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THE ESSENCE OF EVENTS

Peter Jackson's Adaptation of "The Fellowship of the Ring"

Peter Jackson and his team are to be commended, for having understood that apparently irrelevant events contribute subtly yet significantly to the overall plot. When we tried to categorise his changes, we found that much of what we at first thought had been removed wholesale, had in fact been replaced, though often with scenes more compact.

Frequently replacement occurs because a cut leads to lack of continuity. An example is the giving of small swords to the hobbits, by Aragorn in the film, as Bombadil is no longer there to provide them. On the face of it, as the film gallops by, this may seem fine; but later, it begs the question: Does Aragorn usually carry an arsenal of mini-weapons around with him? If so, why? Perhaps we are meant to understand that he knew he was going to meet with four hobbits, but nothing else gives us this impression, and we are left with the feeling that this is something of a fudge; one of those areas where, as the scriptwriters confess, “Some scenes weren’t working… and [the] inspiration hasn’t come”.5

Another such scene that jars with many is “Gandalf and the moth”. Radagast, like Bombadil, was never going to make the cut; no time for such a peripheral, ineffectual character. Yet the one thing he does is, again, crucial to the unfolding of the story, his very naiveté leading to the foiling of Saruman’s plans by the sending of the eagle that rescues Gandalf. Much of this has been worked into the moth episode, since it is Saruman’s discounting of Nature, and Gandalf’s rapport with it, that in the film leads to his deliverance. There are talking birds in “The Hobbit”, but a talking thrush in a fantasy film would smack altogether too much of Mary Poppins, and besides be too obvious to Saruman, who despite his oversights is not stupid. And the moth does not, as some filmgoers have thought, turn into the eagle; Gandalf simply uses it to convey his message to the bird. Given that a simple and immediate explanation of Gandalf’s rescue is required, this works well, and is not totally out of keeping with the way it happens in the book. The sequence also manages to keep up suspense (for those without knowledge of the story) until the very last moment, and so must be counted one of the scriptwriters’ more successful inventions.

The main replacement of character is the excision of Glorfindel, his role in the flight to the ford being taken by Arwen. Glorfindel’s loss was not unexpected, given that he is a character never seen again, nor is the substitution of Arwen, since in the book we scarcely see her. Purists— and even those rather less pure— were greatly concerned before the film’s release that Elrond’s retiring daughter was going to be turned into “Arwen, Warrior Princess”! Some, undoubtedly, still feel that her increased role is not right. However, given what Tolkien tells us of her, what she does is not unreasonable.

"We felt we couldn't present a script where women were passive or just ciphers," Philippa Boyens, one of the scriptwriters, says. "The women in Tolkien are very strong-willed.”6

This is true; all Tolkien’s female characters, from Luthien to Queen Beruthiel, are strong-willed, even to a fault. Take for example the white lady of the Noldor, Aredhel sister of Turgon. When she wishes to ride out from Gondolin, he tries to restrain her; but she tells him, “I am your sister and not your servant, and beyond your bounds I shall go as it seems good to me.” 7 No subservience to the male head of her house there. Nor is even the scarcely seen Arwen a wilting flower. We may learn from the appendices that she has journeyed about Middle-earth, even after the attack on her mother, which displays some courage and, also, probably some faith in her own capabilities. It is scarcely conceivable that a 2000-year-old Elf, in a world growing increasingly dangerous, with martial father and brothers, should not have learned to use a sword. She is not a warrior, she does not seek danger, but she can defend herself at need. Nor is it likely that a woman independent enough to choose a lover outside her own race, in opposition to her father’s wishes, would not sometimes ride out from the confines of Rivendell, as she does in the film. She has come to meet Aragorn; probably she senses he needs help. She personally is not afraid of a Black Rider or two, for they are unlikely to concern themselves with her— in the book, they ignore both Aragorn and Glorfindel. It is only when she steals away their prey that they pursue her, and of course her judgement is correct; they cannot catch her horse, lightly burdened as he is with a featherweight Elf and a half-starved hobbit, and Elrond’s protection on the waters of Bruinen is their downfall.

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