I know Varnafinde said she'd answer all of these, but it's been a while, so I'll give it a go.

a.) In TFOTR, if Arwen is an elf and Aragorn (or is it Aragon?) is a human, how does he know how to speak elfin (or elfish)?

He was raised in Rivendell among the Elves. Also, his ancestry includes a few Elves, so it's sort of his heritage.

b.) Where is Aragorn from? In TTT, why doesn't he call his own people to the final battle in the film? He's talking about having so few...why not call his own men?

He is originally from Gondor (that is, he is the rightful King of Gondor) but he and his men are somewhat outcasts. They are what is left of Gondor's sister nation, Arnor. I can't remember why he doesn't call them in the book (or they may have been with him at Helm's Deep) but in the film he's pretty much alone. They didn't keep the other Rangers in there.

c.) In TTT, if the King is Eowyn's Uncle, and the guy that was banished is her brother...

The man who died is Theoden's son Theodred. So he is Eowyn's cousin.

d.) Where is Middle Earth? Is this an imaginary place, like Narnia, or is it supposedly on this planet? When is this taking place?

It depends on who you ask. It could certainly be a different world. I've also heard that Tolkien envisioned it as being our world at some time in the past.

e.) If Sauromon is the little bad guy, what's the name of the big bad guy...the eye thing in Mordor. And wasn't that the same thing that

Saruman = white wizard who betrayed Gandalf, lives in a big black tower near Rohan and Fangorn Forest

Sauron = big flaming Eye in Mordor, wants the Ring to he can rule the world (Saruman wants this as well)

Balrog = big flaming dude with the whip and sword that Gandalf fought in Moria, also called Durin's Bane

f.) And assuming the King in the very beginning of TFOTR ...what happened to him? Did he die? Or is he the big bad guy?

No. None of the Kings at the beginning of Fellowship is Aragorn's father. They are all his ancestors. Remember, Elrond tells us that those scenes took place 3,000 years ago.

g.) In TTT when

No.

h.) Is elfin or elfish, or however you say it, is a real, written down language for LOTR fans that you can actually learn?

There are bits and pieces of the different languages. I think that there are scholars who have enough knowledge of them to say that they have "learned" them but there isn't enough just in the books to do this. You'd have to foray into Tolkien's notes and fragments.

i.) I have a BIG book with all 3 LOTR books in it, along with a bunch of extra stuff like character,people,creature lists, along with all LOTR verses and songs and a list of symbols. Now, all of this is gibberish to me, watching the films was like a whole new world...what would you suggest for a newbie LOTR fan? Any tips?

Read through the actual text of Lord of the Rings, then read the Appendices (especially concerning any characters you're still confused by) and then Silmarillion. Silmarillion is long and wordy, but it will help fill in a lot of the gaps in history for you.

j.) And lastly, the field where the battle is when is that same field used in LWW? It sure looked like it!

I'm not sure, but both series were filmed in New Zealand, so I suppose it is possible.

Regarding Enya's music in the films: I think a lot of her songs are parts of other tracks. "Evenstar" is one of those, I'm pretty sure.

Also, I had the same experience with Saruman and the White Witch both saying "We have work to do" but in the reverse order of your experience. I think there was some unintentional inter-textuality in these films.

ETA: Well, I see Varna has posted already. Consider my post the condensed-condensed version. It takes a while to type all of that out.

ETA: Crossposted with Varnafinde and shastastwin LOL, and shame on those two for spoiling the first two questions for you!!! LOL But your questions sure are answered now AslansChild. ..... I've edited my post below, but there are a few that I have slightly different opinions on so I left those alone.
......

