LotR Questions
Mar. 7th, 2003 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarotgalOK... I feel like an idiot and a half asking some of these. But I've only seen each movie twice and please, please believe me when I say I don't feel at all comfy in the universe yet. And I guess e-mailing people individually would be better, but I got a "big" response from my LJ post on my story, so maybe people will notice this and answer my questions? :-) Please? :-)
A link to a nice LotR reference would be good, too, if you don't feel up to answering my questions through laughter. Thanks!
*Aragorn has this elf thing going on. I'm a little confused about that. How long has he lived with the elves? (It seems to me that he did, and for a while?) Why was he, indeed, living with them?
*Legolas of Greenleaf... ok, so his Ada's a king, yes? What's the elf governmental heirarchy? How exactly did the council to discuss the ring get called? Just pulled some semi-important people out of a bunch of lands? Or just the ones floating around closest? And Legolas lived... where?
I think I'm generally all right with the hobbits after reading 'The Hobbit' and beginning of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' but I'm a little confused as to why evolution would give them leathery feet if really the only good trade they used to partake in was shoe-making. I know it fees them up to drink and eat and smoke, but really, if they were so good at shoes in the first place, I doubt it would have happened.
*How tall 'exactly' is Gimli supposed to be? I understand the Hobbits' sizes compared to men, But I'm having trouble with dwarves- In 'The Hobbit' I imagined them all roughly the same size, riding the same sized ponies... but in the movie Gimli seems about a foot taller than the Hobbits? I don't know! *confused!*
*Is there a pre-existing cultural rift of some sort between elves and dwarves? I was pretty convinced from the movies that the two groups didn't like each other so much as to hang out and trust each other (making Leg & Gim's friendship all the sweeter in my eyes) But I just wanted to be sure this wasn't something I was pulling out of thin air.
*Oh, and Strider... um, is that just a name he uses in certain circulstances, or frequently (so he doesn't have people eyeing and pointing at him in recognition or whatever)? Or is it something more? And what exactly is a Ranger? What do they do aside from look menacing in hooded cloaks in the corner of pubs?
OK... so those are the questions the first three paragraphs brought up. I really need help!!!! I'm still not really certain when and where the story takes place (and thus, not sure who's in it.) Right now Gimli, Aragorn, and Leg all have a few lines but none of the rest of the Fellowship has called out to me... so I'm thinking it's set somewhere during or after TTT. But I LOVE snow and so that's going to be more difficult than if I'd set it on the mountain pass in FotR... and I really have no idea what happens after the TTT movie (though I know the book itself goes on for a while yet) so I really can't do an 'after' sort of thing. Gah!! *pulls hair out* Ok... um... anyone have any answers? THANKS!!!!!!!!
A link to a nice LotR reference would be good, too, if you don't feel up to answering my questions through laughter. Thanks!
*Aragorn has this elf thing going on. I'm a little confused about that. How long has he lived with the elves? (It seems to me that he did, and for a while?) Why was he, indeed, living with them?
*Legolas of Greenleaf... ok, so his Ada's a king, yes? What's the elf governmental heirarchy? How exactly did the council to discuss the ring get called? Just pulled some semi-important people out of a bunch of lands? Or just the ones floating around closest? And Legolas lived... where?
I think I'm generally all right with the hobbits after reading 'The Hobbit' and beginning of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' but I'm a little confused as to why evolution would give them leathery feet if really the only good trade they used to partake in was shoe-making. I know it fees them up to drink and eat and smoke, but really, if they were so good at shoes in the first place, I doubt it would have happened.
*How tall 'exactly' is Gimli supposed to be? I understand the Hobbits' sizes compared to men, But I'm having trouble with dwarves- In 'The Hobbit' I imagined them all roughly the same size, riding the same sized ponies... but in the movie Gimli seems about a foot taller than the Hobbits? I don't know! *confused!*
*Is there a pre-existing cultural rift of some sort between elves and dwarves? I was pretty convinced from the movies that the two groups didn't like each other so much as to hang out and trust each other (making Leg & Gim's friendship all the sweeter in my eyes) But I just wanted to be sure this wasn't something I was pulling out of thin air.
