Oliphaunt
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Image:Oliphaunt.jpg In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional lands of Middle-earth, an Oliphaunt or mûmak, plural mûmakil, is a large pachyderm of the southern land of Harad, similar to but much larger than today's elephant, and said to be its ancestor.
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The animal
The Oliphaunt's actual size is left vague, though we know it is much bigger than the modern elephant. It is described in Hobbit-lore as being "big as a house" (see poem below). Later, Samwise Gamgee sees one as big as a "moving hill" in Ithilien.
It was employed as a weapon of war and a beast of burden by the natives of Harad, the Haradrim, during the wars of the Third Age. It became extinct by the end of the Fourth Age.
In the War of the Ring, Oliphaunts were used by troops in Ithilien and in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, much like war elephants of the real world. In battle, they carried tower-like structures (corresponding to the real world's howdahs) 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 an oliphaunt 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.
In adaptations
In Peter Jackson's film version, their height is specified to reach up to 50 feet.Template:Fact
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 Army of the Dead. Legolas also kills one beast all by himself, climbing up it and shooting it in the neck.
They are much, much larger than today's elephants with 2 sets of big tusks and one set of smaller tusks, reminiscent of some actual elephant ancestors. Also, their skin is cut by blades and pierced by arrows relatively easily. Legolas uses embedded arrows as handholds and footholds to climb up to one animal's top (though the beasts are not really harmed by these arrows). Also, Éowyn cuts one down with two swords in each hand, by merely slashing at its legs.
The word
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 origin. OHG olbenta is a word of old Germanic origin; cf. 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 elephas, though apparently with some confusion as to the animal the word referred to. The word survives as the surname Oliphant found throughout the English speaking world.
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's horn and the horns of Buckland.
In Middle-earth an Oliphaunt was called a mûmak (plural mûmakil) by the Men of Gondor. The word "Oliphaunt" is only used by hobbits.
The 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.
Oliphaunt
- 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.
- Oliphaunt 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 Oliphaunt am I,
- And I never lie.
See also
Bibliography
- The Lord of the Rings,J. R. R. Tolkien, 1952, Unwin
- Oliphaunt,J. R. R. Tolkien, 1989, Contemporary Books/Calico, illus. Hank Hinton
- The Song of Roland (Oxford text,1972,Trans Douglas David Roy Owen, George Allen and Unwin, ISBN 0048410039
- Oxford English Dictionary OUPpt:Olifante