Differences Between Movies and Books, Explained

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is one of the finest achievements in the history of cinema and one of the most successful movie trilogies ever made. It grossed nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office and tallied up 17 total Oscars, including Best Picture for 2003’s The Return of the King. Ironically, however, the success of the movies can overshadow the original storyline introduced by the book trilogy, itself one of the most successful series of all time. In the translation from book to film, there are always a number of creative decisions that must be made in terms of what to keep, what to leave out, and what to adapt, and the choices made in creating the films often differ significantly from the source material of the book’s plot. With that in mind, here are some of the most significant differences between the Lord of the Rings books and movies.

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The Tone of the Elves

From the opening scenes in the war against Sauron, through the restful oasis of Rivendell, to the woods of Lothlorien and the pivotal players of Elrond, Galadriel, Arwen, and Legolas throughout the series, the elves convey a sense of grim and noble mystery tinged with sorrow: They fight fiercely against the Dark Lord, lend gravitas to a council that will decide the fate of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, and somberly chant hymns of sorrow at the fall of Gandalf.

But in the book…

While there is certainly a good deal of gravitas and mystery to the elves in the books, they are frequently joyful: Singing celebratory songs and making fun of guests, they are downright cheerful all around. The first group of elves that show up in the book enter singing and laughing and are perpetually poking fun at Frodo and his companions throughout the scene. At Rivendell, the elves joke that they can’t tell the difference between the words of a mortal man and a mortal hobbit, with the quip “to sheep other sheep no doubt appear different.” Most significantly divergent, perhaps, is the scene in Lothlorien; where the elf Haldir in the film imposingly proclaims that one of the company breathed so loudly that they “could have shot him in the dark”. In the book, that comment follows an outburst of pleasant laughter and continues with Legolas saying: “But they say also that you need have no fear. They have been aware of us for a long while.”

While elves can be serious and grim in the books, they are also usually much more lighthearted and jovial, with one of their most consistent characteristics not being any elevated sobriety but rather their desire to crack a joke at a guest’s expense.

Sauron as a Massive Flaming Eye

As the embodiment of pure evil and the overarching villain of the trilogy, Sauron’s strength and villainy is the focus of the heroes’ struggle in the story. While his body is destroyed in battle in the opening scenes of the first film, his presence endures and he appears to take a new form as the flaming eye charged with bolts of lightning blazing out across the wastelands of Mordor from the top of the fortress of Barad-dur, always searching for the Ring and keeping perpetual watch on all his domain.

But in the book…

While the “Eye of Sauron” shows up consistently in the books, it is clearly used as a metaphor for Sauron’s vision and uncanny omniscience rather than as the physical form he takes. The Eye is a symbol painted on the shields of his followers, but it is just that: A symbol. Frodo sees the eye of Sauron searching for him in the mirror of Galadriel, and there is a brief glimpse of a piercing red glow as of a roving eye at the top of Barad-dur in the book Return of the King, but nowhere is it actually said to be a physical embodiment of Sauron, or anything other than a glimpse of a terrible eye in the body of a horrible villain. In fact, the most direct description given in the books of what Sauron actually looks like is given in a conversation between Frodo and Gollum: “‘He has only four [fingers] on the Black Hand, but they are enough,’ said Gollum shuddering.”

This would seem to indicate that Sauron actually does have a physical form and body, and may even have tortured Gollum personally when he was captured by Sauron’s servants. Whatever form he did have in the books, however, it was almost certainly not the fiery electric Eye of the movies.

Frodo’s Age (and Social Status)

The four hobbits of the Fellowship have a close bond, and the friendship of Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) is one of the best and most consistent elements throughout all three movies. In the film, all four of them seem to be peers, of about the same age, wearing mostly the same clothing, and often sharing a pint together at the local pub.

But in the book…

While much (and more) of the hobbit humor and comradeship is also found in the books, the social and personal dynamics at play are much different. While Elijah Wood was around 20 when playing Frodo, the character in the book is 50 by the time he leaves on the quest of the Ring. Merry and Pippin, however, are 36 and 28, respectively – the latter being considered an irresponsible and underage time of life by hobbit standards. Furthermore, there is a gap of 17 years between the events of Bilbo’s 111th birthday and Frodo’s departure, meaning Pippin would have been a child during those events. While they are all clearly good friends and acquaintances, the Frodo of the book is more along the lines of a middle-aged but youthful man going off on a quest with his younger friends.

