LOTR: What Are The Origins Of The Oliphaunts?

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Samwise Gamgee is a relatively young hobbit, who has never stepped foot out of The Shire, where he has lived a simple life, full of simple pleasures, like gardening, drinking beer and smoking pipeweed. But he was always enamored with Bilbo’s stories and longed to see some of the creatures that the tales told of, including the elves of Rivendell and Lothlorien, and the trolls that turned to stone in the daylight during one of Bilbo’s adventures.

But by far one of the most spectacular creatures that Sam encounters along his travels with Frodo and Gollum is an Oliphaunt. He almost cannot believe his eyes at the sheer size and majesty of the creature, and declares that “no one back home’ll ever believe me”. So what is it about this remarkable creature that Sam is so drawn to, and where does it come from?

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The answer lies not necessarily with the creature itself, but with the people who command it. The oliphaunt is sadly not a creature that they see naturally roaming in the wild, but a weapon that the men of the south, the Haradrim, or Southrons as they are otherwise known have captured and trained. They call the beasts Mumakils, and have tortured them into violent behavior and following war commands, in which the creatures are made to carry the men into battle, often with great structures on their backs, where archers and cruel soldiers are housed therein.

Originally, the oliphaunts were peaceful creatures, who dwelled in the jungles in Far Harad, south of Gondor. They were seldom seen and generally left to their own devices before Sauron began trying to seize power, and was defeated by the Battle of the Last Alliance when Isildur cut the ring from his finger. At