"All that is gold does not glitter,<br />
Not all those who wander are lost;<br />
The old that is strong does not wither,<br />
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.<br />
<br />
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,<br />
A light from the shadows shall spring;<br />
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,<br />
The crownless again shall be king."
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.<br />
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
"Never laugh at live dragons."
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."
"Deserves it! I daresay he does. 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 judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
"The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater."
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
"Not all those who wander are lost."
"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
"I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil."
"The Road goes ever on and on<br />
Down from the door where it began.<br />
Now far ahead the Road has gone,<br />
And I must follow, if I can,<br />
Pursuing it with eager feet,<br />
Until it joins some larger way<br />
Where many paths and errands meet.<br />
And whither then? I cannot say" <br />
<br />
"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,<br />
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,<br />
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,<br />
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne<br />
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.<br />
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,<br />
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.<br />
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
"And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many."
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
"Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!"
"There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."
"A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities."
"Still round the corner there may wait<br />
A new road or a secret gate<br />
And though I oft have passed them by<br />
A day will come at last when I<br />
Shall take the hidden paths that run<br />
West of the Moon, East of the Sun."
"Little by little, one travels far"
"It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish."
"I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam."
"Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
"Courage is found in unlikely places."
"May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."
"Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go<br />
To heal my heart and drown my woe<br />
Rain may fall, and wind may blow<br />
And many miles be still to go<br />
But under a tall tree will I lie<br />
And let the clouds go sailing by"
"What do you fear, lady?" [Aragorn] asked.<br />
"A cage," [Éowyn] said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire."
"For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
"I warn you, if you bore me, I shall take my revenge."
"I sit beside the fire and think <br />
Of all that I have seen<br />
Of meadow flowers and butterflies<br />
In summers that have been<br />
<br />
Of yellow leaves and gossamer<br />
In autumns that there were<br />
With morning mist and silver sun<br />
And wind upon my hair<br />
<br />
I sit beside the fire and think<br />
Of how the world will be<br />
When winter comes without a spring <br />
That I shall ever see<br />
<br />
For still there are so many things<br />
That I have never seen<br />
In every wood in every spring<br />
There is a different green<br />
<br />
I sit beside the fire and think<br />
Of people long ago<br />
And people that will see a world<br />
That I shall never know<br />
<br />
But all the while I sit and think<br />
Of times there were before<br />
I listen for returning feet <br />
And voices at the door"
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."
"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it."
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."
"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."
"You can only come to the morning through the shadows."
"I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?"
"Roads Go Ever On<br />
<br />
Roads go ever ever on,<br />
Over rock and under tree,<br />
By caves where never sun has shone,<br />
By streams that never find the sea;<br />
Over snow by winter sown,<br />
And through the merry flowers of June,<br />
Over grass and over stone,<br />
And under mountains in the moon.<br />
<br />
Roads go ever ever on,<br />
Under cloud and under star.<br />
Yet feet that wandering have gone<br />
Turn at last to home afar.<br />
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,<br />
And horror in the halls of stone<br />
Look at last on meadows green,<br />
And trees and hills they long have known.<br />
<br />
The Road goes ever on and on<br />
Down from the door where it began.<br />
Now far ahead the Road has gone,<br />
And I must follow, if I can,<br />
Pursuing it with eager feet,<br />
Until it joins some larger way,<br />
Where many paths and errands meet.<br />
<br />
The Road goes ever on and on<br />
Down from the door where it began.<br />
Now far ahead the Road has gone,<br />
And I must follow, if I can,<br />
Pursuing it with weary feet,<br />
Until it joins some larger way,<br />
Where many paths and errands meet.<br />
And whither then? I cannot say.<br />
<br />
The Road goes ever on and on<br />
Out from the door where it began.<br />
Now far ahead the Road has gone.<br />
Let others follow, if they can!<br />
Let them a journey new begin.<br />
But I at last with weary feet<br />
Will turn towards the lighted inn,<br />
My evening-rest and sleep to meet."
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep...that have taken hold."
"'Where did you go to, if I may ask?' said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.<br />
'To look ahead,' said he.<br />
'And what brought you back in the nick of time?'<br />
'Looking behind,' said he."
"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."
"Short cuts make long delays."
