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Loresilme
Valinor
Feb 24 2008, 3:04am
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MISC 02/23/08: The West Gate of Moria
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FOTR, Book II, Chapter 4 "A Journey in the Dark"...
" Suddenly Gimli, who had pressed on ahead, called back to them. He was standing on a knoll and pointing to the right. Hurrying up they saw below them a deep and narrow channel. It was empty and silent, and hardly a trickle of water flowed among the brown and red-stained stones of its bed; but on the near side there was a path, much broken and decayed, that wound its way among the ruined walls and paving-stones of an ancient highroad.
'Ah! Here it is at last!' said Gandalf. 'This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess; it used to be swift and noisy. Come! We must hurry on. We are late.'
The Company were footsore and tired; but they trudged doggedly along the rough and winding track for many miles. The sun turned from the noon and began to go west. After a brief halt and a hasty meal they went on again. Before them the mountains frowned, but their path lay in a deep trough of land and they could see only the higher shoulders and the far eastward peaks.
At length they came to a sharp bend. There the road, which had been veering southwards between the brink of the channel and a steep fall of the land to the left, turned and went due east again. Rounding the corner they saw before them a low cliff, some five fathoms high, with a broken and jagged top. Over it a trickling water dripped, through a wide cleft that seemed to have been carved out by a fall that had once been strong and full.
'Indeed things have changed!' said Gandalf. 'But there is no mistaking the place. There is all that remains of the Stair Falls. If I remember right, there was a flight of steps cut in the rock at their side, but the main road wound away left and climbed with several loops up to the level ground at the top. There used to be a shallow valley beyond the falls right up to the Walls of Moria, and the Sirannon flowed through it with the road beside it. Let us go and see what things are like now!'
They found the stone steps without difficulty, and Gimli sprang swiftly up them, followed by Gandalf and Frodo. When they reached the top they saw that they could go no further that way, and the reason for the drying up of the Gate-stream was revealed. Behind them the sinking Sun filled the cool western sky with glimmering gold. Before them stretched a dark still lake. Neither sky nor sunset was reflected on its sullen surface. The Sirannon had been dammed and had filled all the valley. Beyond the ominous water were reared vast cliffs, their stern faces pallid in the fading light: final and impassable. No sign of gate or entrance, not a fissure or crack could Frodo see in the frowning stone.
'There are the Walls of Moria,' said Gandalf, pointing across the water. 'And there the Gate stood once upon a time, the Elven Door at the end of the road from Hollin by which we have come. But this way is blocked. None of the Company, I guess, will wish to swim this gloomy water at the end of the day. It has an unwholesome look.' "
Oh the Movie Firster me really loved this shot. I loved the ancientness of this structure. I had no idea what it was supposed to be, but it just seemed like there were spans of time and history and civilizations suggested here. And then, quick whoosh, it was gone and I was back to trying to keep up with the story :-). But it was one of those moments where I began getting really hooked into the whole world of LOTR. There were a lot of those moments, but this was one of them... that understanding that there was a whole lot of backstory behind the movie story I was watching.
Now Book Seconder me is actually a little confused, because in the Screencap Library this is called the "Moria West Gate", but I couldn't exactly match up this visual image to a description in the book. So I'm not sure where they got this structure from, other than the 'ancient high road' mentioned in the first paragraph, unless (more likely) it is described elsewhere in the book or appendices and I missed it.
But Book Seconder also really likes this now because it's how I imagine scenes from The Silmarillion. It looks like a setting from the ancient ages of the Elves and the dragons ....
 Loresilme
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"MISC" - "Memorable, Interesting Screen Caps" -- spotlights miscellaneous, memorable, interesting, random shots from Reera the Red's fabulous LotR screencap library. Fun or thoughtful or beautiful scenes … but hopefully always interesting ones. And thanks to an inspired suggestion by Dernwyn , each MISC includes the text from the book as it describes the scene moment. MISC is a weekend feature, and in keeping with a weekend frame of mind, it's casual all the way here …. a place to drop in on the weekends when you're stopping in at TORN to see who's around, grab a snack from the fridge, chat a bit or just relax with a picture or two. Any and all comments are welcome, as are lurkers and newbies, don't be shy. MISC is a relaxed, no-stress-allowed posting zone, where it's ok to ramble and ok to ruminate and ok to comment even when you're fuzzy on a detail or two. And it's also ok just to sit and look ... MISC is a place to bask in simple enjoyment of the LotR films and story. As always, thanks to all who lurk or participate … and if you have any suggestions regarding MISC, please feel free to PM me!
