The History of the Dead Marshes | Tolkien Explained

Long before Frodo, Sam, and Gollum traversed the Dead Marshes, there would be the great Battle of Dagorlad, where elves, men, and orcs would find their doom. In the centuries to come, the marshes would expand, swallowing their graves. It would become a treacherous place for many men in the years to come.
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Through the Marshes - Ted Nasmith
Dead Marshes - Steamey
Hobbits and Gollum - Andrea Piparo
Last Alliance - Skullb*st*rd
The Dead Marshes - Matej Cadil
The Last Alliance - Jenny Dolfen
Oropher and Thranduil - DracarysDrekkar7
Legolas with Hood - WETA
Mirkwood Soldier - WETA
Dead Marshes - AnotherStrangerMe
Battle - Anke Eissmann
A Ranger of the North - Kuliszu
Gollum and Aragorn - Aegeri
Sauron at Barad-dur - Shadow of War
Gollum - John Howe
The Taming of Gollum - Darrell Sweet
The Passage of the Marshes - Alan Lee
Apparitions - Ted Nasmith
The Passage of the Marshes - Kuliszu
Gollum - Olanda Fong-Surdenas
Samwise Gamgee - Matthew Stewart
Music of Creation - ALystraea
The Dead Marshes - Aegeri
The Dead Marshes - Anke Eissmann
My Precious - Bembiann
Sam, Frodo, and Gollum - Elrodimus Flash
Battle color - Anke Eissmann
Gollum - Jerry Vanderstelt
Gollum sketch - John Howe
Gollum - Catherine Karina Chmiel
Smeagol - Elrodimus Flash
Gollum - Elrodimus Flash
JRR Tolkien - Kuliszu
Gollum while Frodo Sleeps - Ted Nasmith
#deadmarshes #tolkien #lordoftherings

[@blockeduser2175]

You do one of the best Gollum impressions I've heard.

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thanks so much!

[@Aquanios08]

He really does! I was convinced for a minute that it was from the film!

[@Javier_Jimenez71]

100% agree,best Gollum. Andy Serkis would be proud

[@tcgtonysamazingpulls]

It was mandu pandu jk lol

[@stephenwinchester6668]

Yes he does!! Nice!

[@ecthelionofthefountain8267]

Your Gollum impression is brilliant! I could imagine you doing audiobooks for the Silmarillion and LOTR.

[@yaruqadishi8326]

Hobbit too

[@MikeDePaul]

I came here to like this comment.

[@hudsonball4702]

Andy Serkis himself should come and be a guest star on one of his pod casts. They could do a Gollum vs Smegol argument together.

[@Tybold63]

oh yes very professional

[@umoree00]

good impressions overall

[@robbiekennedy4913]

Love it when you include Tolkien's real life experiences and how it influenced his work. Such an interesting dude

[@gugenspritzer4554]

I liked that too. I think it’s pretty important to understand the mind and experiences of an author/artist to really understand the work they create. This channel especially is a favorite of mine. I’m getting educated on Tolkien’s stories and having a great time doing so. You really put your all into this and it shows. Thank you!

[@veghesther3204]

Exactly he fought IN BOTH World War 1 and 2 with this Marsh being based on the battles of World War ONE.

[@marionbaggins]

This, His and Edith's love became many great Love Stories, and many more became impactful moments in this Epic Lore!!!

[@schplengie1]

I feel like Tolkien was a big Tolkien nerd, lol. Sometimes his writings seem like fan theories on his own works.

[@Slechy_Lesh]

@Fone could anyone alive today give so much of themselves to their creative endeavours?

[@adventuresofavalon2477]

Creepiest places in Middle Earth: 5. Barrow Downs 4. Dol Guldur 3. Khazad-Dum 2. Minas Morgul 1. The Dead Marshes. The description in the book is so great. I actually got nightmares as a kid after reading the chapter on the Dead Marshes.

[@kingarthur7051]

Every gigantic place is creepy prove me wrong

[@anthonyhanks1807]

You forgot to mention the dead men of dun harrow

[@Obez45]

Fangorn forest, the old forest and mirkwood was creepy, as well as the two Watchers guarding the entrance into Mordor and also Shelob's Lair

[@evanairnomad4361]

You forget the forests!

[@christiansenator]

Shelob is strong. Utter oppressive darkness with constant webs, unfathomable foul stench, and dozens of hidden passages. Just sheer terror and unyielding doom

[@MrLiffeloffe]

I think it would be a bit creepy if we could use scuba gear and explore underwater Beleriand. Just imagine being down there and realising you just discovered what's left of the gates of Angband.

