Our Favorite Passages from 'The Lord of the Rings'

[serinde]

the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone,

This passage (after the Paths of the Dead) has always struck me as hinting at Aragorn's life -- the parts for which we have no accounts. It is reminiscent of the comment during the scene at Bree: "I know what hunts you."

We don't know the details of Aragorn's journey into the East (did he encounter the Blue Wizards? did the Wraith become aware of the heir of Isildur? how close did he come to discovering that Sauron was back in Middle Earth?)

Gilraen's fear for her child was very real. How close did the Wraith get to him while he was searching & escorting Gollum?

[Merry]

This reminds me of something I read in Shippey's article on proverbiality this week:

Legolas . . . says, on the edge of Fangorn, "Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end: (LotR 481). He means, in context, that he and Aragorn and Gimli have just come round in a big circle, and could have reached Fangorn much more easily if they had left the Great River two weeks earlier and struck west: in other words, they have been wasting their time. He and Aragorn and Gimli are very close to despair at this point--Aragorn has been concerned about making the wrong decisions for some time, and as for Gimli, he has been consistently negative for days. Those who have seen the first edition will perhaps remember that there Aragorn eventually loses his temper, and says, when Gimli asks him why he has been looking in the palantir and talking to Sauron: "What do you fear that I should say to him: that I had a rascal of a rebel dwarf here that I would gladly exchange for a serviceable orc?" Tolkien cut this out later, but I think he should have left it in--the tension between the two has been buidling up for a while.

That would have been great!

[shieldmaiden]

My favourite quotation is the one I use as my signature. The first time I read it, it resonated with me in a way that I have not felt in a long time. If you were to ask me how I feel about my life and what I fear most, I would simply refer you to it.

[Merry]

Wonderful that Tolkien put those words into the mouth of a woman, isn't it?

Nice to see you here again, Shieldmaiden!

[Lindariel]

Shieldmaiden, one of my favorites is Aragorn's gentle understanding of Eowyn's plight -- this is the line that firmly cemented my great love for this character:

Aragorn to Eomer in the Houses of Healing:
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.

Now, honestly, can you imagine a modern day man saying such a thing? (Well, other than Viggo Mortensen . . .)

[Iolanthe]

Those were the days, eh?

That's a great favourite quote, Shieldmaiden. There is so much in those few lines...

[shieldmaiden]

Thank you. I have always felt that Tolkien had a special place in his heart for Éowyn. Perhaps she reminded him of some student, or woman, that he had met earlier in his life.

When I first read the books many years ago, my heart ached for Éowyn when I realized that her love for Aragorn was not to be returned, only to have it leap for joy when she finally recognized her true feelings for Faramir. What better way to end her story - to have her gently let down by Aragorn and gently picked up by Faramir.

What she endured has, I think, been endured by most women at some time in their lives. To love the unattainable and be disappointed. For Tolkien to have put her heart in the care of not one, but two, men of great character, only reinforces my feeling that she was special to him.

Much is made of Aragorn's character, but not so much of Faramir's and he has long been a favourite of mine, although I did not like the way he was portrayed in the films. I think Sam summed him up best:

"Captain Faramir, you have shown your quality, sir - the very highest."

[Merry]

I love Faramir, too, Shieldmaiden, possibly more than Aragorn. (Possibly dangerous to say around here--I better duck!)

In one of his letters, Tolkien writes that he identifies with Faramir, which supports your thesis. Yet Eowyn doesn't remind me much of the Professor's wife. Hmmm . . .

[Lindariel]

No need to duck, Merry! I am an unabashed Aragorn/Viggo lover, but I absolutely ADORE Faramir as well.

(And that Eomer's not so bad either, if you like the rough and tumble sort from time to time. Ahem.)

Let's face it. The Professor wrote us some dishy men, and Peter Jackson cast them BEAUTIFULLY in his films. What's not to love?

(Not drooling. Nope. Not me. Too much dignity. Oh, who am I kidding?)

[marbretherese]

LOL I'm a big Faramir fan, too. He's more - well - accessible than Aragorn, somehow. If I came face to face with them I reckon I'd be able to chat to Faramir but I would probably be awestruck by Aragorn!

(even the thought makes me weak at the knees)

[Iolanthe]

That's a good point, and probably why the Professor gave him an elf for a wife to stop him getting too big for his boots . Not that Aragorn ever would because he is, of course, perfect. Mmmm. Faramir is probably the better option for a cosy, palace free, comfortable life, with beautiful Illilen thrown in. All that said, though, if they were both standing in front of me I'd probably go trailing after Aragorn .

In one of his letters, Tolkien writes that he identifies with Faramir, which supports your thesis. Yet Eowyn doesn't remind me much of the Professor's wife. Hmmm . . .

Ah.... but she's Luthien, so a different and much older part of his inner world.

[Merry]

Yes, definitely. His commitment to her is without question. But that's not to say that he didn't know some younger 'Eowyn' whom he admired in Platonic fashion. I sometimes wonder who the women that he corresponded with were. Some of them seemed like good friends.

On Aragorn and Faramir: I think we're meant to think of Aragorn as totally unattainable. When we see him standing behind Arwen't chair in the Hall of Fire, early on in the story, that is the sign that he is TAKEN!--in all the senses of the word. He is too high for us.

But not Faramir! Ahhh, those Numenorean men!

[Lindariel]

This morning, I found a quote that I had quite forgotten, but I find it very moving, lovely and sad:

Celeborn [to Aragorn]: "Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!"

[serinde]

This morning, I found a quote that I had quite forgotten, but I find it very moving, lovely and sad:

Celeborn [to Aragorn]: "Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!"

Yes, why they had to change Celeborn's fate in the movie ...

Would there have been much singing in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell?

[Iolanthe]

It took me a while to find it - I was looking in Farewell to Lorien but I see it's in Many Partings. I can't remember whether the story had revealed at that point whether Galadriel was leaving or not....