User blog comment:LOTRMod/Non-Canon Things/@comment-25959378-20151110163354/@comment-27723099-20151111003038

+1 from me makes 4

There are a lot of freely invented features at places where there was no need to invent anything. Examples include Utumno, spider riders, and stuff from other non-canon sources like elk riders.

On other places, most notably athelas brew and ent draught, the canon material was changed to give the items more importance in the mod. This was a decision against parts of the lore and for better gameplay.