Thranduil elf-king of Mirkwoods
In the movie, Thranduil is depicted as a somewhat selfish elf-king, however in the novel, Thranduil did have a close door policy but he wasn’t as a negative character depicted in the movie.
Thranduil also participated in the War of the Last Alliance of elves and men against Sauron where he lost his father and the former king of the Woodland Relam Oropher along with many of the Silvan elves that participated in the war.
The Wooldland Relam lost so many of the elves and couldn’t recover from the losses caused by the War of the Last Alliance of elves and men against Sauron.
Inevitably Thranduil had to maintain a closed-door policy. Thranduil wasn’t involved in the defense of Erebor at all in the novel while the movie describes Thranduil kind of betrayed the elves as they wanted to preserve their forces.
Why did Thranduil lock up Thorin and Company
In the movie, Thorin Oakenshield and Company seemed to have a grudge against Thranduil for not helping the dwarves at Erebor against Smaug.
However, in the novel, Thranduil didn’t have anything to do with Smaug and Erebor but Thranduil locked up Thorin and Company as they didn’t state their purpose of trespassing Mirkwoods.
In the novel traditionally, the dwarves and Thranduil who was a Sindar elves had the long grudge between the dwarves and elves.
However, in the movie it is more described as a personal grudge where Thranduil wasn’t given the White Gems of Lasgalen by the elves that was a heirloom of Thranduil’s wife that he could remember and Thorin Oakenshield thought the elves betrayed the dwarves.
Hills of Rhudaur
Rhudaur was not a location but it was rather one of the descending kingdoms of Arnor. The Northern kingdom of the exile of Numenor Arnor would split into three kingdoms Cardolan, Arthedain and Rhudaur.
Rhudaur was the first kingdom to perish by the evil kingdom Angmar as the evil men of Rhudaur defected to the Witch king of Angmar in the novel.
However, in the movie, such explanations might have complicated the story so it seems that Rhudaur was depicted as a location where the nazguls were once buried.
In the movie adaption, Gandalf summons Radagast and confirms the return of the nazguls as they visited the tombs of the Hills of Rhudaur.
Angmar and the Witch King of Angmar
In the novel, the nazguls were never captured nor buried in any kind of tomb, however in the movie of The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug, the nazguls including the Witch King of Angmar were described to have been caught and sealed by magic in the Hills of Rhudaur.
Angmar was a kingdom that was held in the north of Eriador where the elves and the humans along with the Dunedain descendants of Arnor resided.
The Nazgul Witch King of Angmar received its name as it led the dark legions of Angmar. In the novel, Angmar destroyed all three kingdoms Cardolan, Rhudaur and Arthedain that were the heirs of Arnor.
After Angmar destroyed the three kingdoms, the elves and humans of Gondor along with other allies such as the hobbits took down Angmar by the Angmar War.
In the novel, the Witch-King of Angmar successfully fled but the movie describes that the Witch-king of Angmar was locked up in the hills of Rhudaur along with the other eight nazguls while in the novel the eight nazguls didn’t reside in Angmar nor were they ever caught.
Bolg and Gundabad
Bolg was known as the son of Azog and the commanding chieftain of the orcs of Gundabad. Gundabad was the sacred place for dwarves, especially the Durin’s Folks as the first dwarf Durin woke up in Gundabad.
However, during the Second Age when Khazad-dum helped the elves of Eregion escape, Sauron ordered a full-scale assault on Gundabad and since then the masters of Gundabad shifted constantly where orcs and dwarves would constantly fighter over it.
In the novel Azog was already dead and Bolg dreamt of taking revenge on his father Azog with the orcs of Gundabad. Bolg would ally with the orcs of the Misty Mountains and Moria as they wished to avenge the Great Goblin that was slayed by Gandalf and Thorin and Company.
In the movie, Sauron would assemble the orcs of the Misty Mountains and Moria led by Azog and the orcs of Gundabad led by Bolg. In the novel, Bolg was killed by Beorn while the movie, Legolas(wasn’t featured in the novel The Hobbit at all) kills Bolg.
Morgul Wound and the cure Athelas
A morgul wound was a wound inflicted by a Morgul blade or the power of the nazguls that would eventually turn the victim into a slave of the Nazgul if not treated properly.
In the movie The Hobbit, the dwarf Kili was described to suffer from a Morgul Wound by Morgul poison arrow shot, however such morgul poison by an ordinary orc nor Kili suffering from a Morgul Wound weren’t described in the novel.
The herb Athelas that the dwarves describe are for pigs was the herb that could slow down and possibly cure Morgul Wounds by the magic of elves.
During the Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn would use the plant herb Athelas to treat Frodo who was stabbed by a Morgul Blade and suffering from a Morgul Wound. Tauriel would also treat Kili with Athelas.
Prisoner captured at Dol Guldur – Thrain Second
In the novel, Gandalf wasn’t captured by Sauron at Dol Guldur and before Gandalf even met Thorin Oakenshield, he already confirmed Sauron’s presence and met with Thrain second the father of Thorin Oakenshield.
Thrain second was the son of king Thror, the king of Erebor who was sacked by the dragon Smaug. Thrain Second held the presumably most powerful ring of power among those given to the dwarves, however Sauron took it after severe torture and locked him up in Dol Guldur.
