How would YOU have ended Lord of the Rings?

[Tiffanys]

Me, personally...

Frodo throws the ring into volcano.
"We've finally done it sam!"
Ring hits lava, Sauron's finger comes through the ring and he flies up out of the fire on a dragon-thingy.

He then goes on to laugh at them hysterically and make fun of them for actually believing that. Or something like that. ^_^

What can I say? I liked Sauron.

Here's another example, but not mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU

[DLTE]

With aragon going bad. Going to the dark side and shit

[Goroshi-sama]

right in final minutes, it would read: "THE GAME!"

[Pzc]

Pretty much like this

[datora]

.
The movie version or the original Tolkien?

From a serious viewpoint, Tolkien's work is so utterly masterful that I would not dare attempt to "improve" it.  Really, he was a literary genius, so studied in folklore and mythology and culture that more than 90% of everybody only have a shallow grasp of his works.

From a "silly" viewpoint, I suppose that Shelob would have been successful and that Golum claims the Ring from Frodo's dried husk and becomes the Dark Lord, throwing down Sauron and turning Mordor into his party crib.


There are a number of untold stories that took place after the fall of Sauron.  It would have been cool for another in-depth visit with Tom Bombadil, something that explored more of his history and a take on Tom's continued existence as the Fourth Age dawned.  Elrond and Gandalf visiting him and kicking back a few pipes filled with weed and just chatting about what was and what what will never be.

I would have loved a chapter or three about the Ents in an epic search for (and finding) the lost Entwives, passing through the Shire and visiting with Merry & Pippin, and perhaps even Tom Bombadil.  In fact, Elrond, Gandalf and Treebeard all sitting around with Tom (and a few others) could have been one of the most fascinating chapters possible to help wrap the story and tie a lot of loose ends together.

Since the elves abandoned Middle Earth, an unusually adventurous group of Hobbits might have moved to Lothlórien and colonized it under the watchful eye of Galadriel as she and her people prepared to leave.  This would have tied in nicely with the dwarves recolonizing Khazad-dûm, and the discovery/colonization of the caverns of Helm's Deep.

I could list a dozen more examples, but perhaps the final one I would have dearly loved would have been the salvation of Arwen.

It seemed a needless tragedy for her to have to choose between a mortal life and being with her people.  Given the magic of the lands and the very powerful people in them, I didn't really see the need for her to die.  For example, if Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf all gave their Elven Rings to her before they departed, the final, fading power in them might have sustained her.  As a Bearer of those Rings, she would have also had the right.

As an immortal, she could well have lived a long and happy life with Aragorn, raised a half dozen children to carry on the bloodline of the White Tree, and still one last boat could have waited to take her to the Grey Havens.  The seventy-some years or so she lived as Aragorn's queen are less than the tick of a clock in the ages of the earth and the lifespan of an elf, and it always seemed a false time-constraint to me.

Even Legolas and Gimli built their own boat and sailed into the Grey Havens in the end.  Why didn't they go to Gondor and stay with Aragorn toward the end of his life, then take Arwen with them ..?  To know that she somehow lived and was reunited with her father (even if she died a mortal death some years afterward) ... that would have been some small justice to balance against the incredible sacrifices she made, and those of all the people around her.

[AceHigh]

Whiny little hobbits die when they march through an orc territory. 

Reminded me of an interesting interpretation by someone else:

(click to show/hide)

In my teenage interpretation I pretty much saw the Hobbits as children or simply boring. The dwarves reminded me too much of greedy capitalist-pigs and they too were pretty boring. Their rules were cool and Moria was a wonderful place, but I disliked their greed vehemently - and who wants to be short anyhow? The elves were fascinating, beautiful and especially their immortality and closeness to nature was cool, but they were kind of dull and they fought for the wrong side. Instead I felt a natural attraction to Sauron, who was the person who gave the world adventure, adversity and challenges in the first place. His One Eye, the One Ring and the tower of Barad-Dur are all attributes similar to those of Óðinn. The One Eye was like Óðinn's eye, the One Ring was like Óðinn's ring, Draupnir ("Dripper"), and Barad-Dur was like the tower or throne of Óðinn, called Hliðskjálf ("Secret Ritual-Site"). His Uruk-Hai and Olog-Hai ("Troll-Race") were like Viking berserkers, the Warges were like Óðinnic werewolves, and so forth. I could easily identify with the fury of the "dark forces", and enjoyed their existence very much because they were making a boring and peaceful world dangerous and exciting.

I grew up reading the traditional Scandinavian fairy tales, where the Pagan gods are presented as "evil" creatures, as "trolls" and "goblins", and we all know how the inquisition turned Freyr (Cernunnos/Dionysus/Bacchus et cetera) into "Satan". Tolkien was no better. He had turned Óðinn into Sauron and my Pagan forefathers into the fighting Uruk-Hai. To me the "dark forces" attacking Gondor were like the Vikings attacking Charlemagne's Christian France, the "dark forces" attacking Rohan were like the Vikings attacking the Christian England. And I may add; the Vikings eventually lost their war as well, just like Sauron and the orcs did - and I didn't mind supporting the loosing part.

