Oliphaunt

{{Short description|Fictional creature from works of J.R.R. Tolkien}} {{Use British English|date=October 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s epic fantasy ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', an '''oliphaunt''' (known in [[Gondor]] as a '''mûmak''', plural: ''mûmakil'')<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|Scull|2005|p=467}}</ref> is a giant elephant-like beast. They are encountered only as [[war elephant]]s used by the army of the [[Haradrim]]. Tolkien borrowed the word from [[Middle English]] to give a rustic feeling to [[Sam Gamgee]]'s speech. The beasts are first mentioned by Sam as he explains to [[Gollum]] what an oliphaunt is; he hopes to see one. His wish is fulfilled as he witnesses [[Faramir]]'s ambush of a contingent from Harad in [[Ithilien]]. Several ''mûmakil'' take part in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]].

Tolkien wrote two "Oliphaunt" poems, one a playfully childlike rhyme recited by Sam in ''The Lord of the Rings'', the other a humorous poem in the medieval [[bestiary]] tradition mocking the excessive use of [[allegory]] in Middle English verse. Scholars have analysed Tolkien's sources for his oliphaunts, noting the [[Old English]] account in the ''Homily on the Maccabees'' and his mention of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]'s use of war elephants against [[Ancient Rome]].

[[Peter Jackson]] modified the beast, making it more like a ''[[Gomphotherium]]'', and added two fights with the ''mûmakil'' during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, one featuring the Elf [[Legolas]], the other [[Éowyn]], the lady of [[Rohan, Middle-earth|Rohan]], gaining a mixed reception.

== Etymology ==

Tolkien borrowed the term ''oliphaunt'' from [[Middle English]], which in turn was a borrowing of [[Old French]] ''olifaunt''. These terms meant an ordinary [[elephant]].<ref name="Hammond Scull 2005 Nomenclature" group=T>{{harvnb|Hammond|Scull|2005|at="[[Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings]]", p. 761}}</ref> Tolkien stated in his [[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings|guide for translators]] that the word was "used as a 'rusticism', on the supposition that rumour of the Southern beast would have reached [[the Shire]] long ago in the form of legend."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Lobdell|1975|at="[[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings]]" p. 170}}</ref>

== ''The Lord of the Rings'' ==

=== Narrative ===

[[File:Pyrrhus and his Elephants.gif|thumb|upright|Tolkien related the [[Harad]]rim's ''mûmakil'' to [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]'s war elephants in his invasion of [[Ancient Rome]]. 1896 illustration by Helene Guerber.<ref name="Kennedy 2016"/>]]

In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', oliphaunts are mentioned as [[Samwise Gamgee]] explains what one is to [[Gollum]] by reciting an old [[the Shire|Shire]] poem,<ref name="Black Gate is Closed" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|at=book 4, ch. 3 "The Black Gate is Closed"}}</ref> and then encountered twice. Sam and [[Frodo Baggins]] see one in [[Ithilien]] as they witness the ambush of a contingent from [[Harad]] by [[Faramir]]'s men of Gondor. Tolkien implies that they are a larger (and now extinct) relative of the elephant.<ref name="Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" group=T/>

{{blockquote|Fear and wonder, maybe, enlarged him in the hobbit’s eyes, but the Mûmak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and the like of him does not walk now in Middle-earth; his kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty.<ref name="Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|at=book 4, ch. 4 "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"}}</ref>}}

Many more are present at the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], where the Haradrim are part of [[Sauron]]'s assault on [[Minas Tirith]], and the horses of the [[Rohirrim]] were too scared to approach them.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|at=book 6, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"}}</ref>

