Top Ten Middle-earth Misconceptions

This video brought me great pleasure

For those DnD fans: Morgoth - Chaotic-Evil, Sauron - Lawful Evil

My favorite is that Golum wasn't a Hobbit, but a Hobbit-like creature

Now I have this in mind of the dwarves sounding like the Swedish chef.

Number 9; with the machinations and design of Iluvatar, the Council of Elrond was indeed "summoned". I think the literal interpretation of the word "summoned" is causing some issues here. English is a weird language. We should keep in mind the propensity of the eldest children of Iluvatar to be more poetic and eloquent in their speech. I don't think this should be considered a misconception/difference in the novels.
Number 2; The Peter Jackson adaptations never explicitly said Bilbo and Frodo would live forever in the Undying Lands. ;)
Number 1; I don't know if it was an official publication and I wish I still had it, but I had a large format, single novel version of Lord of the Rings with some of the unwritten tales inserted in different places. It has a black leather textured cover, with an Eye of Sauron and the ring inscription, gold "carvings" and patterns, pretty much the size of your standard high school science text book. I got it around 1998? 99? I know there was a 7 volume printing in the UK around that time.

While I enjoy these kind of videos, I don't take them seriously. Adaptations of literature to screen necessitates the need for changes. Jackson put together a great group of people to make this happen and happen well. I read The Hobbit in 1989 when I was seven, followed by the trilogy, then the Silmarillion, then Lays of Beleriand (which I believe is now part of Unwritten Tales), then a lot more of Christopher's compilations. I approached the movies as a new story almost. In that kind of compartmentalization, I enjoyed them while preserving the wonder and majesty of the novels. The only people who complained the most are snobbish, elitist, hipster gatekeepers who either look for reasons to be perpetually upset and involved in something in a "easy" fashion or those that just cannot accept or integrate change. It is also understandable that at first the Tolkien Estate were hesitant after the slew of garbage screen adaptations and video games of the 80's and 90's. I really to think John Ronald Reuel Tolkien would have actually enjoyed and approved of Peter Jackson's work.

All in all, good video. For anyone to spend any length of time diving into the lore of Tolkien, they deserve the praise.

Why do i love this calendar so much 😂 lets do it

Why does that one elf with thick black eyebrows bother me so much hes definitely not supposed to look like that right? Hes so out of place as an elf eugenics the race shouldnt have anything like that happening geneticly besides the fact that they should really all look like goblins from all the inbreeding theyve deffintly done

It's hard to argue that lord of the rings is a mythology, since yes, the stories, concepts and lore are based on myths but they are not actual myths in themselves,

A mythology requires that a group of people actually believe the things described existed hence why it's called a myth-ology but no one actually believes the events of the lord of the rings happened (at least I never met someone who believes)

Therefore yes, the lord of the rings is a fantasy or even an alternate history, I think Tolkien would argue more into that than say his work was a mythology.

Some one probably mentioned this: in translations we use accents as cultural short cuts. The Scottish accent is used through out adaptions, translations, and Shakespeare as a cultural short hand for being a warrior (it is why romans speak Posh english, and the Spartans speak in a Scottish brogue).

I believe that is why dwarves sound scottish in the common adaptation

"Glowen"? Gloyn.

Cousin seems like a pretty safe bet for how they were related. If they were brothers it probably would be mentioned. And since they were about the same age, is there anything they could be other than cousins?

U should look up the Jewish calender

Maybe I need to read the books again but I'm like 99.99% sure Smeagol either strangeled, or drowned Deagol while strangeling him. (you're right though he never expressly state they were cousins)
Peter Jackson did show Minas Morgul though.

...first I thought, this is just another crack on Jackson's adaption of the books (which is, despite his amazing achievement, an almost too easy task) and was about to dismiss it - then I listened to it, while cooking my dinner, and I was caught and amazed - I just repeated the whole thing 2 times in a row... you nailed so many aspects, and I wonder how disillusioned this might be for the ones, who only knew the films... you really open the lid of pandora's box, almost, as it can leave us question anything of the movies now...

I was very scared first of watching the movies (having re-read the books many times since the 70s), but after getting myself through the ordeal, I was not too disappointed... however there were to be swallowed as a lover of the original books many adjustments, and you put quite some substantial of them right, e.g. about the characters of the fellowship... and the proof lies in the pudding - all of what you bring to the case, can be proved by reading original sources by the master writer himself... I can't appreciate you enough for doing this - so well done!!!
🪄💍

Didn't the Dwarves play fiddles & stuff at Bag End the day they first showed up to pick up Bilbo? And didnt they make a song to tease him about breaking his plates? Also, pretty sure Gimili says in Moria that Khazad-dûm used to be bright and beautiful. And during the Birthday Party weren't there dwarf toys or clever little musical instruments of "real dwarf-make." There's more i could say but I guess my point is that painting dwarves as always kinda grim is kinda a misconception too. Seems like that, in the right circumstances, Durin's folk could indeed party to the point of resembling Scotts who have let loose.