Yay AslansChild!!!! So glad you're discovering the awesomeness that is Middle Earth! I am going to answer some of your questions but not all of them because a few of them (particularly the ones about Aragorn) are massive spoilers, and hopefully no one else will either and ruin it for you.

d. It's a completely different universe, and unlike Narnia there is no crossover with it and our world. They don't coexist at the same time. Varnafinde and shastastwin said Tolkien may have intended it to be our world, but reading the books as opposed to his notes, I don't get that impression at all.

g. This is one of the scenes that doesn't occur in the book. In fact Arwen barely shows up in the book at all. I think her only scene in FotR and TTT is she has a brief appearance when everyone is at Elrond's house trying to decide what to do with the ring. Her role was expanded for the movie so it would have a more female presence in it.
Interesting that you bring this up though because I read not that long ago that in the movie she's supposed to give up her mortality to Frodo to save him. "Whatever grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be saved." Didn't know that's what that was supposed to be... Still don't know if that was a correct assumption on the part of the person who wrote it, but it could be.

i. I suggest that you not be intimidated by all the notes and such because you don't HAVE to read them. Start at the first chapter and take it a page at a time. I fully admit that it starts slow and takes a bit to get into. But once Frodo FINALLY gets out the door, it starts to pick up steam.

I was a little disappointed though in TTT, Pippin and Merry don't really do much.

Just wait til RotK.

I have to say though, when you first see "Stryper"

That's "Strider", named for the fact that he's a wanderer and walks/strides all over the place.

Yeah, I know what you mean about a lot of the shots used in LotR being copied for Narnia. Some of that I can forgive because Lewis and Tolkien wrote together so they're works did mimic each other in some minor ways, but a lot of that I feel sadly was the Narnia filmmakers trying to copy LotR's greatness. Number 1 on your list was probably the worst and also the scene where Gandalf jumps off of Sauruman's tower onto the eagle and Edmund jumps off the castle onto the griffon. Yeah... But on the subject of Number 4, keep in mind that back in the days of knights and battles and such, horns were used all the time to give instruction or call for aide. So I don't really think that's an instance of copying.

Anyways AslansChild, I highly, highly recommend you give the books a try. Yes, I know the back appendices are scary. Yes, the books are pretty dry in the beginning until Frodo finally gets out the door. But one of the very few complaints I have about the movies, like most other Hollywood films right now, the heroes are reluctant and whiny. Frodo and Aragorn in particular received this treatment. For example, on Weathertop when Frodo is stabbed by the wraith, he fights back. There's no falling over and trying to wiggle away while making screaming noises. And then he races himself to the river, Arwen doesn't come rescue him.
And Aragorn... "I have never wanted it".. oh yes he did, he wanted to be King very badly and he fights tooth claw and nail for it. (You also find out who his people are in the book, and he does call them to his side. The movie won't answer this so, ha! now you have to read it. )
And you've met Faramir yes? He's the worst. I think PJ didn't want to make him cooler than Aragorn, but in the book he's amazing. He's a lot of people's very favorite character.
That being said, FotR and TTT are two of the most accurately adapted fantasy movies I've ever seen. RotK... not quite so much, though the essence of the book is certainly still there. Just a lot more changes than the first two.
One last question for you, are you watching the theatrical release versions? Or the extended editions?

coracle, I'm sorry to hear that.

g. This is one of the scenes that doesn't occur in the book. In fact Arwen barely shows up in the book at all. I think her only scene in FotR and TTT is she has a brief appearance when everyone is at Elrond's house trying to decide what to do with the ring. Her role was expanded for the movie so it would have a more female presence in it.
Interesting that you bring this up though because I read not that long ago that in the movie she's supposed to give up her mortality to Frodo to save him. "Whatever grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be saved." Didn't know that's what that was supposed to be... Still don't know if that was a correct assumption on the part of the person who wrote it, but it could be.

This may have come from the following spoiler:

Spoiler

In the book version of Return of the King, Arwen gives Frodo her place on the Grey Ships, and it is heavily implied that she gives him the jewel that we see in the films as the Evenstar (the one Aragorn supposedly drops and shatters ).

Huh, I don't remember that at all....

Clearly I am due for a reread.

d.) Where is Middle Earth? Is this an imaginary place, like Narnia, or is it supposedly on this planet? When is this taking place?

