This table is a list of excerpts from the Tolkien novels. They contain all the portions that differ substantially from the Extended Editions of the Peter Jackson movie versions.
I created this in 2010 and posted it in various spreadsheet forms, none of which seem like a good idea anymore. So I’ve copied it directly into a blog post with a table.
There are two types of difference that I deemed substantial. The first type are more mundane differences, for example the difference in urgency when Frodo leaves Bag End. The second type are differences that I feel are inconsistent with the thematic content of the novels. These are marked with bold in the first column.
To locate these excerpts, I have provided several tools. I provide the chapter reference, a snippet of text from the start of the excerpt, and one from the end. I also indicate the page number in two editions of the books, and the number of paperback pages that the excerpt runs. I also provide my own commentary for each excerpt, to explain why I included it.
If you listen to the commentary tracks narrated by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens on the Extended Edition DVDs, you will hear them discuss many of these differences and why they chose to make the change. I highly respect all of their decisions, simply because they were making movies, and I am sure they know best what works and what doesn’t. They succeeded in bringing almost everything that matters from these stories on to the big screen, and for that I will be forever thankful. That said, I do think most of the “problematic” changes have to do with their perception of the difference between the media. To create more tension in The Two Towers, they changed Faramir’s character. To create more panic around the attack on Minas Tirith, they changed Denethor’s character. To keep the love story going, they gave Aragorn an interesting extra “hiccup” on his way to Helm’s Deep. To keep the climax from “looking silly”, they had Frodo try to physically overpower Gollum to reclaim the ring. These were probably the right decisions for the movies, I don’t know. But my main point is this. The novels have a strong singular vision that underlies the events. It is partly religious, partly mythological, and partly 20th century. Some of the changes in the movie directly contradict the thematic content, and my priority was to highlight those, so that people who want to explore these differences can do so without investing the time up front. They can peruse these changes, and then decide whether to read the entire trilogy.
| Fellowship chapter | Start | End | 1993 page | SE page | # pages | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tolkien’s Foreward | 5.0 | I highly recommend reading Tolkien’s Foreward if your edition includes it, so you can hear his thoughts on the creation of the story. | ||||
| FOTR 1.1 | "Frodo came in" | "I am going to bed" | 59 | 44 | 0.5 | the handoff of the ring to Frodo, very much less urgent than in the movie |
| FOTR 1.1 | last paragraph | 64 | 50 | 0.5 | Gandalf walks away looking bent, the first indication of the dark tone, a very memorable moment for me that is not in the movie. | |
| FOTR 1.2 | "As time went on" | "toappear in the Shire." | 66 | 52 | 0.5 | 17 years pass between Bilbo’s departure from Bag End and Gandalf’s return with the final word on the identity of the Ring. More on what Gandalf was up to next. |
| "‘You have seen Gollum?’" | "Indeed, Frodo, I fear that he may even think that the long-unnoticed name of Baggins has become important.’" | 82 | 65 | 3.0 | Gandalf interviewed Gollum twice during the 17-year gap, and on the second occasion he was with Aragorn. | |
| FOTR 1.3 | "‘You ought to go quietly, and you ought to go soon.’" (1st sentence) | "If he does, I really shall turn him into a toad.’" | 92 | 74 | 1.0 | Frodo doesn’t leave Bag End for Bree for a few months, which is much less urgent than the way Gandalf sends him off in the movie. |
| "‘Elves!’ exclaimed Sam in a hoarse whisper." | End of chapter | 108 | 88 | 7.0 | This is the hobbits’ encounter with some elves led by Gildor. In the movie (extended edition) it is just a quick but pretty scene of some elves walking past singing. | |
| FOTR 1.5 | "‘Well!’ said Frodo at last" | "We ride before the break of day!" | 136 | 113 | 3.0 | This is how the four hobbits came to travel together, as opposed to having Frodo and Sam trip over Merry and Pippin on their way, as in the movie. |
| FOTR 1.6-1.8 | These three chapters are cut in their entirety from the movie, and instead the Hobbits appear immediately in Bree. You can read it all (45 p.) or you can read my highlights below, which include a snippet from Chapter 7 and one from Chapter 8. | |||||
