Mt. Doom?

[TinuvielChild]

ok, this is something that my friends and i were discussing, and i want to know what people think. tolkien has all these cool names, he even came up with various different entire languages. and then he goes and names the mountain "Mount Doom". How obvious can you get? maybe he thought frodo was slow and needed the extra help? (nothing against tolkien or frodo here: tolkien's my favourite author and frodo is frankly hot). the other mountains too: the Lonely Mountain, the Misty Mountains...ok, those weren't so bad. but still!...

[Ñólendil]

I never found "Mount Doom" cheesy. I think it is a translation of Sindarin Amon Amarth, but I'm not sure (I don't really have a mind for Sindarin words). Amon Amarth sounds better than Mount Doom in my opinion, but I think that's because it belongs to a language more beautiful (than English). Tolkien could have called it Fire Mountain, which is much worse than Mount Doom. Orodruin means "Mountain of Fire".

I should like to know why the place was called Mount Doom. Was it because the Ring was made there, the act of which was a matter of high fate and doom? I mean there had to be a reason for "Mount Doom" to become a common name of the place.

[Starr Polish]

I found it kind of cheesy too...::shrug:: Oh well, a lot of the stuff in my older and current stories was cheesy, and that's the only thing I don't like so far :D

[markedel]

Doom=fate

Its not THAT cheesy

[Nameless]

I must admit that I found it rather refreshing to have at least one or two place names that were simple, easy to remember and most of all easy to pronounce!

You want to try discussing Tolkien's books with your friends when you can't pronounce half the character names and places! :D

[Twilight]

I admit that it could have been more creative, but like Nolendil said, it could have been much worse. I think that overall Tolkien did a really good job with names, and it isn't really right to critisize over one thing when compared to all of the rest. I guess the name does seem a bit average in comparasin to all of the rest of the wonderful names.

[TinuvielChild]

oh, see, it wasn't that i found it cheesy, just a little odd, that's all. yeah, some of the quenya and sindarin names are a little hard to pronounce, but they are all supremely cool. :)

[Laurelyn]

Originally posted by Nameless
I must admit that I found it rather refreshing to have at least one or two place names that were simple, easy to remember and most of all easy to pronounce!
You've certainly got a point about the simple name and lack of too many complications being a relief. I prefer the name Orodruin, myself, because it's still pronounceable, and it sounds cooler (Ñólendil: I had never heard it called Amon Amarth before . . . but I have a long way to go in my Tolkien knowledge still :) ) .

But think about it this way: not all of Middle-earth called it "Mount Doom." Some folk called it other things. The name 'Mount Doom' could have been a version to simplify it to people like the hobbits, who liked things simple, cheesiness aside. I don't think it's cheesy, myself.

[emplynx]

I have played this through my mind more than once since reading LotR. I think though that it is short and to the point. It definitely describes the mountain quite well. I think that if a Tolkien-Language name was giving to it all the time, it wouldn't have the fear and suspence given with Mount Doom.

[Arathorn]

Doom=fate On the money, markedel. I agree that it best describes the mount's role in that age as translated to english; and a more profound one at that, IMO, considering the names of other places: the misty mountains, the ash mountains, the dead marshes, the lonely mountain.:)

[KGamgee]

Thats an interesting thought. Tolkien has always gone very in depth with his names and languages, but there are some that aren't. I like Mt. Doom. Just because its simple doesn't mean its cheesy. Simple things can be profound.
~KGamgee~

[aldesign]

Yeah it used to be called Orodruin

and well, i did find Mt.Doom kinda cheesy when i first picked up FOTR, but i got used to it quite quickly,

especially if u say it like Ian.McKellen (Gandlaf) did in bag end near the start of the film.

andy

[Earenya]

Doom=fate

Exactly, Markedel.

Because not only was the Ring forged there, it was the only place it could be destroyed- it was the final point of either success or failure for the free peoples of Middle Earth.

