I have a confession to make: I have never read The Fellowship of the Ring or The Two Towers, parts one and two of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary The Lord of the Rings series. I know, that’s blasphemy for a guy who writes on a website dedicated to Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire and all things fantasy, but before you light the torches, know that I’m not a Tolkien virgin. In fact, I’ve read pretty much all of Tolkien’s work but Fellowship and Towers. I’ve read The Hobbit, I’ve read The Silmarillion, and I’ve read a bunch other extended stuff. I even read Lord of the Rings For Dummies way back when. So why hadn’t I read Fellowship or Towers?
I actually attempted to read Fellowship years ago, but like Frodo and Sam, I struggled to get out of the Shire. Endless walking, stopping, eating, walking, eating…it was just too much for my teenage brain. But when Peter Jackson’s film trilogy came out, I saw each release multiple times, and while there was still plenty walking and talking, Jackson streamlined a lot of what I initially didn’t like about the books.
Nearly 20 years later, I’m making up for lost time and reading the first two books. Having now made it halfway through The Two Towers, I’m happy to report I am quite enjoying Tolkien’s magnum opus, with a few small caveats.
I always enjoy comparing films or TV shows to the novels on which they’re based. It’s always fun to spot plot differences, lines from the book that made it onscreen (or didn’t), and the like. Like George R.R. Martin, Tolkien is a master of world building. Tolkien hints at events that occurred hundreds or even thousands of years ago, and how our characters are still dealing with the aftershocks. Much as the White Walkers were driven north of the Wall in the distant past of Westeros, Sauron was once defeated a long time ago but appears poised for a return. That type of living history is something I really enjoy, although it makes sense we wouldn’t get all of that backstory in the movies, where there are fewer opportunities to indulge in anything not related to the plot.
The things that bothered me about Fellowship and Towers on my first attempt at a read-through are still there. While Jackson is rightfully accused of turning Tolkien’s The Hobbit into a bloated movie trilogy, I applaud his good editing sense when it comes to The Lord of the Rings. For example, in the aftermath of the Battle of Helm’s Deep, Tolkien spends many pages on the characters riding from Helm’s Deep to Isengard, something the films accomplish with a single scene. I love the detail a novel can bring, but Tolkien’s work can drag in places.
It’s also interesting to see where Jackson chose to place his focus. In Tolkien’s work, Saruman doesn’t show up in person until halfway through The Two Towers, while he has a memorable part in the movie version of Fellowship. On the flip side, the Battle of Helm’s Deep serves as the climax for Jackson’s take on The Two Towers, but it takes up only one chapter in Tolkien’s novel. Jackson also wisely cut everything involving the mysterious sprite Tom Bombadil from his films; something about it never felt like part of the rest of Tolkien’s world.
Tolkien also has a tendency to let some of his best moments happen offscreen. Boromir’s epic last stand? We only learn about it later from Mary and Pippin. The Ents marching on Isengard? Again, only later do we get the details, and then it’s only a brief recounting.
I didn’t realize I was going to praise Jackson this much. It’s still no excuse for The Hobbit trilogy.
At the risk of sounding like I’m not enjoying Fellowship or Towers, which I am, I’ll say I’m not a fan of all the singing. Pages of long songs in Elvish are not my idea of a good time. Still, Tolkien paints a detailed picture of every scene, describing landscapes and touching on the history of each land our heroes travel through. In that respect, Jackson’s movies begin to feel like a Cliff Notes version of Tolkien’s work. And as it was all those years ago, I enjoy the CliffsNotes, but now I’m enjoying the actual text.
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I can see why Martin’s novels are so often compared to Tolkien’s, and it’s not just because both are sweeping fantasy epics with similar themes. Both authors are master of minutia, something I find I enjoy more as I grow older.
I’m glad to finally add these stamps to my nerd card, and no longer have to explain why I’ve never read the Tolkien’s best work. Next up, The Wheel of Time series!
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