So a good ending? Sauron gets the ring, rapes Gondor, marches on Rivendell and pretty much conquers most of the land. Without any weak enemies left to fight, Sauron and Saruman decide that there can be only one leader, so they turn on each other. Sauron seems to have an advantage at first glance, but Saruman by that time has already bio-engineered cross-breeds of orcs and ents making freaking abominations. Later with the power of the industry which was fuelled by pretty much all the forest on that continent, Saruman defeats Sauron by bombarding him and his tower with heavy artillery. After the dust settles, orcs and humans from the south build new empires based on strength and survival. Competing with each other they both reach atomic age and blow the whole continent into a huge crater. When there is nobody left, elves will appear on their ships like the Cowardly French, claim the land and declare themselves victorious.... after a few weeks they die of radiation because the stupid elves had no inventive advancing technology and thus don't grasp the concept of radiation.

[Tiffanys]

From a serious viewpoint, Tolkien's work is so utterly masterful that I would not dare attempt to "improve" it.

Sadly, I disagree, and Tolkien himself did too.

"The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being unfortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short." (LoTR I, 9-10)

[Ixarku]

Competing with each other they both reach atomic age and blow the whole continent into a huge crater. When there is nobody left, elves will appear on their ships like the Cowardly French, claim the land and declare themselves victorious.... after a few weeks they die of radiation because the stupid elves had no inventive advancing technology and thus don't grasp the concept of radiation.

Oh, god, now the Elves are French?!  I thought they were supposed to be the Jews.

[Fool010]

From a serious viewpoint, Tolkien's work is so utterly masterful that I would not dare attempt to "improve" it.

Sadly, I disagree, and Tolkien himself did too.

"The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being unfortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short." (LoTR I, 9-10)

I disagree about the length, the trilogy is far too long for the story it tells. At least 1/3 is made of background info, which may enrich the context, but kills the rythm. One should never forget Tolkien wasn't an author, he remained a scholar for his whole life. His writing ability never matched the scope of his creation, not to mention he never succeeded to give enough depth to the characters, therefore never allowing them to be anything else but cutouts.

I give him credit for the sheer scope of his creation, but became increasingly critical of his insufficient storytelling ability. LOTR should've been part of a larger cycle, but as he wasn't motivated enough for that, he ended up cramming too much stuff into it.

It seemed a needless tragedy for her to have to choose between a mortal life and being with her people.  Given the magic of the lands and the very powerful people in them, I didn't really see the need for her to die.  For example, if Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf all gave their Elven Rings to her before they departed, the final, fading power in them might have sustained her.  As a Bearer of those Rings, she would have also had the right.

Fanboy, are you ?

Is it really that difficult to understand that one may not want an eternal life separated from the one you loved the most ?

[1000mAh]

I would havwe finished it exactly as it ended in the book. Thre was too much missing... From the movies.

but yeah, aslo when you ask how I would end it:
Sauron would get back in full powar, gollum would be his servant, Aragon would get half dead, frodo and sam would save them, Sam would defeat Sauron, Frodo would take the ring from Sam, they would go to the volcano,  they would plan to drop the ring, gollum interferes, accidentaly drops the ring, yells ''NNNNNOOOOO!!!''' and cries. then the rest like it happened in the book.

ANd I agree with the story lenght, the sotry was too short
And if you think that he should have been a master of writing, etc, etc, you just like to whine, he wrote it well enough, it is you who lacks imagination if you say ''the characters didn't have enough depth'' Lack of imagination is bad, the less you have imagination, the more ''normal'' you're, the more you'll sink into the masses without opinion and who all dress in the same way, think same way and lack orginality.

And yeah, tLotR got many affections from History, Scandinavian Mythology & Kalevala, the Finnish national epos.
Tolkien even studied finnish so he could read Kaleva in it's orginal language.

[Fool010]

ANd I agree with the story lenght
And if you think that he should have been a master of writing, etc, etc, you just like to whine, he wrote it well enough, it is you who lacks imagination if you say ''the characters didn't have enough depth'' Lack of imagination is bad, the less you have imagination, the more ''normal'' you're, the more you'll sink into the masses without opinion and who all dress in the same way, think same way and lack orginality.

And yeah, tLotR got many affections from History, Scandinavian Mythology & Kalevala, the Finnish national epos.
Tolkien even studied finnish so he could read Kaleva in it's orginal language.

Dude, I've been reading LOTR once or twice per year for about 15 years. I DO know what's in and I definitely don't lack imagination. Don't go assuming I'm one of those 16 year old highschool dicks who knows shit about anything. Heck, you weren't born when I first read it.

I've read the books enough, and thought about the content enough to see where the stitches are showing. The more I read them, the more the flaws started to shine.

Tolkien didn't study to write the books, he was a linguist from the start.