[@ollyravenhill7341]

Could be worse you could find the entirety of Numenor with all those bodies below the waters.

[@QuincyVollstandig]

@@ollyravenhill7341 or finding the biggest hill that was made by the corpses of men and elves during the battle of unnumbered tears

[@MrLiffeloffe]

@@QuincyVollstandigThe pits of Tol in Gaurhoth must be pretty bad

[@Enerdhil]

How about diving for Smaug gold?😱

[@fridayallan1473]

For the truly fearless it might be a good entrepreneurial opportunity XD though I think this venture would be a little out of scope for even Nori

[@Pixis1]

It's worth noting that the floating lights or "candles of corpses" may be inspired by the concept of Will o' the Wisps - floating lights that lead travelers astray in European folklore. Will o' the wisps are also called corpse-candles. They're sometimes thought to be lost souls or mischievous fairies but more likely, they're caused by the ignition of gases in swamps and marshlands.

[@SilverDragoon7395]

I always figured and this is more from the movies than the book, that the corpses gave fule to the body like methane gas. Though even if that is the case each of the candles certainly have a grievous, magical influence on them.

[@iPlayOnSpica]

I figured they can't be literal paraffin wick candles, not just for how short they last but also where they'd even have come from in the first place. Methane gases being ignited by some fell magic seems to be the best answer for the corpse-candles, and Peter Jackson's film seems to take that route.

[@falaramal3979]

Too add another layer to Tolkien’s personification off the pools in the dead marsh the idea off “not being able to touch them” in reference to the bodies Is because the pools of water that coalesced in the shell craters would also be tainted by the chemical agents such a chlorine or mustard gas. Because the chemicals involved were so heavy they would stick low to the ground and contaminate the water and make it undrinkable as well as causing chemical burns to those that touched it. The old black and white photos don’t do it justice because of how yellow the mustard gas was. The marshes were the scariest place in Tolkien’s world to me because you could see his own trauma bleed through into the pages

[@Okamiiee]

Bro what!?!? The Sméagol impression ON POINT!!

[@ewokpants4891]

Gollum Impression = spot on friend, well done! I like the Sam voice as well

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thanks so much my friend!

[@rickyhurtado]

It’s not just the history that keeps me coming back, but your audio. It’s soothing and well balanced. So pleasant to listen to. Good job, mate.

[@mathieuleperson836]

On top of the Somme battlefields, I think it is interesting to mention what could have been another inspiration. In Brittany, northwestern France is located the Yeun Elez, a big marshy region that fits the description of Tolkien's dead marshes. A lot of local legends (youdig gates to hell, deepless ponds and tricking lights) are associated to it. Tolkien was familiar with these legends via the recollection done by people such as Anatole Le Bras. Nowadays, parts of the marshes are submerged under an artificial lake. But the rest is preserved and still gives a creepy and earie feeling (I have camped in it by night and trust me the noises in the mist were freaking us out). I highly recommend the hikes around it from saint Michel de braspart to roc'j trevezel.

[@techsmechs2485]

Pourquoi pas les deux? -ahem-

[@annaroselarsen4218]

The drawing on gollum was so creepy but perfect at the same time

[@werpseudonymouswerlegume3153]

IMO better than the movie's at this specific scene. Captures the tone of Gollum 's words better.

[@hubertdenise3100]

Scariest places in Middle Earth according to me: 5) Mirkwood(book version particularly).It’s a vast forest, with dimmed light due to the thick canopy, a place where the water is enchanted to make you fall asleep or drown, where animals become shadows and the flesh can’t be eaten, where people can go insane and never find their way out.Adding to that, the giant spiders exist, able to snap and devour anyone who comes through.Then the mirkwood elves, who don’t like outsiders and can sneak around you without a sound.And then Dol Guldur where orcs and Sauron as the necromancer live.It’s one giant forest of death. 4)Moria.It’s a giant underground realm, long since abandoned.Not only is it dark, eerily empty, and maze like with numerous tunnels and passages, but it’s filled with orcs, trolls, and even a balrog.Not to mention littered with the corpses of the dwarves who attempted to settle there before the fellowship came.Lastly, there is the lake that laps right up to the door, where the watcher in the water lives, and there are tunnels down to the base of the mountains where the nameless things, essentially lovecraftian beings live. 3) The Barrow downs.A selection of hills inhabited by evil and dangerous spirits or wrights, who have the ability of magic to make people their captives, and only by Tom Bombadil can people escape. 2) The dead marshes, as explained in this video. 1) Mordor.Enough said.

[@eimanb3887]

Once again, masterpiece of a video, fueling my love of Tolkien's work! Thank you!

