Laura Anderson
Lord of the Rings, an epic fantasy novel written by J.R.R Tolkein, loved by many of all ages and backgrounds. Yet, the story isn’t quite as it seems...
The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy novel written by J.R.R Tolkein and published in 1954; its story stole the hearts of many, and would go on to have a prequel written and several film adaptations. But how would you feel if I told you the story Tolkein told us wasn’t entirely the truth? Everyone practically knows the story, and if you don’t, here’s a brief summary. Young hobbit, Frodo, has been given the One Ring, a ring made by the dark lord Sauron that holds unspeakable power. He and his fellowship, consisting of humans, hobbits, an elf and a dwarf, with the aid of Gandalf the Grey, a powerful wizard, embark on a mission to destroy this ring in the fires of Mount Doom. All the while, tackling Lord Sauron and his forces. It’s a story of friendship, loss and accomplishment, all with epic battle scenes and fantastical creatures. The lore of the world is insane, and that is thanks to the hardwork and effort from its author, J.R.R Tolkein who spent several decades creating a world that was full of life and history. Yet, some of his more punctilious fans have caught on that the published book isn’t entirely the truth. But why is this? J.R.R Tolkein used a technique known as the unreliable narrator to write his stories. This is where the book is written from the point of view of a specific character, which can cause bias, lies, and inaccuracy to become the “truth”, as it is for the person telling the story. The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, The Hobbit, are sourced from The Red Book of Westmarch, which is the large book that Bilbo was writing in during the beginning, and was gifted to Frodo at the end of the trilogy.
As these stories come from the characters themselves, the stories we read are then written from their point of view, therefore we have an unreliable narrator. However, that is not the only brilliant move J.R.R Tolkein had up his sleeves. The books themselves even go on to admit that their timeline isn’t fact, and they were written by an unreliable narrator. One quote that stands out to me is the mention that “[ The Red Book ] received much annotation, and many corrections.” These included much about the Elves and their language, as well as The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, one of which played a big role in the story. This use of unreliable narrators implies that the story itself is heavily biased in favour of the authors. Meaning they may have presented characters or certain scenes in a way that is favourable to themselves and point of view, or even a hyperbole of what actually happened. So, what does this change about the story itself? It's a common known fact that the notable riddle scene with Bilbo and Gollum is in fact a made-up tale by Bilbo, as many were to notice the “curious fact that this is not the story as Bilbo first told it to his companions.” The book also mentioned there were copies of the red book with the true account as an alternative, derived from Frodo or Samwise’s notes, though they had been unwilling to erase what Bilbo had written to begin with, implying that our copy only sheds light on a section of truth. Yet, Tolkein’s deception did not end there. One piece of his work, where he wrote an appendices on the effort behind translating the Red Book, he would state something that would change Middle Earth as we knew it.
The lovable, iconic hobbit quartet are in fact not called Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin, but instead Maura, Ban, Razar and Kali; and the charming name, Hobbit doesn’t even exist. The race of halflings are actually known as “Kuduks.” Something which is sure to shake many ringers ( fans of Lord of the Rings ) to their core.
Many have also questioned if this unreliable narrator is what makes Aragorn appear as such a perfect king and character, after all, the Red Book was corrected by his own scholars, who would of course do anything to change a story in order for it to fit their narrative of their king.
These brief changes, and obscure details, while minor, can have a great impact on the veracity of the Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, making us wonder what else has been changed. J.R.R Tolkein used these techniques well, and was a mastermind behind creating a fantastical world that comes to life, and there is a lot aspiring writers could learn from them. He was a genius, and his work is sure to be appreciated for several more years to come.
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And my whole life just fell before my eyes... and here I was, thinking I knew what Lotr was about!