| FOTR 1.7 | "Indeed so much did Tom know" | "’noris aught that goes on two legs.’" | 170 | 144 | 1.0 | Tom Bombadil is unaffected by the Ring; he is a more powerful force of nature. Said another way, the ring has definite limits on its power. |
| FOTR 1.8 | "Frodo fell forward" | "oneof the adventures in which their flights would land them." | 180 | 153 | 5.0 | The Hobbits escape the Barrow-Downs and obtain blades of Westernesse. Merry uses this to stab the Witch King in the battle in Return of the King, which is shown in the movie. The blade was forged to fight that very same Witch King long ago in history, so I think it’s cool to know that Merry stabs him later with a special weapon. |
| FOTR 1.10 | "‘Well?’ said Strider." | "If once we shake off the pursuit, I shall make for Weathertop.’" | 211 | 181 | 3.0 | Strider/Aragorn has the broken sword with him from the start, it is not brought to him later by Elrond, which was a ridiculous idea anyway, I felt. |
| FOTR 1.11 | "In the end there was more than three hours delay." | "‘But I reckon I’ll miss them both before long.’" | 221 | 191 | 2.0 | Introduction to poor abused Bill the Pony, who is in the movie, but only mentioned by name once when Sam sends him away outside the Mines of Moria. He is a significant friend for Sam, so I am including him here. |
| FOTR 1.12 | "As soon as the daylight was full" | "to seem so much better than its former life." | 244 | 211 | 0.5 | Short paragraph about Bill’s contentment to be with Sam. |
| "Strider sprang from hiding" | "betterthan many a good breakfast in the Shire had done." | 256 | 221 | 3.0 | The Elf Glorfindel, not Arwen, helps Aragorn and the Hobbits after the attack on Weathertop, and he stays with them rather than taking Frodo on the long horsey chase from the movie. | |
| FOTR 2.2 | "‘So it was indeed,’ answered Elrond gravely." | "seekingthe house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay" | 292 | 4.0 | Elrond’s fascinating history lesson and Boromir’s riddle, which foreshadowed Hobbits and shows that some power higher than Sauronis manipulating events. | |
| "Time passed with many cares" | "thatneither he nor Sauron has foreseen." | 302 | 5.0 | The tale of Gollum, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Legolas that is not in the movie. | ||
| FOTR 2.3 | "The Sword of Elendil was forged anew" | "Flame of the West." | 331 | 0.5 | Just one paragraph. Here in Rivendell, the Elves reforge the Sword of Elendil and Aragorn wields his new sword for the rest of the story. In the movies, there is a very ridiculous alternate story of the Sword, where Elrond himself for some reason visits Aragorn when he is camping with the Riders of Rohan, and tries to convince him to take the sword and try to become King. Aragorn has no hesitation in the books, he is consciously working towards the goal of becoming King, and so he remakes the sword now that he is setting out on the final quest to achieve that goal. | |
| FOTR 2.7 | "‘Many things I can command the mirror to reveal,’" | "He stepped back shaking all over and looked at the Lady." | 427 | 3.0 | The fascinating portents Sam and Frodo see in the mirror of Galadriel. The mirror was in the movie, but here Sam sees a foreshadowing of something covered in a later chapter cut from the movie, and Frodo sees several additional interesting things, including the resurrection of Gandalf. | |
| FOTR 2.8 | "‘For you little gardener and lover of trees,’" | "willnever be seen on earth again save in memory." | 443 | 1.0 | Galadriel’s gift to Sam, which he uses in a later chapter cut from the movie. | |
| FOTR 2.9 | "Legolas laid down his paddle…" | "Have your weapons close to hand!’" | 456 | 1 | The first encounter with the Nazgul’s flying mounts, a bit earlier than in the movies, and the whole Fellowship is there for it. And Legolas wounds it with an arrow! | |
| TTT | Note the strange structure of this novel. All of TTT book 1 is about Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin and Gandalf. All of book 2 is about Frodo and Sam. This means when book 2 starts, the timeframe moves all the way back to the beginning. Peter Jackson’s intercutting of the two stories was by far the more natural choice for a movie, especially since it reminds me of the intercutting of the plotlines in The Empire Strikes Back, where the protagonists are also separated throughout the story. | |||||
| TTT 1.1 | 0.0 | The movie nails Boromir’s death, but note that it doesn’t happen in the Fellowship book, but here in chapter 1 of The Two Towers. (No need to read the chapter, just note the name: "The Departure of Boromir.") | ||||
