As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases made through affiliate links on this site.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy made by Peter Jackson. To me, they are the greatest pieces of cinema I’ve encountered, and are responsible for making me appreciate movies as more than just entertainment. For many who’ve read the books, the movies come as close to a perfect adaptation as possible. There are lots of reasons for that, but a big one can be summed up in a single scene that shows how the filmmakers got it just right when making changes.

The scene comes in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in the trilogy. After encountering the Black Riders at Weathertop, Frodo is injured by the cursed Morgul blade and is close to death. Aragorn can’t help him, but fortunately, he meets with Arwen who takes up Frodo on her horse and rides with him to Rivendell, fending off the Black Riders as she does, eventually washing them away in the Brunien river.

This is a change from the book, where it’s actually Glorfindel, an elf lord from Rivedell, who saves Frodo and is responsible for driving away the Ringwraiths.

While there could be some criticism for changing the story in this way, as it’s not strictly necessary, it’s actually done for a very good reason, and is handled in such a way that it actually makes the film better and strengthens its characters.

In both book and film, Aragorn and Arwen have a love story. While on the page this is mainly told through the appendices, it’s more fully explored onscreen, through flashbacks, dream sequences, and some original scenes of Arwen alone in Rivendell. All of this helps make their love story more rounded and considering the epic nature of LOTR, it would feel strange if their wasn’t a love story for audiences to get invested in. Putting Arwen in Fellowship allows for some pertinent dialogue with Aragorn that shows their relationship, setting up for where it will be explored in future.

The removal of Glorfindel isn’t as big a deal either, as he only appears in these scenes and doesn’t play a role in the larger events of the story. Removing him allows more time for the more important characters to develop, and it would be a waste to include a character who would only have a few minutes of screen time at the most. It’s much better to include Arwen here and set up her character, so as to do two things with one scene, rather than including every character from the book. Clearly Tolkien included him for a reason, but there will always have to be changes made when adapting any novel.

It’s interesting to compare this scene to another one featuring Arwen that was filmed but never used, not even in the extended editions. It comes in The Two Towers, during the Battle of Helm’s Deep. A company of elves arrive to help the defenders, giving them a much-needed morale boost. In the finished film, they are led by Haldir, an original character, but there were plans to include Arwen, with scenes being filmed of her fighting Uruk-Hai. In the end, these weren’t used, and it was for the best, as it would have significantly altered her character and role in the story, not to mention creating problems of whether she would accompany Aragorn for the rest of the journey.

The fact that the filmmakers, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, decided it was best to cut this shows how much they understood the book, and how they were willing to do what was best for the characters. At the same time, they were able to make smart changes that helped it as an adaptation, something that few writers are able to achieve.

Thanks for reading! I’m looking to grow my audience for my blog, so would really appreciate any help you can give. Please consider liking this post, and sharing it on social media. You can also subscribe to receive posts by email, and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Also, if you’d like to, you can donate through Buy Me A Coffee to help keep things running!

Thankyou!