#lotr rambles

[dopaminetreasurehoard]

Gotta spread some love for Meriadoc.

I wish they'd kept a bit more of his personality from the book, because Merry is quite smart.

His relationship to Frodo (though they are cousins) reads more like Cambridge school-chums. Like he's the resident prankster and class-clown due to being both smart and bored.

He fits the type in Regency literature of the guy who's technically in the upper class by title and connections, but whose family's estate is in Ireland or Scotland - an outsider. A gentleman, but not as respectable as the more conventional.

The Brandybucks are like that, too - considered the odd, frontier hobbits compared with the rest.

[audreythebookworm]

was thinking about pippin today (who's surprised)

and i recalled the scene where gandalf and pippin are riding for gondor, and pippin is asking gandalf about the palantirs and the history of gondor, and gandalf gets tired of answering questions so he tells pippin basically "how many questions are you going to ask kid geeze," and pippin gives a very satire response by replying that he wants to know about every plant and every human and the entire history of middle earth blah blah blah.

that scene means so much to me because (to me) it seems obvious that pippin recognizes he is a curious and reckless hobbit.

obviously in movies its very difficult to show a character's perspective and thought process, so the best you can do is try to express as much as you can through facial expressions and dialogue. that's probably why pippin seems, well, "smarter" in the books. because you know what he's thinking.

to me, pippin is not a silly hobbit who makes too many mistakes. he's very curious and sometimes that curiosity comes with consequences. yes, in the books, he purposefully throws a stone down the well in balin's tomb, just cause he felt it was necessary. it definitely wasn't smart of him to look in the palantir, but for goodness sakes the poor boy was traumatized for the rest of his life because of it. palantirs are powerful seeing stones, so yeah no wonder this curious young hobbit wanted to look into a stone that could show him other places around the world. when sauron got into pip's head, PIPPIN TOLD HIM NOTHING!!! because he knew he needed to protect frodo and sam. he swore to everyone that he would never touch a palantir again. if every palantir was laid at his feet, he promised he would close his eyes and look away.

these are not the actions and promises of a "dumb, annoying" hobbit. the things pippin did in the war of the ring changed the outcome significantly. i could say SO MUCH MORE about this, too. the fellowship needed pippin as much as they needed everyone else.

[sunroxic]

if Boromir had ( through god knows what ) lived after and remained till the end, what do you think things that'll change? I 100% think Faramir wouldn't have to go back to Osgiliath

[klngfili]

lord of the rings bigatures my beloved

[la-pheacienne]

I'm reading the lord of the rings and I'm once again amazed at how... good most characters are. Like, they are genuinely good people. They are a bunch of kindhearted, gracious, caring people, coming together under adverse circumstances and trying to figure things out and find a solution and support each other through it all. Like Frodo and Sam meet Faramir and Faramir is a bit suspicious at first and kind of implies Frodo may be a spy, and then when he hears his story and he's like Frodo, I pressed you so hard at first. Forgive me! It was unwise in such an hour and place. And this blows.my.mind. He wasn't even particularly mean or threatening to him in the beginning, he's just such a kind, considerate man, recognizing the kindness and honesty of another man. And they're all like that. Even Gollum starts slowly changing (for a short while) when he encounters Frodo because that's the thing about kindness and humility and grace, they are contagious. They transform people, even a creature like Gollum cannot be immune to that. Like, you may consider all this simple and basic and I get it but, hear me out. It is quite rare to see that in modern media and it is also pretty difficult to pull off in a way that is not corny and simplistic. It is mind blowing that you actually don't have to present the entire palette of human cruelty and vice in order to tell a compelling story, contrary to popular belief. Lotr does the exact opposite, and it is just beautiful and it warms my heart. Especially taking into consideration tolkien's pretty grim growing-up experience, him being a double orphan without a home, raised between an orphanage and a priest and having no family apart from his brother and then the war and then he almost dies and then he's poor as hell and then a second war and it all makes sense somehow. He writes to his wife who is also an orphan two days before the marriage "the next few years will bring us joy and content and love and sweetness such as could not be if we hadn't first been two homeless children and had found one another after long waiting" and, yes, yes! The love and sweetness just radiate from his work, the entire lotr series is a little radiant bubble of hope and love and grace that he imagined in his head to deal with a dismal reality and then he just gave that to the world, and isn't that what imagination and art is all about after all?