=== Classical and medieval sources ===

[[Elizabeth Solopova]] and [[Stuart D. Lee]] argue that the Haradrim's ''mûmakil'' war elephants put their country far to the East, since only India and lands to its east went on using war elephants after classical times.<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005"/> They mention that Tolkien could have used the [[Old English]] version by [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric]] of the ''[[Book of Maccabees]]'', which carefully introduces elephants to its Anglo-Saxon audience, using much the same phrase as Sam Gamgee, "''māre þonne sum hūs''", "bigger than a house", before describing their use in battle; the hero stabs the elephant, which is carrying a "''wīghūs''", a "[[Howdah|battle-house]]", from below.<ref name="Lee Solopova 2005">{{harvnb|Lee|Solopova|2005|pp=[https://archive.org/details/keysmiddleearthd00lees_471/page/n235 223–225, 228–231]}}, translating the ''Homily on the Maccabees''. II, 499-519.</ref> Tolkien however mentioned [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]'s use of war elephants against [[Ancient Rome]] in 280–275 BC in his notes for the illustrator [[Pauline Baynes]].<ref name="Kennedy 2016">{{harvnb|Kennedy|2016}}</ref>

=== Christian perspective ===

Kathleen O'Neill, in ''Cistercian Studies Quarterly'', writes that while Sam is "open to wonder" and excited about the possibility of seeing an oliphaunt, Gollum's fearful mind is "so utterly closed to the goodness of what is as to will away its very existence".{{sfn|O'Neill|2005}} In O'Neill's view, God "quickly" rewards Sam with the terrifying view of an out-of-control oliphaunt, giving him "lasting delight" and gratitude. She adds that this capacity for seeing the good even in dark moments comes to his aid in [[Mordor]], when he sees a white star, knows its beauty, and realises that "the Shadow was only a small and passing thing".{{sfn|O'Neill|2005}}<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|at=book 6, ch. 2 "The Land of Shadow"}}</ref>

== Poems ==

=== Playful depiction ===

Before seeing the oliphaunt, [[Tolkien's poetry#Shire poetry|Sam recites a poem]] of [[The Shire|Shire]]-lore, to explain to [[Gollum]] what one is. It begins:<ref name="Black Gate is Closed" group=T/>{{efn|The poem "Oliphaunt" was republished in ''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]'',<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2014|at="Oliphaunt"}}</ref> and as a children's book, illustrated by Dan McGeehan.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2012}}</ref> }}

{{blockquote|<poem>Grey as a mouse, Big as a house, Nose like a snake, I make the earth shake.</poem>}}

The [[folklorist]] and Tolkien scholar [[Dimitra Fimi]] writes that with this song and the later encounter with the oliphaunt, Tolkien "playfully complete[s]" his depiction of Sam as an "authentic active transmitter" of folklore-style tradition among his people, despite his lack of Frodo's formal education and his rustic style of speech.<ref name="Fimi 2009">{{harvnb|Fimi|2009}}</ref>

=== Modern work in bestiary tradition ===

[[File:Harley3244 f.39 MenMountedOnAnElephant DetailElephant.jpg|thumb|Oliphaunt in a medieval [[bestiary]]. Harley 3244, folio 39, after {{circa}} 1236]]

Tolkien had published a different<ref name="Rateliff 2014"/> poem on the oliphaunt theme, "Iumbo, or ye Kinde of ye Oliphaunt", in the ''Stapeldon Magazine'' in 1927. It begins:<ref name="Iumbo" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1927|pp=125–127}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>The Indic oliphaunt's a burly lump, A moving mountain, a majestic mammal (But those that fancy that he wears a hump Confuse him incorrectly with the camel).</poem>}}

[[John D. Rateliff]] notes that Tolkien stated that when he read a medieval work, he wanted to write a modern one in the same tradition.<ref name="Rateliff 2014"/> In the case of "Iumbo" the oliphaunt and "[[Fastitocalon (poem)|Fastitocalon]]", an island-sized whale, that was the medieval [[bestiary]] tradition. Tolkien adopts the pseudonym 'Fisiologus', imitating the medieval name 'Physiologus', "the naturalist", author of just such a bestiary. Rateliff notes that "Iumbo" is written in medieval style in two sections, a {{lang|la|natura}} describing the oliphaunt's habits (addiction to [[mandrake]]s), and a {{lang|la|significacio}} drawing a "highly facetious, and egregiously inappropriate" [[moral]] from the story, "mocking the incessant allegorizing"<ref name="Rateliff 2014"/> of its [[Middle English]] model.<ref name="Rateliff 2014">{{harvnb|Rateliff|2014|pp=133–152}}</ref>