I'll state it again, Tolkien was a great creator but his writing skills weren't at par, which is kinda understandable as he wasn't an author but rather was a scholar who dabbled into literature. I once thought LOTR was the greatest thing I've ever read, then downgraded it to masterpiece and finally came to my present great -but flawed- stance.

@ freidax : that's kinda obvious. I still like the trilogy, but I grew out of the blind admiration phase.

[xfreidax]

Well if you read the same book like 20 times, naturally it's flaws will start to show up in a big way. =P

[1000mAh]

^^sry. If offended

I've finished the book 4 times. Planned to re-read again when I get my hands on it next time, but yeah, He wasn't writer, but that doesn't mean he can't write books.
Studying writing is over-rated, EVERYONE CAN write. So, okey, you meant that kind of depth...
But well, he wrote in complicated way to read, so it isn't easy-to-read stuff, you MUST put a lot of though it when you read the book. Well, from my opinion, that is good, the things in it will stay fresh in your brains longer. ANd, I'm 16, I'm not Highschool dick, I don't know nearly everything I would want to know, and well, I robably weren't born when you 1st read the book, I've nothing against old people, and I prolly miss read something, so I apoligize.

Se, yeah, he wasn't writer, he had amazing imagination, you're expert at literature, and so on.
The book is amazing, it is complicated to read which I think is a good thing, People who luck imagination suck, I can obtilerate 25 Zaku's & Gouf's along with 3 Nasca-class battleships in 3 minutes.

But yeah, even if his writing ability could keep up with his imignation, it leaves the book more ''free'' to diffrent views etc. So it can aalso be watched as good thing, you can use your own imagination and abilities more.

[Fool010]

That's what explains why LOTR has been durably successful.

Despite the flaws, the story is engrossing and motivates reader investment. Some stories are merely entertainement, but others have the power to draw you  in and motivate you to inject stuff of your own.

While filling gaps on your own is a good thing, as it shows you're kinda 'participating' it also means there are gaps to fill.

[1000mAh]

^ did I ever say there wasn't gaps? no

the story was too short. but I loved the Ending in the book, a lot better than the one in the movies... All that hobbit things Also, the tree Sam planted The gold leaved tree, can't pick up the name now xD

[Ixarku]

Studying writing is over-rated, EVERYONE CAN write. So, okey, you meant that kind of depth...

Most everyone can write, but not everyone can write well.  Writing is a craft, like anything else.  Natural talent may suffice for a few people, but most writers will benefit from studying and working on their craft.  The more I study writing technique, the more I realize how much I didn’t know about how to create a story.

Overall, I agree with Fool010.  I've read and reread Tolkien's work off and on for the last 30 years.  I've read quite a bit of other fantasy & sci-fi as well over the years, and written some of my own.  Tolkien was a scholar and a linguist first and foremost.  He wrote LotR and his other works ultimately to serve as background material for the Elvish language, but also to give the English a mythology of their own (although, yeah, he did borrow heavily from other European sources).  His writing is flawed in the sense that it’s not aimed for mass market consumption.  It meanders a bit, the pacing is hideous for the most part, and it’s filled with exposition and description that, at times, feels like it contributes little to the immediate action.

But the writing gives quite an interesting view into Tolkien’s mind, and he succeeds brilliantly in drawing the reader into a world of tremendous depth.  Tolkien provides the starting point for later generations of writers to quite successfully expand on this style of epic fantasy.  And that’s really the point IMO.

I wouldn’t change Tolkien’s work at all, any more than I would change the work of Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, or Jules Verne.

[Fool010]

I wouldn’t change Tolkien’s work at all, any more than I would change the work of Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, or Jules Verne.

Minor -personal- nitpick ... how come you didn't mention Robert E. Howard ? His place is up there. While not the most elegant stylist -that honor probably goes to Clark Ashton Smith- his storytelling ability was second to none. In fact only few came even close.

While Tolkien is of primordial importance for high fantasy, both sword and sorcery and dark fantasy would be very different without Howard's influence. Everything shounen does, he did before.

[Ixarku]

Minor -personal- nitpick ... how come you didn't mention Robert E. Howard ? His place is up there. While not the most elegant stylist -that honor probably goes to Clark Ashton Smith- his storytelling ability was second to none. In fact only few came even close.

While Tolkien is of primordial importance for high fantasy, both sword and sorcery and dark fantasy would be very different without Howard's influence. Everything shounen does, he did before.

I didn't mention Howard or Smith because I haven't read them and didn't think of them at the time.  Admittedly, that's a glaring oversight on my part, one I'll eventually correct, but most of my reading over the years has focused on writers from the 60s to the present, with a few exceptions.

I've got so many books in my wish list I'll probably never get through them all.  I just finished Book 9 of Malazan Book of the Fallen, got book 10 on pre-order, and I decided to pick up The Black Company as well, started reading Night of Knives today, and I've still got 7 more books in my to-be-read pile on my desk...

[Scudworth]

I would change it so the movie was like the book. nuff said.

[TMRNetShark]

The Hobbit... nuff said.