25 Legendary Facts About the Lord of the Ring Universe For True Fans Out There

Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. He was offered 15% of worldwide box-office receipts, totaling close to $400 million. He turned it down due to "not understanding the script".

2. Before filming The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson made the principal actors train for 6 weeks in sword fighting, riding and boating to allow the cast to bond. Later, most of the actors portraying the Fellowship got a tattoo with the Elvish symbol for the number 9.

3. The costume designers for Lord of the Rings worked for two straight years making custom armor for the movies. They fabricated a total of 11 kilometers of chain mail (nearly 7 miles) by hand, to lay under the armor of the warriors. Just one orc suit had 13,000 rings and took 3 days to make.

4. The girl (Elanor Gamgee) that runs towards Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) at the end of Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King is his actual daughter.

5. A 1999 Russian book (The Last Ringbearer) re-tells Lord Of The Rings from Sauron's perspective with Gandalf and the fellowship as the villains.

Viggo Mortensen wore a Montreal Canadiens t-shirt under his armor throughout filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

7. In the scene where Viggo Mortensen kicks the helmet near a pile of orcs, he actually screams so hard because he broke two toes. They actually used the footage in the movie.

8. While shooting The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) often spent days hiking to the film's remote locations, in costume and carrying his sword, in order to appear authentically travel-worn.

9. Sauron has a rich backstory in Lord of the Rings, and at one point turned into a vampire and hid in the woods. There were also werewolves.

10. The Lord of the Rings novels were written as if they were translated into English, and the actual common tongue of the books is called Westron.

After the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien wanted to publish a book on the history of Middle Earth, The Silmarillion. It was through a misunderstanding that the publisher rejected the draft without reading it, leading Tolkien to write another story about hobbits, which became The Lord of the Rings.

12. In the first edition of "The Hobbit," Gollum willingly bets his ring in the riddle game with Bilbo and the two part on good terms. Tolkien changed the story in the second edition to reflect the corruptive powers of the ring taking shape in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

13. The meals mentioned by Pippin in Lord of the Rings (breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, elevenses, lunch, tea, dinner, supper, and snack) are considered actual meal times.

14. Elijah Wood created his Frodo audition tape in his backyard with a homemade Hobbit costume.

15. The role of Frodo in a 1981 BBC radio dramatization of Lord Of The Rings was played by Ian Holm, who went on to appear as Bilbo in Peter Jackson's films.

Gimli was prevented from traveling with his father (Gloin) on the Quest of Erebor because Thorin and company thought him too young, though Gimli, being in his 60s, considered himself ripe for adventure and was disappointed to be left behind.

17. When Sam and Frodo enter Mordor, the music playing in the background is Gollum's theme, a subtle reminder that Gollum is still alive and following them.

18. The filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy pumped roughly $200,000,000 into the New Zealand economy.

19. Nicholas Cage was offered the role of Aragon in the first Lord of the Rings film, but he turned it down due to 'family obligations'.

20. Gandalf carried another lesser ring of power while Frodo sought to destroy the One Ring in "The Lord of the Rings".

JRR Tolkien typed the entirety of the Lord of the Rings using a two finger pecking style.

22. Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords was an extra in Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King. Fans have since dubbed his character, Figwit.

23. The Black Speech (a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien) of Mordor does not feature the letter 'e'. This is because it is a favorite letter of the Elves, and your mouth forms a smile when pronouncing it.

24. The Gondor Theme was first introduced briefly in the Fellowship of the Ring. It is then featured in The Two Towers during flashback scenes (Extended Edition). The theme finally reaches its climax in the Return of the King. This is a wonderful example of music foreshadowing.

25. In Lord Of The Rings, Elrond and Aragorn were distantly related through Elrond's brother, Elros.