| TTT 1.3 | "Pippin and Merry sat up." | "too crushed for the moment, and too afraid to move." | 68 | 2.5 | Merry and Pippin take a lot more initiative in escaping the orcs than in the movie. They bait and manipulate a chief of the Mordor clan of Orcs by pretending to have the Ring. | |
| TTT 1.4 | "The afternoon came" | "Down with Saruman!’" | 103 | 2 | Treebeard and the Ents decide all by themselves to attack Saruman at Isengard, after going over the evidence in their Entmoot meeting. There is no need for Merry to lecture them, or for Pippin to fool Treebeard into walking past Isengard, both of which make the Ents look foolish. The Ents are more appropriately seen as wise and ancient. | |
| TTT 1.5 | "‘What then shall I say?’" | "Thanks to Saruman.’" | 118 | 1 | Gandalf’s exposition of the current situation. I include it because it provides a lot of insight into the mind of Sauron, whose motives in the story are not presented in the movies. | |
| TTT 1.7 | "There suddenly upon a ridge appeared" | "‘Erkenbrand!’" | 172 | 0.5 | This brief snippet stands in for one major and one minor change the movies made to the Helm’s Deep section. First, Éomer is with the rest of the army at Helm’s Deep in the book, he is not exiled off by himself, and does not arrive at the 11th hour with Gandalf as he does in the films. In the book it is a much lesser character, Erkenbrand, whom Gandalf brings to the Deep at dawn on the final morning of the battle. That’s the minor issue, because there are only so many characters they can introduce, and it adds a heroic moment for Éomer that is appropriate for his character. The major change concerns Aragorn, and I am putting it here because it’s an addition to the films that concerns Helm’s Deep. In the book, Aragorn also accompanies the Rohirrim to Helm’s Deep and is not sidetracked in any way. The movie invents two very large changes along the way to Helm’s Deep for Aragorn. First is the warg attack (the wolves that are ridden by orcs). One warg ends up dragging Aragorn over a cliff, where he falls into a river. Then comes the second change. While lying unconscious after floating down the river, Aragorn is visited by a vision of Arwen who kisses him back to life from near-death. Also, his horse gives him a nice kiss as well and guides the barely conscious Aragorn to Helm’s Deep. These additions are from some adventure movie, and don’t really suite the regality of Aragorn’s character. It also places too much superficial magic into his relationship with Arwen. | |
| TTT 1.10 | "He raised his hand" | "‘It is the end,’ said Gandalf. ‘Let us go.’" | 223 | 1 | This is the confrontation with Saruman. In the films it takes place in the first scene of (the extended edition of) The Return of the King. In the movie, Saruman for some reason is standing one mile up on top of Orthanc, as opposed to standing on his balcony like he’s supposed to. But that’s not the main difference. The difference is that in the movie, Saruman dies at this point because Wormtongue stabs him and he falls off the tower. In fact he does not die at this point, he’s just being held in Orthanc, and is killed at the very end of the story, as we will see. Also, in the movie Pippin finds the Palantir stone in the water, whereas in the book it’s a nice moment when Wormtongue throws it out of a window and almost kills Gandalf with it. It’s a shame it’s missing from the movie, because it’s an example of one of Tolkein’s big themes, that evil undoes itself, for example here when the inept assistant, in his haste to do something destructive, ends up doing more harm to the evil side (by giving them a powerful seeing stone that they make good use of, and by denying that stone to his master Saruman for any future use he might have put it to.) | |
| TTT 1.11 | "In a low hesitating voice" | "He laid his hand softly on Pippin’s head." | 234 | 1 | An interesting moment where Pippin relates what exactly happened while he was holding the Palantir stone and met Sauron. And Sauron actually asks Pippin to tell Saruman something – ha! | |
| TTT 2.2 | "Sam looked back and found" | "‘You should not look in when the candles are lit.’" | 277 | 0.5 | It’s a bit silly in the movie when Frodo falls into the dead marshes and floats around underwater for a while looking at the ghosts. In the book, they are drawn morbidly to look into the water, and Sam does fall into the mud. But falling all the way into the water and seeing ghosts seemed a bit literal. Tolkien never likes to make it clear whether this sort of magic is purely psychological, or has some reality external to the victim, so turning the ghosts into literal ghosts sort of defeats one of the subtler purposes. | |