*Oh, and Strider... um, is that just a name he uses in certain circulstances, or frequently (so he doesn't have people eyeing and pointing at him in recognition or whatever)? Or is it something more? And what exactly is a Ranger? What do they do aside from look menacing in hooded cloaks in the corner of pubs?
OK... so those are the questions the first three paragraphs brought up. I really need help!!!! I'm still not really certain when and where the story takes place (and thus, not sure who's in it.) Right now Gimli, Aragorn, and Leg all have a few lines but none of the rest of the Fellowship has called out to me... so I'm thinking it's set somewhere during or after TTT. But I LOVE snow and so that's going to be more difficult than if I'd set it on the mountain pass in FotR... and I really have no idea what happens after the TTT movie (though I know the book itself goes on for a while yet) so I really can't do an 'after' sort of thing. Gah!! *pulls hair out* Ok... um... anyone have any answers? THANKS!!!!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2003-03-07 10:31 am (UTC)Let's see if I can help out, even just a little bit. :) Ok, first thing's first. Aragorn was living with the Elves after his mum died. She brought him to Rivendell because she knew he wouldn't want to grow up in Gondor and be forced to be king and all of that. So after his mum died, Aragorn brought him up.
Legolas Greenleaf is prince of Mirkwood. His da's a king, but he felt he couldn't make it to the Council, so he sent Legolas in his place. One of those Royalty things. The Council consisted of the more important people of Middle Earth, the ones who held power. As in Gimli, son of Gloin, the Dwarf lord. And then a handful of Elves from Mirkwood, which was considered to be the darker part of Elfdom.
Dwarves are... I think the average size is 4'6 or something. And a hobbit is usually around three feet something.
The Dwarves and the Elves had a falling out in the past. The Elves think that the Dwarves are greedy and take from the Earth too much, while the Dwarves think the Elves are crafty and untrustworthy. From what I can tell...
Aragorn has about fifty names. And he keeps getting them. He has Aragorn, Strider, Ellesar, Elaine, Swiftfoot, and more besides. Strider is his 'Ranger' name. It's what the people of Bree know him as. I guess he uses that one more often than the others. Galadriel calls him Ellesar though. It means hope in Quenya.
Did that help at all? *g*
Thanks!
Date: 2003-03-07 11:10 am (UTC)Aragorn- that makes a LOT of sense now. And just to clarify...
>>So after his mum died, Aragorn brought him up<< um... did you mean Elrond? Or the elves in general, maybe? And I'm assuming he was relatively young when his mom died?
The council just seemed like a lot of sons of people with the power, so I just wanted to know if that's just because they were close by and could represent well or if there was more motive in not wanting the actual rulars involved. I mean, I'm sure I wouldn't want all the kings of Middle Earth ditching their posts to go escort the ring into Mordor. I think I'm reading too much into it, lol.
Dwarf height- that makes complete sense now. Thanks!
As for Aragorn's names... LOL Too funny. Must get confusing... So, um, what is a Ranger do, exactly?
>>Galadriel calls him Ellesar though. It means hope in Quenya.<< Awwww! I really like that. Sounds very pretty in my head, as well :-)
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2003-03-07 11:18 am (UTC)if you'd like a resource site, one of my favorites is here:
the encyclopedia of arda. very thorough, with even a couple of places for movie fans to start to learn more about the books. i love this place lots.
and, if i may: yes, aragorn was raised essentially by elrond. he had yet another name, those days; he was called estel as he was growing up! (two of my favorite characters in the tolkien universe are elrond's twin sons, so most of what i know about the world is focussed around rivendell, elrond, and that family. :)
/my $0.02, and i hope you have fun delving into the world. it's lots of details, but it really can be rewarding, in my opinion. :D looking forward to seeing what you might come up with
oh, and!
Date: 2003-03-07 11:20 am (UTC)Re: oh, and!
Date: 2003-03-07 11:48 am (UTC)I dunno how much any of this will factor into story plots (and it's looking like my first fic will be a very short PWP at any rate) but I simply don't feel comfortable writing fanfic when I don't really understand all that's going on, you know?
So many thanks to both of you for the excellent help!!! *hugs*