Did I see Pukel-men?
 

It was a travesty (for me at any rate) not to get to see Ghan-buri-Ghan and the other Druadan Woses, but seeing the movie for my fourth time today, I think I noticed one or two of the Pukel-Men at the turns in the road as a cloaked Elrond ascended on his horse with Anduril.<BR>Was I seeing things, or did anyone else see this, and what sort of association do you think PJ was trying to create with the dream Aragorn was having at the same time? Was this a portent of Aragorn's coming trip into the Dimholt, or was PJ just paying homage to the books with the stone statues to see if anyone would notice?

Yes, the Pukel-Men are there, as Elrond rides up the winding path to Dunharrow. And one flashes in Aragorn's vision, just before he is woken by the guard. The intention, I presume, is to signify that they were built by the Oathbreakers when they were in the land of the living, since the vision relates to his forthcoming journey through the Paths of the Dead. Although that is not entirely canonical, since I believe that, in the book, they are supposed to represent the Druadan.

In the books, wasn't there a Pukel-man next to the doorway leading to the Paths of the Dead, and if PJ put them on the road (as they are in the book), it would only stand to reason he'd put one by the door?<BR>And coincidentally, aren't the words Legolas reads actually from the chapter in <I>Unfinished Tales</I> about the Druadan and the man who says the words and then dies?

The first time I saw the movie I recognized them and I thought it was kinda cool. It was that nice touch for those who are fans of the book.<BR>They look like I thought they would be, and I think they look kinda freaky

You can actually see Pukal men (literally, "Men of Vomit", no just kidding!) in the camp itself, in the daytime.

I think Jackson did just enough with the Pukel statues to tie them into his rumored 5+ hour EE, but didn't want to do too much and throw the average movie-goer off track. <BR>I never thought about there being a correlation between the Pukel Men and the Oathbreakers when I saw the dream scenes in the movie, but my mind was probably on another wave-length, as usual. It's an interesting add-in though. Makes me wonder how it'll develop in the EE (if at all).

Kid2323<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>And coincidentally, aren't the words Legolas reads actually from the chapter in Unfinished Tales about the Druadan and the man who says the words and then dies?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I don’t know if it’s in UT, but it is in ROTK, The Muster of Rohan. <P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>'Maybe he was called,' said Théoden; 'and my heart tells me that I shall not see him again. Yet he is a kingly man of high destiny. And take comfort in this, daughter, since comfort you seem to need in your grief for this guest. It is said that when the Eorlingas came out of the North and passed at length up the Snowbourn, seeking strong places of refuge in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: 'The way is shut'.<BR> 'Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not look at them. <B>’The way is shut’, his voice said again ‘It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.’ </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I love the way that legolas reads the sign from right to left. Does anyone know if ths is something taken from Tolkien's creation of this language? i.e. did Tolkien create a language that was read right to left?

:Sigh: I forgot all about the Pukel-men. One would think after seeing the movie for times that I would have seen them but of course I didn't notice.

The Pukel-men there look like Edvard Munhc sculpted them!<P>I've heard Ghan ain't in the EE, but the people who said that also said they never filmed Ghan.<P>I know for a fact that can't be true (or else Richard Taylor lies for fun ) because in an interview with Rich Taylor he said an interesting part of the project was having to make a whole load of Drúg wigs (Woses) in a really short time out of scraps. He said they turned out great btw.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I love the way that legolas reads the sign from right to left. Does anyone know if ths is something taken from Tolkien's creation of this language? i.e. did Tolkien create a language that was read right to left? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>It's probably Prince Leggy's infamous sense of direction coming in to play again! After all he thinks that northwest is northeast (TTT), and that Uruk-Hai coming from Isengard would be on the left bank of Anduin (FOTR).<P>Big ups to the film team for including the Púkel-men. They made a big impression on Merry at least, and I guess they've become one of those tiny iconic details that we couldn't be without. But I get the feeling that their inclusion was more from a desire to be superficially accurate with regard to the book. I mean that PJ and Co went to a lot of trouble to recreate things and places accurately, even if they weren't as careful with dialogue or characterisation.<P>Maybe the flashes of Púkel-men intercut with Aragorn's dream were just a cinematic device, rather than having any significance. PJ knows the text extremely well (if you don't believe me, listen to the commentary on TTT) and I think he would have known that they were not meant to represent the Oathbreakers, although maybe he changed that for the movie.