3. The fate of the Shire
Part 3 of the film trilogy ends with the victory over Mordor and the return of the Hobbits to the Shire. In the book, however, their home is still in the hands of Saruman, who, unlike in the films, meets his end only here. Together with the other Hobbits, Frodo & Co. manage to defeat the wizard and his minions.
How that would have looked in the film is shown by Frodo’s gaze into Galadriel’s mirror in The Fellowship. A burning Shire on the brink of destruction.
4. Glorfindel saves the Hobbits
Shortly before the Hobbits reach Rivendell, they are ambushed by the nine Black Riders. Frodo has been wounded by a Morgul blade and is in urgent need of help. In the film, Arwen comes to his rescue. However, in the book, it is different. There, Glorfindel appears, an Elf sent by Elrond to search for the Hobbits.
By having Arwen perform this heroic act instead of Glorfindel, she becomes a more interesting character than in the book – she gets to be more than just Aragorn’s love. Thanks to her help, the Hobbits safely reach Rivendell, where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed. You can find a ranking of the Fellowship on MeinMMO.
5. The Eye of Sauron
We see Sauron in the prologue of the first film with his fearsome armor. However, after that, he is only seen as the eye atop his tower. This way, he overlooks Middle-earth and searches for the Ring.
Tolkien himself did speak of “Sauron’s eye”, but that was likely meant metaphorically. Peter Jackson, however, took this description literally and vividly translated it into film language.
The last two differences can be found on page 3.
