Men of Gondor called an Oliphaunt a mûmak (plural mûmakil). The oliphant is echoed in The Lord of the Rings by Boromir's Horn of Gondor and counterpoised by Helm's horn and the horns of Buckland. The most famous use of the oliphant is in The Song of Roland "The oliphant is set to Roland's Lips " Roland fails to call for help at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 until it is too late for him and his comrades. Olifant is also the Dutch word for elephant. The word survives as the surname "Oliphant" found throughout the English-speaking world. However, the form of the OHG and Gothic words suggests it is also a borrowing, perhaps indeed directly or indirectly from Greek elephas (ελεφας), meaning "ivory", though apparently with some confusion as to the animal the word referred to. OHG olbenta is a word of old Germanic origin cf. The French word owes something to both Old High German olbenta "camel", and to Latin elephantus "elephant", a word of Greek origin. It appears in Middle English as olifant or olifaunt, and was borrowed from Medieval French olifanz. The word Oliphaunt is a variant spelling of the archaic word oliphant meaning "elephant", "ivory", "elephant-tusk", "musical horn made of an elephant tusk", or "a musical instrument resembling such a horn". Mûmakil featured on the book cover of Tolkien's World: A Fantasy Coloring Book Their elevated position gave arrows and spears a greater range for those riding in the tower. Presumably, Mûmakil could be coerced to kneel or lie down so that a tower could be hauled into place, and tied from under the belly. In the films they are depicted with four tusks, similar to the prehistoric elephant Stegotetrabelodon. Their most defining feature was their vast size, allowing the armies of Mordor to erect war towers on their backs. Mûmakil had an appearance akin to that of an elephant, sporting thick, arrow-resistant skin, and sharp tusks. On March 5 in the year 3019 of the late Third Age, Samwise Gamgee once recited a short comic poem about the beast based on traditional bestiary lore. When blinded they went into a rage of pain, often destroying masters and foes alike in their rampages. These thick-skinned beasts were almost invulnerable to arrows their eyes were vulnerable, however, as Mûmakil could be blinded or even killed by arrows released with great force. In war, they would frequently stand as towers that could not be captured shield walls broke before them and armies were routed around them. They could not be fought effectively by mounted men, for horses refused to go near them, nor by footmen, who were quickly crushed or shot from above. With their trunks they struck down many foes, and their tusks were red with the blood of their enemies. They had a natural blood-lust, and many foes were crushed beneath their feet. The Mûmakil that the Haradrim brought to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields were harnessed with red banners, bands and trappings of gold and brass, and on their backs great war towers from which archers and spearmen fought. In the years of the War of the Ring, the fierce warriors of Harad came north to Gondor at the call of Sauron, and with their legions they brought the great Mûmakil, which they used as beasts of war. According to the Red Book, they were bigger than a house. In southern Harad during the Third Age, there lived beasts of vast bulk thought to be ancestors of elephants, which would be much smaller in size. This same technique was also popularized in Will Ferrell's Christmas comedy Elf, specifically in the scene where his character Buddy sat next to the real elves in the workshop.Oliphaunts charging towards the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields The art department actually created a wagon that would hold Frodo (Elijah Wood) at a closer point than Gandalf (Ian McKellen) so that the forced perspective could be a fixed point. One of the most well known examples of this was for the scene in which both Frodo and Gandalf are in a wagon together. In scenes when the Hobbits and another human-sized creature are in a scene together, and they are both conversing, the actors who portrayed the Hobbits were often much closer to the camera than their scene partner. Often used with buildings or landscapes, Jackson used this filming technique for the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings. More commonly known as a sort of optical illusion, forced perspective is when a character or item is pulled forwards or backwards in a frame to make it look either bigger or smaller compared to what is surrounding it. A well-used film technique for any movie is that of forced perspective.
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