Although the movies are wonderful representations of The Lord of the Rings, the movie-makers had to compress the story in many ways and make alterations appropriate for a theater audience. Because of this process, a great deal of background information and character development had to be left out of the movies. People who have only seen the movies may be surprised and excited to find that the books contain much more information, details and stories about their favorite characters. This document includes tidbits and teasers related to the storyline and characters that are not found in the New Line Cinema movies of The Lord of the Rings. It is the hope of Skies of Rohan that learning more of the details of the story will entice moviegoers into reading the books that are the source of the movies and discovering even more of the magic of Middle-earth.

For instance, did you know that. . .

Before the story begins in The Fellowship of the Ring . . .

The Rings of Power were made long ago by Elven-smiths, who were assisted in their task by Sauron of Mordor, who at that time was still trusted by the Elves. Together the smiths and Sauron made the Nine Rings for Mortal Men, the Seven Rings of the Dwarves and the lesser Rings of Power. Sauron learned enough in his assistance of creating the Rings to secretly create the One Ring, and made it the Master Ring over all the others. Sauron’s evil nature was revealed the moment that he used the One Ring for the first time.

After the One Ring was discovered, the chief of the Elven-smiths made the three Rings of the Elven-Kings. The Elves took great care to keep their Rings hidden from Sauron and gave them into the keeping of their most powerful Elves. Sauron did not touch any of the three Elven Rings nor did he even see them.

The greatest Elvish Ring was Vilya, the Ring of Air, which was possessed by the High King Gil-galad. When Gil-galad was mortally wounded in battle with Sauron, he gave the Ring of Air to Elrond of Rivendell.

The second Elvish Ring of power, Narya, was held by Cirdan, the Shipwright at the Grey Havens. At the beginning of the War of the Ring, Cirdan gave the Ring of Fire to the wizard Gandalf, knowing that Gandalf would need it in his labors against the evil of Sauron.

Although both Cirdan and Gandalf kept the location of Narya secret, the wizard Saruman eventually became aware that Gandalf had been entrusted as its keeper. Saruman bitterly begrudged the fact that Gandalf had been given the ring, and not himself.

Galadriel of Lothlorien possessed the third Elvish Ring, Nenya, the Ring of Waters.

Of the seven Rings given to Dwarves, three were recovered by Sauron. The other Rings were taken and consumed by dragons.

The nine rings for mortal men, Sauron gave to rulers of men in great lands in Middle-earth, telling them that the Rings would give them power and immortality. The nine lords were unable to relinquish their Rings, even when they realized that Sauron had tricked them. Unable to die, they became the Ringwraiths, and were totally under the dominion of the One Ring and became Sauron’s most terrible servants.

Elendil was the first High King of the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. It was Elendil who formed the Last Alliance of Men with the Elvish King Gil-Galad in the war against Sauron.

Narsil, the Sword that was Broken, was the sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell in combat with Sauron. Elendil's son, Isildur, took up the broken remains of Narsil and cut the Ring from Sauron's hand. The shards of Narsil were treasured by all of Elendil's heirs, even when all other heirlooms were lost. The Sword that was Broken became a lengend and was a symbol of the fight against Sauron.

The Elves that dwelt in Middle-earth all had the choice of choosing to take a ship at the Gray Havens and passing across the ocean to ElvenHome in the West and leaving Middle-earth behind forever. The majority of elves had already done so, at the beginning of the Great War of the Ring. Only a few communities of Elves still remained at Rivendell, Lothlorien, Mirkwood and the Gray Havens.

Elrond was wed to Celebrian, the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn. Elrond and Celebrian had two sons, Elladan and Elrohir, and one daughter, Arwen Evenstar.

Journeying to Lorien to visit her kin one year, Celebrian and her escort were attacked by Orcs and she was captured. Although she was rescued by her sons, Celebrian had been sorely wounded during her captivity. Elrond was able to heal her, but she found no more joy in Middle-earth and took a ship to the Gray Havens many years before The Fellowship of the Ring.

Elendil founded the Dunedain kingdoms of Arnor in the North and Gondor in the South. The half-Elvish ancestry of the Dunedain set them apart from other men, giving them strength of character and near-Elvish powers, in addition to a longer life span than other races of Men.

After the fall of the Northern kingdom of Arnor, the Dunedain worked in secret as the wandering Rangers of the North. Even though their numbers were greatly reduced over the years, the Rangers felt that it was their task to continue to guard the Northern lands from Orcs and other servants of the Dark Lord, regardless of the cost to themselves.

Aragorn was only two years old when his father was killed by Orcs. His grandfather had been killed by Trolls the year before Aragorn's birth. After his fathers’ death, Aragorn was taken with his mother to dwell in Rivendell where he would be protected by the Elves. Elrond took the place of his father and came to love him as a son. Although the Dark Lord felt he had killed all of the heirs to the throne, Sauron's servants never stopped searching for a living heir of Isildur.

In order to keep Aragorn safe, his true identity was kept hidden from everyone in Rivendell. Elrond gave him the name Estel, which meant Hope.

The Hobbit relates the story of Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, who is drawn into an unlikely quest to be a burglar for a company of dwarves and ends up finding adventure, treasure, friends and a small magic ring.

Thorin Oakenshield, the King of the dwarves Under the Lonely Mountain, meets Gandalf by chance in the border town of Bree. Thorin tells Gandalf of his plans to lead a band of dwarves on an expedition to The Lonely Mountain. Revenge is planned against the great dragon Smaug, who had killed many when he drove the dwarves out of their home and stole their treasure.

