the fact that denethor is more universally hated by tolkien fans than not one, but two malevolent deities whose cruelty and atrocities committed span four entire ages really says a lot about how truly awful this guy is
ok so, for people who have seen the LOTR films but not read the book Iād like to share some things that are 100% canon:
– Sam Gamgee uses the wordĀ ābonerā. In a song. Several times.
– he also writes a poem that contains the phraseĀ āgolden showersā. (this is actually in the extended cut but they changed it toĀ āsilver showersā)
– at one point after heās defeated Saruman steals Merryās weed & runs away
– Denethor has actual mindreading powers
– so does Faramir (but heās a nice person so they manifest more as heightened empathy)
– Gandalf ALSO has mindreading powers but for entirely different reasons. he reads Frodoās mind while heās sleeping at one point, casually reveals this to Frodo, and Frodoās just likeĀ āhuh neatā
– rather than bravely drawing the orcs away from Frodo like in the film, in the book Merry and Pippin just kind of, panic, bolt into the woods, and run directly into the orcsā arms.
– Merry then draws his sword and hacks a bunch of orc hands off
– Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli name themselvesĀ āthe three huntersā before setting off to rescue Merry and Pippin because they are dorks
– they also improvise a whole song about how much they loved Boromir
– Aragorn does not initially tell the hobbits heās a friend of Gandalf bcos he wanted them to like him for who he is. im not kidding. he openly admits to this.
– i feel like this is fairly well known but, if you didnāt know Frodo is 50 years old and looks 33
– hobbits PROBABLY age different to humans so looking 33 in practice means he looks about 21
– in accordance with the above Pippin is the equivalent of a 16-17 year old human
– Pippin can pass for a human child and looks likeĀ āa boy of nine summersā
– this isnāt that weird i just think itās really cute: Pippin has 3 older sisters and their names are Pearl, Pimpernel and Pervinca.Ā
– Sam & Rosie have 13 children. One of them is called Goldilocks.
– Frodo has another best friend. His name is Fatty. He stayed behind in the Shire to cover for Frodoās absence and ends up getting jailed for months by Sarumanās forces.
– Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, who steals spoons, is also jailed by Saruman. (She whacked one of his goons with an umbrella.)
– Grima Wormtongue MAY have eaten an entire hobbit
– Saruman invades the Shire and turns it into a communist hell police state.
– the whole Tom Bombadil thing is common knowledge but if you havenāt read the book i guarantee you he is weirder than you think.Ā
– to give just 2 examples: 1) the whole tom bombadil arc provides the explanation as to how Eowyn and Merry were able to dispatch the Witch King
– and 2) for unknown reasons sleeping in his house causes everyone to have horrible nightmares⦠EXCEPT for Sam who has a peaceful and dreamless night. no explanation offered for any of this.Ā
considering that Pippinās dad is named Paladin, you fucking know he claimed the right to name each and every one of his children and his poor wife just begged him to choose a different letter to start with
also aragorn openly admitting to being fucking lonely and just wanting friends is treated like a weirdly funny joke in the book by the way that some of the hobbits react to it, and frodo also proceeds very soon after to basically tell aragorn that heās pretty foul-looking but seems a good guy
yes to the above & a small correction + one i forgot:
– Merry does in fact gift Saruman the weed. Itās the bag itās in that Saruman steals and runs off with. (also give that Merry stole the weed from Sarumanās personal supply in the first place i canāt say i blame him)
– Aragorn literally has magical healing powers. i donāt think they ever explain this in the films but he does very much have healing powers.
– the Ents are able to tear down the entire wall around Isengard, but can for whatever reason not make a single dent in the tower of Orthanc itself
– several riders knew that Merry was there and coming with them to the fields of Pelennor even though he was forbidden to do so, and they just sort of shrug and donāt tell the king
– GOD Merry and the riders: they donāt just shrug they straight up act like he isnāt there. to the point where if he talks they just pretend like they donāt hear him. this hurts his feelings.
– Merry doesnāt recognise Eowyn until she reveals herself to the witch-king. it could be that her disguise is just that good but Eowyn herself seems to be kind of surprised that he doesnāt recognise her so itās possible heās just a dumbass.
– Pippin goes all in for a suicide mission at the Black Gate because he thinks that Frodo and Sam are captured and/or dead and everything is lost anyway, so he just decides that if heās going to die, heās going to die fighting, and then he almost gets squashed by a troll
– Gimli found Pippin underneath said troll after the battle, only because Pippinās fucking foot was sticking out, and probably had a bit of a panicky moment while he was MOVING the troll to drag Pippin out of there
– i canāt believe i forgot about the troll: Pippin single-handedly slays a troll & then its body falls on him and heās just lying there likeĀ āwell i guess this is how i dieā
– Gimli 100% thought pippin was dead when he found him and was so distraught he almost ripped his beard out
– Thereās also Aragorn making the Mouth of Sauron flee with terror because he glared at him. Not a joke. (An argument can be made here for Aragorn having psychic powers)
Or intimidation proficiency
If I may addā¦
– Legolas falling out of a tree and screaming.
– Legolas dropping hie bow. And screaming.
– Legolas just screamed. A lot.
– Legolas singing a song that he only knew half of.
– āDo what you will in your madness but I wish to see no eyes!ā
– Legolas straight up walking away after a battle and singing
– Legolas sneaking Gimli into Valinor like contraband Twizzlers into the movie theater.
– everybody rags on Frodo for being a dumbass at the Prancing Pony, but listen, Merry knew they were on a top secret mission carrying the Ring and that the forces of Sauron were actively searching for them and not far away and he still decided it would be a good idea to just go out for awalk,Ā at night in a strange city, all by himself, just because he fucking felt like some fresh air
Ok TO BE FAIR to Merry, unlike the others he hadnāt actually SEEN the Nazgul at this point (just glimpsed one from the other side of the river) and as a result doesnāt understand just how much danger theyāre in.
I found my copy of the books a few days ago⦠might be time for a rereadā¦
donāt forget when saruman went evil and told gandalf he promoted himself from saruman the white to āsaruman of many coloursā gandalf was like ābut i liked white betterā,,,,,he legit said that that was his rebuttal
Ok but what about when legolas, gimli and Aragorn are tracking merry and pippin and legolas just watches as Aragorn rolls around in the fucking dirt and when heās like āthere are a lot of riders on horses coming this way!!ā legolas is basically like, yea I know Iāve seen them for awhile there are 105 and their leader is tall LEGOLAS