The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf Oakenshield – that’s what the King Under the Mountain should actually be called

Anyone who has seen or read “The Hobbit” knows that you have to remember a lot of names if you want to name the 13 dwarves who go on the journey with Bilbo (Martin Freeman). A name that most people can remember is Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), the leader of the operation.

The fact that Tolkien likes to think of complicated names is clear from the other 12 dwarves. But even with Thorin, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and even Frodo (Elijah Wood), the fantasy author wasn’t always sure about the names and it almost seems as if he assigned the names partly by rolling dice.

Thorin was Gandalf and Sam was Frodo

The exact circumstances why Tolkien sometimes reassigned the names, which often also have a corresponding meaning important to their personalities, are unclear. But in an early version of The Hobbit, Dwarven King Thorin Oakenshield bore the name Gandalf. The wizard with the gray pointed hat, however, was still called Blad there.

Eventually the name Gandalf went to the wizard and the dwarf received a new name, Thorin. It’s not the only time Tolkien passed along names. Frodo’s best friend, Sam (Sean Astin), was still called Frodo in an early version.

Frodo, on the other hand, was still Bingo Bolger-Baggins. The name Bingo was dropped and Sam passed on the name Frodo and was renamed Sam.

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Lord of the Rings Quiz: How well do you know Middle-earth?

What else are the people of dwarves called?

ⵙⵔLuthien’s people ⵙⵔDurin’s people ⵙⵔThe old people

There are all sorts of fun facts from Tolkien’s fantasy world. For example, do you know how high Saruman’s tower is or how fast the Nazgul mounts fly? Plus, you might be surprised to learn that there are even vampires in Middle-earth. But these probably won’t appear in “The Rings of Power”.