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By Jonathanrex1
03/02/2009 - 23:38:23

Type: Civilization creature
Rating: 0.07 (Not rated)
Tags: battle, book, elephant, fantasy, j.r. tolkien, large, mammal, middle earth, movie, oliphant, peter jackson, pop culture, trunk, tusk, war, weta

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Description

One of my favourite pop culture creatures. A giant 100ft long, 50 ft tall pachyderm with attitude. Oliphaunts were animals similar to - but larger than - elephants. In the tongue of the Haradrim, they were known as mûmakil (singular mûmak); this was later used by the Men of Gondor. The animalOliphaunts lived during the Third Age in the southern land of Harad, and were notably used in the Siege of Gondor and the subsequent Battle of the Pelennor Fields on March 15th, T.A. 3019. They were big enough to carry structures similar to towers on their backs. Mumakil came from somewhere in jungles of Far Harad, off any known maps of middle earth. Massive, often ferocious beasts, the Haradrim somehow tamed them to use as beasts of war; and the result was possibly the most brutally effective beast of war the Middle Earth ever saw. The Haradrim strapped a massive, carriage-like tiered tower the the backs of these beasts, and from here expert Haradrim archers and spearmen hurled these projectiles down upon their enemies. The mumak itself, enraged and goaded by its cruel Haradrim masters, would charge through the enemy, trampling archer, swordsman and horse beneath its massive feet and sweeping aside men in its way with scything strokes of its great tusks. Killing a mûmak was almost impossible - its rough, leathery hide made arrows realtively harmless, and any archers standing to take a shot would be an easy target for the archers on top of the Haradrim. Horses had a natural fear of the Mumak's so even the most skilled horsemen could not get close enough to strike at its great, trunk-like legs. The only known way to kill an Oliphaunt was to shoot it in the eye, which typically meant standing in front of it as it charged the archer, and thus a very difficult task to perform. EtymologyThe word "oliphaunt" was only used by Hobbits. Gandalf mentions elephants once in The Hobbit so perhaps 'oliphaunt' is a Hobbitish corruption of this original word. But whether these two creatures are the same, can not be said with certainty. Oliphant/olifant/olifaunt had been archaic words for elephant and the ivory. The most famous use of the oliphant (as in horn) 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. Portrayals in adaptations1968: BBC Radio's The Hobbit: Gandalf's line "Great elephants!" was replaced by "Great oliphaunts"; this was one of several uses of material from The Lord of the Rings. 2002: Peter Jackson's The Two Towers: Two oliphaunts appear in the ambush in Ithilien. They are CGI created, and they are much, much bigger than today's elephants; furthermore, they have 2 sets of big tusks and one set of tiny tusks. 2003: Peter Jackson's The Return of the King: A horde of Oliphuants shows up at the Battle of Pelennor Fields, mounted with towers and decorated with deadly spikes on their tusks. The rohirrim charge headlong into battle, and even pass under them. Several oliphaunts were killed. Weta made a large prop mûmak (which Richard Taylor incorrectly called a mûmakil) for background purposes. This prop became a favourite picnic destination for crew members. Info from http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Mumakil 11th most popular civ creature.