Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-28852094-20160720050444/@comment-26347028-20160720215714

Recneps wrote: High King Ithilion wrote: I see nothing at Tolkien Gateway saying they were anything more than elephants. They were probably African Elephant-sized. These were never used in IRL warfare, but you could fit "what seemed a very war-tower" (obviously not really a wartower) on top of one. And a human looks small compared to an African Elephant. The huge ears also fit.

I'd say we have an animal that fits the description.

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lome) 20:25, July 20, 2016 (UTC) To quote from Tolkien Gateway: "Oliphaunts were enormous animals, similar to elephants, used in the War of the Ring by the allies of Sauron." And again, a perspective similar to the Hobbits', except it isn't the Hobbits': "Massive, often ferocious beasts, their legs were like trees, their bodies were larger than a house, they had enormous sail-like ears, and they had a long snout like a huge serpent. Somehow the Haradrim tamed them and the result was possibly the most brutally effective beast of war that Middle-earth ever saw. " When I can, I will get a reference from the books. You just described exaggerated African elephants...