It depends on who you ask. It could certainly be a different world. I've also heard that Tolkien envisioned it as being our world at some time in the past.

As you've seen, it depends on who you ask

No. None of the Kings at the beginning of Fellowship is Aragorn's father. They are all his ancestors. Remember, Elrond tells us that those scenes took place 3,000 years ago.

No, if you mean those nine kings who got the nine rings for mortal men, I don't think any of them are his ancestors. They were other kings or nobles that Sauron tricked into accepting rings from him.

And then it wouldn't make sense with tombs for them in the Hobbit movie - if that's what's in the trailer - they never died, they just faded and were drawn into the spirit world, because of the power that Sauron wielded over them through their rings.

No, if you mean those nine kings who got the nine rings for mortal men, I don't think any of them are his ancestors.

I think he means Isildur and Elendil.

This may have come from the following spoiler:

Spoiler

In the book version of Return of the King, Arwen gives Frodo her place on the Grey Ships, and it is heavily implied that she gives him the jewel that we see in the films as the Evenstar (the one Aragorn supposedly drops and shatters ).

d. It's a completely different universe, and unlike Narnia there is no crossover with it and our world. They don't coexist at the same time. Varnafinde and shastastwin said Tolkien may have intended it to be our world, but reading it, I don't get that impression at all.

He may have abandoned that intention by the time of writing LotR. I agree that the text as such doesn't give any impression of describing our distant past.

Interesting that you bring this up though because I read not that long ago that in the movie she's supposed to give up her mortality to Frodo to save him. "Whatever grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be saved." Didn't know that's what that was supposed to be... Still don't know if that was a correct assumption on the part of the person who wrote it, but it could be.

I remember that quote from the movie. I think it's a purely movie idea, though. I diddn't recognize it from the books either.

And Aragorn... "I have never wanted it".. oh yes he did, he wanted to be King very badly and he fights tooth claw and nail for it.

And the books (and the history parts of the Appendices) will tell you more about why he wants it ...

Even more reason to do so with Aragorn, because his father was killed by Orcs when Aragorn was only two years old. His mother moved to Rivendell with him then. He visits her tomb with a statue of her somewhere in FotR EE.

AslansChild, if you're interested, there's a fan movie showing this part of the story: Born of Hope

That was an interesting article, coracle. That's so sad that he died.

Thank you so much everyone for all you answers! In response to them:

coracle: I'm sorry to hear about that, it's nice that you met him though!

Varnafinde:

He visits her tomb with a statue of her somewhere in FotR EE.

Whoa...I didn't see that, my LOTR are on VHS, no expanded edition.

Galadriel is the mother of Elrond's wife, who left Middle-earth to sail to the West many years ago.

That's pretty cool. By the way, do we know all of this information from the films? Or is it only in the books?

(And if you say, "But the Elves got there" - well, they must have been sent in advance - and also, in the book they weren't there at all, they only were there in the movie ...)

This is a puzzle ...remember in the film, Aragorn tells the king to send for the Elves, but he doesn't believe they'll help, so he doesn't. So...how'd they get there?

If you mean the funeral, and the King crying by a grave decked in flowers, then the dead man was the King's son, heir to the throne of Rohan, and the cousin of Eowyn and her brother Eomer. His name was Théodred.

Yeah, that's who I meant. So, he's her cousin? okay.

Saruman is the little bad guy, and Sauron is the big bad guy in Mordor with the big eye. And that other thing wasn't the same individual at all, but someone else.

So...do we actually see Sauron? OR is he just. "The eye"?

If you mean the king - Isildur - who cut off the finger with the Ring from Sauron's hand, he's not Aragorn's father, but his great-great-grandfather some twenty generations back.

Yup, that's who I meant. Yeah, I forgot that the beginning was "long ago...".

(And watch the first Hobbit movie in December.)

Yeah, I wish...

shastastwin:

it's sort of his heritage.

Okay, that explains why he and Legolas are holding a conversation in Elf.

He is originally from Gondor...

