Why wasn't Lord of the Rings much shorter?

Here's a question for some of the Tolkien/Lord of the Rings scholars out there. I've seen the movies, but have only read the Hobbit and the Fellowship, so if this question is answered in the book then oops.


Of course I know that if that scenario occurred then there would be no story, but I was just wondering if anybody had any opinions as to why this couldn't have happened.

Hmm...Maybe because that would have turned an exciting trilogy into a hum-drum short story?

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For two reasons:

1. Gandalf is not really friends with them to the degree that he can have them do various tasks for him at will. They fly to the beat of their own drummer. But more importantly...
2. ...it simply would not work. The ring is given to Frodo for a few reasons, one of which is that he is small and difficult to detect. Sauron would notice a bunch of giant eagles flying up to Mount Doom, and would surely know their intent, causing him to throw everything he had at them.

In the extended cut DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Gandalf has a dialogue with Aragorn in which he discusses the advantages they still have, one of which is that "the ring remains hidden...and that we should seek to destroy it has not yet entered [the enemy's] darkest dreams."

Sauron is counting on the ring's ability to create corruption and addiction to keep it from being destroyed. But the hobbits are not ambitious enough to be so easily taken in by the ring's promise of power. The idea is that Sauron would never suspect that they were even trying to destroy the ring until it was too late.

Also, I belive another aspect of why the ring of power wasnt givin to the eagle lord, other then steath (which would imo be the primary factor..you would be hard pressed not to see a eagle with..what a 20 foot wingspan flying up to your front door vs a 3 foot nothing hobbit? lol) is that again, the ring of power corrupts those with power, and though it is only hinted at. The Eagle lord is in fact that. A lord of his race, thus a being of power and cant/shouldn't be tempted as Gaundalf was in Fellowship.

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Ok, I can buy that. However the eagles did go up against against 8 ring-wraiths and came out ok. The eagles are supposedly some of the wisest and most grand creatures in Middle Earth, so I would have to believe that they would somehow be able to avoid Sauron's eye and anything else he could throw at them to make the relatively short flight to Mount Doom and drop it in especially if Gandalf and others created a diversion to distract Sauron. But in any event I see your point Yoda--the ring was entrusted to the person Sauron would least expect.

And yeah I know there would be no story if it went down that way. You kinda missed my point Slaytan.

I think what Slay was trying to say was that it is not the destination that is important, but the journey itself. I know I would have thought the LotR trilogy was crap if it was 7 mins long and consisted of Gandalf giving a big bird a ring to drop in a volcano.

I didn't miss your point at all. I read your entire post. My point is that this whole universe was in Tolkien’s imagination. He didn’t have the ring destroyed that way because he didn't want the ring destroyed that way. There is no philosophical discussion that can prove that would have been the best way to accomplish the rings destruction, because if Tolkien was alive, he could easily make up a reason why it wouldn't work. The eagles had helped Gandalf out numerous times and probably would have done it for him if asked, if they could. It wasn't even brought up as a viable solution. Who knows why. Perhaps the eagles are so inherently good that they are repulsed by the ring and cannot touch it. There could be all sorts of reasons fictional characters can't do fictional things in a fictional story. Tolkien wrote what he wanted because he wanted to, that's all.

Oh, I know Tolkien would be able to tell me why it wasn't done that way. The man was a genius. It's amazing that somebody could create a universe like that with such a detailed backstory, not to mention create an entire language all his own. I was just trying to get some opinions as to why the eagles couldn't or wouldn't destroy the ring since obviously Tolkien isn't around to elaborate. All I know is that if I were in charge of destroying the ring the first thing I would do is politely ask my eagle friends if they could help me out.

It was a good movie but disapointing it did not end like the book did and that was my favorite part!
and what did not make any sence to me is that why did they brother showing when she looks in that water thing and sees the shire in ruins!and does not brother to even tell us what happen to Sauraman and Wormtongue?It brothers me alot that they did that!
It makes no sence!I mean come on!Other then that and the pointless Awen parts the movie was good!See you around!JM

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You all make completley valid points, but i believe the simplest explantation is that Tolkein had no idea where to go with his story when he began. Like a lot of great authors, he sat down and let his words flow, and it built a story. For some reason i doubt that he knew how it was going to end down to the details. And so he wrote, until he found a definate flow-line for the book. Just a thought!