| TTT 2.5 | "Now Faramir’s voice sank to a whisper." | "Frodo son of Drogo.’" | 330 | 0.5 | These three citations from TTT 2.5 and 2.6 are crucial, because together they completely alter the core of one of the major characters, Faramir. In both movie and book, Faramir is confronted with the decision of how to handle the Ring and Frodo once they cross paths. But the movie does Faramir, and in my opinion the movie, a disservice by reversing Faramir’s decision versus the book. In the movie, he is a rather cruel person, and decides to hold Frodo captive and take him to Minas Tirith, so that his father can use the Ring as a weapon. It’s not that insane to have him do this, since his brother Boromir also thought this was the right course of action. But to disentangle Frodo from Faramir, the movie has an elaborate sequence where they travel through Osgiliath, get mixed up in a battle, and confront a Ringwraith, who nearly captures Frodo by getting him to put on the Ring. Only then does Faramir realize how important it is for Frodo’s quest to succeed and he frees him. In the book, Faramir already has enough wisdom to arrive at this insight when they meet, and although his relationship with his father is the same poor one we see in the movie, he still knows that it is the right thing to do to free Frodo, and he does it. And he’s not even indecisive about it. He is a much more contemplative person than Boromir, and has more of the elvish side of the family in him than his brother does. I think the contrast between Boromir and Faramir is an interesting one, even for a movie. | |
| TTT 2.5 | "‘I don’t know about perilous,’ said Sam." | "Once is enough.’" | 340 | 1.5 | Faramir learns a bit more about the Ring, and about how Boromir tried to steal it, and reiterates his decision not to take it. | |
| TTT 2.6 | "‘Come hither!’ said Faramir." | "Gollum made no reply." | 352 | 1.5 | This one pains me. In the movie, Faramir’s men hit and throw Gollum, and Faramir himself strikes, grabs and throws Gollum. It’s just awful behavior, and completely out of character. In fact he is gentle, just and merciful in this scene where he decides what to do with Gollum. This is one of the excerpts that caused me to start this project. | |
| TTT 2.9 | "Hardly had Sam hidden the light" | "So far Gollum’s plot had succeeded." | 395 | 2 | Sam never leaves Frodo’s side. This is the scene where they are trying to escape Shelob and they are together, but Gollum attacks Sam and that is why Frodo is left vulnerable to Shelob’s attack. In the movie, Frodo confronts Shelob alone because Sam has been sent away. I am of two minds about the subplot in the movie where Gollum manages to drive a wedge between Sam and Frodo. It’s a huge, huge difference from the books, because it creates a different outcome for Sam’s loyalty. But on the other hand, it is thematically consistent with how the Ring works, and so having Frodo sympathize with Gollum and begin to distrust Sam does sort of work. | |
| ROTK 1.1 | "For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse" | "on the borders of Rohan.’" | 20 | 0.5 | The beacons of Gondor are lit while Gandalf and Pippin are still riding towards Minas Tirith. This is one of the consequences of a decision the moviemakers made about Denethor, which is one of the most problematic of the third movie. In the book, Denethor is very strong, wise and powerful, but he has been ground down into pessimism by exposure to Sauron via his palantir stone. In the movie he is a cruel, insane buffoon, and so Gandalf has to do everything himself to defend Minas Tirith, including have Pippin sneak up onto a beacon and light it. Total silliness. | |
| ROTK 1.1 | "‘I have received this,’ said Denethor." | "‘I could now eat three breakfasts on end.’" | 29 | 3 | This short scene establishes Denethor’s character. There is a parallel scene in the movie that similarly establishes his movie character. They are very, very different. | |
| ROTK 1.1 | "‘You are Peregrin the Halfling?’" | "we will go thence to the butteries.’" | 36 | 2 | Keep reading past my ending point if you want. This is to give you a taste of the remaining 14 pages of chapter 1. In it, Pippin explores Minas Tirith with his guide Beregond and then Beregond’s son Bergil. It fleshes out the city and the people of Gondor in a fun and "medievally" way. | |
| ROTK 1.2 | "‘Rohan? Rohan did you say?’" | "while the night’s journey lasted." | 55 | 2 | Some characters eliminated from the movie. These are fellow Dunedain (rangers who protect The Shire and other lands unbeknownst to their inhabitants) who are friends of Aragorn, plus two of Elrond’s sons. They deliver the reminder to Aragorn of his fate to use the Paths of the Dead, and they bring a furled banner of Gondor made by Arwen. These guys are replaced in the movie by Elrond himself, who rides all the way to Rohan to deliver Aragorn his remade sword, and to urge him to pursue his goal to become king and use the Paths of the Dead. Thematically, the movie gets it wrong, because Aragorn is in fact wise and determined enough to pursue this important goal. The movie implies a big gap in the stature of Elrond and Aragorn that is not really the case with Aragorn’s character. Conversely, the Aragorn of the books is not an action hero, but rather a stronger, gloomier, and much more focused character. | |
