Favorite Tolkien Quote/Passage

[newwwwb]

I hate to use the movies, in a game that's NOT based on the movies, but both Aragorn's speech outside the Black Gate, and Theoden's speech before the battle of Pellenor Fields were amazing.

Theoden's speech was good in the book, but the movie I thought made it better with a little creative license

Aragorns speech before the Black Gate appears to be entirely in Peter Jackson's mind, but WHOA was that inspiring. I STILL get goosebumps, AND have it memorized. And yes, I'm a tolkien nerd.

i gotta say, i think both those speeches suck royally in the movies.

theyre completely out of context. the whole theoden yelling death things makes no sense, because its transplanted from an entirely different character and situation without explanation.

aragorn calling everyone 'my brothers' is the same way. in the book, that wasnt referring to the men of rohan or even gondor, but the grey company which was absent in the movie.

meh

[sir-rinthian]

i gotta say, i think both those speeches suck royally in the movies.

theyre completely out of context. the whole theoden yelling death things makes no sense, because its transplanted from an entirely different character and situation without explanation.

aragorn calling everyone 'my brothers' is the same way. in the book, that wasnt referring to the men of rohan or even gondor, but the grey company which was absent in the movie.

meh

Chalk it up on the list of all the other stuff they borked...

Come to think of it, I dont think the quote in my sig was actually in the book.... I kinda wish it was though Its such a cool rallying speech! lol

[lf2536]

Chalk it up on the list of all the other stuff they borked...

Come to think of it, I dont think the quote in my sig was actually in the book.... I kinda wish it was though Its such a cool rallying speech! lol

The quote in your sig is pure Peter Jackson, it's not in the books. However, this does not make it any less powerfull a statement. While there were many things that ticked me off about the movies those 2 things bother me less, the Theoden yelling death bit obviously comes from from Eomer's charge that due to the structuring of the story and certain characters being lost (The Prince of Dol Amroth being one) was moved to the first charge across Pelennor Fields, I think it really captured the feel of the charge as it's described in the book and of course 6000 men screaming death at their enemy, I don't know, it seems real and it seems to work.
Same thing with Aragorn's speach, it hits those emotional notes just right, those are most definatly words to inspire men to fight better and to stand against such odds as they were about to face.

[BIGeyedBUG]

well considering the Normans were basicly French I don't see how any one could not have problems with this invasion.

More Scandinavian than French, except in language, but... //end pedantic mode// //initiate jocular mode//

[Souhei23]

More Scandinavian than French, except in language, but... //end pedantic mode// //initiate jocular mode//

Both King Harold and William Duke of Normandy claimed kinship from the Danish King Cnut (or however you want to spell it). But Tolkien wasn't fond of the French, and the fact that the invasion was launched from the Duchy of Normandy which was granted on the condition that the Dukes and heirs marry French Princesses makes them French enough to be "French".

Come to think of it, I think all that info about the Rohirrim and Tolkien's "Vikings on Horses" might be on the Two Towers special edition DVD extras. I don't have them with me right now (I'm in England, HA!) but if anyone looks it up there are some interesting tidbits.

[lf2536]

Both King Harold and William Duke of Normandy claimed kinship from the Danish King Cnut (or however you want to spell it). But Tolkien wasn't fond of the French, and the fact that the invasion was launched from the Duchy of Normandy which was granted on the condition that the Dukes and heirs marry French Princesses makes them French enough to be "French".

Come to think of it, I think all that info about the Rohirrim and Tolkien's "Vikings on Horses" might be on the Two Towers special edition DVD extras. I don't have them with me right now (I'm in England, HA!) but if anyone looks it up there are some interesting tidbits.

yeah, it's there.

[Darkheart06]

"Yes, together we will follow you," said Legolas. "But first, it would ease my heart, Gandalf to hear what befell you in Moria. Will you not tell us? Can you not stay even to tell your friends how you were delivered?"

"I have stayed already to long," answered Gandalf. "Time is short. But if there were a year to spend, I would not tell you all."

"Then tell us what you will, and time allows!" said Gimli. "Come, Gandalf, tell us how you fared with the Balrog!"

"Name him not!" said Gandalf, and for a moment it seemed that a cloud of pain passed over his face, and he sat silent, looking old as death. "Long time I fell," he said at last, slowly, as if thinking back with difficulty. "Long I fell, and he fell with me. His fire was about me. I was burned. Then we plunged into the deep water and all was dark. Cold it was as the tide of death: allmost it froze my heart."