"Far over the misty mountains cold<br />
To dungeons deep and caverns old<br />
We must away ere break of day<br />
To seek the pale enchanted gold.<br />
<br />
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,<br />
While hammers fell like ringing bells<br />
In places deep, where dark things sleep,<br />
In hollow halls beneath the fells.<br />
<br />
For ancient king and elvish lord<br />
There many a gleaming golden hoard<br />
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught<br />
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.<br />
<br />
On silver necklaces they strung<br />
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung<br />
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire<br />
They meshed the light of moon and sun.<br />
<br />
Far over the misty mountains cold<br />
To dungeons deep and caverns old<br />
We must away, ere break of day,<br />
To claim our long-forgotten gold.<br />
<br />
Goblets they carved there for themselves<br />
And harps of gold; where no man delves<br />
There lay they long, and many a song<br />
Was sung unheard by men or elves.<br />
<br />
The pines were roaring on the height,<br />
The wind was moaning in the night.<br />
The fire was red, it flaming spread;<br />
The trees like torches blazed with light.<br />
<br />
The bells were ringing in the dale<br />
And men looked up with faces pale;<br />
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire<br />
Laid low their towers and houses frail.<br />
<br />
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;<br />
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.<br />
They fled their hall to dying fall<br />
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.<br />
<br />
Far over the misty mountains grim<br />
To dungeons deep and caverns dim<br />
We must away, ere break of day,<br />
To win our harps and gold from him!"
"The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them."
"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," said Aragorn: "you still speak in riddles."<br />
"What? In riddles?" said Gandalf. "No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying."
"Fairy tale does not deny the existence of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance. It denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat...giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy; Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief."
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. "
"Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain
"Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off."
"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
"You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."
"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."
"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,<br />
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,<br />
It lies behind stars and under hills,<br />
And empty holes it fills,<br />
It comes first and follows after,<br />
Ends life, kills laughter."
"What does your heart tell you? "
"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks."
"You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon."
"Don't go where I can't follow!"
"Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here too after all the absurd things you've done since you left home."
"Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick."
"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 of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.'
I should think so - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"
"For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
"Fear both the heat and the cold of your heart, and try to have patience, if you can."
"Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising<br />
I came singing into the sun, sword unsheathing.<br />
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:<br />
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall! "
"It is useless to meet revenge with revenge; it will heal nothing."
"Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars."
"'But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,' said Frodo.<br />
Sam looked at him unhappily. 'It all depends on what you want,' put in Merry. 'You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin--to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours--closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.'"
"All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But... I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death."
"Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer."
"I am in fact, a hobbit in all but size"
"Fly you fools"
"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings."
"May the hair on your toes never fall out!"
"And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise."
"Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter."
"My dear Frodo!' exclaimed Gandalf. 'Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch."
"Fair speech may hide a foul heart."
"Home is behind, the world ahead,<br />
And there are many paths to tread<br />
Through shadows to the edge of night,<br />
Until the stars are all alight.<br />
Then world behind and home ahead,<br />
We'll wander back and home to bed.<br />
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,<br />
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!"
"Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."
"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
"Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill."
"Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
"But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him."
"From the ashes a fire shall be woken,<br />
A light from the shadows shall spring;<br />
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,<br />
The crownless again shall be king."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."
"There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go."
"'Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, of course, but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring!" And they will say: "Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn't he, dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."'<br /><br />
'It's saying a lot too much,' said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. 'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad?"'<br /><br />
'Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious.'<br /><br />
'So was I,' said Frodo, 'and so I am.'"
"This thing all things devours:<br />
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;<br />
Gnaws iron, bites steel;<br />
Grinds hard stones to meal;<br />
Slays king, ruins town,<br />
And beats high mountain down."
"Journey's End<br />
<br />
In western lands beneath the Sun<br />
The flowers may rise in Spring,<br />
The trees may bud, the waters run,<br />
The merry finches sing.<br />
Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night,<br />
And swaying branches bear<br />
The Elven-stars as jewels white<br />
Amid their branching hair.<br />
<br />
Though here at journey's end I lie<br />
In darkness buried deep,<br />
Beyond all towers strong and high,<br />
Beyond all mountains steep,<br />
Above all shadows rides the Sun<br />
And Stars for ever dwell:<br />
I will not say the Day is done,<br />
Nor bid the Stars farewell."
"Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?<br />
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?<br />
Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?<br />
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?<br />
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;<br />
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.<br />
Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,<br />
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?"
"What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!'<br />
Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity."
"I wished to be loved by another,' [Éowyn] answered. 'But I desire no man's pity."
"The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut."
"To whatever end. Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains. Like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the west. Behind the hills, into shadow. How did it come to this?"
"Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields... and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?"
"But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will."