Smaug was the last dragon alive in Middle-earth. Gandalf strongly supported the quest of Thorin in the hope that Smaug would be destroyed. Gandalf also took extraordinary measures to be sure that a middle-aged hobbit, by the name of Bilbo Baggins, became part of the company.

It is Thorin Oakenshield, who first utters the immortal words 'May the hair on your toes never fall out', when he meets Bilbo for the first time.

Bilbo was a very respectable and well-to-do hobbit who was extremely fond of comfort and frequent meals. Bilbo lived all alone in a beautiful home (or smial) named Bag End, that was built into a hill in the village of Hobbiton. Gandalf was able to persuade Bilbo to accompany the dwarves by a combination of trickery and appealing to Bilbo’s hidden sense of adventure.

The band of dwarves and Bilbo began their adventure with a near disastrous encounter with Trolls. After the Trolls were defeated, Bilbo found a small Elvish blade in the Troll's hoard. The blade would glow whenever Orcs were near. Bilbo named it 'Sting'.

Gandalf leads the dwarves and Bilbo to Rivendell, where Bilbo meets Elrond for the first time. It is entirely possible that Bilbo may have also met the young Estel (Aragorn) at this time. Aragorn would have been a young boy, about ten years old, at the time.

Bilbo becomes separated from the dwarves in a cave during an encounter with Orcs in the Misty Mountains. As he is wandering through one of the dark tunnels he finds and picks up a small gold ring. By accident, Bilbo discovers that the ring is magic and will turn him invisible if he puts it on.

While still lost in the tunnels, Bilbo encounters a strange creature named Gollum. Gollum has lost something precious and is suspicious of Bilbo, but is fearful of the blade Sting. Gollum challenges Bilbo to a Riddle game. Although Bilbo wins the Riddle game, he is only able to escape Gollum by putting on the Ring and becoming invisible.

Bilbo and the dwarves also encounter the wood elves of Mirkwood. King Thranduil was extremely suspicious of the dwarves and their activities.

While attacking the Men of Dale, the dragon Smaug was finally slain by an archer. With the death of Smaug, one of Gandalf’s great fears (that Sauron would find a way to use Smaug in the coming great war) was laid to rest.

As part of his reward for helping the dwarves defeat the dragon, Thorin Oakenshield gave Bilbo a mail coat made of the rare metal mithril. The coat had been found and recovered from the treasure hoard of Smaug. Mithril had been mined in the lost kingdom of Moria.

After his unexpected return to the Shire, Bilbo was considered very eccentric. He reportedly had bags of gold and treasure stored in his home, Bag End and continued to have visits from outlandish folks such as dwarves and the wizard Gandalf throughout the years.

When Aragorn was twenty years old, Elrond revealed to him his true name and heritage. At that time, Elrond gave him the Ring of Barahir and the shards of Isildur's sword, Narsil.

Aragorn met Arwen Evenstar at Rivendell when he was a young man. From the moment they met Aragorn knew that he loved her. When Elrond realized that Aragorn had come to love Arwen, he warned Aragorn that a great doom awaited him, to either rise above all his fathers or to fall into darkness. But until that time, he should not have any wife nor bind any woman to himself. Shortly thereafter, Aragorn left Rivendell and went into the Wild to labor in the cause against Sauron.

Aragorn and the wizard Gandalf, first met and became friends a few years after Aragorn left Rivendell as a young man. They traveled together many times over the years and were good friends.

Aragorn traveled in disguise and under many names for most of his life. During those years he rode with the Rohirrim and also with the men of Gondor, under the name of Thorongil. As Captain of the Rangers of the North, he was known as The Dunadan to many. In the borderlands he took the name of Strider.

As Thorongil, Aragorn was a great Captain of Gondor during the Stewardship of Ecthelion. As Steward of Gondor, Ecthelion held Thorongil in much esteem and considered him to be a great leader of men. In this guise, Aragorn counseled Ecthelion to not put his trust in Saruman, the White, but instead to welcome Gandalf the Grey.

When Corsair pirates in Umbar proved to be a great threat to Gondor, Aragorn led his men into a decisive victory by coming upon the pirate fleet at night and burning their ships. At this moment of triumph, Aragorn sent word to Ecthelion that other tasks called him and he must leave his service. Captain Thorongil did not return to Minas Tirith and was last seen traveling to the East, towards Mordor.

There was much dismay in the City when Captain Thorongil did not return, with the exception of Denethor, the son of Ecthelion. Denethor was a proud man who had always disliked coming in second to Thorongil in the hearts of men and in the esteem of his father.

There was also little love between Gandalf and Denethor, and when Denethor succeeded to the Stewardship shortly after the departure of Thorongil, he had little welcome for Gandalf in Minas Tirith.

Aragorn met Arwen again thirty years after their first meeting. Aragorn had been in peril on the edge of Mordor, and while returning to Rivendell, stopped in Lothlorien to rest. Arwen was also visiting there for a time. During his stay in Lothlorien they spent much time with each other, and by the end of his stay, they had plighted their troth and Arwen had made her decision to live a mortal life.

As the granddaughter of Galadriel and the daughter of Elrond, Arwen was considered a great treasure of her people, and was of the highest Elvish lineage. When Elrond learned that Arwen and Aragorn had pledged their love for each other, he told them that he would agree to let them marry only if Aragorn were to regain the throne of Gondor and Arnor and be crowned the High King.

Over the long and dangerous years as Aragorn traveled alone far into the East and deep into the South, Arwen watched over him from afar in Rivendell.

Before the story begins in The Fellowship of the Ring. . . Copyright (C) 2004 - Patty Howerton / Skies of Rohan