A Mistake Made By Tolkien?

[Annawen]

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed this before, but it's something to ponder. :p

I read a quote from Gimli in The Two Towers that is incorrect, and I was wondering if Tolkien meant to put it in there....or not. I've always thought of him as somewhat of a 'perfectionist', so for him to actually make a mistake is a big deal in my mind. :p

So...I thought I'd put it up for discussion. :grin:

Here's the text:

The postern was closed again, the iron door was barred and piled inside with stones. When all were safe within, Éomer turned: 'I thank you, Gimli son of Glóin!' he said. 'I did not know that you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company. How came you there?'
'I followed you to shake off sleep,' said Gimli; 'but I looked on the hillmen and they seemed over large for me, so I sat beside a stone to see your sword-play.'
'I shall not find it easy to repay you,' said Éomer.
'There may be many a chance ere the night is over,' laughed the Dwarf. 'But I am content. Till now I have hewn naught but wood since I left Moria.'
(The Two Towers, Helm's Deep)

Hmm....naught but wood since leaving Moria? I don't think so. :nono:

He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him. They came from the western slopes of the hill, silently, creeping through the trees as if they were hunting. Gimli had his axe in hand, and Legolas his long knife: all his arrows were spent. When they came into the glade they halted in amazement; and then they stood a moment with heads bowed in grief, for it seemed to them plain what had happened.
'Alas!' said Legolas, coming to Aragorn's side. 'We have hunted and slain many Orcs in the woods, but we should have been of more use here. We came when we heard the horn - but too late, it seems. I fear you have taken deadly hurt.'
(The Two Towers, The Departure of Boromir)

So....what say you? :p Do you think that Tolkien meant for Gimli to be wrong? Perhaps in his restlessness he forgot about Amon Hen? Or do you think that Tolkien forgot about it and made a mistake? :huh:

[Periantari Andruil]

Thinking quickly about this, i think perhaps it's a Gimli mistake and maybe at the moment he forgot about the encounters with the orcs? Perhaps in his restlessness he forgot about Amon Hen<--i think this is more possible.
Or maybe it is a Tolkien mistake but i doubt it... I think a Gimli mistake is more likely... to find more answers, i would turn to HOME or the Reader's Companion about this....
good point though, Annawen! =)

[BelovedCaptain]

Or maybe perhaps Gimli's saying he was missing out on a really, really big battle where he could kill tons and tons of orcs? Maybe he's just being bloodthirsty. :p
That's a cool point you picked up, Annawen!

[Annawen]

LOL, thank you both. :p
I'm not sure which way I think it is. It could very well be that Tolkien meant for Gimli to forget about one battle while impatiently hoping for another! lol
I guess we'll never know for sure. :(
But I still like to see what eveyone else thinks. ;) Any more opinions? :grin:

[Arien]

Hmmm, I always thought he ment it as a joke, I never thought of it as a mistake. :mmmm: I guess it depends on how you look at it. ;)

[BelovedCaptain]

Yeah, it does sound like a joke. ;)

[Mirkgirl]

Hmmm... to be honest I was at first taken aback and wanted to say - they came too late for the battle, thanks PJ for messing with the book again... However rereading the passage it seems clear that they did get to kill some orcs. Maybe Tolkien himself thought "they came too late for the battle, so it was last Moria where orc blood adorned Gimlis axe". I could imagine that such a mistake is to be made.

However it is also possible that Gimli differentiates between battle ((== some of us against lots of them, aiming to win)) and hunt ((==some punny orcs running around the forest and me practising field surgery with axe, aiming to pass the time till we find where the real battle is))

Third theory would be that Leggy was actually hiding somewhere far from all the orcs and Gimli's only merit was to find him and drag him towards the horn-blower. So no orc-slaying took place in the woods. ;) //Disclaimer: this is not meant to be serious. Any serious rage the fan girls herd at the moment is to be kept to themselves.

[Elf Girl]

Lol! I think it's Gimli exaggeration. It seems like something he'd say. ;)

[Arwen~Undómiel]

Hmm...I never noticed that and first of all: Thanks Anna, for spotting it!

So, I don't think that Tolkien made a mistake, I mean he was such a perfectionist, I don't think he would have missed something like that.

Mirkgirl's third theory comes closest to what I think is possible.
Maybe Legolas was hiding somewhere in safe distance firing arrows and Gimli was just..well being Gimli...lol and no actual battle (or what Gimli would call a battle) took place and in the movie PJ either misinterpreted that(as we're never actually told about what REALLY happened at Amon Hen..as far as I remember...) or he thought it would be better to have a really bloody battle to finish the first movie....
So, in my opinion this was a PJ mistake if there was a mistake at all as he made us think of a pretty awful bloody battle at Amon Hen...but maybe just Boromir and Aragorn actually fought and LEggy stayed at safe distance and Gimli was too late...

[Annawen]

LOL! Could be. :p
I'm sure that Tolkien, perfectionist that he was, had a reason in his mind for putting it in there. We'll just never know what it was...lol

[Elfdaughter]

I have to admit I went and re-read the Departure of Boromir chapter in order to respond to this question....

Now, Tolkien mentioned that Legolas and Gimli were 'creeping as if they were hunting' - and although Legolas's arrows were spent, he doesn't mention whether gimli's axe is clean or not. Although Legolas does say 'WE have hunted and slain' - but again, there is that word 'hunting'. I think Gimli would have seen it more as a hunt, and easily forgotten when faced with the excitement of a true battle.