The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the epic six-book saga that essentially changed the high fantasy genre for decades to come, received a live-action adaptation of its story in the early 2000s. The trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, boasted Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and many other star-studded actors and actresses across its cast. The films were a box office smash, grossing almost three billion dollars total to become one of the more successful franchises of all time. They were also a critical and audience success, boasting a 92% score on Metacritic, 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 8.9/10 on IMDb.
The Lord of the Rings books are famous for having some of the most expansive world-building and story beats created for any book in history. Tolkien himself made multiple, full languages for the yarn he was spinning, and some criticisms of the book accuse it of almost too much world-building, with many complaining about how so many pages are dedicated to describing a single tree or a forest. Nonetheless, with such an expansive, deep lore and world, choosing which parts of the books made the film, and what didn’t, was a difficult decision for Peter Jackson and the creative team to make for the franchise. Below are some parts of the books fans thought should’ve made the films.
The Character of Tom Bombadil
Early in Frodo’s journey to Mordor, and to the house of the elf Elrond, he comes across a character by the name of Tom Bombadil, who helps him out of trouble. A character of songs and fascinating magic, Bombadil provided another piece of help for the hobbits along their journey. Due to time constraints already (the first film being nearly three hours, the extended edition even adding 20 minutes), Bombadil was not included in the final cut that was released to the audience. Maybe a blessing for those with shorter attention spans, as the hobbits spend a good twenty pages or so at Tom Bombadil’s house.
The Final Battle with Saruman
The Return of the King ends with the hobbits, the humans, elves, and others all receiving a happy ending to their stories. Sam gets married, Frodo, Gandalf, and Bilbo all leave for the Undying Lands, and Aragorn is crowned king. However, that’s not how the books ended.
After defeating Sauron, the hobbits and crew head back to the Shire, only to find it in shambles and ruin, taken over by the evil, disgraced wizard Saruman (played by Christopher Lee). The protagonists have to muster up yet more fighting spirit and defeat Saruman to take back their home. Whether because of time restraints or creative choices, the final battle with Saruman did not make the films.
Origin of the Rangers of the North
A storyline that was most likely cut due to time constraints, the origins of the group Aragorn is a part of, the Rangers of the North, were not in any of the films. In the books, the Rangers of the North were descendants of the Dunedain, a race of men with longer than usual life spans. These Rangers then came together and acted as spies throughout the land for those who opposed Sauron. Aragorn, however, was the only Ranger we met in the films, the rest of the storyline cut to due the overall length of the films.
Merry’s Heroic Slaying of the Witch King, Leader of the Nazgul
Though this scene did make the final film, it was dramatically changed from what it was in the books. In the films, Eowyn slays the dark leader of the Nazgul. However, in the books, it is Merry (one of the original members of the fellowship, and one of the other three hobbits that left the Shire with Frodo), who kills the Witch King of Angmar, Leader of the Nazgul. As to why this was changed, no one is sure. It would’ve been nice to see the other hobbits have a deeper role in the overall story of the One Ring.
The Lord of The Rings series had some of the most creative and well-fleshed-out world-building of nearly any book series ever. The world Tolkien created had, and still does have, an influence on books and movies of today. But with such a deep history, some things are going to be tragically left out of the films, like Tom Bombadil, or Merry’s important role in the slaying of the Nazgul. Although, with three films for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, three films (amazingly pulled from just one book) for The Hobbit trilogy, and the upcoming Rings of Power television show that tells the story of the Second Age, set to premiere later this year on Amazon, fans of the books and films have a lot to be happy about.