== In film ==

[[File:Gomphotherium productum skull.JPG|thumb|left|Skull of ''[[Gomphotherium]]'', with curved tusks and elongated skull, which [[Peter Jackson]]'s oliphaunts somewhat resemble{{sfn|Tolkien Gateway|2024}} ]]

The 1980 [[Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment|Rankin/Bass]] animated version of ''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|The Return of the King]]'' portrayed oliphaunts as resembling [[Woolly mammoth|woolly mammoths]].{{sfn|Pak|2024}}

In [[Peter Jackson]]'s film ''[[The Two Towers (film)|The Two Towers]]'', the Haradrim appear [[Middle Eastern]], with turbans, flowing robes, and riding ''mûmakil''.{{sfn|Ibata|2003}} The beasts, constructed in [[CGI-animated|CGI animation]], differ markedly from Tolkien's account; Kristine Larsen describes his treatment of the oliphaunt as taking "artistic liberties" on the "visual aspects".{{sfn|Larsen|2021}} They have two pairs of tusks, one being curved upwards, and a third small pair from the cheekbones; their skull shape resembles ''[[Gomphotherium]]''.{{sfn|Tolkien Gateway|2024}}

[[File:Jackson_film_mumak.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The appearance of the ''mûmak'' in [[Peter Jackson]]'s 2002 film ''[[The Two Towers (film)|The Two Towers]]''{{sfn|Mythprint|2004|p=6}}]]

Jackson's depiction was criticised in ''Mythprint'' for being "too much just visual quotes from [the 1988 fantasy film] ''[[Willow (1988 film)|Willow]]''."{{sfn|Mythprint|2004|p=6}} [[Janet Brennan Croft]] writes that Jackson's invention of a battle between the Elf [[Legolas]] and a ''mûmak'' unnecessarily distracts attention from [[Éowyn]]'s far more important fight with the [[Witch-king of Angmar|Witch-king]].{{sfn|Croft|2005|p=74}} Maureen Thum on the other hand argues that while, as Jackson admits, his films offer "only a relatively shallow rendering" of the book, details like Éowyn's invented attack on the ''mûmakil'' – galloping beneath them with two swords raised – usefully gives a picture of the lady of Rohan as "a strong able warrior", preparing the viewer for the final showdown with the Witch-king.{{sfn|Thum|2004|pp=231–256}}

An oliphaunt in the 2024 [[anime]] film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim]]'' succeeds, according to [[Polygon (website)|Polygon]], in "mak[ing] oliphaunts terrifying again".<ref name="Polo 2024"/> The beast is "rabid ... foaming at the mouth, covered in open wounds, without a handler in sight."<ref name="Polo 2024"/> The tense effect is achieved, the article states, without any "wizards and rings and gods and big, flashy magic".<ref name="Polo 2024">{{cite web |last1=Polo |first1=Susana |title=Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim makes oliphaunts terrifying again |url=https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/496681/war-rohirrim-movie-elephants-oliphaunts-mumakil |publisher=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |access-date=10 January 2025 |date=14 December 2024}}</ref>

