Alternative Character Interpretation in Tolkien's Legendarium.
- In a rare case of an Alternative Character Interpretation relating to physical features, the Balrog in The Fellowship Of The Ring either does or does not have wings. Fans
fight over this endlessly. The wording in the original book is somewhat ambiguous, and the wings may or may not be a metaphor. - Tolkien's other works like The Silmarillion are invoked in this debate by both sides. That work says Balrogs "flew" to Melkor's aid when he was attacked by Ungoliant. Yet "flew" can be figurative, as in Gandalf telling the Fellowship to fly (run away). The Silmarillion also describes Balrogs marching. This has been parodied with debates over whether the Balrog in the Bakshi animated Lord of the Rings was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers. Peter Jackson acknowledged this dispute (even among his own crew). In the commentary to The Fellowship of the Ring he says that his Balrog has wings because that's what he imagines it to have. And who can argue with Rule of Cool? He also addresses the question of "Why doesn't it just fly out of the pit, then?" by making its wings skeletal - it has them, but they are obviously incapable of supporting it in the air. (As well as "Why does it have horns when it doesn't need to gore you?" Because it looks scarier that way. It's a demon.) Compare The Silmarillion, where the exact same thing happens and the Balrog falls over a cliff to its doom (though it is unclear how exactly it died in this text, the original version of the story has the Balrog being stabbed and falling off a cliff).
- Was Durin's Bane simply hiding underground waiting for its moment to Take Over the World or was it simply trying to live in peace till either the world ends or his master calls him back to service?
- Some fans see Sam as the real hero of the story. Others think of him as a whiny, negative annoyance who is always complaining, and whose refusal to be nice to Sméagol is what led to the latter's ultimate betrayal.
- Many fans consider Sméagol to be either far more sympathetic and well-meaning than Tolkien presented (remember, this is the man who let him defeat the Big Bad) or a monstrous shadow of a man fully controlled by his Gollum side. Some see Gollum as a somewhat sympathetic character thanks to how pitiful he is from all the Mind Rape, and Smeagol as a Jerkass who only got worse when they first found the ring. Smeagol did murder his cousin for the ring, however this was partially down to the ring, and Gollum does suffer for over five centuries over this.
- Legolas and Gimli post-books: Heterosexual Life-Partners or Ambiguously Gay?
- Frodo is widely held as either the savior of Middle-Earth, a weak puppet who needs the assistance of everyone around him to survive, or a little boy who always needs Sam to nurse him and carry him.
- Was Saruman really evil in joining Sauron and intent on becoming the new Dark Lord? Or did he genuinely think that this was the only way to go forward and that Middle-Earth would do better under his control? He is intent on becoming The Starscream once he gets the ring but this never happens. Also bear in mind that he and Sauron were Maia of Aule, the only "good" Valar to go against Eru's wishes in creating the Dwarves. Does this mean his Maia are more radical and think they can do a better job?
- With its laconic, distant narration, The Silmarillion is rife with Alternative Character Interpretation: see for instance Fëanor, his sons, and Thingol.
- Maedhros is a particularly good example: he's initially portrayed as the most rational and sympathetic of the sons of Fëanor, but by the end of the book that role is taken over by his younger brother Maglor. As a result, fanfic writers writing about the end of his life describe him as either willing to kill children without a second thought, or as a kind, but broken character. To a lesser extent, that is also true of Maglor.
- Then there's the interpretation that the Silmarils corrupt people, making them want to own them at all costs. Note that every character who acquires one either Jumps Off The Slippery Slope and goes on a mass-murdering rampage (Fëanor and his sons) or else refuses to relinquish them even when that is the rational thing to do, and the alternative only results in more pointless deaths (Dior, Elwing...) Moreover, the last character to be in possession of one (Earendil) ends the story isolated from every other being in Arda— now why might that be?
- From The Children of Húrin, many see Túrin as the Woobie, others as despicable. Was he really cursed or did he bring the tragedy on himself by trying to escape it and being a jerk? The fact he was advised to stay in Doriath implies he could have escaped the curse if he had been rational; if true, this suggests he does bear some responsibility.
- There is an in-universe version with the Elves Versus Dwarves debate. In "The Hobbit" Tolkien says the Elves accused the Dwarves of stealing their treasure, while the Dwarves claimed they took what was rightfully theirs. In "The Silmarillion" we see the Dwarves murdered the Elf King Thingol in a dispute over a Silmaril, however this may partially be motivated by him having treasure that the Elves basically stole from the Dwarves. This could be seen as a left-over aspect of "The Book of Lost Tales", where the Dwarves were originally more villainous characters who often sided with Melkor and the Orcs, though later we hear few ever willingly joined evil.
- Mîm the Petty-Dwarf. Is he a selfish, greedy and vengeful character who betrays Túrin to the Orcs? Or a tragic figure who tries to avenge his son, and has good cause to hate the Elves as they wiped out most of the Petty-Dwarves? This even happens within the Legendarium, as in "The Silmarillion" he betrays Túrin after he and his last son are captured by Orcs, while in "The Children of Hurin" he goes to the Orcs, though the book acknowledges the other story, and Mîm doesn't want Turin to be hurt. Older versions of the story have him clearly being a very villainous and greedy character, though this changed over time.
