordor.<p>[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: Meela ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Spring and Summer were the First and Second Ages, perhaps, Autumn the Third Age, and Winter representing the time when the elves are no longer dwelling in Middle Earth, ie. Fourth Age and onwards. Not literally where the world becomes an everlasting winter, but a metaphorical season. Just a thought.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>And a good one at that, Meela. Makes sense. I just never thought about it before.... hmm...

Actually, it's getting a little hard now to remember *exactly* how I imagined things in the books.<BR>But, I know Lothlorian should have been sunnier, not so misty, more park-like. In my imagination I had seen fields of short grass under the trees dotted with little white flowers.<BR>The characters were mostly perfect, except for Faramir who just looked and sounded all wrong.<BR>Hobbiton was absolutely dead-on. Just like I'd imagined it. Meduseld was OK too, but I thought Fangorn should have been darker. The ents looked good, but they didn't sound quite right. In the movie Treebeard sounded more puzzled than wise.<BR>The Balrog was fantastic, though! :-)

In the fellowship in discription of Elrond, when refering to the 'thin circlet' he wore on his head I pictured a really thin wire that looked like a clothes hanger. I am glad PJ made it better.

Strangely enough, Gollum and Sam came out almost EXACTLY like I had pictured them when reading! And for a while, after I had read the books long before and forgotten a lot of the details, I thought about it again and somehow mis-remembered Sam pushing Gollum into the Cracks of Doom...hmmm, doesn't work as well, does it? Also, I had this picture of a dip in the landscape before Edoras, with a whole lot of little white flowers (Simbelmynë) in my head and a hill rising behind the dip up to the Meduseld...Rivendell was wonderful, though; I want to live there! Also, Lothlorien seems like it should have been more golden than the silvery way it looked in the film.<P>Cheers,<BR>Lyta

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Also, Lothlorien seems like it should have been more golden than the silvery way it looked in the film.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Yeah. It is the GOLDEN Wood, after all. <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Also, the distance from Minas Tirith to Mordor and the Dead Marshes to Mordor should be more than a few football fields.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>My thoughts exactly. In Towers it says that, from Edoras, only Legolas was able to see to Minas Tirith and Mordor, and that was a stretch even for him. PJ had everything too close together.<P>In regards to the "fell beasts" that the Nazgul rode, I pictured them more like pteranadons than those long necked things PJ came up with. It still worked, but that wasn't how I pictured them.<P>Abedithon le,<P>~*~Aranel~*~

I agree with everyone else about Lothlorien. One of the most my most favorite lines from that section of "Fellowship" is when they talk about how in the autumn the leaves turn to the greatest gold, and then they stay on the trees. When I just recently went back and watched FOTR, one of the things in "their" Lorien that really bothered me was how many dead leaves they had on the ground. But maybe that was just the filmmakers way of showing that the elves time in Middle Earth was coming to an end.<P>Additionally when I first read FOTR, I had this strange imagination, and I thought that the hobbits were extremely ugly. Kind of like little scandinavian trolls, all wrinkled, with big noses, and all that stuff. So I could never relate to them when I read the book. I was so happy when I saw the film and they were nice looking, and that they looked like humans.<P>Everything else was pretty close to what I thought things would look like though.

I couldnt believe it in the book when it took only 1 year for Frodo and Sam to travel (from the shire) to Mt. Doom and destroy the ring, it actually seemed like quite a few years... But Peter Jackson makes the time period too short in the movies, it seems like it took them a few days to travel through Moria, when didnt it take them 2 weeks?

Welcome to the Downs, Maiglin! "O happy to be dead!" <P>Yes, I think it did take them two weeks to go through Moria. But I'm not sure. I'll have to go back and read it again.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>it seems like it took them a few days to travel through Moria, when didnt it take them 2 weeks?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>In the book, it took them three days.