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OhioHobbit
Gondor
Feb 25 2008, 1:09am
Post #2 of 8
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and I agree with you about the feeling of great ancientness. And I also love the music that goes with it. It is kind of hard for me to fit this location with the book also. More than once I have seen something in the movies that I could have sworn was in the book and then been unable to find it. Either that says something about how good the filmmakers were or how easily I’m confused.
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burrahobbit
Rohan
Feb 25 2008, 11:46am
Post #3 of 8
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You're right that the designers have taken some artistic licence here. The cliff with the ancient stream flowing over has become a great sculpted waterfall structure. The image successfully communicates the great craft and power of the dwarven civilisation that once dwelled here long ago. It reminds me of the amazing aqueducts the romans built (and are still standing at places like at Nimes) and maybe that's a subtle reference the artists have made.
Anyone got the Fellowship of the Ring concept art book handy? I seem to remember Alan Lee did the design for this scene. Lee's usual style is subtle and understated, but in the films he really went for it with some really amazing dramatic design. The story about PJ liking Lee's image of the base of Orthanc and telling him 'now draw the rest!' sums it up for me. You can see the change when you compare Lee's illustrations of Rivendell before the films, and for the films.
Lots of locations for the Hobbit (like Erebor and Thranduil's Palace) are at the early stage of imagining, so it's exciting to think what the concept artists will create for The Hobbit! 
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 25 2008, 3:21pm
Post #4 of 8
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of Alan Lee's Beleg Departs Menegroth in Children of Hurin. It's stunning!
I love the grand scope of this in the movie. It not only brings the Fellowship into an environment, it shows the scale of the works of Elves and Dwarves. Not only Numenor was lost.
 
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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burrahobbit
Rohan
Feb 25 2008, 3:53pm
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When I first saw that picture I thought that Thranduil's Palace in the Hobbit could be developed as something similar for the film. Illustrations of the Elven King's palace always seemed pretty underwhelming to me, and the idea of living in caves doesn't seem very elven (a bigger contrast with the dwarves would make sense). In this illustration Lee's drawn some great Rivendell style architecture alongside the stone entrance, and it looks very elven.
Mirkwood would have to be more tangled and ominous of course, and the palace would likely have more of a fortress feel. I wonder if it would be too big a change for Thranduil to have a great hall at the top of the hill under the stars? That would be amazing!
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Feb 25 2008, 5:17pm
Post #6 of 8
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I'd think Thranduil's palace would feel more hobbity than dwarvish. But then again, the West Gate of Moria is carved into solid rock on the side of the mountain (dwarvish) but was guarded by 2 huge Holly trees (elvish). It'll be fascinating to see what they come up with :D
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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weaver
Half-elven
Feb 25 2008, 5:19pm
Post #7 of 8
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This screencap looks like it could be right off a museum wall.
I agree with you that it has a sense of romanticism about it -- in my mind, I connect it with the poem Ozymandias by Shelley, which I had to memorize in high school --
OZYMANDIAS
"I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
The mystique of connecting with long ago civilizations that have come and gone is powerful stuff. Tolkien taps into this a lot in his writings, and the films do the same in images like this; even if the match is not exact, they achieve a similar effect.
Thanks for another great shot!
Weaver
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One Ringer
Tol Eressea
Feb 26 2008, 8:03pm
Post #8 of 8
(72 views)
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What I love about this shot . . .
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is that it really seems like a painting. It has a lot of atmosphere as well. It seems very mysterious, yet soothing.
"Death is just another pathway . . . one that we all must take."
-Gandalf from "The Return of the King"
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