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The Lord of the Rings/Tropes A-L: Difference between revisions
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* [[Alternative Calendar]]: The different peoples have their own calendars, with varying degrees of difference between them. The books generally use the Shire (Hobbit) calendar.
* [[Alternative Number System]]: According to the appendices, elves habitually count in base 12.
* [[
* [[Ambadassador]]: Gandalf, ambassador from the Valar; most of the Fellowship were originally ambassadors to Rivendell. Their collected appearance prompted the Council of Elrond.
* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: The One Ring corrupts by tempting the user with the power to fulfill their ambitions, even if those ambitions are noble. Sam's only ambition is to raise a family and live quietly, so he is little affected by it, while Tom Bombadil, who is completely devoid of ambition, is completely immune to its power. Conversely Boromir, who had the noble ambition of saving Gondor from Mordor, was easily manipulated. Faramir wanted only to please and be loved by his father, so while it affected him, it wasn't as severe as it was for Boromir. Gandalf explains it well in the text, how the Ring constantly makes you rationalize everything until nothing is beyond the limit.
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* [[Despair Speech]]: Denethor gives several, each more long-winded than the last.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Somewhat, and in the more literal way (of a god appearing on stage, since they are the eagles of Manwe, Lord of the Valar), considering that the Eagles repeatedly show up when absolutely nobody else can get the heroes out of a situation... but never appear any other time they might be just a bit useful.
** However, although Valar involvement cannot be disproved, these Eagles were established as descendants of those in ''[[The Hobbit]]'', who were free agents with a leader that just happened to be Gandalf's good friend (again, there might still be otherworldly involvement as Gandalf is hinted to be of divine origin).
** Tolkien himself said in a letter than he realized they were a Deus Ex Machina, hence why he didn't like using them often because they make solving problems too easy. This was in fact his reason when someone asked him the "why didn't they just use the eagles to drop the ring in Mt Doom?" question.
*** Not only did ''he'' realize that they were an easy deus ex machina, ''the Eagles themselves'' know and resent it -- as he said in another letter, the Eagles would never stoop to being Middle-earth's taxi service.
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*** As Tolkien put it, there are many things in Middle-earth that could be evil without necessarily being explicitly allied with Sauron. Shelob is one example -- Sauron does not rule her, and he probably could kill her or drive her out if he wished (although he might have to do it in person), but he permits her to continue to dwell at the top of Morgul Pass because her presence there is useful to him.
*** It's implied, though, that Sauron's resurgence has awoken a number of eldritch things that were asleep. The Barrow-wights are not allied with Sauron, but Tolkien's copious notes indicate that they were probably roused by the presence of the Black Riders scouting out the edges of the Shire.
*** The Barrow-wights ''are'' direct result of Sauron's work -- they were originally sent by the Witch-King on Sauron's orders to haunt the tombs of the Dunédain as a part of the effort to destroy the Kingdom of Arnor.
* [[Eldritch Location]]: Morgul Vale. And if we're talking just 'eldritch' and not 'spooky, filled with death and decay' as well, then Lothlorien and Rivendell would qualify due to the presence of the Elven Rings. Really, any place the Elves dwelt for an extended period would qualify as 'eldritch'; the most unnerving thing about any Elvish dwelling is that keeping track of time within such a place becomes a complete [[Mind Screw]] for anyone who isn't an Elf.
* [[Elite Mooks]]: Saruman's Uruk-hai and Sauron's specially bred sun-proof Trolls, the Olog-Hai. Heck, Morgoth essentially created all the evil races on Middle-earth through dark magic and breeding.
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* [[Evil Overlord]]: Sauron.
* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: Saruman, and Sauron, which, combined with the above, add up to [[Sorcerous Overlord]].
* [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]] - The [[The Dark Tower|(original)]] Dark Tower, Barad-dûr.
** Also Minas Morgul, Orthanc, Dol Guldur, and the Tower of Cirith Ungol.
** Not to say that there are no ''good'' towers. Minas Tirith is only the most obvious example; there are some to the west of the Shire, though the hobbits never get curious enough to climb them.
** And most of the examples given are corrupted ones. Only Barad-dûr and Dol Guldur were Evil from scratch. All others were constructed by the Numenoreans.
*** Even Dol Guldur was originally the capital of the wood-elves of Mirkwood, before it fell to the invaders' hands.
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Saruman was constantly plotting against Sauron.
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: "Edoras" means "buildings" in Old English. "Meduseld" means "mead hall." "Mearas" is "horses."
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* [[The Faceless]]: The Nazgûl
* [[Fainting]]: Happens to everyone, naturally, but most often to Frodo.
* [[Facing the Bullets One-Liner]]: "Fly, you fools!". Gandalf's last words urging his companions to continue the quest before he falls into the abyss dragged by the Balrog in Moria. The trope is subverted since Gandalf does not die right there and keeps on fighting but his fellowship and the reader doesn't learn that until much later.
* [[The Fair Folk]]: Not exactly -- the Elves are all on the side of good -- but the Rohirrim ''think'' the Lorien elves are these. For that matter, Galadriel herself isn't 100% sure she's not one; Men and Hobbits have an irritating (by Elvish standards) tendency to group elven works and Sauron's dark arts under the umbrella term of "magic".
* [[Famed in Story]]: Aragorn's family; ultimately Frodo (but [[Never Accepted in His Hometown|not in his hometown]]).
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"I feel sick," said Sam. Frodo said nothing.'' }}
** The Dead Marshes and Moria are also rather harsh, and both the Old Forest and Fangorn Forest get this label all but smacked onto them.
** There's also the Vale of Morgul that grows beautiful but deadly flowers, and where drinking water can drive a person to insanity. Faramir warns Frodo and Sam from drinking from any stream that flows from Imlad Morgul for this reason.
* [[Foreshadowing]]:
** In Book I, at Bree, the hobbits hear that a lot of refugees are coming from the South. They don’t pay attention because it seems improbable the Big People will want to live in the Hobbits' small holes and houses. Cue Book VI, "The Scouring of the Shire", where a bunch of men have taken over the hobbits' land.
** Sam's cousing spots a giant walking tree in the Shire, but his tale is considered unbelievable.
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* [[A Friend in Need]]
* [[Friend or Foe]]: The fleet of the Southrons, which was supposed to reinforce the army of Sauron at the battle of the Pelennor, but was captured by Aragorn. Both the Rohirrim and Gondorians thought they were still hostile at first.
* [[Freudian Trio]]:
** Ego: Aragorn
** Id: Gimli
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** Although it was also pointed out to him that "The Return Of The King" did not necessarily imply "The ''Victory'' Of The King".
** And Frodo's title for the story was even worse: ''The '''Downfall''' of the Lord of the Rings''.
*** Since Frodo was writing contemporary history, most people reading it would already know the basics, such as that Sauron doesn't rule the world.
* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: The chapter "The Uruk-Hai," which focuses on Pippin, includes a line by Merry that Pippin's actions in it were so impressive that there will likely be a whole chapter about them in Bilbo's book.
* [[Least Is First]]: Frodo offering to take the Ring at the Council of Elrond, immediately joined by Sam.
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