[sun-star]

Its simplicity makes it stand out. And think how plain it is as a place: a tall mountain in the middle of an empty land. Somehow the name sounds as desolate as the mountain itself.

[Nameless]

Tolkien took care when choosing character and place names. He would have given the same careful consideration in choosing the different names for 'Mt. Doom'. After all, this becomes a central place in the story. In a way it is the focus of the quest. Perhaps he thought that the word 'Doom' would re-enforce to readers just how important this place was. A subtle (or maybe a not so subtle!) reminder that the fate of all the free people of Middle Earth will be decided there.

[Comic Book Guy]

Yeah it used to be called Orodruin

'Mount Doom' is just a 'nickname', I believe Orodruin is used more often than 'Mount Doom' towards the end of the book.

[markedel]

Als Mount doom is the translation from the Westron. I don't know what mount doom in westron is but it could sound really cool.

[RosieCotton]

I like it...simple yet profound. It doesn't have to be long and complicated to be a good name.
~Rosie~

[Glorious Glorfindel]

Originally posted by sun-star
Its simplicity makes it stand out. And think how plain it is as a place: a tall mountain in the middle of an empty land. Somehow the name sounds as desolate as the mountain itself.

i couldn't agree more!

:D :D :D :D

[TinuvielChild]

who was the first person to mention 'cheesiness'? cuz it wasn't me! the reason i made this post originally was cuz three of my semi-hardcore tolkien fan friends were discussing it and none of them had discovered entmoot yet. so...personally, i agree with whoever it was that said that if it had a different name, it wouldn't have the same fear and suspense (i think it was emplynx?).

:)

[Ñólendil]

I was the first one to mention "cheezyness" as a matter of fact, the second post on this topic. I thought you thought "Mount Doom" was cheesy, but you cleared that up.

[Rána Eressëa]

I like it. Simple and to the point. Your everyday person of Middle-earth probably heard the word "Mordor" and associated anything in it with the word doom. Thus, that one secluded mountain particularly was a target for the word doom. I don't think they took their time trying to think up something fancy for something they didn't want to think about at all.

[markedel]

Does anyone know enough westron to extrapolate what mount doom sounded like. There is a note on it in appendice F somewhere.

[rainbow]

i don't think mount doom is 2 cheesy i mean sure it isn't as original bu8t hey jrrt must have been tired out by the time he thought of a name

[Elf Girl]

I agree that Mt. Doom is a nickname. Orudruin is the real name.






I am now an Elven warrior!! It took me twelve days to get here!:)

[Menelvagor]

Congradulations Elf Girl!

[TinuvielChild]

congrats elf girl!! i recently became an elven warrior myself- and now i'm sad because my avg. posts per day has fallen below 11!!! aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! :p

[IronParrot]

"Mount Doom" is no cheesier than Sauron being referred to as "The Enemy".

[TinuvielChild]

ok, can i make a comment here without being jumped on? *checks all around to make sure there are no lurkers crouched, ready to spring* ok. notice that at the beginning of this thread, i said it was something "my friends and i were discussing"? the one who actually originally brought this up was having trouble posting on the moot at that point, so i posted it. i feel like a pariah now on this thread :( :(

[Rána Eressëa]

I have no pet peeve with the title Mount Doom . . . but perhaps something other than the Cracks of Doom for the opening of it?

[TinuvielChild]

Okay, this was something rather amusing that happened recently: a fellow LotR fan friend of mine was recently babysitting for a young child, still in diapers. At one point during the evening, she had to change his diaper, and apparently it was particularly foul. When recounting the story to me, she referred to it as the "Cracks of Doom". Well, maybe it wasn't all that funny. Whatever.

[BeardofPants]

*shrug* I don't have a problem with it. It sounds like a reasonably realistic nick name that the people of Gondor came up with. Besides, it ties in nicely with that whole fate thing, as someone said all those months ago.

[Faramir]

The name is fine. It's obvious. What else do you need to know?