Valinor, also referred to as the Undying Lands, plays a key role in The Lord of the Rings, not only in terms of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books but also with Peter Jackson’s movies. After all, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King concluding with Frodo and Gandalf’s departure from Middle-earth for the Undying Lands (along with several elves, including Elrond and Galadriel), along with Arwen’s decision not to leave for Valinor, are major plot points.
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Yet, not everything makes sense about these lands. This is true not only in Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings trilogy, which obviously didn’t have time for every detail from the books, even with its staggering nearly 12-hour run time when accounting for the extend editions, but also in Tolkien’s stories. Of the things that still don’t make sense about Valinor, these 5 are among the most significant.
The Other Wizards Don’t Get To Go To Valinor
Although Gandalf and Saruman are very likely the best-known wizards in The Lord of the Rings, particularly for those who are only familiar with the Lord of the Rings movies, there are several other wizards in Tolkien’s stories. Those include the Blue Wizards and Radagast the Brown. It makes sense that Saruman was not invited to Valinor, given that he turned evil.
However, it’s surprising that there is no mention of the other wizards going to the Undying Lands, particularly because Valinor was the original home of all the wizards. Granted, the books simply don’t reveal what happened to the Blue Wizards or Radagast, so it’s possible they did end up in Valinor. In terms of what’s confirmed, though, that’s not the case.
Arwen Couldn’t Enter Valinor
It’s a major plot point in The Lord of the Rings that Elrond’s daughter, Arwen, ultimately decides not to go to Valinor and instead elects to live a mortal life so that she can be with Aragorn. In The Return of the King, audiences also get a glimpse of Arwen and Aragorn’s son, which significantly sways Arwen’s decision to stay as well.
Ultimately, Arwen does indeed stay in Middle-earth with Aragorn, and sadly, as Elrond predicted, Arwen eventually lives hundreds of years after Aragorn has died. Even after his death, though, Arwen is not permitted into the Undying Lands. While she did choose a mortal life, which would make her unable to enter, it’s nevertheless odd (and frustrating) that an exception wasn’t made for her—after all, even Samwise Gamgee got to enter Valinor.
The Rules Of Entering Valinor Are Repeatedly Broken
As mentioned, Samwise gets to enter Valinor, many years after Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf also departed at the end of The Return of the King. What makes that odd, however, is the fact that this shouldn’t have been possible. Typically—as was the issue with Arwen—mortals weren’t permitted in the Undying Lands. It makes sense for an exception to be made for Frodo, who suffered immensely as a ring bearer and massively contributed to defeating Sauron, and for Bilbo for similar reasons.
The argument goes that Sam was also a ring bearer, as he briefly carried the One Ring when he believed Frodo had been killed by Shelob. While that was no doubt difficult, and he did also play a key role in defeating Sauron, it’s nevertheless odd that this brief stint with the Ring was the reason yet another exception was made for him. Weirder still, Gimli apparently also went to Valinor eventually, and the books don’t really explain why. Clearly, Valinor’s rules were broken several times, and that’s more than a little odd.
Being In Valinor Won’t Solve All Of Frodo’s Problems
At the end of The Return of the King, Frodo broke the other hobbits’ (and audiences’) hearts by revealing that he was leaving Middle-earth with Bilbo and Gandalf and going to the Undying Lands. It’s clear even in the movies that this is due in large part to Frodo’s suffering during and after his quest to destroy the One Ring. This is obviously fair, given that Frodo was never the same, and he realistically never would have been.
However, this isn’t going to be the cure-all that it’s positioned as. Tolkien makes it clear that going to the Undying Lands would have meant a restful sanctuary for Frodo, but it also wouldn’t have instantly removed Frodo’s mental and physical scars from what he experienced. He also would never fully forget what he experienced. There’s no doubt that this peace was preferable to remaining in Middle-earth, but particularly the movies act like this will fix everything for Frodo.
Valinor Is Treated Like A Utopia, But It Isn’t Perfect
Finally, The Lord of the Rings—particularly the movies—treats Valinor as a utopian society, but the truth is a bit more complicated. There were legitimate issues that happened in the Undying Lands. As just one example, the Darkening of Valinor saw the destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor by Melkor (Morgoth) and Ungoliant.
This event alone makes it clear that Valinor was not a perfect land where nothing bad ever happened. Clearly, Tolkien wrote about the complexities of the Undying Lands, but the movies basically completely overlook that aspect of Valinor, opting instead to paint it as a perfect utopia—perhaps also due to the limitations of time.
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