The Lord of the Rings Quotes

Ok, another nerdy post.  As I (finally) wrap up reading LOTR for the 7th time, I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes/passages.  It seems like these stick out to me every time.  One of these days I'll keep a complete log of all the passages I like, but for now, here are some of the highlights.

"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way." - Frodo, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Council of Elrond."

This sentence always strikes me for its demonstration of faith, and I often think of it, to myself (until now, anyway), as "Frodo's Prayer."

A deadly sword, a healing hand,

a back that bent beneath the load;

a trumpet-voice, a burning brand,

a weary pilgrim on the road.

A lord of wisdom throned he sat,

swift in anger, quick to laugh;

an old man in a battered hat

who leaned upon a thorny staff.

He stood upon the bridge alone

and Fire and Shadow both defied;

his staff was broken on the stone,

in Khazad-dûm his wisdom died.

Frodo mourning the loss of Gandalf.  The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Mirror of Galadriel."

This is maybe half the poem.  The last line in particular seems poignant, but I especially like the use of contradictory descriptors that helps really bring the character of Gandalf into focus.  (Side note: How could I have not know that Tolkien was Catholic?  His use of capitalization should have given it away a long time ago.)

How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come.  But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Evles and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness.  Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel Dúath to the eastern hills, to Dol Duldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood.  But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world.

The Two Towers, "Shelob's Lair"

Ok, so that isn't exactly in line with any other quotes that I'll be putting in this post, but I just really enjoy this description.  I debated on whether to include this passage or the passage where Sam defeats her, but opted for this one to mix things up a bit.

Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away.  Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it.  After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them.  Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken.  Fey he seemed, or the battle fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young.  His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed.  For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea;  and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them.  And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.

Sorry about the length, but I didn't feel like I could trim it beyond that and maintain the rhythm of that passage.  That is, as I write this, probably my favorite passage of the book.

"Don't orcs eat, and don't they drink?  Or do they just live on foul air and poison?"

"No, they eat and drink, Sam.  The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own.  I don't think it gave life to the orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other living creatures."

- The Return of the King, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"

And finally, this one from the next chapter, "The Land of Shadow," as Frodo and Sam are on the final leg of their quest, deep in the land of Mordor.

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while.  The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him.  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.

And I don't think I could end it any better than that.