"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."
"Farewell! O Gandalf! May you ever appear where you are most needed and least expected!"
"Criticism - however valid or intellectually engaging - tends to get in the way of a writer who has anything personal to say. A tightrope walker may require practice, but if he starts a theory of equilibrium he will lose grace (and probably fall off)."
"I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen.
I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.
I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me.
I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider."
"Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on on the story."
"Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do."
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing... this shadow. Even darkness must pass."
"Trolls simply detest the very sight of dwarves (uncooked)."
"'Those were happier days, when there was still close friendship at times between folk of different race, even between Dwarves and Elves.'<br />
'It was not the fault of the Dwarves that the friendship waned,' said Gimli.<br />
'I have not heard that it was the fault of the Elves,' said Legolas.<br />
'I have heard both,' said Gandalf."
"A box without hinges, key, or lid,<br />
Yet golden treasure inside is hid."
"Alive without breath,<br />
As cold as death;<br />
Never thirsty, ever drinking,<br />
All in mail never clinking."
"For I am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him when he departs to the Havens: for mine is the choice of Luthien, and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter."
"And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her."
"Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know."
"It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait."
"His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom."
"Time doesn't seem to pass here: it just is."
"His rage passes description - the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted."
"Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!" he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' in the same sort of uncomfortable situations."
"Voiceless it cries,<br />
Wingless flutters,<br />
Toothless bites,<br />
Mouthless mutters."
"It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made names for them new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain."
"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night."
"Home is behind, the world ahead,<br />
and there are many paths to tread<br />
through shadows to the edge of night,<br />
until the stars are all alight."
"You cannot pass!"
"And now leave me in peace for a bit! I don't want to answer a string of questions while I am eating. I want to think!"
"Good Heavens!" said Pippin. "At breakfast?"
"'Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?' <br />
'A great Shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count."
"Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea -any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!"
"I am old, Gandalf. I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed! Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right. I need a change, or something."
"The treacherous are ever distrustful."
"The road goes ever on and on"
"If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to Old Took's great-granduncle Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their king Golfibul's head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit-hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf was invented at the same moment."
"Adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine."
"The consolation of fairy stories, the joy of the happy ending; or more correctly, the good catastrophe, the sudden, joyous "turn" (for there is no true end to a fairy tale); this joy, which is one of the things that fairy stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially escapist or fugitive. In it's fairy tale or other world setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace, never to be counted on to reoccur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, or sorrow and failure, the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance. It denies, (in the face of much evidence if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief."
"Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Why O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole?" said poor Mr. Baggins, bumping up and down on Bombur's back."
"Handsome is as handsome does"
"At the hill's foot Frodo found Aragorn, standing still and silent as a tree; but in his hand was a small golden bloom of elanor, and a light was in his eyes. He was wrapped in some fair memory: and as Frodo looked at him he knew that he beheld things as they had been in this same place. For the grim years were removed from the face of Aragorn, and he seemed clothed in white, a young lord fall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue to one whom Frodo could not see. Arwen vanimelda, namarie! He said, and then he drew a breath, and returning out of his thought he looked at Frodo and smiled.
`Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,' he said, `and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!' And taking Frodo's hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as a living man."
"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!<br />
Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter!<br />
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,<br />
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!<br />
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"
"I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.' A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes. 'For one thing it would take a long while: my name is growing all the time, and I've lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time saying anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to."
"Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?"
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
"False hopes are more dangerous than fears."
"The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song."
"Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all Free Folk go with you.
May the stars shine upon your faces!"
"The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it's no good worrying about tomorrow. It probably won't come."
"Fool of a Took!" he growled. "This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance."
"It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen."
"There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world."
"A man inherited a field in which was an accumulation of old stone, part of an older hall. Of the old stone some had already been used in building the house in which he actually lived, not far from the old house of his fathers. Of the rest he took some and built a tower. But his friends coming perceived at once (without troubling to climb the steps) that these stones had formerly belonged to a more ancient building. So they pushed the tower over, with no little labour, and in order to look for hidden carvings and inscriptions, or to discover whence the man's distant forefathers had obtained their building material. Some suspecting a deposit of coal under the soil began to dig for it, and forgot even the stones. They all said: 'This tower is most interesting.' But they also said (after pushing it over): 'What a muddle it is in!' And even the man's own descendants, who might have been expected to consider what he had been about, were heard to murmur: 'He is such an odd fellow! Imagine using these old stones just to build a nonsensical tower! Why did not he restore the old house? he had no sense of proportion.' But from the top of that tower the man had been able to look out upon the sea."
