How to write Hobbit Fan Fiction

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME FUN!

You've come here because you want to write some Hobbit fan fiction, and you probably have one or more very good ideas rolling around in your head - those are called "Plot Bunnies", and many plot bunnies develope into some pretty good reading. You are limited in many ways only by your imagination - but I say that with a few words of warning.

In the first place, if you are familiar principally with the "Lord of the Rings" movies, you already have a very powerful impression of how things should be done. The look, the sounds and sights - all of these have been worked out for you ahead of time; and if you are most comfortable with this version of LOTR, then by all means feel free to express yourself. There are many things that can be done within this version of Tolkien's reality that will provide some great entertainment for everyone.

However, if you are not yet familiar with the books - and they came along quite some time before the movies did - you will notice that despite the many similarities, there are also some very significant differences. In fairness to yourself and your readers, you need to know what some of these things are, because the long-standing Tolkien fan will probably catch them faster than you can say "Gollum". So you you will want to be mindful of the places the movies and the books do not always correspond with each other.

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES!

We established fairly early on in both the books and the movies that Bilbo Baggins is one hundred and eleven years old - "eleventy-one" in Hobbit talk - at the start of LOTR. This is an undeniable fact, and Bilbo is actually Tolkien's most important Hobbit. He's the little guy who started it all, and he is treated with respect from start to finish as "the founder" of the whole story. His portrayal in the films is completely faithful to the books, and so there should be no problem in portraying him in your fiction.

It is another story entirely with the other four Hobbits!

In the movies, one gets the impression of four young Hobbits in their "tweens", which actually corresponds to human teenagers since Hobbits live longer than humans, and do not come to maturity until they are around thirty. They come of legal age at thirty-three.

In the films, one gets the imprssion that Sam is the oldest, and Frodo possibly the youngest, with the others somewhere in between.

In the books, in fact, Frodo's birthday was also celebrated with Bilbo's since they were both born on September 22. And while the party was a going-away show for Bilbo, it was also Frodo's coming-of-age party - a fact unfortunately ignored by the movies. So Frodo was actually 33 years old, but more or less is the same as a young Human of about twenty-one. At the time of the big party, Merry would have been nineteen, Sam right ahead of him at twenty-one, and Pippin bringing up the rear at a mere thirteen! Keep in mind that in Hobbit reckoning, this made Sam and Merry the equivilent of teenage boys, and Pippin a child. Seventeen full years pass between the night of the party and the night Frodo and his friends leave the Shire. This makes Frodo a mature Hobbit of fifty, or the equivilent of a human in his mid-thirties. If he appears no older than the others, Tolkien makes it quite clear that this is due to the Ring, and the deception it gives of eternal youth. Merry and Sam are therefore a few years younger, but Pippin in his late twenties, is like a teenage boy. This actually goes a long way toward explaining his immaturity and apparent "foolishness".

OH, THOSE FRIENDSHIPS!

"Lord of the Rings" is all about friendships and the power of friendships. To understand this, we must first remember that Professor Tolkien fought during World War One--one of the ugliest wars in modern centuries, and almost all of his friends were killed at the front. He learned first-hand the power and strength of friendships during war, and in many ways the Fellowship was a tribute to those friends, most of whom perished on the battlefield. There are many such messages buried within the pages of the books and within the images on the screen. Some people have tried to read more into these friendships than Tolkien intended, and out of respect for Tolkien (as well as my personal dislike for the genre), such material as "slash" will never be permitted on this site--sorry, ladies.

A number of friendships are established in the books and films, and because they are so important to the story, let's get them untangled a little and see who is allied to who.

First of all is the friendship between FRODO and SAM. As everyone has observed, theirs is a very intense friendship, and often at the heart of the story - but it was NOT always that way! The movies show Frodo and Sam as close personal friends from the very start, but in the books, it was actually Frodo and Merry who were close friends. Frodo grew up in Buckland, and so he knew Merry most of his life. Sam was, in fact, a servant. The social classes among Hobbits were similar to those of England, because this was the world professor Tolkien understood. Frodo's friendship with Sam does not truly begin to develope until after they are well on their journey together.

MERRY and PIPPIN also are not such close friends in the books as they are in the movies - at least not until after their ordeal with the orcs and uruks and their time spent with the Ents. It is through mutual adversity that their friendship cements, and they remain very close from that point on.

Let's not forget the story's other relationships, either!

In the films, ARAGORN and LEGOLAS are shown to be already well acquainted at the start of the story, and have obviously been good friends for years. In the books, however, Aragorn was closest to Gandalf, not the Elf. In fact, he actually developes at fast friendship with EOMER as the story progresses.

LEGOLAS is remembered for his fast and unusual friendship with GIMLI the Dwarf. In the movies, they barely speak to each other before their stay in Lothlorien and the battle of Helm's Deep, and almost to the bitter end they remain on a slightly adversarial level with each other. Only before the Gates of Mordor does Gimli grumble about never dreaming he'd die fighting beside an Elf, whereupon Legolas responds "...or fighting beside a friend." Only then does stubborn Gimli realize that he and the Elf have indeed become close friends, in spite of himself. In the books, however, they formed a friendship as lasting as the one between Merry and Pippin, much earlier in the story, actually beginning during their stay in Lothlorien.

