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Anyone who's actually read Tolkien's original masterpiece knows that Peter Jackson has taken certain liberties. Some of them more irritating than others... I thought I'd begin with a rather minor one, but a divergence all the same. The main issue I take with this revision, is its needlessness. The original scene was changed, however, in the books (and the movie) it isn't of extreme significance, so I must ask, why change it at all?

First of, they are supposed to be black. The butterflies that is. In the movie, for one reason or another, they are blue- turquoise if you're a colour snob. This minor change, doesn't really bother me, I can imagine black butterflies, from a distance, may appear too much akin to moths.

However, take a look at this quote, spoken by Bilbo in the movie.

I can see a lake... and a river. And the lonely mountain. We're almost there! Can you hear me? I know which way to go.  - Bilbo Baggins

This is then followed by the spider scene, which actually occurs at a slightly later time in the book- but I digress.

Now look at this quote from the book.

He looked at the 'black emperors' for a long time, and enjoyed the feel of the breeze in his hair and on his face; but at length the cries of the dwarves, who were now simply stamping with impatience below, reminded him of his real business. It was no good. Gaze as much as he might, he could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction.

Do you see the discrepancy? In the book, Bilbo doesn't spot anything, the only thing he gets out of his climb, is the feeling of invigorating wind. In the movie, he apparently sees the Lonely Mountain, and is now planning to lead the dwarves henceforth. As the following part of the story, has nothing to do with reaching their goal, but rather getting captured by spiders and then the great Elvenking, why was it changed? It doesn't contribute to the plot, and is thus, in my mind, a completely unnecessary deviance from the book.

Before you get your hopes up, no, I didn't cry when listening to Billy Boyd's Last Goodbye, I did, however, come close to it. Which is more than, any other song has done before. There I sat in the theatre, watching what was the last journey in Middle Earth, and then this song came on. It hit all the right chords, it told the end of Bilbo's journey, but not only that, the end of our journey. Viewers of The Return of the King have already had the pleasure of listening to Pippin, who's eerie voice weaves a spell over its listeners. This was their goodbye to us, all the films are made, both Bilbo and Frodo, have accomplished what they set out to. For avid fans, like me, this was our final farewell.

Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that Peter Jackson will get the rights to the Silmarillion, which is a downright shame. Maybe, we should start a petition: let Peter Jackson make the Silmarillion. Maybe a fool's hope, will come true: there's a first time for everything.

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Needless to say, the music video copyright is held by WarnerBros studios.

Irish Elk, Flickr "labeled for reuse"

Tolkien, to me, is simply a painter of words. He is the father of epic fantasy, caretaker of the ancient races, and an inspiration to all. If you are not a subscriber to his work (which seems a word too common to describe his masterpieces), may I recommend you visit a different blog (or at least blogpost). Although, this blog is not exclusively about the world of Middle Earth and beyond, know that a fair number of posts will concern it.

I can't put in to words, the pain that pierces me, that never again will I see a work of Tolkien in theatres. I had both the joy and the tragedy of watching The Battle of the Five Armies on December 15th. I will be writing a number of posts about this movie in the future. All I wanted to talk about in this post is Thranduil's elk, who first appeared in The Unexpected Journey. 

As a rider of, horses, seeing the Elvenking ride upon a Irish Elk was fantastic. Needless to say, I now want to ride and elk. I actually did find out, that the Sami people, ride reindeer. So my wish, my not be an impossibility. If I'm not mistaken Irish Elk are extinct, however, are rather similar to the still living elk of today.

Expect more posts about this mystical creature, but for now, I've spent enough of your time, talking about elks.

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