"The wise speak only of what they know"
"Though here at journey's end I lie <br />
In darkness buried deep, <br />
Beyond all towers strong and high, <br />
Beyond all mountains steep, <br />
Above all shadows rides the Sun <br />
And Stars for ever dwell: <br />
I will not say the Day is done, <br />
Nor bid the Stars farewell."
"In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, 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 Dínen.
"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."
"Here you find us sitting on a field of victory, amid the plunder of armies, and you wonder how we came by a few well-earned comforts!"
"Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows<br />
The West Wind goes walking, and about the walls it goes.<br />
What news from the West, oh wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight?<br />
Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?<br />
'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey;<br />
I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away<br />
Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more.<br />
The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.'<br />
Oh, Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar.<br />
But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.<br />
<br />
From the mouth of the sea the South Wind flies,<br />
From the sand hills and the stones;<br />
The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans<br />
What news from the South, oh sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve?<br />
Where now is Boromir the Fair? He tarries and I grieve.<br />
'Ask me not where he doth dwell--so many bones there lie<br />
On the white shores and on the black shores under the stormy sky;<br />
So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing sea.<br />
Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!'<br />
Oh Boromir! Beyond the gate the Seaward road runs South,<br />
But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey seas mouth.<br />
<br />
From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides,<br />
And past the roaring falls<br />
And loud and cold about the Tower its loud horn calls.<br />
What news from the North, oh mighty wind, do you bring to me today?<br />
What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.<br />
'Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought<br />
His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought.<br />
His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest;<br />
And Rauros, Golden Rauros Falls, bore him upon its breast.'<br />
Oh Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze<br />
To Rauros, Golden Rauros Falls until the end of days."
"True education is a kind of never ending story - a matter of continual beginnings, of habitual fresh starts, of persistent newness."
"Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things."
"One Ring to rule them all, <br />
One Ring to find them,<br />
One Ring to bring them all <br />
and in the darkness bind them."
"Let the unseen days be. Today is more than enough."
"The King beneath the mountains,<br />
The King of carven stone,<br />
The lord of silver fountains<br />
Shall come into his own!<br />
<br />
His crown shall be upholden,<br />
His harp shall be restrung,<br />
His halls shall echo golden<br />
To songs of yore re-sung.<br />
<br />
The woods shall wave on mountains.<br />
And grass beneath the sun;<br />
His wealth shall flow in fountains<br />
And the rivers golden run.<br />
<br />
The streams shall run in gladness,<br />
The lakes shall shine and burn,<br />
And sorrow fail and sadness<br />
At the Mountain-king's return!"
"I will take the Ring", he said, "though I do not know the way."
"You may not like my burglar, but please don't damage him."
"I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren."
"I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise! 'Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to! I don't mean to."
"This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected."
"A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship."
"Your lullaby would waken a drunken goblin!"
"Bilbo's Last Song<br />
<br />
Day is ended, dim my eyes,<br />
But journey long before me lies.<br />
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.<br />
The ship's beside the stony wall.<br />
Foam is white and waves are grey;<br />
Beyond the sunset leads my way.<br />
Foam is salt, the wind is free;<br />
I hear the rising of the Sea.<br />
<br />
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,<br />
The wind is east, the moorings fret.<br />
Shadows long before me lie,<br />
Beneath the ever-bending sky,<br />
But islands lie behind the Sun<br />
That I shall raise ere all is done;<br />
Lands there are to west of West,<br />
Where night is quiet and sleep is rest.<br />
<br />
Guided by the Lonely Star,<br />
Beyond the utmost harbour-bar,<br />
I'll find the heavens fair and free,<br />
And beaches of the Starlit Sea.<br />
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,<br />
And fields and mountains ever blest.<br />
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.<br />
I see the Star above my mast!"
"Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!"
"Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned."
"For we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make."
"A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds."
"The strongest must seek a way, say you? But I say: let a ploughman plough, but choose an otter for swimming, and for running light over grass and leaf, or over snow- an Elf!"
"This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away."
"They were frightfully angry. Quite apart from the stones no spider has ever liked being called Attercop, and Tomnoddy of course is insulting to anybody."
"It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam," said Frodo, "and I could not have borne that."
"Not as certain as being left behind," said Sam.
"But I am going to Mordor."
"I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I'm coming with you."
"And he sang to them, now in the Elven tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness."
"That was the most awkward Wednesday he ever remembered."