| ROTK 1.2 | "Together they went back into the Burg" | "That is the Paths of the Dead.’" | 62 | 1 | Another significant moment for Aragorn that’s not in the movie. He looks into the palantir stone that was thrown at them in Isengard, and directly reveals himself to Sauron, and challenges him. Aragorn’s life has been kept secret from Sauron, so Sauron is definitely distressed by this news. This is part of the more substantial character of Aragorn that the books present. | |
| ROTK 1.3 | "‘Dark tidings,’ said Theoden" | "away beyond the Gate of Kings." | 87 | 0.5 | Theoden does not hesitate to ride to Gondor’s aid. He is already mustering his armies to do just that, because he knows what’s going on. The movies try to present a little extra conflict and tension by having Theoden feel petulant toward Gondor for not preventing orcs from attacking villages in Rohan. A lot of the movies’ changes come from this desire for more tension. Are they right? I don’t know. But a fan of the books such as myself probably can’t enjoy the extra tension anyway. | |
| ROTK 1.4 | "‘Comfort me not with wizards!’" | "the last defence of the City of Gondor." | 118 | 0.5 | The most ridiculous moment of the entire movie trilogy is when Gandalf smacks Denethor in the face with his staff. What a waste of Denethor, such a wonderful, conflicted, noble character. This excerpt presents the less silly moment when Gandalf takes over defense of the city. | |
| ROTK 1.4 | "In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl." | "Rohan had come at last." | 125 | 1 | Significant thematic moment missing from the movies. Just as the tension is ratcheted to its highest, a cock crows in the distance, caring nothing of the Big Events unfolding in the story. It’s just an amazing moment, to thrust you out of the story like that. But it has the effect of making you pretty sure the good guys will win. Why is that? Maybe because the evil machinations just don’t matter to so much of the world. | |
| ROTK 1.6 | "And then wonder took him." | "their doom was at hand." | 150 | 0.5 | Another thematic problem. See, the battle does NOT turn because a huge ghost army pours off the boat and kills everything like a commercial for Scrubbing Bubbles. The ghosts were only used to scare everyone off the boats, and then the ghosts are freed (see later excerpt). The tide of battle is changed merely by the arrival of Aragorn on a boat, because although it’s an enemy boat and everyone thinks a fresh attack is coming, he unfurls the banner of Gondor that Arwen made for him, and everyone can see it. It rouses the good guys with hope, and strikes fear into the bad guys. The character of Aragorn, and the meaning of having a King, are more significant than the movie presents. | |
| ROTK 1.7 | "Then Denethor leaped upon the table" | "nor was ever again seen by mortal men." | 159 | 0.5 | Denethor dies a bit less ridiculously. He sets fire to the pyre, and burns. He is grasping the palantir through which he has been shown depressing images by Sauron, which is why he has gone insane. He doesn’t run out the door and all the way to the cliff and jump off. How much indignity must one noble character suffer? | |
| ROTK 1.7 | "They looked at him" | "not Faramir only." | 161 | 1 | This is the explanation of how Denethor fell into madness. It’s very thematic as well. Sauron cannot lie to you through the palantir, but he can choose what to show you, and thereby deceive you. It’s a trusim in our modern world, with spin doctors and talk radio. | |
| ROTK 1.8 | "Aragorn went first to Merry" | "and the news ran through the City." | 170 | 4 | Aragorn has the power to heal the Enemy’s wounds. This is known in the lore of the City, and the whole scene (which continues if you want to keep reading, as Aragorn heals Eowyn and Merry as well) drives home another aspect of Aragorn’s character that makes him much more than an ordinary mortal man. He is more of a mythological figure. | |
| ROTK 1.9 | "Swiftly then he told of the haunted road" | "and it seemed to me that I awoke from a dream." | 184 | 3 | This is the retroactive telling, by Legolas, of how the ghosts were used to take the ships that Aragorn used to sail to Gondor. | |
