Most missed movie moment

[Primula Baggins]

That's one of the most terrifying images in the entire book. I missed it, too.

What the Witch-King was actually talking about—having it happen to Éowyn, young and sorrowful and brave, makes it even worse.

[Hurin]

I agree with V and Prim. I sure would have liked to have heard Éowyn say "Foul Dwimmerlaik" and I was quite disappointed that this was not in the movie along with some of the other dialogue between her and the Wiki. That was the main reason I said in my prior post that this scene was OK but not as good as the the book. Don't all of us Tolkien geeks know this line by heart: "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!" [as well as pretty much the entire scene]. It is one of the most memorable lines in LOTR, in my opinion.

I suppose the screenplay writers would say that the movie audience would not know what a "dwimmerlaik" is. [I can't remember offhand if they discussed this in the director's DVD commentary.] But no one reading the book for the first time knows specifically what a dwimmerlaik is either, unless they are a scholar of Old English. I don't believe that I learned the actual meaning until I read it in one of Tom Shippey's books about 10 years ago. But not knowing the exact meaning of dwimmerlaik never diminished my enjoyment of Éowyn's declaration in all my previous readings before then.

[Lalaith]

I didn't miss foul dwimmerlaik. The other dialogue would've been nice, in a creepy, chilling kind of way.

I'm not sure why PJ cut the scenes there; my guess is it was probably to convey the sense that many things were happening all at once. Does it bother me? No, not in the context of the movie.

Of course, the books are better in every way (always are!!!), but I love the movie for what it was--a wonderful adaptation.

[Impenitent]

Really? Were either of you bothered by the fact that it was interrupted by Aragorn et al.'s arrival in the corsair ships? I find that distracting every time I see it.

For the most part I'm not bothered by the modernizing of the language, although I would have dearly liked to have seen Éowyn called the WitchKing "foul dwimmerlaik" and have him respond that he would not slay her but rather would bear her away to the houses of lamentation, "where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."

<shudder>

The deep dreadfulness of the Witch King's response is not just in the concept, but in the form of the threat: he uses the archaic "thy", which conveys such intimacy. That gives me chills at every reading; "you" would not have the same effect at all.

[yovargas]

The cut to Aragorn bugs me but not enough to ruin the scene. Just to make it less-than-great. A real shame, they got really close with that one. I think my problem isn't even the unwise cut, but what we're cutting to: scrubbiun' bubbles.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The deep dreadfulness of the Witch King's response is not just in the concept, but in the form of the threat: he uses the archaic "thy", which conveys such intimacy. That gives me chills at every reading; "you" would not have the same effect at all.

Quite true, Imp, although I don't think I can fault PJ for believing that that subtle point would go right over the head of most of the audience. Sadly, there are a number of occasions in The Silmarillion where Christopher also eliminates some of his father's subtle use of the difference between "thou" and "you". (Interestingly, the only place where he keeps the use of the "thou" in the chapter on Túrin is in Túrin's final conversation with his sword, Gurthang).

[Primula Baggins]

An awful lot of people are firmly convinced that "thee" and "thou" are formal forms of address, not intimate ones.

[vison]

I got smacked around for not "knowing" that a "superior" would use them to an "inferior". And not vice versa.

Not sure the smacking was deserved, but I got it just the same.

[Primula Baggins]

Until mainstream church-service and Biblical language was modernized about 30 years ago, God was addressed as "thou." That may be the source of confusion for some people.

[Impenitent]

I got smacked around for not "knowing" that a "superior" would use them to an "inferior". And not vice versa.

I hope you smacked back?

But that's another reason that the Witch King's response affects me so strongly; the self-evident imbalance of power, the assumption of superiority, the intimacy and directness in the form of address, as if he's speaking to a lackey...it all makes me shudder!

Tolkien demonstrates his incredible power over language in the selection of those few words.

[vison]

I agree. It was about the one thing in the book that really frightened me - the knowledge of what would become of Éowyn.