"Grave and thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king with cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings.<br /><br />
Thus Aragorn for the first time in the full light of day beheld Eowyn, Lady of Rohan, and thought her fair; fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood. And she now was suddenly aware of him: tall heir of kings, wise with many winters, grey cloaked, hiding a power that yet she felt. For a moment still as stone she stood, then turning swiftly she was gone."
"To the sea, to the sea! The white gulls are crying,<br />
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.<br />
West, west away, the round sun is falling, <br />
Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling, <br />
The voices of my people that have gone before me? <br />
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;<br />
For our days are ending and our years failing.<br />
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.<br />
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,<br />
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,<br />
In Eressea, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,<br />
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people forever!"
"It is the way of my people to use light words at such times and say less than they mean. We fear to say too much. It robs us of the right words when a jest is out of place."
"Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes."
"My Precious, my Precious."
"Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering."
"Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow,<br />
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.<br />
None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the Master:<br />
His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster."
"Under the Mountain dark and tall<br />
The King has come unto his hall!<br />
His foe is dead,<br />
the Worm of Dread,<br />
And ever so his foes shall fall.<br />
<br />
The sword is sharp, the spear is long,<br />
The arrow swift, the Gate is strong;<br />
The heart is bold that looks on gold;<br />
The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong.<br />
<br />
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,<br />
While hammers fells like ringing bells<br />
In places deep, where dark things sleep,<br />
In hollow halls beneath the fells.<br />
<br />
-from The Hobbit (Dwarves Battle Song)"
"Nobody believes me when I say that my long book is an attempt to create a world in which a form of language agreeable to my personal aesthetic might seem real. But it is true."
"Elves and Dragons! Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you."<br />
<br />
~ Hamfast Gamgee (the Gaffer)
"No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it."
"Fare well we call to hearth and hall<br />
Though wind may blow and rain may fall<br />
We must away ere break of day<br />
Over the wood and mountain tall<br />
<br />
To Rivendell where Elves yet dwell<br />
In glades beneath the misty fell<br />
Through moor and waste we ride in haste<br />
And wither then we cannot tell<br />
<br />
With foes ahead behind us dread<br />
Beneath the sky shall be our bed<br />
Until at last our toil be sped<br />
Our journey done, our errand sped<br />
We must away! We must away!<br />
We ride before the break of day!"
"A nice pickle they were all in now: all neatly tied up in sacks, with three angry trolls (and two with burns and bashes to remember) sitting by them, arguing whether they should roast them slowly, or mince them fine and boil them, or just sit on them one by one and squash them into jelly."
"Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"
A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."
"A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.'<br />
<br />
'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!'<br />
<br />
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. 'But no living man am I!'"
"But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?"
"Many are the strange chances of the world,' said Mithrandir, 'and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter."
"No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades."
"Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and greatest of Calamities."
"What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.<br />
"Not fair! not fair!" he hissed. "It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in it's nassty little pocketsess?"
"Clap! Snap! the black crack!<br />
Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!<br />
And down down to Goblin-town<br />
You go, my lad!<br />
<br />
Clash, crash! Crush, smash!<br />
Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!<br />
Pound, pound, far underground!<br />
Ho, ho! my lad!<br />
<br />
Swish, smack! Whip crack!<br />
Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!<br />
Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,<br />
While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,<br />
Round and round far underground<br />
Below, my lad!"
"Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been."
"Shadowfax tossed his head and cried aloud, as if a trumpet had summoned him to battle. Then he sprang forward. Fire flew from his feet; night rushed over him. As he fell slowly into sleep, Pippin had a strange feeling: he and Gandalf were still as stone, seated upon the statue of a running horse, while the world rolled away beneath his feet with a great noise of wind."
"I don't know, and I would rather not guess."
"How do you move on? You move on when your heart finally understands that there is no turning back."
"So the days slipped away, as each morning dawned bright and fair, and each evening followed cool and clear. But autumn was waning fast; slowly the golden light faded to pale silver, and the lingering leaves fell from the naked trees. A wind began to blow chill from the Misty Mountains to the east. The Hunter's Moon waxed round in the night sky, and put to flight all the lesser stars. But low in the South one star shone red. Every night, as the Moon waned again, it shone brighter and brighter. Frodo could see it from his window, deep in the heavens, burning like a watchful eye that glared above the trees on the brink of the valley."
"The Hobbits are just rustic English people, made small in size because it reflects the generally small reach of their imagination."
"And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word of explanation?"