"Deep is the abyss that is spanned by Durin's Bridge, and none has measured it," said Gimli.

"Yet is has a bottom, beyond light and knowledge," said Gandalf. "Thither I came at last, to the uttermost foundations of stone. He was with me still. His fire was quenched, but now he was a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake.

"We fought far under the living earth, where time is not counted. Ever he clutched at me, and ever I hewed him, till at last he fled into dark tunnels. They were not made by Durin's folk, Gimli son of Gloin. Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day. In that despair my enemy was my only hope, and I pursued him, clutching at his heel. Thus he brought me back at last to the secret ways of Khazad-dum: too well he knew them all. Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair."

"Long has that been lost," said Gimli. "Many have said that it was never made save in legend, but others say that it was destroyed."

"It was made, and it had not been destroyed," said Gandalf. "From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak it climbed, ascending in unbroken sprial in many thousand steps, until it issued at last in Durin's Tower carved in the living rock of Zirakzigil, the pinnacle of the Silvertine.

"There upon Celebdil was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world. The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprand, and even as I came behind he burst into new flame. There was none to see, or perhaps in after ages songs would still be sung of the Battle of the Peak." Suddenly Gandalf laughed. "But what would they say in song? Those that looked up from afar thought that the mountain was crowned with storm. Thunder they heard, and lightning, they said, smote upon Celebdil, and leaped back broken into tongues of fire. Is not that enough? A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell."

Gandalf is a pimp.

[thinkingbear]

Then Aragorn took leave lovingly of Elrond; and the next day he said farewell to his mother, and to the house of Elrond, and to Arwen, and he went out into the wild. For nearly thirty years he labored in the cause against Sauron; and he became a friend of Gandalf the Wise, from whom he gained much wisdom. With him he made many perilous journeys, but as the years wore on he went more often alone. His ways were hard and long, and he became somewhat grim to look upon, unless he chanced to smile; and yet he seemed to Men worthy of honor, as a king that is in exile, when he did not hide his true shape. For he went in many guises, and won renown under many names. He rode in the host of the Rohirrim, and fought for the Lord of Gondor by land and by sea; and then in the hour of victory he passed out of the knowledge of Men of the West, and went alone far into the East and deep into the South, exploring the hearts of Men, both evil and good, and uncovering the plots and devices of the servants of Sauron. Thus he became at last the most hardy of living Men, skilled in their crafts and lore, and was yet more than they; for he was elven-wise, and there was a light in his eyes that when they were kindled few could endure. His face was sad and stern because of the doom that was laid upon him, and yet hope dwelt ever in the depths of his heart, from which mirth would arise at times like a spring from the rock.

- From the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen, The Return of the King, Appendix A, part v.

[Morthaur]

Denethors use of metaphor is positively Shakespearean, this is my favourite quote of his:

"'Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I have mixed for myself' said Denethor. 'Have not I tasted it now many nights upon my tongue, forboding that worse lay in the dregs? As now indead I find. Would that this thing had come to me!'"

or this from Tolkiens' translation of "The homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son":

"Heart shall be bolder, harder the purpose, more proud the spirit as our power lessens!
Mind shall not falter nor mood waver, though doom shall come and dark conquer."

This passage reminds me of the destructiom of the men of Hador at the Ninaeth Arnoediad.

[jimmyboy131]

Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of the slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded, cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth, heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no bow sang. For a moment all was still.

The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke.

Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone.

Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground.

In rode the Lord of the Nazgul. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgul, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.

All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dinen.

'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!'

The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter.

'Old fool!" he said. 'Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.

That's one of my all-time favorite passages! It captivated me the first time I read it. I could only imagine facing down that Black Captain.

Another of my favorites is Aragorns speech to the Council of Elrond, before the Ring is taken from Rivendell:

(p.275, FOTR)
"I have had a hard life and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhun and Harad where the stars are strange.

If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swards do not stay. You know little of the lands beyong your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us*. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?

And yet less thanks have we than you. Travelers scowl at us, and contrymen give us scornful names. “Strider” I am to one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown."

