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| − | In [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J. R. R. Tolkien's]] fictional lands of [[Middle-earth]], a '''''mûmak''''' (plural '''''mûmakil''''') is a [[pachyderm]] of the southern land of [[Harad]], similar to but much larger than today's [[elephant]], and said to be its ancestor.
| + | The terms ''mûmak'' and ''mûmakil'' refer to these elephantine beasts of war... |
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| − | The terms ''mûmak'' and ''mûmakil'' were used by the [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] of [[Gondor]]. [[Hobbit]] folklore called these creatures '''oliphaunts'''. | |
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| | ==Description== | | ==Description== |
| − | The oliphaunt is described in ''[[The Two Towers]]'', Book IV, Chapter 3. [[Samwise Gamgee]] expresses a desire to see one and tells of Hobbit-lore of them being "big as a house" (see poem below). Later, in Chapter 4, the creature is first called "Mûmak" by Damrod, one of [[Faramir]]'s [[Ithilien]] rangers. Sam then sees one as big as a "moving hill." Tolkien relates that Sam's "fear and wonder" may have enlarged the animal in his eyes.
| + | Employed as a beast of burden by the mercenaries of the Northern Marches, the Dorn, the ''mûmakil'' were also used in battle during the wars of the Last Age. In battle, they carry tower-like structures on their backs. |
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| − | Employed as a beast of burden by the natives of Harad, the [[Haradrim]], the ''mûmakil'' were also used in battle during the wars of the [[Third Age]]. In the [[War of the Ring]], they were used by troops in [[Ithilien]] and in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], much like [[war elephant]]s of the real world. In battle, they carried tower-like structures (corresponding to the real world's [[howdah]]s) on their backs. | |
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| − | These beasts had skin so thick, it was almost impenetrable—making them almost invulnerable to arrows. The only known way to kill one was to shoot it in the eye, doubtless a very difficult task to perform. Also, as with real elephants, horses unfamiliar to them refused to go near them, making them effective against enemy cavalry. Tolkien implies that the creatures became extinct and that its "kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty." | + | These beasts had skin so thick, it was almost impenetrable—making them almost invulnerable to arrows. The only known way to kill one was to shoot it in the eye, doubtless a very difficult task to perform. Also, as with real elephants, horses unfamiliar to them refused to go near them, making them effective against enemy cavalry. Southern folk have implied that the creatures became extinct and that its "kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty." |
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| − | ==Word origin==
| + | ''Mûmakil'' are 50-100 feet or 15-30 meters tall, much larger than today's elephants with two sets of large tusks, one set in the upper jaw with a further set of smaller tusks, and another in the lower (like in the extinct ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinotherium Deinotherium]'') . The giant tusks hang close to ground level, and carry either spiked sleeves for hitting enemies, or house a broad barbed wire suspended between them, used for simply grinding anything in front of the animal down. Also, their skin is cut by blades and pierced by arrows relatively easily, though their hides are so tough they seem to shrug off any pain. |
| − | The word ''oliphaunt'' is a variant spelling of the archaic word ''[[oliphant]]'' meaning "elephant", "ivory", "elephant-tusk", "musical horn made of an elephant tusk", or "a musical instrument resembling such a horn". It appears in [[Middle English]] as ''olifant'' or ''olifaunt'', and was borrowed from [[Medieval French]] ''olifanz''. The French word owes something to both [[Old High German]] ''olbenta'' "camel", and to Latin ''elephantus'' "elephant", a word of [[Greek language|Greek]] origin. OHG ''olbenta'' is a word of old [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] origin; cf. [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''ulbandus'' also meaning "camel". But the form of the OHG and Gothic words suggests it is also a borrowing, perhaps indeed directly or indirectly from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''elephas'' (ελεφας) literally "ivory", though apparently with some confusion as to the animal the word referred to. The word survives as the surname "Oliphant" found throughout the [[English language|English]] speaking world (used by people such as the political cartoonist [[Pat Oliphant]]).
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| − | The most famous use of the oliphant is in [[The Song of Roland]] "The oliphant is set to Roland's Lips;" Roland fails to call for help at the [[Battle of Roncevaux]] in [[778]] until it is too late for him and his comrades. The oliphant is echoed in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by [[Boromir]]'s horn and counterposed by [[Helm Hammerhand|Helm's]] horn and the horns of [[Regions of the Shire|Buckland]].
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| − | Tolkien was born in South Africa, though he was taken to England at the age of 3; in [[Afrikaans]], just as in the [[Dutch language]], the word for elephant happens to be ''olifant''.
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| | ==Poem== | | ==Poem== |
| − | ''Oliphaunt'' is also the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by the hobbit [[Samwise Gamgee]], based on traditional [[bestiary]] lore. | + | ''Mûmak'' is also the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by gnomes of the North Marches... |
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| | :Grey as a mouse, | | :Grey as a mouse, |
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| | :Never lie on the ground, | | :Never lie on the ground, |
| | :Not even to die. | | :Not even to die. |
| − | :Oliphaunt am I, | + | :mûmak am I, |
| | :Biggest of all, | | :Biggest of all, |
| | :Huge, old, and tall. | | :Huge, old, and tall. |
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| | :If you never do, | | :If you never do, |
| | :You won't think I'm true; | | :You won't think I'm true; |
| − | :But old Oliphaunt am I, | + | :But old mûmak am I, |
| | :And I never lie. | | :And I never lie. |
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| − | ==In adaptations==
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| − | [[Image:Oliphaunt.jpg|right|thumb|One interpretation of a mûmak from Peter Jackson's ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film)|The Two Towers]].]]
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| − | ''Mûmakil'' first appear in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'', where Faramir and his men ambush not one, but two of them along with the Haradrim.