Isn't Boridor from Gondor? (He tells Aragorn as he's dying to take care of "his" people) And when they're having the meeting in Rivendell, he didn't know Aragorn was the heir...

Saruman = white wizard who betrayed Gandalf, lives in a big black tower near Rohan and Fangorn Forest

Sauron = big flaming Eye in Mordor, wants the Ring to he can rule the world (Saruman wants this as well)

Balrog = big flaming dude with the whip and sword that Gandalf fought in Moria, also called Durin's Bane

Ah..okay, that's pretty simple.

Read through the actual text of Lord of the Rings, then read the Appendices (especially concerning any characters you're still confused by) and then Silmarillion.

So...Silmarillion is a book by Tolkien? And that's what it's called?

fantasia_kitty:

g. This is one of the scenes that doesn't occur in the book. In fact Arwen barely shows up in the book at all. I think her only scene in FotR and TTT is she has a brief appearance when everyone is at Elrond's house trying to decide what to do with the ring. Her role was expanded for the movie so it would have a more female presence in it.

So, that leads me to my next question: What's with the Arwen/Aragorn romance? The dream(s), the Evenstar, all of it. Is that really in the book?

i. I suggest that you not be intimidated by all the notes and such because you don't HAVE to read them. Start at the first chapter and take it a page at a time. I fully admit that it starts slow and takes a bit to get into. But once Frodo FINALLY gets out the door, it starts to pick up steam.

Okay, will do. Although I probably will end up reading all the extra stuff.

AslansChild wrote: I was a little disappointed though in TTT, Pippin and Merry don't really do much.

Just wait til RotK.

YAY!!! Pippin is cool.

:)) That's "Strider", named for the fact that he's a wanderer and walks/strides all over the place.

*smacks own forehead* Whoops! Yeah, that makes way more sense now...don't ask me where I got "Stryper" from.

but a lot of that I feel sadly was the Narnia filmmakers trying to copy LotR's greatness.

Yeah, agreed. I know that a lot of Narnia fans know about LOTR, but to me, you can't really compare them. LOTR is way more complex. And awesome.

But on the subject of Number 4, keep in mind that back in the days of knights and battles and such, horns were used all the time to give instruction or call for aide. So I don't really think that's an instance of copying.

True, I had forgotten, they had the same thing in "Ivanhoe".

And you've met Faramir yes? He's the worst. I think PJ didn't want to make him cooler than Aragorn, but in the book he's amazing. He's a lot of people's very favorite character.

You mean Boridor's brother? Yeah, I don't really like him. He seemed very cruel and mean to Frodo...and Gollum. Only good thing I liked about him was the fact that he turns nice at the very very end,

One last question for you, are you watching the theatrical release versions? Or the extended editions?

I'm not really sure. It doesn't say anything about an extended version, it's just a regular old VHS tape. But after reading Varnafinde's comment about Aragorn's mother's tomb...I didn't see that.

Meltintalle: Thank you very very much for the link - I'll be looking into it.

Thanks again everyone!

So...do we actually see Sauron? OR is he just. "The eye"?

In the movie, you mean? In the movie, we see him in the beginning with the ring.

Isn't Boridor from Gondor?

Boromir ( ) is from Gondor, yes. His father is the Steward of Gondor.

So...Silmarillion is a book by Tolkien? And that's what it's called?

Yes: http://images.wikia.com/lotr/images/d/d ... -cover.jpg

So, that leads me to my next question: What's with the Arwen/Aragorn romance? The dream(s), the Evenstar, all of it. Is that really in the book?

The Aragorn/Arwen romance is in the Appendices at the end of ROTK.

I'm not really sure. It doesn't say anything about an extended version, it's just a regular old VHS tape.

You have the theatrical version, then. Not the EEs.

~Riella

I saw this:

It's pretty good - it shows a nicer side of Faramir. Guess he's not so bad after all...

Ithilwen, thanks for answering! I'm slowly understanding more and more of this...

Faramir in the book is actually one of the best characters (as far as his character is concerned) overall. They made him too much like Boromir in the films for me, but I did enjoy the camaraderie between them that we see in the films. That's one of the few changes to TTT that I didn't mind too much.

If I may suggest AslansChild, that you refrain from asking any more questions until you see RotK. The reason I'm being very rude and suggesting this is because the storyline, particularly the bits with Aragorn, are really cool to see how they play out, and I'd hate to have them ruined for you .

However, I do have to tell you about Faramir in the book because the movie's treatment of him broke my heart, and as things turn out the same in the end, I don't think it will spoil it for you.
In the book, Faramir finds Frodo and Sam, Frodo does NOT lie about Gollum, Frodo and Faramir chat for quite a while (quite pleasently, mind you) and Frodo explains why they're there, only leaving out "Isildur's Bane", then Faramir's men ambush the bad guys with the Oliphant, Faramir returns and they talk more, he reveals he's Boromir's brother, he and the others take the Hobbits to their secret hiding place, blindfolded, but not bound, they eat, they drink, they talk more, and then Sam accidentally spills the beans about the Ring. Here's Faramir's reply....

"So that is the answer to all the riddles! The One Ring that was thought to have perished from the world. And Boromir tried to take it by force? And you escaped? And ran all the way--to me! And here in the wild I have you: two halflings, and a host of men at my call, and the Ring of Rings. A pretty stroke of fortune! A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!"
...
"Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial!" he said. "how you have increased my sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less judges of Men than I of Halflings. We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and then perform, or die in the attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them.
"But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Sit at peace! And be comforted, Samwise. If you seem to have stumbled, think that it was fated to be so. Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer than your eyes. For strange though it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if ti is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing again aloud. Once is enough."

And then the scene where they catch Gollum in the pool happens, though Faramir doesn't beat Gollum up, Gollum accidentally confesses the road that he planned to take Frodo on, Faramir tries to dissuade Frodo from going that direction, Frodo refuses, so Faramir sets the company of three back on the road again with supplies. And that's it until RotK. Little different from the movie....
I think on the TTT movie where PJ comments on the whole thing, he explained the reason he changed Faramir so much was because he couldn't understand how Faramir could resist the ring when no one else could. Kind of sad the character of Faramir was ruined because of it. But at least he's accurately portrayed in RotK.

Okay, I'll take your advice. If it's all going to come out in TROTK, I don't want it to be spoiled. It's just suspenseful to me because I'm not sure when I'll get to see it. O well, life goes on...

That's pretty neat about Faramir, but I don't understand PJ's explanation. In TFOTR, Aragorn tells Frodo he doesn't want it, so...he's obviously capable of refusing, pretty simply too, I might add.

So...
who are your favorite characters and what's your favorite film or scene(s)?
(this is directed at anyone and everyone who wants to answer this... )

who are your favorite characters and what's your favorite film or scene(s)?
(this is directed at anyone and everyone who wants to answer this... )

Favorite Characters (I'll do a top ten):

1. Smeagol
2. Bilbo
3. Olorin (Gandalf)
4. Pippin
5. Thorin
6. Galadriel
7. Boromir
8. Aragorn
9. Merry
10. A three way tie of Eowyn, Grima, and Fangorn.

Favorite movie: The Two Towers. Fellowship of the Ring is a close second. I didn't like Return of the King at all. (Note: I've only seen the EE versions. I've never seen the theatrical versions.)

Favorite Scenes from the Movies:

Any parts with Smeagol/Gollum talking - especially the one after they are taken by Faramir.

The scene between Elrond and Arwen that goes, "But you, my daughter, you will linger on in darkness and in doubt as nightfall in winter that comes without a star..."

The part after that where Galadriel is talking to Elrond.

The beginning of FOTR, where Galdriel is narrating.

When Pippin accidentally makes that loud clatter in Moria.

When Grima and Eowyn are talking alone together.

When Gandalf speaks to the moth and escapes Saruman.

When Sam

The parting scene at the end.

~Riella