* A sadder event from a time when the Dunedain ultimately failed to hold back the worst of those terrors. From Unfinished Tales, page 343, in "The Hunt for the Ring":

"Night was waning on the twenty-second day of September when drawing together again [the Nazgul] came to Sarn Ford and the southernmost borders of the Shire. They found them guarded, for the Rangers barred their way. But this was a task beyond the power of the Dunedain; and maybe it would still have proved so even if their captain, Aragorn, had been with them. But he was away to the north, upon the East Road near Bree; and the hearts even of the Dunedain misgave them. Some fled northward, hoping to bear news to Aragorn, but they were pursued and slain or driven away into the wild. Some still dared to bar the ford, and held it while day lasted, but at night the Lord of Morgul swept them away, and the Black Riders passed into the Shire..."

[fallenacorn]

You might find that smoke blown out cleared your mind of shadows within. Anyway, it gives patience, to listen to error without anger.

Hmmmm. Nicotania? Curious.

[falarc]

Omg this series has many many quotes ...one i like that I always will remember though is "There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides evil" -Gandalf.

Somewhere in the fellowship.

[BroadwayBlueshirt]

Time for a little thread resurrection.

He chanted a song of wizardry,
Of piercing, opening, of treachery,
Revealing, uncovering, betraying.
Then sudden Felagund there swaying
sang in answer a song of staying,
Resisting, battling against power,
Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;
Of changing and of shifting shape,
Of snares eluded, broken traps,
The prison opening, the chain that snaps,
Backwards and forwards swayed their song.
Reeling and foundering, as ever more strong
The chanting swelled, Felagund fought,
And all the magic and might he brought,
Of Elvenesse into his words.
Softly in the gloom they heard the birds
Singing afar in Nargothond,
The sighing of the sea beyond,
Beyond the western world, on sand,
On sand of pearls in Elvenland.
Then the gloom gathered; darkness growing
In Valinor, the red blood flowing
Beside the sea, where the Noldor slew
The Foamriders, and stealing drew
Their white ships with their white sails
From lamplit havens. The wind wails,
The wolf howls. The ravens flee.
The ice mutters in the mouths of the sea.
The captives sad in Angband mourn,
Thunder rumbles, the fires burn-
And Finrod fell before the throne.

[Chipset]

When the Black Rider replys to Farmer Maggot's question of where he is from.
"I come from yonder..."

[Vilnas]

Nice one BroadwayBlue. I love that passage. What always kills me is that it is the shadow of the Kinslaying that ultimately brings Finrod down.

[Ioffryd]

Speaking of Elven-kings:

"Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
The last whose realm was fair and free
Between the mountains and the sea.
His sword was long, his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen.
The countless stars of heaven's field
Were mirrored in his silver shield.
But long ago he rode away,
And where he dwelleth none can say.
For into darkness fell his star;
In Mordor, where the shadows are."

[Al-Egre_Arn]

One of my favorites.

from The Hobbit

"Now Bard was fighting to defend
the Eastern spur, and yet giving slowly back; and the elf-lords were at bay
about their king upon the southern arm, near to the watch-post on Ravenhill.
Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call.
They had forgotten Thorin! Part of the wall, moved by levers, fell outward
with a crash into the pool. Out leapt the King under the Mountain, and his
companions followed him. Hood and cloak were gone; they were in shining
armour, and red light leapt from their eyes. In the gloom the great dwarf
gleamed like gold in a dying fire.
Rocks were buried down from on high by the goblins above; but they held
on. leapt down to the falls' foot, and rushed forward to battle. Wolf and
rider fell or fled before them. Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes,
and nothing seemed to harm him.
"To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk!" he cried, and his
voice shook like a horn in the valley.
Down, heedless of order, rushed all the dwarves of Dain to his help. Down
too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon
the other side came many of the spearmen of the elves. Once again the goblins
were stricken in the valley; and they were piled in heaps till Dale was dark
and hideous with their corpses. The Wargs were scattered and Thorin drove
right against the bodyguards of Bolg."

[Reodred14]

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be thread that was broken,
The posters again shall be king

[ladylore]

Thanks for whomever resurrected this! With my MMOG-capable computer still down for the count, it's a great way to stay involved with the other game players... my Tolkien books fortunately aren't e-books

It looks like that the quotes can be anything Tolkien, but most are LOTRO. So I will give both: my favorite LOTRO passage, and my favorite passage (which is not from LOTRO).

Favorite LOTRO Passage: Frodo and Galadriel, from the chapter 'The Mirror of Galadriel', FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

'You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,' said Frodo. 'I shall give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.'

Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. 'Wise the lady Galadriel may be,' she said, 'but here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently you are revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer. For many long years I have pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of the Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?