[@jaimy_games]

That drawing of Gollum (at 08:15)... wow, it gives me the creeps. That's so much more terrifying than any image from the movie. Your perfect Gollum impression alongside it makes it so chilling.

[@markuhler2664]

They Dead Marshes are more horror inducing to me than any book or movie. It makes sense that they are reflections of the Battle of the Somme. Your reading (which was excellent) of Tolkien's lines made me remember just how well written the LotR is.

[@samhoward8573]

That Gollum voice is flipping amazing!! Unbelievably great!!!

[@gohotdoggo4541]

Ah man! I wish you would do Audiobooks for Middle Earth. You do such a great job! You make it very immersive!

[@alexanderealley9992]

You should do the Barrow Downs/Barrow Wights. I know you Have covered them in other episodes but I was thinking of a dedicated episode of you have not already done one.

[@AndrewCarlisle11B]

Love how you tied it in with The Battle of the Somme.

[@ssl3546]

I appreciate the art that properly depicts Gollum ("dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face") and doesn't just regurgitate the movie. I could do without the Andy Serkis impression.

[@JuliusCaesar888]

Oh man I was waiting for a Dead Marshes video by you. I'll watch this when I'm shaving later. Thank you!!

[@DamonNomad82]

I can't help but imagine Gollum when he tried to touch the dead on his first journey through the marshes. "Bless us and splash us, my precious! Free lunch! Smeagol has never had Elveses before. Are they tasty? Are they crunchable?"

[@jonathanbolger6173]

This is an absolute gem of a channel. Thank you so much for these deep dives, some of the art work used is phenomenal and the map depictions is brilliant.

[@memoxs2601]

I love wake up Saturday, make some coffee and having breakfast watching your videos. Great job Matt, best channel on KZbin :D

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thanks so much for spending your Saturday with me! 😁

[@bambubambubambu1194]

Only just passed this part of the book in my annual reading. The depiction in the movie is superbly creepy and a testament to Jackson's talent for horror elements.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the Dead Marshes are shown foggy ponds with jets of fire rather than the misty candle-flames described in the book. Frodo actually falls into a marsh, in which ghostly figures surround and reach for him before Gollum pulls him out.

[@clintroan1388]

One of the best Gollum voices I heard. That’s a subscription from me.

[@R2D93]

Another opportunity to show off that stellar Gollum impression. I love the extra lore about the history of the Dead Marshes we get in the appendices

[@Corodium22]

Wow! I’ve become more invested in Tolkien’s work because of your exemplary story telling.

[@itayshorek6872]

This was amazinggggggggg perfect video! You`re the best tolkien channel, my friend. From start to end and all within it: the pictures, the voices, the music, how long the quates are, even the number of ads during the video.. You`re the best! thanks!

[@genlob]

My grandfather survived the Somme and I always think of him and the horrors he faced when I'm reading the dead marshes.

[@jarjarbinks6666]

All respect for your grandfather

[@genlob]

Thank you.

[@Zhoshyn]

Wasn't Tolkien also at the Somme? Or was it one of his close friend?🤔🤔 One thing for sure is that the Shelby brothers were theredigging tunnels.😉😉

[@rogerlackman5642]

@@Zhoshyn yes, Tolkien fought at the Somme.

[@julianblake8385]

Oh, dear. I hope that poor man received some love and support after all the horrors he must have seen and endured. God bless his soul and his legacy through you. Best wishes for you and your family.

[@W1ckedRcL]

Dude your Gollum voice is absolutely top notch. You do excellent voice dialogue, and great content too.

[@Sensorama2000]

I really like these videos ! The sound, speed and pronunciation is very good and its like listening to a story rather than listening to a lecture!

[@OctaviusRomulus]

Your voicework is top notch. I would listen to you reading audiobooks any day.

[@TheAcer4666]

Narrator: "Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves" The dwarves of Khazad-Dum: "are we a joke to you?"

[@garycorrigan7518]

Great video Matt! Whilst I love all of your videos, I especially love when we get to see the travels of our Heroes and Villains, using the maps! You always put it together so well! As we say in Ireland, Maith Thú! Well done!

[@jacookie9707]

That Golllum impression was S tier

[@benjaminallen3371]

You should invite John Garth to speak on this channel. A part of me wants to go to northern France, or just the Somme, to retrace Tolkien's steps. I think it is fitting that Peter Jackson is also passionate about the Great War, given its connection to Middle Earth.

[@evanairnomad4361]

I feel as if Matt is doing a series on the scariest places in Middle Earth without saying it… I also love the connection between WW2 and Middle Earth. That one was cool! I’m gonna say either Mirkwood or Barrow Downs might be next…maybe even Fangorn, the Old Forest…many possibilities.

[@Duiker36]

WW1, not 2.

[@evanairnomad4361]

@@Duiker36 My bad, meant WW1

[@midwestchopper3351]

I'd love to see you do a video on Celeborn, Galadrial's husband. I can't really find much information on him myself but I know he and Galadriel have been married since the first age.

[@jacobparker4735]

Your gollum impression is really spot on

[@meema844]

Deep endless pits with eldritch horrors. Mountains of fire and brimstone filled with orcs and trolls. Dark sentient forests with spiders and werewolves. All of these places are terrifying in their own right and worthy of every bit of praise. But the Dead Marshes hit differently. It felt so utterly oppressive, so empty and void of life, almost soul-sucking, like as if just walking through it alone is enough to slowly sap away your will to live. The Dead Marshes truly feels like death incarnate. And I only wish it had more time in the spotlight. I would love to see the battles that took place there.

[@mysteryman4013]

What a good video idea. I’ve always wondered

[@owenbergeron4212]

Gotta say I've watched all your videos at this point and none disappoint. Thanks so much for the great content!

[@matts5248]

I really enjoy all your videos about LotR lore/history. Thank you!

[@MrDestroction]

I just found out your channel exists and I love it

[@XandriaRavenheart]

I always thought there was something weird in the water of those marshes, something that preserved the faces of the dead and prevent them from completely rotting. Because those faces looked extremely well preserved for soldiers who died hundreds of years ago.

[@abbieb8130]

From what Gollum says though, the bodies are apparently not even down there - just the image, like a reflection of the past.

[@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger]

@@abbieb8130 Haunted water basically. Memories of the past reflected outwards, showing things which once were but have long since left this world. Even the souls no longer remain, just the imprint of agonizing, insurmountably intense emotion. Shades of memory - spiteful at the world which still draws breath.

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

By far the scariest scene in a non-horror movie.

[@Nate-dj9nt]

If you didn't already, a video on gollum would be awesome, just for the opportunity to do the impression. It's just like Andy serkis. Do you also do the mannerisms? We need a live stream reading gollum quotes maybe.

[@della_marsh]

Well,for the past few months I've been abducted on study of the lore of LoTR,so I want to say thank you for helping me with this) And also,you did AWESOME voice of Gollum,when I heard that,for a second,I thought,that it was Andy's voice....!👏👏👏

[@runespar]

That one shot in TTT of the elf corpse opening its eyes gave me nightmares for a week.

[@AlizarineSilvermoon]

Amazing Gollum impression there! and yeah, the Dead Marshes are probably one of the creepiest places in Middle-earth

[@rangerofthenorth1970]

Trully creapy place! The way to Mordor is trully full of darkness, either to go through Black Gate, or through this graveyeard! Nerd, another great video, I wanted to ask you, I playing Shadow of Mordor once more, and I'm wondering did Celembrimbor had a family, or that was just for the games? Al always great video!

[@NerdoftheRings]

That was a creation of the games. In one version of the story, he actually has an unrequited love for Galadriel.

[@micahthomas199]

That’s a crazy good gollum impression

[@bramwijnholt3861]

One of the most scary parts of the movies....

[@TheCrypto34]

Bro your Gollumn impresssion is pin point accurate. Your Sam is pretty good too

[@pranphu5248]

Gollum impression caught me by surprise 😮

[@majorgrubert5887]

I love the lore this channel has taught me. I hope it matters in in the future….

[@yatothinks4506]

I'm just in awe with your Gollum impression. Amazing work!

[@alfonszitterbacke318]

They live for centuries, yet they are to impatient to wait for reinforcements. Elves.

[@insanemang9983]

It's like a curse fell over the marshes, almost like the marshes are sentient in its want for more victims.

[@arcanumviator]

your gandalf and smeagol impressions are spot on!

[@ZugzugZugzugson]

its been said a million times in the comments already, but your gollum impression is superb

[@Ajaxophi]

Love the channel, especially the episode recaps and watch parties.

[@ZosynPipTazo]

Their bodies were turned to soap. (Saponification.) This is something that happens sometimes when dead bodies are trapped underwater. The bodies will be preserved for decades, maybe longer. Spooky chemistry.

[@codemcloud6073]

Damn fine gollum impersonation

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thank you, mellon!

