The Lord Of The Rings is the granddaddy of modern fantasy. Sure, there were earlier fantasy works that had inspired LOTR itself, like The Legends of King Arthur and Greek Mythology. But no other story set in the fantasy genre grabbed the public's consciousness and brought the genre into the main✅stream the way J.R.R. Tolkien's saga of Middle Earth did.

Almost every successful present-day fantasy author has acknowledged the influence of Tolkien's writing on their own work, from George R.R. Martin to J.K. Rowling. With such a huge fanbase spread across the continents, a lot of time has been spent dissecting the world of Middle Earth and the characters that populate it. Tolkien's own notes on the past and futurꦯe of the world he had created make for a fascinating study of how one mind plotted and planned for decades to create a believable world of elves and sorcerers.

So complete was the history and geography of Middle Earth that it became the default setting for future fantasy stories whether the authors acknowledged the similarities or not. Every game of Dungeons and Dragons and most other fantasy games ar🌄e set in some version of Tolkien's world𝓰.

Of course, Tolkien was only one man. As much care as he showed in creating the world of Middle Earth, his work does not always stand up to the scrutiny of millions of fans poring over his writings every day. Here are 25 things in the LOTR novels that don't really make any sense:

25 ꦉ No Security Detail Over Mount Doom?

The final stage of The Lord Of The Rings saga sees Frodo and Sam make their way to the top of Mount Doom at the heart of Mordor. The two hobbits manage to make their way to the innermost part of the mountain,𒀰 which is the one place in all the land where the ring of power can be destroyed before Sauron beco🐽mes aware of their presence and sends his emissaries after them.

And that's just terrible management on Sauron's part.

Considering the importance of Mount Doom, shouldn't he have had some sort of army guarding the entran🤡ce to the mountain? Or maybe just put in an enchanted door that will only open for him?

24 The E๊agles Are Not Coming

Perhaps the most hotly contested issue that fans have with the story is the absence of the giant Eagles for most of the fellowship's journey. After all, what could be more simple than hopping onto an army of ea🍸gles to take you right up to the mouth of Mount Doom?

The most popular defense against this theory is the argument that the Eagles were not a delivery service but a separate species that had no personal stake in the war of the rings or it's outcome. But if they were truly so indifferent, then why did they help Gandalf escape Saruཧman's tower? Or carry ꦗSam and Frodo out of Mordor at the end of the story?

23 Gandalf's Baffling Code Of Conduct 🦋 🌜

Gandalf appears in the guise of an old man to the people of Middle Earth. But that is just a disguise. In reality, Gandalf is a literal angel sent to Earth by God to guide mankind towards progress. Despite being immensely p🐬owerful, second only to Sauron in terms of pure magical strength, Gandalf has sworn a strict oath not to use his powers to solve Middle Earth's problems but only give guidance.

But Gandalf seems to have no problem using his power when it's🐲 personally convenient to him. He fights the Balrog one on one in the first novel and joins the battle against🤡 the armies of Mordor in the final novel. He even takes on a Nazgul while he's at it. So why didn't he just keep using his powers all the time to make the task of destroying the ring and wiping out the armies of Mordor easier?

22 𓆉 Can The Balrog Fly?

A question of anatomy that has dogged the fire demon Balrog is whether or not it can fly. The original novel carries a description of the Balrog's wings that can either be seen as🐽 literal or metaphorical.

And fans can't stop arguing over which one it is.

Even the movi🌳e chose to stay neutral on the topic. The Balrog we finally get to see appears to have a constantly changing physical shape, slipping i🍃n and out of shadows and melding into fire and smoke. We can see two wing-like appendages at the back, but it's unclear whether they're actual wings, and whether or not they can help the Balrog fly.

21 Ganꦫdalf Forgets About🌠 The Ring

This one is about the movies rather than the novels. When The Hobbit was being made, the writers had to find ways to work in as many references to Lord Of The Rings as possible, to keep fans of the original franchise hooked. One way t🍌hey did this was by including a side-plot about Gandalf being on a quest to find the one ring that winds up in Bilbo's hands.

But that makes Gandalf look pretty dumb in Fellowship of the Ring. There it's shown that he spent months poring over books in distant lands trying to understand the true nature of the ring Bilbo left for Frodo. Shouldn't he have known right away that it was the one ring if he had been searching for it since The Hobbit?

20 🐼 🍬 No Bad Ring Effects On Bilbo?

The wearing of the ring was always a huge deal for Frodo. Twice while wearing the rin꧙g, Sauron was able to locate 💜Frodo all the way from Mordor. Even the physical act of putting on the ring had a negative effect on Frodo, making him feel tired and weak, and almost physically ill.

Yet, Bilbo was able to put on the ring any number of times without any ill-effects. He never saw Sauron or felt like the ring was sucking the life out of him. Even though he was unaware of the ring's true nature, and took no precautions while wearing it, ✤unlike Frodo.

19 The෴ Ill-Equipped Fellowship

It's been repeatedly stated that Frodo was the only person who had the stren𝄹gth of mind to resist the lure of the ring. That is why he had to be the one to take the ring to Mordor and throw it into the mountain from whence꧟ it was wrought.

But did the fellowship created to assist him have to... be so bad?

Think about it. All through the story, the company finds itself overcome by creatures of dark magic who cannot be destroyed by swords alone. Yet, Gandalf was the only company member who 🌱knew ღhow to deal with such threats. Wouldn't it have made more sense to send Frodo to Mordor on this most important mission in the company of wizards and elven lords who could use white magic to assist him?

18 👍 🦄 Frodo Being An Ungrateful Idiot

Near the end of the journey to Mount Doom, Sam and Frodo have just about had it with the whole 'throw the ring into the fire to save middle Earth' schtick. They're tired, they're hungry, and the ring's influence has convinced Frodo that Sam is trying to steal it from him. So he orders Sam to go back home so൩ Frodo can continue the journey to Mount Doom alone.

Really, Frodo? You're in the middle of Mordor, and you're expecting your faithful servant to hoof it back all the way to the Shire on his own? We get that the ring was corrupting Frodo's mind, but it still feels like a particularly petty thin🉐g to say considering Sam's years of faithful service and selfless nature.

17 🎀 Who Was The Eldest?

The people of Middle Earth are really, really old. They measure their lives in centuries rather than decades. That means that the oldest person in Middle Earth wo💞uld be unimaginably old by our standards.

Problem is, we're not really sure who that person is.

Tom Bombadil is a mysterious but immensely powerful creature that lives in the forests near The Shire. He doesn't say much♎ about his past but mentions that he is the eldest being in Middle Earth. Later, Elrond himself confirms Tom as the oldest and fatherless. And then we have Treebeard, the Ent. Gandalf claims that Treebeard is the oldest of all living things. So was Elrond telling the truth, or was Gandalf?

16 Knowledge Of The Palantir 🔯

In earlier editions of the novels, after Denethor reveals that he possesses a Palantir, Gandalf asserts that he had long been aware that Denethor had the enchanted stone in his keep. This was in direct contradiction to his earlier remꦜarks to Pippin that he and the White Council had believed all the Palantirs had been destroyed long ago.

Later editions changed the lines of the text, so the latest editions state that Gandalf had only guessed that Denethor possessedꦓ a Palantir. Which quite frankly doesn't sound as impressive, and simply makes it look like Gandalf was unwilling to admit to h♊is oversight.