Possible inconsistencies in the legendarium

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J.R.R. Tolkien paid a great deal of attention and detail in his Secondary World to preserve a realistic consistency.

However Tolkien's work has been admired, studied and analyzed by "Tolkienists" over the years in various aspects, and therefore some more or less obvious inconsistencies have been found to have slipped the author's attention. Others are revealed after two or three readings of the book and/or thorough study.

Fans of Tolkien usually accept that in any work there are usually plot holes. In a larger, far more detailed and realistic book we expect fewer (if any) plot holes, when in reality there is a far greater chance.

Still, at least some of the logical mistakes can be attributed to the characters themselves who said the contradicting phrase, since none of the is supposed to have the "omniscience" of the author.

Mouth of Sauron

Aragorn mentions that the name "Sauron" (meaning "Abominable") is the name used by his enemies, and Sauron himself does not permit it pronounced.[1] Therefore it would be problematic, if not logically impossible for a servant of Sauron to have a title/name that includes the word "Sauron". It could also be that Aragorn was mistaken, of course.

Doors of Durin

The name Moria means "Black Chasm" and was a derogatory description of the place which the Dwarves did not like much; it was given after the Durin's Bane took over the city and it was overran by Orcs. It is therefore a mystery why that name appears on the Doors of Durin, made in the Second Age, and in consent with the Dwarves.

Eagles

One of the most well known alleged plot holes is why the Eagles came to carry Frodo and Sam back from Mount Doom but did not help them to fly the One Ring there. While there are many counter explanations, it is a logical gap why this idea was not proposed in the Council of Elrond. See here for a more detailed discussion.

Gimli's Axe

Upon arrival in Edoras, Gimli mentions his axe has touched nothing but firewood since they left Moria. Yet he also claims he and Legolas killed several Orcs at Amon Hen. In the 50th anniversary edition, this was left unchanged; it would seem unlikely that Gimli would lament not killing any orcs for less than a week.

Distances

The distances of the Dwarves' travel to Rivendell in The Hobbit seem to have different proportions than those in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien tried to reconcile the Hobbit description with the scale of the LotR map but couldn't find an appropriate solution.[2]

Possession of the Nine Rings

In The Council of Elrond Gandalf says that the Nazgûl kept their Rings.[3]. However in most other references, it is mentioned that Sauron had taken them.[4][5]

The line in the Council of Elrond represents an earlier intention that the Nazgûl should still be wearing their Rings, but he later changed his mind and simply missed revising that sentence.

Moon phases

Tolkien was particularly careful about the phases of the Moon in the LotR. Yet some mistakes did elude him. See for example January 13, January 16, February 22, September 22.

In general, it is possible that Tolkien consulted a modern almanac to model the moon phases, and also possible that he confused the terms of "New Moon" from the astronomical (the moment when the moon is most dark) to the colloquial (appearance of the new crescent moon)[6]

Another mistake appears in The Hobbit: Bard I killed Smaug "at the rising of the moon"[7] when "above the eastern shore ... the waxing moon rose higher and higher"[8]. However according to astronomy[9] a waxing moon rises only in the morning, after the sun.

Shadow over Eregion

While the Fellowship of the Ring traverses Hollin, they see and feel a flying shadow over them, implied to be a Fell Beast.[10] However later we learn that Sauron did not permit the Nazgûl to traverse west of the Anduin after their accident at Bruinen.

Possibly it was a "lost" or "disobeying" Nazgûl who nevertheless found himself west of the Anduin, or simply something wholly unexplained and unrelated to the Fell Beasts.

Corrected mistakes

Several mistakes were simply remnants of earlier concepts of Tolkien, which later escaped his attention when revising the book. Some of them were correct in the 50th Anniversary Edition.

Bandobras' parentage

The Prologue mentions that Bandobras Took was the son (not grandson) of Isengrim Took II.

Sam's birth

In the second edition of LotR, Sam Gamgee's year of birth was added to The Tale of Years as Third Age 2963. This contradicts both a later entry in The Tale of Years and the Appendix C given as Third Age 2980.[11]

References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The Departure of Boromir"
  2. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Return of the Shadow p. 204
  3. ↑ "The Nine the Nazgûl keep." J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Council of Elrond
  4. ↑ "the Nine [Sauron] has gathered to himself; the Seven also, or else they are destroyed." J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Shadow of the Past
  5. ↑ "You saw the Eye of him that holds the Seven and the Nine." J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mirror of Galadriel
  6. ↑ http://shire-reckoning.com/moon.html
  7. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Gathering of the Clouds
  8. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Fire and Water
  9. ↑ http://lalaith.vpsurf.de/Tolkien/Durin%27s_Day.html
  10. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring Goes South
  11. ↑ The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, page 716
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