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What changed in the movie
What changed in the movie, title by title: 38 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- ChangeTauriel isn't in the book
The Elf Tauriel was created for the films, along with her romance with the dwarf Kíli. In the book, the Elves of Mirkwood barely get names.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Legolas at all
Tolkien doesn't put Legolas in The Hobbit. The films bring him in as Thranduil's son and give him action scenes in two of the three movies.
source ↗ - ChangeAzog was already dead
In the book, the orc Azog died long before, in the war between Dwarves and Orcs. The goblins in the battle are led by his son, Bolg. The films turn Azog into Thorin's hunter.
source ↗ - ChangeBilbo finds the weak spot
In the book, Bilbo is the one who spots the gap in Smaug's armor, and a thrush carries the news to Bard. In the film, Bard figures it out alone, and his son Bain helps with the final shot.
source ↗ - ChangeBilbo sleeps through the battle
In the book, Bilbo gets hit by a stone and spends the Battle of Five Armies knocked out. Beorn kills Bolg, not Legolas, and Thorin falls fighting Bolg, not Azog.
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- Change17 years become weeks
In the book, Frodo leaves the Shire 17 years after Bilbo's party. In the film, Gandalf comes back with the truth about the Ring within a few weeks.
source ↗ - ChangeWhere's Tom Bombadil?
The film cuts the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, Goldberry and the Barrow-downs. In the book, those episodes take up several chapters between the Shire and Bree.
source ↗ - ChangeArwen instead of Glorfindel
In the book, the Elf Glorfindel puts Frodo on his horse and gets him to the Ford. Arwen stays in Rivendell. The film gives that scene to her.
source ↗ - ChangeNarsil leaves Rivendell whole
In the book, Strider carries the shards of Narsil from Bree, and the sword is reforged in Rivendell before they set out. In the film, the pieces stay on a statue and the sword doesn't go with the Fellowship.
source ↗ - ChangeGandalf tells it later
In the book, Gandalf recounts his imprisonment at Orthanc during the Council of Elrond. The film shows his duel with Saruman as it happens. The Uruk-hai Lurtz doesn't exist in the book either.
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- ChangeAragorn never goes over the cliff
The warg fight that sends Aragorn off a cliff and leaves him for dead was made up for the film. In the book, he stays with the group all the way to Helm's Deep.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Elves at Helm's Deep
In the film, Haldir arrives from Lothlórien with a company of Elves and dies in the battle. In the book, the only Elf at Helm's Deep is Legolas.
source ↗ - ChangeFaramir resists the Ring
In the book, Faramir learns about the Ring, turns down the temptation and lets Frodo and Sam go. In the film, he drags the hobbits to Osgiliath to bring the Ring to his father.
source ↗ - ChangeShelob got pushed back
The book ends with Shelob's sting and Frodo carried off by orcs, as Sam realizes he's still alive. The film saves that whole stretch for The Return of the King.
source ↗ - ChangeThe hobbits don't meet Gandalf
In the film, Treebeard takes Merry and Pippin to see Gandalf in Fangorn. In the book, they only reunite with the wizard after Isengard falls.
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- ChangeThe Dead never reach Minas Tirith
In the book, Aragorn releases the Army of the Dead after taking the ships at Pelargir. The ones who reach the Pelennor Fields are men of Gondor and the northern Dúnedain. In the film, the ghosts sweep the battle.
source ↗ - ChangeFrodo never sends Sam away
The scene where Gollum frames Sam and Frodo sends him home only exists in the film. In the book, Sam never leaves Frodo's side on the stairs of Cirith Ungol.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Scouring of the Shire
In the book, the hobbits come home to find the Shire run by Saruman's ruffians. Merry and Pippin lead the uprising. The film cuts the whole chapter.
source ↗ - ChangeSaruman dies in the Shire
In the extended cut, Saruman falls from the top of Orthanc. In the book, he dies in the Shire, stabbed in the back by Wormtongue, who is then shot down by hobbit arrows.
source ↗ - ChangeLittle Faramir and Éowyn
The book spends almost half a chapter on Faramir and Éowyn's romance in the Houses of Healing. The film gives it one short scene, and only in the extended cut.
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- Behind the scenesTurned down in 1937
After The Hobbit took off, Tolkien offered his publisher a version of the Silmarillion. They found it obscure and asked for a hobbit sequel instead. That request became The Lord of the Rings.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA Canadian helper
Christopher Tolkien put the book together with Canadian Guy Gavriel Kay, who spent a year with him in Oxford working in secret. Kay later became a fantasy author himself.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesBad reviews, top sales
The 1977 reviews were mostly negative. Even so, the book hit No. 1 on the New York Times fiction list and won the 1978 Locus Award for fantasy.
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- Behind the scenesJust as Tolkien left them
Unlike The Silmarillion, Christopher presents these texts almost untouched, with long notes after each one. Its success paved the way for the 12 volumes of The History of Middle-earth.
source ↗ - ReferenceWho the wizards are
The essay on the Istari explains where Gandalf, Saruman and the other wizards come from. It's one of Tolkien's few writings on the subject.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe movie prologue in full
The Gladden Fields tale tells in detail how Isildur died in the Anduin and the Ring was lost, the scene that opens The Fellowship of the Ring.
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- ReferenceBorn from a Finnish myth
Túrin was modeled on Kullervo from the Kalevala, which Tolkien retold in 1914. Túrin's ending, where he talks to his own sword, comes almost unchanged from that tale.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNo. 1 in 2007
The book debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times hardcover fiction list. Within two weeks, 900,000 copies were in print worldwide, double the initial plan.
source ↗ - ReferenceIllustrated by the films' artist
The 33 illustrations are by Alan Lee, one of the lead concept artists on Peter Jackson's trilogy. He shared the Oscar for art direction on The Return of the King.
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- Behind the scenesCarved on the headstone
The name Lúthien was carved on the grave of Edith, Tolkien's wife. Beren was later added to his. Lúthien dancing in the glade came from Edith dancing in the woods.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe villain was a cat
In the earliest version, Beren's enemy is Tevildo, Prince of Cats. Over time, the role passed to the Necromancer and finally to Sauron.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesBeren was an Elf
In the early drafts, Beren isn't human: he's a Noldorin Elf. Only later did Tolkien make him mortal, which gives his love for Lúthien its weight.
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- Behind the scenesWritten in a barracks in 1917
Tolkien wrote the first version in 1917 in an army barracks, on the back of sheets of military marching music. It was the first of his Great Tales.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesChristopher's last
It was the last book published by Christopher Tolkien, who spent over 40 years editing his father's work. He died in 2020.
source ↗ - ReferenceIllustrated by Alan Lee
The paintings are by Alan Lee, who also illustrated The Children of Húrin and Beren and Lúthien. The three books make up the Great Tales of the First Age.
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- Behind the scenesReleased alongside the show
The book came out in November 2022, right around The Rings of Power, which is set in the Second Age. Brian Sibley edited it, with illustrations by Alan Lee.
source ↗ - ReferenceWhat the show couldn't use
Amazon only bought the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Rings of Power writers built the Second Age out of the appendices. This book gathers the texts left out.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe editor wrote the radio version
Brian Sibley co-wrote, with Michael Bakewell, the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, long before the films.
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