== Notes ==

== References ==

=== Primary ===

=== Secondary ===

=== Sources ===

* {{cite book |last=Croft |first=Janet Brennan |author-link=Janet Brennan Croft |chapter=Mithril Coats and Tin Ears: 'Anticipation' and 'Flattening' in Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' Films |title=Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings |title-link=Tolkien on Film |editor-last=Croft |editor-first=Janet Brennan |editor-link=Janet Brennan Croft |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society |Mythopoeic Press]] |date=2005 |isbn=1-887726-09-8}} * {{cite journal |ref={{harvid|Mythprint|2004}} |last=Farrell |first=Ellie |title=Discussion Group Viewings and Reports: Khazad-dum |journal=[[Mythprint]] |volume=41 |issue=1 |date=January 2004 |page=6 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=mythprint}} * {{cite web |last=Fimi |first=Dimitra |author-link=Dimitra Fimi |title=Hobbit Songs and Rhymes: Tolkien and the Folklore of Middle-earth |url=http://dimitrafimi.com/articlesandessays/hobbit-songs-and-rhymes-tolkien-and-the-folklore-of-middle-earth/ |publisher=Dimitra Fimi |access-date=12 October 2024 |date=March 2009}} * {{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |author-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |chapter=[[Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings]] |title=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |title-link=The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion |year=2005 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=978-0-00-720907-1}} * {{ME-ref|RG}}  * {{cite news |last=Ibata |first=David |title='Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/chi-030112epringsrace-story.html |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=12 January 2003}} * {{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |author-link=Maev Kennedy |title=Tolkien annotated map of Middle-earth acquired by Bodleian library |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/03/jrr-tolkien-annotated-map-middle-earth-bodleian-lord-rings-hobbit |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 May 2016}} * {{cite journal |last=Larsen |first=Kristine |title=[Review:] The Science of Middle-earth |journal=[[Journal of Tolkien Research]] |volume=12 |issue=2 |date=March 2021 |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA670672995&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=2471934X&p=AONE&sw=w}} * {{ME-ref|TT}}  * {{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Stuart D. |author1-link=Stuart D. Lee |last2=Solopova |first2=Elizabeth |author2-link=Elizabeth Solopova |title=The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien |url=https://archive.org/details/keysmiddleearthd00lees_471 |url-access=limited |date=2005 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403946713}} * {{cite book |last=Lobdell |first=Jared |author-link=Jared Lobdell |chapter=[[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings]] |title=[[A Tolkien Compass]] |publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court Publishing]] |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois |date=1975 |isbn=0-87548-303-8 |pages=153–201}} * {{cite journal |last=O'Neill |first=Kathleen |year=2005 |title=Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings: A Cistercian Perspective'' |journal=Cistercian Studies Quarterly |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=293–325 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/212849943 |id={{ProQuest|212849943}} }} * {{cite web |last=Pak |first=Jaron |title=Rings Of Power Season 2 Scoop: Tolkien's Oliphaunts Will Arrive - But What Are They? |url=https://www.looper.com/1509838/rings-of-power-season-2-scoop-tolkien-oliphaunts-arrive-what-are-they-lord-of-the-rings/ |website=Looper |access-date=13 October 2024 |date=5 February 2024}} * {{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |chapter=Inside Literature: Tolkien's Explorations of Medieval Genres |editor-last1=Houghton |editor-first1=John Wm. |editor-last2=Croft |editor-first2=Janet Brennan |editor2-link=Janet Brennan Croft |editor-last3=Martsch |editor-first3=Nancy |title=Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_U7AAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 |year=2014 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-7438-7 |pages=133–152}} * {{cite book |last=Thum |first=Maureen |chapter=Sub-subcreation of Galadriel, Arwen, and Éowyn: Women of Power in Tolkien's and Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' |editor-last=Croft |editor-first=Janet Brennan |editor-link=Janet Brennan Croft |title=Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings |title-link=Tolkien on Film |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1887726092}} * {{cite journal |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=Iumbo, or ye Kinde of ye Oliphaunt |journal=Stapeldon Magazine |volume=7 |issue=40 |date=June 1927 |pages=125–127}} * {{ME-ref|TT}}  * {{ME-ref|ROTK}}  * {{cite book |last1=Tolkien |first1=J. R. R. |others=Illustrated by Dan McGeehan |title=Oliphaunt |date=2012 |publisher=Peterson Publishing |location=Mankato, MN |isbn=978-1-60973-155-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/oliphaunt0000tolk}} * {{ME-ref|TB}}  * {{cite web |author=Tolkien Gateway |title=Oliphaunts |date=2024 |url=https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Oliphaunts |website=[[Tolkien Gateway]] |access-date=13 October 2024}}

[[Category:Middle-earth animals]] [[Category:Fictional elephants]]