"I don't like anything here at all." said Frodo, "step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid."
"Yes, that's so," said Sam, "And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo, adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and
looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on, and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same; like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?"
"I wonder," said Frodo, "But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to."
"O! Where are you going<br />
With beards all a-wagging?<br />
No knowing, no knowing<br />
What brings Mister Baggins,<br />
And Balin and Dwalin<br />
down into the valley<br />
in June<br />
ha! ha!"
"'And you, Ringbearer' she said, turning to Frodo. 'I come to you last who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.' She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it and rays of white light sprang from her hand. 'In this phial,' she said,' is caught the light of Earendil's star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.'<br />
<br />
Frodo took the phial, and for a moment as it shone between them, he saw her again standing like a queen, great and beautiful."
"You ought not to be rude to an eagle, when you are only the size of a hobbit, and are up in hid eyrie at night!"
"If you took this thing on yourself, unwilling, at others' asking, then you have pity and honour from me. And I marvel at you: to keep it hid and not to use it. You are a new people and a new world to me. Are all your kin of like sort? Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardners be in high hounour."
"I may be a burglar...but I'm an honest one, I hope, more or less."
"For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through the shadows."
"Yet at the last Beren was slain by the Wolf that came from the gates of Angband, and he died in the arms of Tinúviel. But she chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow him; and it is sung that they met again beyond the Sundering Seas, and after a brief time walking alive once more in the green woods, together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world. So it is that Lúthien Tinúviel alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved."
"Celtic is a magic bag, into which anything may be put, and out of which almost anything may come . . . Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight, which is not so much a twilight of the gods as of the reason."
"You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say."
"For you little gardener and lover of trees, I have only a small gift. Here is set G for Galadriel, but it may stand for garden in your tongue. In this box there is earth from my orchard, and such blessing as Galadriel has still to bestow is upon it. It will not keep you on your road, nor defend you against any peril; but if you keep it and see your home again at last, then perhaps it may reward you. Though you should find all barren and laid waste, there will be few gardens in Middle-earth that will bloom like your garden, if you sprinkle this earth there. Then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse far off of Lórien, that you have seen only in our winter. For our spring and our summer are gone by, and they will never be seen on earth again save in memory."
"Elrond's house was perfect, whether you liked food or sleep or story-telling or singing (or reading), or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness. ... Evil things did not come into the secret valley of Rivendell."
"The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And if he was really evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home. If he would not rather have stayed there in peace. War will make corpses of us all."
"But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo."
"Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!<br />
Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.<br />
Down along under the Hill, shining in the sunlight,<br />
Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,<br />
There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,<br />
Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water.<br />
Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing<br />
Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?<br />
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o,<br />
Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!<br />
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!<br />
Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.<br />
Tom'sgoing hom again water lilies-bringing.<br />
Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?"
"If you're referring to the incident with the Dragon, I was barely involved. All I did was give your uncle a little nudge out of the door."
"Praise from the praise-worthy is beyond all rewards" - Faramir, The Two Towers."
"Yes, they are elves," Legolas said. "and they say that you breathe so loud they could shoot you in the dark." Sam hastily covered his mouth."
"Upon the hearth the fire is red,<br />
Beneath the roof there is a bed;<br />
But not yet weary are our feet,<br />
Still round the corner we may meet<br />
A sudden tree or standing stone<br />
That none have seen but we alone.<br />
Tree and flower, leaf and grass,<br />
Let them pass! Let them pass!<br />
Hill and water under sky,<br />
Pass them by! Pass them by!<br />
<br />
Still round the corner there may wait<br />
A new road or a secret gate,<br />
And though we pass them by today,<br />
Tomorrow we may come this way<br />
And take the hidden paths that run<br />
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.<br />
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,<br />
Let them go! Let them go!<br />
Sand and stone and pool and dell,<br />
Fare you well! Fare you well!<br />
<br />
Home is behind, the world ahead,<br />
And there are many paths to tread<br />
Through shadows to the edge of night,<br />
Until the stars are all alight.<br />
Then world behind and home ahead,<br />
We'll wander back to home and bed.<br />
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,<br />
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!<br />
Fire and lamp and meat and bread,<br />
And then to bed! And then to bed!"
"I give you this toast: To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees."
"Burn, burn tree and fern!<br />
Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch<br />
To light the night for our delight,<br />
Ya hey!<br />
<br />
Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em!<br />
till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;<br />
till hair smells and skins crack,<br />
fat melts, and bones black<br />
in cinders lie<br />
beneath the sky!<br />
So dwarves shall die,<br />
and light the night for our delight,<br />
Ya hey!<br />
Ya-harri-hey!<br />
Ya hoy!"
"Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and he looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke softly. 'My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?"
"Then, Éowyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful. It may be that only a few days are left ere darkness falls upon our world, and when it comes I hope to face it steadily; but it would ease my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I could see you still. For you and I have both passed under the wings of the Shadow, and the same hand drew us back."
"After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there was some tobacco in it, and that was something more. Then he felt for matches and he could not find any at all, and that shattered his hopes completely."
"Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn'Ambar-metta!<br />
<br />
(Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.)"
"Your talk of sniffling riders with invisible noses has unsettled me."
"Gandalf thought of most things; and though he could not do everything, he could do a great deal for friends in a tight corner."
"Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!<br />
By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow,<br />
By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!<br />
Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!"
"When evening in the Shire was grey<br />
his footsteps on the Hill were heard;<br />
before the dawn he went away<br />
on journey long without a word.<br />
<br />
From Wilderland to Western shore,<br />
from northern waste to southern hill,<br />
through dragon-lair and hidden door<br />
and darkling woods he walked at will.<br />
<br />
With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men,<br />
with mortal and immortal folk,<br />
with bird on bough and beast in den,<br />
in their own secret tongues he spoke.<br />
<br />
A deadly sword, a healing hand,<br />
a back that bent beneath its load;<br />
a trumpet-voice, a burning brand,<br />
a weary pilgrim on the road.<br />
<br />
A lord of wisdom throned he sat,<br />
swift in anger, quick to laugh;<br />
an old man in a battered hat<br />
who leaned upon a thorny staff.<br />
<br />
He stood upon the bridge alone<br />
and Fire and Shadow both defied;<br />
his staff was broken on the stone,<br />
in Khazad-dûm his wisdom died."
"Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zaram. Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf."
"It [discovering Finnish] was like discovering a wine-cellar filled with bottles of amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me."
"Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiseling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: "I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no."
"Their 'magic' is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations. "
"If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise."
"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! 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!"
"There was some murmuring, but also some grins on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit, legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their experience."
"'I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor,' said Gandalf. 'And as for valour, that cannot be computed by stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings, and great weariness is on him, or I would wake him. His name is Peregrin, a very valiant man.'<br />
'Man?' said Ingold dubiously; and the others laughed.<br />
'Man!' cried Pippin, now thoroughly roused. 'Man! Indeed not! I am a hobbit and no more valiant than I am a man, save perhaps now and again by necessity. Do not let Gandalf deceive you!'"
"Tall ships and tall kings<br />
Three times three,<br />
What brought they from the foundered land<br />
Over the flowing sea?<br />
Seven stars and seven stones<br />
And one white tree."
"Evidently we look so much alike that your desire to make an incurable dent in my hat must be excused."
"His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: 'I'm coming Mr. Frodo!"
"Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages."
"Kings built tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the kingdom of Gondor sank into ruin, the line of kings failed, the white tree withered and the rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men. "
"Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard's face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth."
"Far over the Misty Mountains cold,<br />
To dungeons deep and caverns old,<br />
We must away, ere break of day,<br />
To seek our pale enchanted gold.<br />
<br />
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,<br />
While hammers fell like ringing bells,<br />
In places deep, where dark things sleep,<br />
In hollow halls beneath the fells.<br />
<br />
The pines were roaring on the heights,<br />
The wind was moaning in the night,<br />
The fire was red, it flaming spread,<br />
The trees like torches blazed with light."<br />
<br />
"Fifteen birds in five firtrees,<br />
their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!<br />
But, funny little birds, they had no wings!<br />
O what shall we do with the funny little things?<br />
Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot;<br />
fry them, boil them and eat them hot?"
"And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars."
"The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart."
"I am in fact a Hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much."
"Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles.
"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply."
"Don't tell us about dreams - dream dinners aren't any good and we can't share them."
"A sister they had, Galadriel, most beautiful of all the house of Finwë; her hair was lit with gold as though it had caught in a mesh the radiance of Laurelin."
"That was Thorin's style. He was an important dwarf. If he had been allowed, he would probably have gone on like this until he was out of breath, without telling anyone there anything that was not known already. But he was rudely interrupted."
