Writing Tenth Walkers: A Guide (LotR)
Writing Tenth Walkers: A Guide
Want to add another member to the Fellowship of the Ring? I did, inadvertently, since I’d never really thought of the extra character as being part of the Fellowship. However, he did go along and take part in the quest, so I suppose he is a ‘tenth walker’.
The thing is, how does one write a tenth-walker story and not be flamed? I’m no expert, but I have some tips after having studied the ‘genre’ for a few months.
Firstly, remember that Elrond is big on numbers and symbolism. The official Fellowship of the Ring must have nine people to go against the nine black riders. He would not invite an extra person to join no matter how ‘speshul’, or special, as it is known in English, he or she is. One way to get around this is to have the tenth walker meet the Fellowship after they leave Rivendell.
While writing, it is important to consider what differences your tenth walker is going to make. If he or she is just going to insert lines in the movie script and generally do nothing much, then stop right there and forget you were ever going to write a tenth walker story. If the tenth walker is going to take over the story and change the entire plot, forget that too. You would be better off writing original fiction.
I would advise against putting girls in the Fellowship. Scientifically speaking, it is a bad idea. Girls do not have the upper body strength of men/males. Their muscles have been compromised by their breasts. They also lack the stamina, because their lungs have a smaller capacity. It’s just sexual dimorphism. I’m not being sexist.
Middle Earth is based on Medieval Europe, and it would be scandalous for a female to travel with a bunch of males. The only females who did that were women of ill-repute.
For most tenth walkers, Middle Earth would be a completely alien place, so a good way to develop their character would be to let them compare aspects of Middle Earth with what they know from their own home. They can make quirky observations without saying much.
Since the tenth walker cannot change the entire storyline, but also cannot just be inserted in between the lines of the film script or the book, it would be best to create little scenarios and side-plots which can allow you to develop the tenth walker’s character. There are lots of little niches into which you can slip your tenth walker. For example, during their attempt to go over the mountains, you can add an event, like the Fellowship gets separated because of an avalanche or an accident, and you can have your tenth walker play a major part in that bit. At the Battle of Helms Deep, give your tenth walker a task to do instead of having them follow the other members of the Fellowship around. They can either help Éowyn with taking care of the people in the caves, or they could be involved in strengthening the gates, or they could try and organize the boys of Rohan into an acceptable fighting force. During the siege of Gondor, you could have them helping with the defences, such as manning the trebuchets or organizing the archers, while Gandalf takes care of something else. These are only examples. Just try and see Middle Earth through the character’s eyes and remember that they play a minor part in all of this.
Rules for Tenth Walkers
· The tenth walker is not allowed to have special powers. If s/he does have powers, they must be normal for the species. (Note: Do not make up a powerful species just so your tenth walker can have special powers. That’s even worse. Stick to the species which Tolkien has written about.) The powers which the tenth walker has should not be particularly useful for the quest and they should not be able to control it. (i.e. quick healing for the tenth walker)
· The tenth walker should not be at the centre of attention. The most important people on the quest are Aragorn and Frodo. Keep it that way.
· The tenth walker should have a functional brain.
· The tenth walker should not fall in love with anyone in the Fellowship. They have quest to save the world. They’re too busy to fall in love.
· The tenth walker should not talk so much. That just gets annoying.
· The tenth walker should not tell the Fellowship what to do. That’s annoying too, and makes readers want to kill your tenth walker with a flame thrower.
· The tenth walker should be confused/scared. Everyone else was. And imagine, any normal person would freak out if they find out that they’re in a fantasy world or just a completely different world. They would at least be completely ignorant.
· The tenth walker should feel the Ring’s call. Everyone else does.
· The Fellowship should be suspicious of tenth walker, at first anyway. If you were on a quest to save the world, and there were enemies all around, you would be suspicious of everyone, especially someone who appears in the wilderness out of the blue.
· The tenth walker actually has skills which would be useful to the Fellowship, and the skills have to be realistic. (i.e. the tenth walker knows how to fight, after lots of previous training, and building siege weaponry)
· The tenth walker should get into trouble with members of the Fellowship. That gives them a bit of depth, and allows you to explore the development of relationships. It’s also a way to involve your tenth walker in the plot.
· The tenth walker cannot continually look nice. They have to get messy. They are in the wild after all, and there are no portable showers. You would get dirty pretty quickly, especially with all the fighting and rough living. Legolas is the only exception, because he’s an elf, and even he gets smudges of dirt on his face.
· The tenth walker should be teased by the Fellowship for being ignorant/different/younger/dirtier etc. This is also something which allows the tenth walker to take part in the storyline, and pointing out their flaws endears them to the audience.