[@johncox6794]

Excellent narration

[@ЈаковПресилски]

Do a video about everything east of rhun

[@doofus_flamingo]

The south and east, more unknown areas of middle Earth

[@scrubvision5652]

great to see the channel gaining subs well deserved

[@gabsis11]

For a sec, I thought Andy Serkis did a collaboration 😂 That was an epic Gollum impression! 👏👏

[@IanHeins]

Nice work dude thanks

[@Crushnaut]

Feels like some of WW1's influences on Tolkien in this area of Middle Earth. Sounds a lot like the descriptions of no-mans land from other readings I have done.

[@dasbutte6254]

I wonder if writing was his coping mechanism to deal with the trauma from WW1. Taking trauma from life and turning it into a story you can control it must be therapeutic.

[@AMcGrath82]

I hated how the films stated "A Last Alliance of Men and Elves" when Durin's Folk absolutely took part.

[@nozrep]

i dunno if that is the first time you have ever done Gollum in a video but it is the first time ever saw a video that you did him in. Excellent job!

[@itsatrap1017]

So the dead candles are like will-o’-the-wisps?

[@luudest]

„The Last Alliance“ „The Last Debate“ „The Last Battle“ All connected.

[@doinkindonut]

I know everyone said this already, but whauw! your Smeagol voice is great!

[@bmelloyello]

Damn, that's a hell of a Gollum impression!

[@phiology1983]

When frodo went into a trance and fell into the marshes. Thought he was a goner

[@JamieZero7]

Just thinking that Tolkien had been to see these sites of dead men after a battle or during a battle in a destroyed land. Must have been some site. He really saw the Dead Marshes. "No Man's Land could be the most terrifying of places. "Men drowning in shell-holes already filled with decaying flesh," wrote one scholar. No Man's Land by Lucien Jonas, 1927, Library of Congress"

[@ColoradoStreaming]

Especially since Tolkein suffered from trench foot from the horrific conditions there and lost two of his friends at the Somme.

[@tjbmenick7263]

Very nice video. Would be nice if you could make a video when you go over what passages from the books you think will make it to the fall of numenor. Even if they say ”every writing about second age” do you think that covers passages from lotr. For example the poem Sam sings near weathertop about gil-galad.

[@NerdoftheRings]

I'm super pumped for the new book and am very curious (as you are) what all is included. It sounds like they're attempting to make it as close to a single narrative as they can, which makes me wonder what they'll pick in terms of bits that may have multiple versions. I'm guessing they'll go with whatever Christopher thought was his father's latest word on the topic.

[@tjbmenick7263]

@@NerdoftheRings I hope it’s gonna be something like Silmarillion: Second age. Or then it would be ”The Númenorillion”

[@josehuertas6358]

Ok! First great video as always, second! That Gollum impression was ridiculously good!🔥

[@adventuresofavalon2477]

Can u make a video on the Kinstrife of Gondor?

[@nathanskywalker1536]

That Gollum voice is so dam good

[@mikeyfrederick1232]

Your vocal tones are just on point sir, it was like someone reciting soft poetry lol and I know everyone is saying it but the Gollum voice was damn impressive...always great content.. thanks for all the hard work

[@Morunic777]

Wow! You made me jump when you did golliums voice. Very nice!

[@salarkhan7982]

This chapter was Awesome! Liked it!

[@Mash_Z]

That was a very good Gollum!

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thanks! 😊

[@nickyjayyyofficial]

Crucial voice acting!

[@stevenclark2188]

This Gollum voice has really had enough of Frodo and Sam's touristing.

[@IfbbProRolandcHazard]

This part of Lord of the Rings always fascinated me. I seen the books when I was young and it had pictures of this. Bodies of soldiers long ago preserved in these marshes. I wonder, what was their story, how did they die, what was the war like. I think I think too much.

[@johnhynes43]

Gollum impression is so spot on ,it's chilling.

[@Cabin_Pat]

Andy Serkis ain’t got nothing on you, Mr Nerd Sir. Your Gollum impression was immaculate, chilling and brilliant!! Loved the link between the Marshes and Tolkien’s experiences of the Somme. We forget that a lot of his places, characters and probably plot lines are based on real word events that he witnessed. Great point, well made 👍

[@beastlyidiots9232]

Wow. There's some real skill on display with your Gollum. We'll done.

[@kaloianm.9103]

You definitely should do some LOTR related audiobooks, but with artwork your storytelling provides perfect experience!

[@tequila6955]

Outstanding work!

[@michaelminch5490]

The Dead Marshes were actually much more horrifying in my imagination from reading the book than as depicted in the movie.

[@werpseudonymouswerlegume3153]

Rural England in Tolkien's nostalgia-dazed mind: The Shire, Riverdale, Oldwood Rural England in reality: 3:56