This is totally true. Watching the Two Towers extra disks they state that he started and restarted these stories MANY times, from the beginning because he kept getting stuck. What a madman!! He just kept reshaping until the masterpiece was born

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Wow- it would be so wonderful to get my hands on some of those very first editions- however impossibble it might be!

Yea its true i saw it on the Extended Editions as well tolkien kept having to start over again and again..hes give it to people and see what they though then he'd just rewrite it all over again.

Like Yoda, I think the idea is that Sauron would never suspect that anyone would even consider destroying the ring for one moment. Until it was too late, of course. Also, I think that if the Ring had been given to the Eagles and they were to drop it into Mount Doom, it would have been the leader of the Eagles, Gwaihir who would have been appointed the task. But considering that Gwaihir is quite powerful also, maybe he could have been easily corrupted.

I think the movie trilogy kicks ass, but I was a bit disappointed not to see Tom Bombadil, because he plays quite an important part in the book. Also, I think it's a shame that Arwen plays such a big part in the movie, since she is hardly mentioned in the book. They sort of fusioned her character with Glorfindel. Maybe they thought there had to be some romance and female touch in the movie for it to appeal to both men and women.

Now that we have seen all three movies, what is there to look forward to? I'm hoping that Peter Jackson will have the opportunity to do "The Hobbit" as well. And soon ... very soon

The reason for leaving Tom Bombadil is quite obvious, he was too boring in writing and he would have been 10 times as boring on film. Treebeared is boring too but not as much, but if peter could have avoided treebeared im sure he would have.Another thing is that Tom doesnt play an important role, he just lets the hobbits sleep at his house for a night gives them food and sends them away. The only other two times he is mentioned is when The council is deciding what to do with the ring, and someone says "lets give it to tom bombadil" but they decide thats a bad idea because eventually sauron will track him down..and anyways tom knows what it is and wouldnt have wanted it. As for Arwen/Glorfindel, pj already introduced a bunch of charcters and didnt want to add to thaT..so why introduce a new character who does only one thing and then is never heard of again..I think it was a sound decision to give his part to Arwen.

Gandalf and the other wizards were beings of the same nature as Sauron, Maiar (effectively angels in the LOTR scheme of things). They could have come to Middle Earth in all of their power and glory, and kicked Sauron's ass (5 angels vs one, especially with diminished power having lost the Ring, wouldn't be much of a fight). However, they were expressly instructed to veil their power and take the guise of old men, their role being primarily to kindle hope and courage amongst the peoples of Middle Earth, so that they could unite and save themselves. This would mean great conflict, suffering and death in the short term, but would leave the peoples of Middle Earth much stronger in the longer term, and not reliant on external forces to conduct themselves with courage and nobility. Frodo's quest, Aragorn's growth in stature, and the courage required of each invidual soldier in the face of fear were all necessary for the good of Middle Earth. Thus, although Gandalf occasionally showed hints of his true power, his role was really to counsel and inspire hope. Something like getting an eagle to destroy the Ring would have defeated the purpose of the Wizards coming to Middle Earth, even if it was feasible.

integrity to the books was very important, and although some parts (important, non-important, interesting, boring) were cut out, Jackson was still very faithful to the books and the only thing i missed terribly was 'The House of Healing'. but ahhh I can wait for the extended edition for that

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ya if it was shorter they would've had to have taken out more of the stuff from the books. I can honestly say that no time during any of these three movies was I bored! infact I love the extended versions, I wish they would release extended extended versions! I can't wait for the extended RotK. I also missed the house of healing especially the budding relationship between Faramir and Eowyn. hopefully it'll be in the extended stuff.

I know everyones has been saying this but oh well.

1.I've read the books MANY times, and if this scenario happened, it'd be completely boring.

2.Gwahir could easily be corrupted. I mean Isildur took a matter of min. to be totally corrupted by it.

I've wondered the EXACT same thing myself sometimes, about why Gwahir didn't just drop it in. But it's really quite simple, no storyline, and too easily to be corrupted by it. I say again. . .NO STORYLINE. But I do agree that it'd be SOOOO much easier to have the eagles drop it in.

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