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| − | In ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'', they play a key role in the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], where the Rohirrim lose many men due to a direct charge against them (quite counter to real-life tactics, as noted above). However, they are ultimately defeated by the [[Dead Men of Dunharrow|Army of the Dead]]. [[Legolas]] also kills one beast all by himself, climbing up it and shooting it in the head piercing the brain stem, in fashion similar to the way he had previously dispatched a [[Troll (Middle-earth)|cave-troll]] in the tomb of [[Balin (Middle-earth)|Balin]] in the mines of [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]].
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| − | Here they are interpreted as being much, much larger (50-100 feet or 15-30 meters tall) than today's elephants with two sets of large tusks, one set in the upper jaw with a further set of smaller tusks, and another in the lower (like in the extinct ''[[Deinotherium]]'') . The giant tusks hang close to ground level, and carry either spiked sleeves for hitting enemies, or house a broad [[barbed wire]] suspended between them, used for simply grinding anything in front of the animal down. Also, their skin is cut by blades and pierced by arrows relatively easily, though their hides are so tough they seem to shrug off any pain. [[Legolas]] uses embedded arrows as handholds and footholds to climb up to one animal's back. [[Éowyn]] cuts one down with a sword in both hands by cutting the hamstring of its back legs, doing the same to another with a thrown spear before she is dismounted, and her brother [[Éomer]] incapacitates two by killing a leader of the Haradrim riding on top with a well-aimed spear throw. The man topples down with the spear still embedded in him, and the apparatus used to steer the Mûmak by pulling the ears is disrupted, causing it to turn to the side and knocking over the other.
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| − | [[Image:War_Oliphaunts.jpg|250px|thumb|''Mûmakil'' in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.]]'']]
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| − | Peter Jackson mentions in the DVD commentary for the Extended Edition of ''The Return of the King'' that the scenes with the ''Mûmakil'' are deliberately less violent and shorter than the original cut (i.e. Oliphaunts were originally going to be required to be shot in the eyes to be killed, but this was cut), because test audiences may have been reminded of the infamous abuse of circus elephants and given the creatures unintended sympathy. He also says that they specifically chose ''not'' to make the ''mûmakil'' trumpet with their trunks, as elephants are commonly imagined to, but to bellow a slowed-down and distorted lion's roar. This is, once again, to keep the audience from thinking of them as sympathetic creatures rather than evil monsters.
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| − | Noting their huge proportions and role in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields as [[Shock troops|shock troops]], some have compared them to the Imperial [[AT-AT]] walkers of ''[[Star Wars]]'', as [[Mad (magazine)|''MAD'']] magazine has done by juxtaposing one of the latter with them in a parody.
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| − | ==In popular culture==
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| − | *In the game, Rome: Total War, typing in the word 'oliphaunt' into the console will create larger elephant units.
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | * [[War elephant]]
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| − | * [[Mammoth]]
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| − | * [[Mastodon]]
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| − | ==Bibliography==
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| − | * Tolkien, J. R. R. ''The Lord of the Rings''. [[1952]], Unwin
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| − | * Tolkien, J. R. R. ''Oliphaunt''. [[1989]], Contemporary Books/Calico, illus. [[Hank Hinton]]
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| − | * ''The Song of Roland'' ([[Oxford]] text, [[1972]]. Translated by Douglas David and Roy Owen. George Allen and Unwin, ISBN 0048410039)
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| − | * ''Oxford English Dictionary'' OUP
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| − | ==References==
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| − | <div class="references-small">
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| − | <references />
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| − | </div>
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| − | [[Category:Middle-earth races]]
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| − | [[Category:Fictional elephants]]
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| − | [[es:Olifante (Tierra Media)]]
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| − | [[fr:Mûmak]]
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| − | [[hu:Olifánt]]
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| − | [[it:Olifante (Tolkien)]]
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| − | [[nl:Mûmakil]]
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| − | [[pl:Mumakile]]
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| − | [[pt:Olifante]]
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| − | [[sv:Mûmakil]]
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| − | [[Category:Midnight RPG Campaigns]]
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The terms mûmak and mûmakil refer to these elephantine beasts of war...
Description[edit]
Employed as a beast of burden by the mercenaries of the Northern Marches, the Dorn, the mûmakil were also used in battle during the wars of the Last Age. In battle, they carry tower-like structures on their backs.
These beasts had skin so thick, it was almost impenetrable—making them almost invulnerable to arrows. The only known way to kill one was to shoot it in the eye, doubtless a very difficult task to perform. Also, as with real elephants, horses unfamiliar to them refused to go near them, making them effective against enemy cavalry. Southern folk have implied that the creatures became extinct and that its "kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty."
Mûmakil are 50-100 feet or 15-30 meters tall, much larger than today's elephants with two sets of large tusks, one set in the upper jaw with a further set of smaller tusks, and another in the lower (like in the extinct Deinotherium) . The giant tusks hang close to ground level, and carry either spiked sleeves for hitting enemies, or house a broad barbed wire suspended between them, used for simply grinding anything in front of the animal down. Also, their skin is cut by blades and pierced by arrows relatively easily, though their hides are so tough they seem to shrug off any pain.
Mûmak is also the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by gnomes of the North Marches...
- Grey as a mouse,
- Big as a house,
- Nose like a snake,
- I make the earth shake,
- As I tramp through the grass;
- Trees crack as I pass.
- With horns in my mouth
- I walk in the South,
- Flapping big ears.
- Beyond count of years
- I stump round and round,
- Never lie on the ground,
- Not even to die.
- mûmak am I,
- Biggest of all,
- Huge, old, and tall.
- If ever you'd met me
- You wouldn't forget me.
- If you never do,
- You won't think I'm true;
- But old mûmak am I,
- And I never lie.
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