Oliphaunt

In J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, an oliphaunt (known in Harad and Gondor as a mûmak, plural: mûmakil)[1] is a giant war elephant, used by the army of the Haradrim.

Scholars have analysed Tolkien's sources for his oliphaunts, noting the Old English account in the Homily on the Maccabees and his mention of Pyrrhus of Epirus's use of war elephants against Ancient Rome.

Peter Jackson modifies the beast, making it more like a Gomphotherium, and adds two fights with the mûmakil during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, one featuring the Elf Legolas, the other Éowyn, the lady of Rohan, gaining a mixed reception.

[2] Kathleen O'Neill, in Cistercian Studies Quarterly, writes that while Sam is "open to wonder" and excited about the possibility of seeing an oliphaunt, Gollum's fearful mind is "so utterly closed to the goodness of what is as to will away its very existence".

Rateliff notes that "Iumbo" is written in medieval style in two sections, a natura describing the oliphaunt's habits (addiction to mandrakes), and a significacio drawing a "highly facetious, and egregiously inappropriate" moral from the story, "mocking the incessant allegorizing"[6] of its Middle English model.

[9] The beasts, constructed in CGI animation, differ markedly from Tolkien's account; Kristine Larsen describes his treatment of the oliphaunt as taking "artistic liberties" on the "visual aspects".

"[11] Janet Brennan Croft writes that Jackson's invention of a battle between the Elf Legolas and a mûmak unnecessarily distracts attention from Éowyn's far more important fight with the Witch-king.

[12] Maureen Thum on the other hand argues that while, as Jackson admits, his films offer "only a relatively shallow rendering" of the book, details like Éowyn's invented attack on the mûmakil – galloping beneath them with two swords raised – usefully gives a picture of the lady of Rohan as "a strong able warrior", preparing the viewer for the final showdown with the Witch-king.