Hobbit Nerd
I re-read the Hobbit in anticipation of seeing the movie (great movie by the way). On the map of Erebor showing the moon letters in the line "When the thrush knocks...", the word "when" is mispelled. It it spelled HWEN. Every other word follows normal English usage, merely substituting Runes for English/Roman letters.
The runes are the Anglo-Saxon runes. Later for the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien re-did the runes differently for the dwarfs, such that the rune normally the F rune became G for Gandalf. In the movie they show Gandalf scratching the newer Dwarvish G rune into Bilbo's door.
I will say that there are two things that I am very disappointed in the movie. First Radagast the Brown is made out to be a bumbling, filthy, addle-brained, drug using, hippy. Really? Sure he's close to nature, but does he have to have bird poop plastered on his hair and face? Really? I can see why they did this as he reported that the Necromancer (Sauron) had returned to Dol Guldur and Saruman didn't want to believe it because Radagast is "unreliable." But still, in the books it is mentioned that the wizards did do something about the Necromancer which is why Gandalf didn't make it to the Battle of the Five Armies until it was over. There was no mention of any friction between the wizards. Still it helps as a secondary sub-plot.
Second, they had stone giants who were actually made of stone, instead of just really large people throwing stones. This was uncalled for in my opinion.
The runes are the Anglo-Saxon runes. Later for the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien re-did the runes differently for the dwarfs, such that the rune normally the F rune became G for Gandalf. In the movie they show Gandalf scratching the newer Dwarvish G rune into Bilbo's door.
I will say that there are two things that I am very disappointed in the movie. First Radagast the Brown is made out to be a bumbling, filthy, addle-brained, drug using, hippy. Really? Sure he's close to nature, but does he have to have bird poop plastered on his hair and face? Really? I can see why they did this as he reported that the Necromancer (Sauron) had returned to Dol Guldur and Saruman didn't want to believe it because Radagast is "unreliable." But still, in the books it is mentioned that the wizards did do something about the Necromancer which is why Gandalf didn't make it to the Battle of the Five Armies until it was over. There was no mention of any friction between the wizards. Still it helps as a secondary sub-plot.
Second, they had stone giants who were actually made of stone, instead of just really large people throwing stones. This was uncalled for in my opinion.