The reason I place such emphasis on this is because these strong, heroic friendships form such a powerful theme in Tolkien that I believe you need to get it right in order to make your writings believable. Indeed, this is one of the great appeals of the story - lasting and powerful friendships.

OTHER PEOPLE AND PLACES

One of the first things you will notice about the books vs the movies is that a LOT of material was left out of the films. This was obviously because even in three very long films, on the DVD versions averaging three and a half hours each, there was no effective way of telling every fragment of the story, with every event and nuance intact. They did an admirable job, but you still may want to see what the books have to offer, because the material is incredibly rich.

For instance, Gandalf is not seen in the Shire for many years during his efforts to find out if Bilbo's Ring is indeed the terrible One Ring of Sauron. In the movies, he is certain almost from the start. In the books, he is not so sure since there are seven rings not fully accounted for at that time, and he enlists the aide of Aragorn in tracking down Gollum. Gollum is held prisoner by the King of the Mirkwood Elves, which is presumably what leads to Legolas' involvement in the Quest, at his father's behest. This is not revealed until the Council of Elrond, but the seemingly liesure pace of Gandalf's search is whatlulls Frodo into forgetting how serious a danger the Ring would be for him.

One of the most famous portions of "Lord of the Rings" is a segment which never makes its way into any of the filmed versions. From the time Frodo, Sam and Pippin encounter Farmer Maggot on the far end of the Shire until the time the Hobbits reach Bree, a full five chapters of fascinating, action-packed, and delightful storyline goes by. I hesitate to say too much because if you haven't read the books, I would prefer that you did. But it has to do with Farmer Maggot's farmhouse, a creepy journey to Buckland, and a hair-raising walk through the Old Forest, which is full of malevelent huorns and a delightful faerie creature named Tom Bombadil and his bride, the river sprite Goldberry. And as if that isn't enough, they have to cross a foggy field of burial mounds, haunted by the ghosts of angry kings slain in ancient battle with the infamous Witch King of Angmar. And all that before they finally stumble onto Bree!

GALADRIEL: In the movies, she was austere and a little frightening before she was tested by the Ring. In the books, this was not the case. In fact, her desire to take the ring seems never more than casual thinking on her part, and like Gandalf earlier, she tells Frodo that it would be a terrible thing if she ever took it. She is always regal, kindly, and a vision of wisdom and gentleness.

ELVES and DWARVES: Call it years of being spoiled by Star Trek, but they come across in the movies as lovable Vulcans and Klingons. In the books, this is again not entirely the case. The Elves in the books are merry and playful as well as a bit sad and etherial. Dwarves, in contrast, are very serious artisans and craftsmen as well as warriors. None of this is fully explored in the films.

ELROND: In the movie, delightfully austere. In the books, wize and gentle, second only to Gandalf. As Tolkien says, he is as "kind as summer". The movie's Elrond is rather stern.

BOROMIR and FARAMIR: In the books, these brothers were almost polar opposites - Boromir the impulsive one, arrogant enough to think he can control the Ring, but still brave and fond of the Hobbits. Faramir, on the other hand, is cautious and careful to make judgements. He is also comepletely trustworthy when it comes to the Ring. In the movies, however, they are portrayed as somewhat different. Boromir in the films is very human and vulnerable, even lovable. He genuinely loves the Hobbits, and is absolutely sincere, even when he tries to take the Ring from Frodo. Faramir is a soldier whose sole desire is to please his father, a man impossible for him to please. He seems somewhat weaker in the films than he was in the books, but he still holds our affection and sympathy.

ARWEN: Her presence in the movies is the most fully developed than in the books, where she was a background character. She was important, yes - but her story was primarily told in the Appendexes, and she makes only two brief appearances in the story itself. In a book about friendships and male bonding, her story was "less important", which is too bad. She is one of the characters who comes off in the films greatly improved - an etherial princess, but someone who in a pinch can take care of herself.

ROHAN and GONDOR: The fabulous Riders of Rohan have long been my favorite humans in the story, and there are several great characters to remember. They are much the same in the films as in the novel, except that Eowyn is even better in the films.

The people of Gondor are late comers to the story, yet they have been part of it since the beginning: represented by Strider at Bree, then by Boromir, desperate to save his beseiged country and to please his father, even if it means trying to seize the Ring. In fact, we only fully understand his act of "treachery" when we met Lord Denethor of Gondor and witness the desperate plight of Minas Tirith.

Minas Tirith is filled with numerous minor characters that never made it into the movies, but the one character who stands out is Lord Denethor, Steward of Gondor. He is a hereditary regent, himself of royal blood, who has a dark secret only hinted at in the films. He, like Saruman, is in possession of a palantir. Sauron has long used it to whisper words of doom and despair, taunting him to find the Ring and challenge him with it. He counts on the weakness of humans who might find it, bring it to Minas Tirith, attempt to use it as a weapon - and fail utterly. Therefore, he would win the day. In the film, Faramir realizes this the moment he sees Frodo being set upon by the winged nazgul.

There is so much more i could add, but the best thing I can say at this point is to watch the movies again, for all the nuances you need, and study the books for their wealth of information.

Now you have enough to go on--good luck, and may the hair on your toes never fall out!

Disclaimer: The LOTR characters are copyrighted to J.R.R.Tolkien, Tolkien Enterprises, and New Line Cinema.