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cirdaneth
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Post Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 23, 2012 09:22
I'm not going to make any suggestions of my own, just open it up for discussion. So who, in all of Tolkien's works is most midunderstood?
tarcolan
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 25, 2012 02:41
Do you mean within the story or by us?
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cirdaneth
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 25, 2012 04:21
By the reading public.
tarcolan
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 25, 2012 05:23
Ta cirdaneth. Actually I was just buying time...
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Lastiel Rusc
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 28, 2012 12:01
I would have to say the sons of Feanor...mostly due to the fact that they hastily made an oath with their father to retrieve the Simlaris. Without realizing what kind of consequences that the oath will have upon them and others. But I just need to read more of the Histories to see how good or bad my current opinion is.
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Lord_Sauron
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: November 30, 2012 12:04
Thats a good question to ask Cirdaneth I actually though of Tom Bombadil why? because everyone has their own opinion of what he actually was i personally believe he was a Maia that came to Arda before Morgoth hence why evil has no affect on him i know people who think he was just a man or being created by Arda itself.
tarcolan
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: December 01, 2012 06:11
There's certainly a lot of different opinions about Tom, but Tolkien never really said who he was so I don't think he can be misunderstood. I can't think of any characters that I misunderstand, of course.
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LinweSingollo
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: December 01, 2012 07:24
I don't know about 'most misunderstood', but I think Frodo often is. I've read of Tolkien fans calling him weak or going as far as branding him a traitor for claiming the Ring.
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Lord_Sauron
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: December 01, 2012 07:45
thats a good comment about Tom, Tolkien didn't say who what he was did he.
Also about Frodo being weak i don't think anyone could actually go to Mt Doom and throw the ring in, the closer Frodo got to Mordor the rings power over him got stronger i even can't see Galadriel throwing the ring in sure she did beat the ring once but that was in her own realm far way from Sauron she may have claimed if she was in Mordor.
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: January 20, 2013 05:36
I have to say, Melkor. And I'm not kidding. I scoured the SWG, HASA, and FFn archives for sympathetic fanfiction about him, and I came up with, what, half a dozen stories? People tend to forget that he was once the mightiest of the Ainur, and write him off as the Dark Lord, without exploring his character, or taking an effort to understand him, or wondering what actually caused his 'Fall'. (Sauron, on the other hand, inspires a more sympathetic view.)
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: January 31, 2013 11:37
Quote from The Wavesinger on January 21, 2013, 03:36
I have to say, Melkor. And I'm not kidding. I scoured the SWG, HASA, and FFn archives for sympathetic fanfiction about him, and I came up with, what, half a dozen stories? People tend to forget that he was once the mightiest of the Ainur, and write him off as the Dark Lord, without exploring his character, or taking an effort to understand him, or wondering what actually caused his 'Fall'. (Sauron, on the other hand, inspires a more sympathetic view.)


I agree, definitely misunderstood. Whenever I think of how he was trapped in the vile webs of the terrible Ungoliant and how he let out such an intense cry of fear and despair that it was heard in Angband, makes me feel kind of a little bad for him. He is obviously just a big softie underneath. Bless the Balrogs for coming to his rescue.
ShieldMaiden77
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: February 04, 2013 03:39
Certainly not Gollum! Unless you actually believe that he is completely evil and beyond redemption. And everything he did was his fault. In which case you would think him severely misunderstood by the general LOTR fandom...
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Post Re: Which Tolkien character is most misunderstood?
on: February 14, 2013 11:34
Maybe not THE most misunderstood, as I not yet made it through all of Tolkien's stories, but what has been on my mind lately would be Thranduil. The reason being that at first I just plain didn't like him, thought he was really arrogant and actually really mean. But then something struck me in his attitude, the way he talks to Thorin and during that whole situation reminded me of a couple of people I have known and it got me thinking that maybe, like them, he is actually projecting quite the opposite of how he feels about himself, in an effort to convince everyone, including himself that is all that. Which in tern lead me to wonder what happened to him and to look him up on LOTR wiki. After reading the blurb about his history, I think he suffered greatly losing his dad and others in the war of last alliance and probably felt very inadequate and embarassed about his weaknesses. This lead him down the path he is on when we first meet him in the Hobbit. I actually feel sorry for him because he had basically caught in his own trap of constantly trying to prove his greatness and hide his insecurities which ultimately pushes everyone away and makes it nearly impossible to receive love from anyone.
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wolfbladequeen
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on: June 16, 2013 03:06
I have to say Legolas, because I think a lot of people write him off as being vain and idiotic, or lofty. I think this is just the elvishness of him, if that makes sense.
If anyone had happened to look out of a window on the east side of the palace, they might have noticed two figures in the darkness, dancing in a square bordered by living plants, out of time with the dancers inside but perfectly in time with each other.
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on: December 25, 2013 01:16
I think the most misunderstood character is Boromir. He travels many miles through many dangers to Rivendell. Which he had no idea where it was nor did anyone else in the region to find the answer to his fathers dream about doom. Then aragorn promises to go Gondor (which is in trouble) with him and backs out and says he will do whatever frodo say (because gandalf died). So what is he supposed to do? Return home empty handed. The ring of course took advantage of this and there is more to it then what I stated, but I think not enough people think about the background behind boromir or why he seemed so weak willed compared to everyone else.
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on: January 01, 2014 12:05
The most misunderstood character in the „transfer“ from Book to Film is without question Faramir. Read Tom Shippey’s book “Author of the Century”, and Shippey was among those quoted in the EEs of LotR. Seems they did not listen to him or read him. Faramir had much contact with Gandalf, which his father Denethor disapproved of, and his brother Boromir did not care about. When it came down to it, he was as much of a fighter as Boromir. He just did not consider fighting as a virtue in and of itself. Boromir wanted to take The Ring from Frodo, Faramir let him continue on his quest, even with Gollum. In this, he was much wiser than his father. That is Faramir of the Book.
Film version? The biggest catastrophe PJ has perpetrated so far – he and his team just did not “get it” and <BLEEPED> it up beyond belief.
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