Isn't fantasy in general kind of invented mythology? The things they explained with mythology in the old days are just made up stores to explain something or get an idea across. Fantasy can do the exact same job. Or I might see fantasy a bit differently. To me, all of mythology is fantastical.

Yeah Gimli's portrayal in the movies is just dwarven blackface.

I assume many people know that many old calendars were similar to Tolkien’s Shire Calendar. The Celtic calendar had non-month days, which come to us now as festival names like Beltain and Samhain. Basically, 12x30 days plus 5 spares to put somewhere. I think some cultures put all 5 together, some did 3 and 2, and the celts had (iirc) 1, 1, 1, 2 corresponding to the end (iirc) of seasons. There are also cultures with lunar calendars, but that gets more complicated.

I’ve seen the argument that Sauron had a body in LotR, but perhaps the relevant question is whether he’s corporeal or a ghost/wraith/shadow. Pippin and Gollum could still see him, corporeal or not. But could Sauron pick up items other than the One Ring?

Beren was able to hold the silmaril without being burned because he was a good man, sufficiently pure of heart. That seems to count for more than whether one is mortal or immortal (Maedhros and Maglor were burned by the silmarils after the war of wrath because of all the evil deeds they had committed in their pursuit of the Silmarils, even though they were sons of Feanor). Elwing and Earendil, although part mortal, were also able to bear a silmaril without being harmed by it.

I love the absolute TANGENT on calendars and language 😂

Your accent sounds fake

the arkenstone is clearly a pseudo silmaril from a writing perspective, very easy to see since we know the hobbit and the silmarillion were originally not part of the same story. It also makes sense that details differ then. In universe its cool too because it suggests there are many mysteries and magics alive in the world allowing for something very much like a silmaril to be found in the lonely mountain.

I wish we could have seen Gloin's reunion with Bilbo in the movies

Not a lot of people know this because the movies focus on scenes of conflict, but for his night time reading Sauron would rely rather heavily on a big old monocle (never mind no James Webb telescope). Sometimes he’d fall asleep reading and word has it if you woke him up he’d unwittingly incinerate you on the spot as the light from all the fire and flame was focused through it. Hence the red eye. Needless to say this meant that for night time reading to be viable the material had to be converted into an asbestos format or he’d never get past “It was the best of times it was the worst of times 🔥🔥🔥”

Dwarves being Scottish could be because the scots were more influenced by the vikings.

Gollum could've spoken figuratively, or not know what he's talking about.

Please speak normally 💀

I saw the movies and was hooked. I knew there would be so much more in the books. I’m on my third round reading the series and it gets better every time. I felt that something was off about Gimly. It didn’t surprise me that comic relief was nowhere in the books. Rather an honorable warrior.

Why does everybody that gets deep into Lord of the rings speak like they just came back from a trip to spain, and now have to push on everybody how worldly they are with their cute tiny accent they picked up

one thing missed about the undying lands, it was a gift to the ring bearers because the ring bestowed an unnaturally long life on the bearer. Look how long Gollum lived, look how long Bilbo lived. The undying lands were a place where the ring bearers could receive peace, healing, and a final resting place.

This video is far too long, dont fall in love with your script.

When speaking of pre-Tolkien fantasy, don't forget Eddison's "The Worm Ouroboros".

Sauron of the 9 fingers 🎵

TOP 10 OF TOP 10! 😄
This one was just EPIC!

TOP!

it is said that the first order of business for Sauron after achieving dominion over Middle Earth would have been enforcing the hobbit calendar...

There is at least one other case of a full-blooded elf surrendering her immortality… Féanor’s mother.

9. Eru brought the Fellowship together through premonition, providence, and grace, but they choose willingly to accept the quest, it is what makes them heroes. If Tolkein characters are bereft of free will then they cannot be held morally accountable for their actions, neither praised nor condemned; they would be mere puppets (Morgoth is the one who dominates the will of elves and men, not Eru). When Frodo fails as a hero in the end to destroy the One Ring he doesn't fail morally; the power of the ring overruled Frodo's free will, and therefore Frodo cannot be condemned because moral accountability requires free will to exist. But it also works the other way around, if Eru forced Frodo to accept the quest then Frodo cannot be praised because it was not of his free will. When Gandalf says that "Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker" it doesn't mean that Biblo had to find the ring, but rather Bilbo served Eru's design when he happened by chance to find it

The Hobbit calendar is definitely superior to our own as any date will always fall on the same day of week every year.

Bro really said "Actually 🤓"

Was Frodo aware that he would die within a few months after sailing to the Undying Lands?

That Hobbit calendar is awesome, yep!

LOLOLOLOLOL...

Such an epic rant about the calendar. And I agree...the hobbit calendar is vastly superior. :)

there were pre Tolkien "modern" fantasy books, probably most famous are Conan stories from RE Howard

I just realized if Aragorn is the decendant or Elros and Arwen the decendant of Elrond doesn't that make Aragorn and Arwen long distance cousins?

What's neat about Tolkien's calendar is that it's basically the same as the ancient Egyptian calendar: thirty days per month, and five additional days outside the months which were gods' festival days. The main difference is that the Egyptians had all five days scrunched together whereas the Númenorean and Shire calendars spread them out across the year.