'And now at last it comes. You will give me the ring freely! And in place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night. Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!'

She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall without measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.

'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'

Favorite all time Tolkien passage: Bilbo and Thorin's goodbyes, from the chapter 'The Return Journey,' THE HOBBIT

There indeed lay Thorin Oakenshield, wounded with many wounds, and his rent armour and notched axe were cast upon the floor. He looked up as Bilbo came beside him.

'Farewell, good thief,' he said. 'I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate.'

Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow. 'Farewell, King under the Mountain!' he said. 'This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils-that has been more than any Baggins deserves.'

'No!' said Thorin. 'There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!'

[SolaFide03]

I have so many. But the one that comes to mind over and over again from the Ring:

Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword - day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

- Theoden, as they arrived at the battle for Gondor, Book II, Chapter 5, The Ride of the Rohirrim

I break into tears of joy when I see how that was handled in the movie.

[Belwin]

Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword - day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

this is one of my favorites too. :] it really sticks out in the movies.

my other favorite is:

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

[TheCrusher]

Favorite all time Tolkien passage: Bilbo and Thorin's goodbyes, from the chapter 'The Return Journey,' THE HOBBIT

There indeed lay Thorin Oakenshield, wounded with many wounds, and his rent armour and notched axe were cast upon the floor. He looked up as Bilbo came beside him.

'Farewell, good thief,' he said. 'I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate.'

Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow. 'Farewell, King under the Mountain!' he said. 'This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils-that has been more than any Baggins deserves.'

'No!' said Thorin. 'There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!'

Definitely. I love that passage, and when I watched Thorin say it when I first saw the animated movie The Hobbit (at the age of 10), I actually teared up a bit when he said that heh.

One of my favorite passages was when Gollum preluded the LOTR when Bilbo first stole the ring.

"Thief! Thief! Thief! Baggins!!! We hates it, we hates it! Forever!!!"

Sure enough, he'd get his chance for revenge.

[sir-rinthian]

One of my favorites.

from The Hobbit

"Now Bard was fighting to defend
the Eastern spur, and yet giving slowly back; and the elf-lords were at bay
about their king upon the southern arm, near to the watch-post on Ravenhill.
Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call.
They had forgotten Thorin! Part of the wall, moved by levers, fell outward
with a crash into the pool. Out leapt the King under the Mountain, and his
companions followed him. Hood and cloak were gone; they were in shining
armour, and red light leapt from their eyes. In the gloom the great dwarf
gleamed like gold in a dying fire.
Rocks were buried down from on high by the goblins above; but they held
on. leapt down to the falls' foot, and rushed forward to battle. Wolf and
rider fell or fled before them. Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes,
and nothing seemed to harm him.
"To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me! O my kinsfolk!" he cried, and his
voice shook like a horn in the valley.
Down, heedless of order, rushed all the dwarves of Dain to his help. Down
too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon
the other side came many of the spearmen of the elves. Once again the goblins
were stricken in the valley; and they were piled in heaps till Dale was dark
and hideous with their corpses. The Wargs were scattered and Thorin drove
right against the bodyguards of Bolg."

Omg I love that quote...


Great, Now I have to go read The Hobbit again. Thanks alot

Btw, another great quote from that same part of the story.

But even with the eagles they were still outnumbered. In that last hour Beorn himself appeared - No one knew how or from where. He came alone, and in bears shape; and he seemed to have grown almost to giant-size in his wrath. The roar of his voice was like drums and guns; and he tossed wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers. he fell upon their rear, and broke like a clap of thunder through the ring. The dwarves were making a stand still about their lords upon a low rounded hill. Then Beorn stooped and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and bore him out of the fray. Swiftly he returned and his wrath was redoubled, so that nothing could withstand him, and no weapon seemed to bite upon him. He scattered the bodyguard, and pulled down Bolg himself and crushed him. Then dismay fell on the goblins and they fled in all directions.

(Notice that everyone loves the Battle of Five Aarmies quotes? )

[chompo78]

"Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." ~Gandalf to Frodo in Moria

My personal favorite, followed closely by Theoden's "Arise-sword day" speech. In the Movie, that speech made up for alot of Jackson's ham-fisted mistakes IMO.

Also love Bards "Black arrow" speech in the Hobbit.

[bstrothe]

From Fellowship of the Ring, spoken by Elrond Halfelven: "I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories."