You, my brown-eyed Frodo

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Interesting thread...

When I read the books for real (I tried unsuccessfully once...it's a long story that I've told eslewhere on this site before), it was about a month before the movie came out. So I think that my preceptions were slightly colored by the trailer, though they're more different from the movie than they are like it.

My own imaginings are pretty difficult to describe since they are so deeply internal. The closest I can come is to say that my imagination must have taken the path of least resistance--that is, blended certain elements that I liked from the movies with a basic picture that was my own from the books. Sometimes, Middle-earth and its inhabitants look and sound similar to how they do in the movies, and sometimes they don't.

I find Frodo to have been the most deeply affected by the trailer. He still doesn't look the way he does in the movies, but his coloring and facial structure is similar at least. What can I say? I was 13 years old and I found him attractive. Of course that was going to color my imaginings a bit.

The Hobbits don't have those accents in my mind. In fact, generally they don't have accents at all, since I can't passibly replicate any accent other than my own, more's the pity, and I'm too lazy to try to imagine accents anyway. They don't "sound" american, per se, but they sure don't sound like they're out of the English countryside or Scotland or what have you. To describe their looks would be difficult, but they all are roughly the size and shape of Movie!Sam in my head, though that's perhaps still trimmer than Tolkien intended.

I find that there are fault lines in my imagination, though, between movie and book, and when there is a departure from the book, my imagination shifts. The Old Forest looks pretty much the same now as it did in November 2001...and the Hobbits all look a little...different when they're in there. It's consequently one of my favorite parts to read now.

Something similar is true of Faramir. He doesn't look much like his movie self (even though I like David Wenham and think he's a good actor who did the best he could with a faulty script--not so much the departure from the book, even, as that they seem to have treated Faramir with a Denethoresque level of neglect and carelessness). Faramir is taller in my imagination and resembles Aragorn more than he does Boromir.

As for who's closest in terms of book and movie? Ian McKellen's Gandalf looks about the same as my own did. Movie!Aragorn is also fairly similar to my imagination.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I think it's brilliant how fantasy dwarves have Scots accents. I actually go further and imagine most of Tolkien's characters with such voices. Dwarves have rough west-coast tones; Elves more refined reekie types; the Shire-folk of course have (Aberdeen)Shire voices, a more rural yet bright accent. As for wizards, goodness:

"Saruman! Hemmin, Saruman! Fit ye dein? We're nae feart o yi, ye grippit nyaff. In fact, go'n gie us a scoof o yer accursed moonshine!"

*Gandalf does obscene gesture, Aragorn et al laugh heartily*

Saruman grumbles back: "Awa n bile yer heid, yi radge..."

If I was to write fan-fiction it would be little other than Frodo and pals getting chasies fae the bobbies amid mindless drunken property destruction. Oh man, that would be great.

What were we talking about again? Oh yes. To answer the question, my images of the characters are gained almost entirely from whisky-fuelled discussion down the pub. Films had no effect.

[Mnemosyne]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

my images of the characters are gained almost entirely from whisky-fuelled discussion down the pub.

This is, of course, the only valid way to form an opinion on anything these days.

[Rikae]

I read the books long before the movies came out, and had very "solid" images of the characters and places in my mind (I even made some attempts at reproducing these images with paint or colored pencils). A.J. (after Jackson), those images were, to some degree, lost, and I have to struggle to recover them. Some of Jackson's vision matched mine so closely that I had a sense of recognition (the Shire, Gandalf), while Frodo and Aragorn were clearly "wrong", but in every case, I think, my original images have been obscured. It's a sad thing, really.

The voices I originally heard have also faded from my memory, but it seems that the hobbits had at least a somewhat English sound to them, and Frodo's voice was considerably older sounding than movie-Frodo's.

[Rumil]

Hi all,

Also read the books long before the movies, though find that the movie casting has affected my 'internal image' for some but not all characters.

Frodo- I didn't have a clear picture of, seemed like an 'everyhobbit' charcter, so it was easy to accept the movie Frodo

Sam- I never thought of him as 'heavier' than the other hobbits, always as slighter but wiry physique, so movie Sam wasn't right for me

Merry and Pippin - Movie depiction OK, thought the 'Irishness' was a bit odd at first but it did work out OK

Aragorn - thought Viggo did OK, but imagined Aragorn as older and more weatherbeaten, in a 70s Clint Eastwood sort of way.

Gandalf- Obi-Wan, Merlin, archetype, was surprised that they cast McKellan but thought he got it spot on

Boromir and Faramir - totally wrong in the movies, both dark-haired and brooding in my head with Boromir heavier, Faramir younger and slighter.

Legolas - found the hairstyle a bit odd

Gimli - not bad but not 100%, strange mix of Scots and Welsh idiom!

[Mnemosyne]

Originally Posted by Rikae

The voices I originally heard have also faded from my memory, but it seems that the hobbits had at least a somewhat English sound to them, and Frodo's voice was considerably older sounding than movie-Frodo's.

The radio helped me "recover" somewhat of what I think my original Frodo-voice sounded like (I honestly don't remember, but Ian Holm as Frodo generally sounds older, more mature, and more competent than Elijah Wood. Even without having a better script).

[Galin]

Incidentally, in a note to The Bladorthin Typescript (ii Bladorthin, note 14, Mr. Baggins), John Rateliff describes an essay written circa 1970 and now in the Bodleian Library (Tolkien Papers A61 a, fol. 1-31). Mr. Rateliff quotes a description of Gandalf from this essay (which includes 'Which should make him a short man even in modern England, especially with the reduction of a bent back' for example), noting also that it was written in response to Pauline Baynes' art for the poster-map of Middle-earth -- which included the Fellowship and Bill, and certain evil types too.

In note 8 to Gollum this is referred to again: '... in which he describes each member of the Fellowship of the Ring as he pictured them -- an invaluable aid to any future illustrator of his work.' JDR then quotes another bit concerning Gollum and describes the essay as from 'Bodleian, Department of Western Manuscripts,' and etc. (as above).

Parts or snippets from this work have already been published by CJRT and Hammond and Scull, but to date, not the whole thing. I've no idea how detailed the full version gets concerning the Hobbits and I assume the questions of Legolas' hair colour and ear shape are not answered, as H&S likely would have cited that much for their companion to The Lord of the Rings.

But that's an assumption about what they 'likely' would have done