| ROTK 2.1 | "His thought turned to the Ring" | "not the hands of others to command." | 216 | 1 | Fascinating look inside Sam’s mind while he is carrying the Ring in Mordor, before rescuing Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Even he is tempted to take it. | |
| ROTK 2.1 | "‘Save me, but so I had!’" | "There must be food and water somewhere in this place.’" | 233 | 0.5 | This is interesting for a couple reasons. First, it talks about the limits of Sauron’s power, that he cannot create new life. This is borne out also in the Silmarillion, so it’s an important part of the theology that Tolkien is bringing into this universe. Second, it’s a sign of some of the changes Frodo is undergoing that he has gained this insight. Frodo changes quite a bit during the novels. | |
| ROTK 2.2 | "Frodo sighed and was asleep" | "into a deep untroubled sleep." | 244 | 0.5 | This paragraph is connected to the one in ROTK 1.4 where the cock crows. Here, Sam observes a star, and it reminds him that "the Shadow was only a small and passing thing." These moments really separate this story from other fantasy novels. So much of the power of Sauron is psychological. Just stepping outside the moment and observing a star is enough to gain mastery of the entire situation. Also, the cock scene contains the word "reck" and this scene contains the word "wrack." Tolkien was a nerd. | |
| ROTK 2.3 | "The fires below awoke in anger" | "and he was gone." | 275 | 0.5 | This one is a big deal. The movie has Frodo get up after his finger is bitten off, and try to take the Ring back from Gollum. In their struggle, they both fall. That’s fine, but in my opinion, it’s extremely significant that in the book, Gollum falls over the edge all on his own, while dancing in celebration over obtaining the Ring. Perhaps the most important theme in the book is how evil undoes itself, and this is the prime example. Gollum’s intoxication, which is a work of great evil on the part of the Ring, is the final element in causing the Ring’s own destruction. | |
| ROTK 2.4 | "‘The King?’ said Sam." | "You will be glad to have them safe again.’" | 284 | 0.5 | The salient bit here is that the orc garb that Frodo and Sam wore while in Mordor is highly honored according to Gandalf, and, I am presuming, Tolkien. There are many things about the horrible Mount Doom quest that I can’t put my finger on, but the fact that these disgusting outfits, which debased Sam and Frodo when they wore them as a disguise, have become honored and hallowed, is somehow central for Tolkien. The are a symbol of the degradation of the quest as a whole, and how it really destroyed Frodo’s soul in the end. | |
| ROTK 2.5 | "Over the city of Gondor" | "And the people sang in all the ways of the City." | 291 | 6.5 | These are the first few pages of ROTK 2.5. This is a wonderful sequence where Faramir and Eowyn fall in love in the Houses of Healing. It is only briefly alluded to in the film, which is strange considering how much energy they put into all the relationships between the men and women. If you liked the Aragorn/Arwen story and the brief Aragorn/Arwen/Eowyn love triangle, and if you think Faramir was cute, then you’ll love this excerpt. | |
| ROTK 2.6 | "‘I observe, my good Fangorn,’" | "Quickbeam has them.’" | 319 | 0.5 | Saruman talked his way out of Orthanc, and has more mischief to deal at the end of the story. | |
| ROTK 2.8 | This chapter contains a single large element of the story that was omitted from the movie, referred to by most by the chapter title, "The Scouring of the Shire." It is about how the Hobbits arrive home to a Shire that has been taken over by thugs, all being run by a mysterious fellow named Sharkey, who turns out to be Saruman. Read the entire chapter to get the whole story, but I have also excerpted two bits that contains the main elements: the key battle, Frodo’s priority on pacifism, and the end of Saruman. | |||||
| ROTK 2.8 | "The Tooks did come sooner." | "‘Well, I suppose it is time now that we dealt with the "Chief".’" | 363 | 2 | This is the main battle of the chapter, where the main bad guys are driven off by force, with some fatalities for the good guys. Note that Frodo’s role is to minimize the violence. | |
| ROTK 2.8 | "‘This is worse than Mordor!’" | "‘And that’ll take a lot of time and work.’" | 367 | 3.5 | Saruman’s demise at the hands of Wormtongue, as in the movie, but here it takes place at Frodo’s doorstep! | |
| ROTK Appx B | "Later Events Concerning The Members of the Fellowship of the Ring" | "And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth of the Fellowship of the Ring." | 470 | 2 | Neat epilogue for the characters that survive the main story. Pippin has a son Faramir. Sam has daughters Goldilocks and Elanor (Elanor is born in the story itself). Faramir and Elanor eventually get married. Awww. | |
| Total | 48.0 | |||||