October 28, 2003

The Smell of Hobbit and the Cockroach Shuffle
Niphredil

I was just having a look at Frodo and Sam dressed as Orcs (as pointed out by Lilly) on TheOneRing.net site (http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/movies/rotk/view/9171). This got me thinking about how Frodo and Sam manage to pass themselves off as Orcs. From the photo it looks like they could do this as long as no-one looks too closely at the gaps in the helmets (a little bit of mud probably would have made this look more convincing). Anyway, in TTT, at the beginning, one of the Orcs (I’m guessing it’s Ugluk but his name isn’t given) says that he smells “manflesh”. Now this could either be the Riders of Rohan or Aragorn and Co. Aragorn does make a comment with his ear to the ground that “their pace has quickened, they must have caught our scent”. Either way, both the Riders and Aragorn and Co are a fair way away (we are talking miles here) so the movie Orcs must have a very keen sense of smell. So, I guess what I’m asking in a long winded way, is wouldn’t the Mordor Orcs discover that Frodo and Sam aren’t part of their band by smell?

In the book the Orcs don’t smell anyone on their trail. They send out scouts to check for pursuit. Also, if Frodo and Sam are pretending to be smaller Orcs/Goblins then do they have to do the “cockroach shuffle” like the Goblins in Moria? I hope not, it cracks me up trying to picture them like this.