- Boromir. Basically, he wants the Ring to be used in the defence of his land Gondor against Sauron, and he ultimately tries to steal it from Frodo. Is he mainly an arrogant figure who ultimately desires power and glory above all by claiming the Ring for himself? Or a basically decent man and leader of men, who loves glory a bit too much, and is simply putting the well-being of his country above all and goes to extremes because of this? Bear in mind Gondor was certainly threatened and up against a force it was unlikely they could defeat. There is room for both interpretations in the books, due to the different perspectives we see him from - mainly Frodo (as the main character) then his brother Faramir (who serves as a contrast to him, as he is much more overtly The Wise Prince). Bear in mind too that while Boromir does fantasize about winning power and glory for himself, this is when he snaps under the Ring's influence and it may not reflect his true feelings.
- The Film Trilogy highlights this by adding a scene in the Extended Edition of Fellowship where Denethor pressures Boromir to seize the ring and return it to Gondor. The Theatrical version basically has Boromir go insane from the Ring's influence, only allowing him to be redeemed by sacrificing his life for Merry and Pippin. But the scene in the Extended Edition nearly turns his characterization on its head — Denethor practically ropes Boromir into bringing him the ring, raising Boromir almost to the level of The Woobie, if not an outright Unwitting Pawn in his deranged father's schemes.
- How unreasonable is Thorin being in The Hobbit? The people of River-Town certainly have reason to demand reparation from him, considering he awoke a dragon which has destroyed their town. However, they have surrounded the Mountain with the aid of Thranduil and the Wood-Elves, who basically intend to extort a large share of the treasure by force, and were originally coming there to seize the treasure for themselves. Thorin even asks that if the Company had died how much of the treasure would the Elves have given to their families, as the treasure did belong to the Dwarves before Smaug stole it.
- Beren and Lúthien. Some fans see them (Lúthien especially) as awesome heroes. Other fans see them as whiny, annoying jerks who get far too much attention.
- A fan's opinion on Daeron tends to depend on their opinion on Lúthien. If they see her as a heroine, they're more likely to see him as a stalker-like figure who betrayed her trust. If they see her as a cliched woman, they're more likely to see him as a Dogged Nice Guy who honestly thought he was doing the right thing.
- Eöl and Aredhel. Fans generally agree Eöl was an unpleasant character to say the least, but opinions are divided on whether he raped Aredhel or whether she married him willingly. It doesn't help that, like everything else in Tolkien's Legendarium, there are multiple versions of this story. Not helped by the ambiguity in even the 1977 version, where it was said that she was "not wholly unwilling", which can imply all sorts of creepiness.
- Even if she wasn't outright raped or forced into the marriage, the fact that Eöl used magic to trap her in his forest and took her in after she became 'lost' implies coerciveness within the relationship. Eöl made sure Aredhel was cut off from the outside world and all her friends and family, and ensured that he was her only source of help and companionship. This is actually a tactic used by real-world domestic abusers to gain and maintain control of their partner. Aredhel was apparently unaware of this and saw herself as a guest rather than a prisoner...at least initially.
- Maeglin. Dear god, Maeglin. Did he betray Gondolin of his own free will or was he tortured into it? Did he genuinely love Idril at some point? How much control did he have over his own actions, since his father's last words to him were essentially a curse?
- Elwing and Eärendil. Some fans see their leaving Middle Earth (and their sons Elrond and Elros) as the only thing they could do under the circumstances. Others see them abandoning their sons to - as far as they knew - death or capture as a despicable action. Sure, it turned out all right, and Maglor adopted Elrond and Elros, but Elwing and Eärendil didn't know that was going to happen when they left.
- Melkor. The common pro-canonical conception of him is a single-minded being of hatred and destruction. But there are many who prefer a more complex Melkor. There is a wholly benevolent version of him in "Black Book of Arda" and a whole spectrum in between in various fan works.
- Thranduil's characterization in the beginning of The Hobbit. Why did Thranduil choose not to aid the dwarves after Smaug attacked despite bringing his army? Was it that he knew the elves wouldn't be able to defeat Smaug and left to preserve the lives of his men? Or was it because he was secretly pleased that the dwarves were brought down a peg or two? Did he even intend to fight and simply shown up to observe? Word of God says that it was due to intense racism between elves and dwarves after King Thingol was murdered by dwarves and Thranduil saw it as Laser-Guided Karma, especially after Thorin's grandfather refused to return Thranduil's wife's necklace.
- Why did Sauron agree to serve Morgoth when his goal of rationally ordering the world was mutually exclusive with Morgoth's goal of destroying it? Was he somehow deceived (possibly by himself) into believing that the destruction Morgoth wrought was merely a means to an end rather than an end in itself? Was he trying to piggyback off him and/or steer him away from the pursuit of total annihilation? Did he think he'd gone too far in pursuit of evil to turn away and decide he might as well run with Morgoth as long as he could? Or did he just view Morgoth's activity as better than the dithering of the Valar?
- The TV series implies that he felt or was coerced by Morgoth to keep on serving him, when he confesses to Galadriel with tears in his eyes that he felt that a great clenched fist finally released its grasp from his neck after Morgoth was defeated. Of course, the show is a different continuity from the books, so how much that applies to the original text is unclear.
- The Fall of Númenor:
- Posited In-Universe when Erendis complains that her husband Aldarion is obsessed with sailing and regards trees as nothing but timber for his ships. Her mother Nuneth states she does not believe Aldarion loves the sea for itself, either. She is convinced that Aldarion's drive to discover and explore strange lands does not stem from a curious and adventurous spirit, but from subconscious ambition which Aldarion himself is not aware of.
- While Ar-Pharazôn is generally read as a purely self-centered character motivated by ambition and glory, some have postulated that he may have at least initially seen himself as a genuine unifier figure who wanted to avoid civil war by merging Númenor's competing factions.