The relationship with Sam is even more different. In the book, as in the movie, the strength of the friendship of Frodo and Sam grows and is proven throughout the story, but the social status of the two is very different. Frodo is more in the cast of someone of the upper-class in the Victorian Era, and Sam is his gardener/manservant, who is devoted to him through his long service. In the book, their relationship begins more along the lines of an upstairs-downstairs friendship in Downton Abbey, though it transforms throughout the story.

The Use of the Army of the Dead

The assault on Minas Tirith is one of the most dramatic sequences in the entire trilogy, with the fortunes of battle shifting back and forth multiple times. The dire straits of the city are relieved by the arrival of the Rohirrim who turn the tide of battle, but they, in turn, are stymied by the Haradrim reinforcements on their war oliphants. In the darkest moment, however, Aragorn arrives to relieve the city with the Army of the Dead from the depths of dark Dunharrow.

But in the book…

While Aragorn and his company do come to the aid of Minas Tirith in the hour of need, the Army of the Dead never actually shows up there. The Grey Company, comprised of the sons of Elrond and a troop of Aragorn’s Dunedain comrades, are the ones who arrive to help the beleaguered city. While Aragorn does call upon the fealty of the cursed souls of the dead in the book, they fight and are released from their oaths after they have defeated the navy of the Corsairs of Umbar at Pelargir. The Grey Company then takes the ships down the river and goes to the aid of Minas Tirith, but the Army of the Dead never takes the field of battle in front of the city.

The Scouring of the Shire

The climax of the Return of the King culminates with the fall of Sauron and the triumphant return of Aragorn as King to Minas Tirith and the hobbits as heroes back to the Shire, which is exactly the same as when they left. It is their peaceful oasis at the end of the journey, and the staging ground for the final voyage of Bilbo and Frodo across the sea at the end of the film.

But in the book…

When Sauron falls there are still 6 more chapters left in the book, and they are not all dedicated to the film’s five different endings. There is, in fact, still one more great enemy to overcome. Saruman is still at work, and while his power has diminished he has vindictively struck out for the Shire itself, and in the absence of Frodo and his companions, has done his best to destroy the Shire and rule it with a group of loyal thugs. Eradicating Saruman and healing the destruction he has imposed upon the landscape is arguably the climax of the whole story in the book. It emphasizes what the hobbits were fighting to preserve the whole time, and just how easily it could have been lost.

The Death of Saruman

Speaking of Saruman, the wizard’s ultimate fate is another significant difference between the book and the film. The end of his story depends very much on which version of the film you have seen. In the theatrical cut, Saruman simply vanishes after the end of The Two Towers, much to the annoyance of Christopher Lee. In the extended edition of Return of the King, however, he is seen in a final conversation with Gandalf and Theoden before Grima Wormtongue betrays him and literally stabs him in the back. Grima is then shot by Legolas while Saruman plummets from the top of Orthanc and is impaled on a massive spike.

But in the book…

Saruman’s troublemaking is hardly over at the end of The Two Towers. After having his authority revoked and being cast out from his tower, Saruman makes his way to the Shire, where he rules by fear and intimidation as he usurps authority and does his best to undermine all that was good and beautiful about it. However, when the hobbits return from their adventure and lead an uprising against him, he meets a grisly end, which is echoed in the film’s take on his death. Grima does, indeed, finally turn on his master and cuts his throat, and in his flight, he is brought down by a hail of hobbit arrows. Meanwhile:

“About the body of Saruman, a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.”

Some remnant of Saruman’s spirit, it seems, drifts away mournfully and is banished forever from the West to which Frodo and Bilbo ultimately travel. Adaptive choices between books and films are always necessary; they are two different types of media and can’t operate in identical ways. Ideally, the film can convey the greatest and most significant things about the book in a new way while concretely visualizing what was purely imaginative when first put on a page. Some of the differences here were trimmed for the sake of the narrative or adapted for the sake of a more concise story, but the differences between book and film point to some of these more important creative decisions on the part of the filmmakers themselves. As such, they provide a window into the process of adaptation itself and are always food for thought.

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