"The dragon is withered,<br />
His bones are now crumbled;<br />
His armour is shivered,<br />
His splendour is humbled!<br />
Though sword shall be rusted,<br />
And throne and crown perish<br />
With strength that men trusted<br />
And wealth that they cherish,<br />
Here grass is still growing,<br />
And leaves are yet swinging,<br />
The white water flowing,<br />
And elves are yet singing<br />
Come! Tra-la-la-lally!<br />
Come back to the valley!"
"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!' he said to himself, and it became a favorite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb."
"His head was swimming, and he was far from certain even of the direction they had been going in when he had his fall. He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment."
"The stars are far brighter<br />
Than gems without measure,<br />
The moon is far whiter<br />
Than silver in treasure;<br />
The fire is more shining<br />
On hearth in the gloaming<br />
Than gold won by mining,<br />
So why go a-roaming?<br />
O! Tra-la-la-lally<br />
Come back to the Valley."
"We are plain quiet folk, and I have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, and uncomfortable things."
"Upon the hearth the fire is red,<br />
Beneath the roof there is a bed;<br />
But not yet weary are our feet,<br />
Still round the corner we may meet<br />
A sudden tree or standing stone<br />
That none have seen but we alone.<br />
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,<br />
Let them pass! Let them pass!"
"Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you shall each tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them."
"The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him."
"Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious. When he took it out he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, not without a great struggle. He weighed the Ring in his hand, hesitating and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will he made a movement, as if to cast it away - but he found that he had put it back in his pocket."
"'Sméagol won't grub for roots and carrotses and - taters. What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?'<br /><br />
'Po-ta-toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me some herbs, and I'll think better of you. What's more, if you turn over a new leaf, and keep it turned, I'll cook you some taters one of these days. I will; fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn't say no to that.'<br /><br />
'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!'<br /><br />
'Oh, you're hopeless, said Sam. Go to sleep!'"
"On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory."
"Mercy!" cried Gandalf. "If the giving of knowledge is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more should you like to know?"
"The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-Earth and Over-heave and of the Sundering Seas," laughed Pippin. "Of course! What less?"
"Where there are so many, all speech becomes a debate without end. But two together may perhaps find wisdom."
"Lazy Lob and crazy Cob<br />
are weaving webs to wind me.<br />
I am far more sweet than other meat,<br />
but still they cannot find me!<br />
<br />
Here am I, naughty little fly;<br />
you are fat and lazy.<br />
You cannot trap me, though you try,<br />
in your cobwebs crazy."
"Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed)-Gandalf came by."
"After some while Bilbo became impatient. "Well, what is it?" he said. "The answer's not a kettle boiling over, as you seem to think by the noise you are making."
"All stories are ultimately about the fall."
"The washing-up was so dismally real that Bilbo was forced to believe the party of the night before had not been part of his bad dreams, as he had rather hoped."
"If you wanted to go on from the end of The Hobbit I think the ring would be your inevitable choice as the link. If then you wanted a large tale, the Ring would at once acquire a capital letter; and the Dark Lord would immediately appear. As he did, unasked, on the hearth at Bag End as soon as I came to that point. So the essential Quest started at once. But I met a lot of things along the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner of the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than Frodo did. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlorien no word had reached my mortal ears till I came there."<br /><br />
(J.R.R. Tolkien to W.H. Auden, June 7, 1955.)
"Of all the things that men may heed<br />
'Tis most of love they sing indeed."
"Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the Little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside."
"A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed.
'Hobbits!' he thought. 'Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit sleeping out of doors under a tree. Three of them! There's something mighty queer behind this.' He was quite right, but he never found out any more about it."
"If only that dratted wizard would leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he'll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,' they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticable."
"I invented that little rhyme about 'One Ring to rule them all', I remember, in the bath one day."
"My Precious!"
"Then sudden Felagund there swaying<br />
Sang in answer a song of staying,<br />
Resisting, battling against power,<br />
Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,<br />
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;<br />
Of changing and of shifting shape,<br />
Of snares eluded, broken traps,<br />
The prison opening, the chain that snaps."
"O! Where are you going,<br />
So late in returning?<br />
The river is flowing,<br />
The stars are all burning!<br />
O! Wither so laden,<br />
So sad and so dreary?<br />
Here elf and elf-maiden<br />
Now welcome the weary<br />
With Tra-la-la-lally<br />
Come back to the Valley,<br />
Tra-la-la-lally<br />
Fa-la-la-lally<br />
Fa-la!"
"I do really wish to destroy it!' cried Frodo. 'Or, well, to have it destroyed. I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?"
"It is no bad thing celebrating a simple life."
"... the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity."
J.R.R. Tolkien