[tehcherrya]

Somebody give me the rights to the LOTR cinematic productions so I can create a coming of age dramedy taking place during the seventeen years between Bilbo's 111th birthday party and Frodo leaving the Shire. I'd call it "The Shire Seventeen". It would not only include the Conspiracy as a backdrop but also a bunch of the development and growing up that was probably done within those seventeen years, that is entirely unrelated to the Ring.

It's a whole seventeen years worth of low-stakes hobbit Shire drama and shenanigans, guys-- I need that cozy comedy content.

[marchioness-of-the-flowers]

One thing I love about the Silmarillion is that because it’s so massive, its fans have to specialize.

Like I love everything but my Silm major is in Finrod studies, with a minor in obscure background characters.

Reblog this post with your Silmarillion “speciality,”

[armenelols]

Eru bless Legolas because if I was Boromir and Aragorn trying to bore through thick snow as tall as me on a mountain in a snowstorm. And this dude kept walking on top of the snow right next to me and joking about it and telling me, you can do it! Without doing anything to actually help. My teeth are rattling and that fucker doesn't even get goosebombs. Actually, I would murder him. Aragorn and Boromir are stronger men than I. Can you tell that I am cold? I am so fucking cold

[starboymp3]

the lotr trilogy are the best movies on earth but one thing i’ll never forgive them is the complete lack of aragorn and éomer friendship. i know i already made a post abt it but i honestly cannot believe these two talked One time in the movies while in the books they became literal besties. what do you mean they promised they’ll fight together, draw swords together, upon literally their first meeting, then repeated the same promise later again and again. what do you mean “Since the day when you rose before me out of the green grass of the downs I have loved you, and that love shall not fail.” what do you mean “And wherever King Elessar went with war King Éomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhûn and on the far fields of the South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until Éomer grew old.” LIKE HELLO?????

[rosefires20]

My brainrot today is thinking about just how incredible for a character Eowyn is.

Genuinely. The series might not have many female characters but the ones we do get go so fucking hard.

To me, Eowyn is literally the definition of defining being a woman for oneself. She rejects the roles she is given despite acknlowdging the importance and its mostly because she knows part of the reason is that she is a woman.

The reason why she is obsessed with Aragorn isn't because she loves him but because she wants what he has. She wants the freedom and courage and bravery that Aragorn has at every turn. She literally has multiple conversations during the Two Towers about how what she fears most is a cage. All this girl wants is the freedom to be and not be forced into a role. The best thing is that she literally gets that.

The segment of Return of the King about Eowyn and Faramir is literally about her piecing together what she truly wants. She doesn't want Aragorn. She wants freedom and the ability to choose. Faramir does nothing but encourage that in her. Their love story is literally one of the healthiest love stories I've seen in a long time because at the heart of it, their love is a place to return home to for both parties. Both go off to lead and help their people for a considerable amount of time before returning to each other but that does not diminish their bond. Even Faramir, I believe, falls in love with her bravery and dedication to her loved ones. The reason she went to Pelenor Fields and Gondor with the troops of Rohan was because she had things she wanted to fight for. She wanted to fight for herself, her people, and her loved ones. She is the one who protects Theoden after he is killed so that his body gets the treatment it deserves. She encourages Merry and helps him go to the battle because she sees her struggle in Merry. They feel helpless standing around when there are things to be doing.

Let's also not forget the fact that she was around Grima Wormtounge just as much as the King was. She was exposed to the same poison and awful words that eroded the king. It's even implied that her care for him is part of the reason why Theoden was savable when Gandalf showed up. She had the same power and bravery as everyone else even if she didn't see it in herself.

Then at the end of the day, SHE decides where she wants to go and what path she wants to walk. She walked the path of a warrior. The path of a princess/ruler. The path of a caretaker. But in the end she decides which elements truly mean something to her outside of gender definitions. That is what makes her character so incredible to me. In this she literally kills one of the biggest enemies in that battle with such a badass line.

[iminye]

Sometimes i remember that Círdan is just really fucking ancient and am like actually kinda shocked... like this man has seen almost all of Middle Earth's history, from the shores of Cuiviénen to the second War of the Ring and survived. The only other named elves I can think of right now, who have lived for just as long are Ingwë, Indis and Olwë, but they never returned from Aman. Círdan meanwhile? He just stuck around never having gone to paradise and lived. What a badass. I love him.

[heart-select]

My hobbit fic (mostly bagginshield) tropes that delight me to no end

dwarves making bets (esp on matters of courtship)

line of durin having horrible sweet tooth

Acknowledging Bilbo as the grandson of Old Took, the Thain (gasp he's a prince!)

courting each other without telling you're courting but everyone in the room knowing whats going on

Thorin coming back with Bilbo and people assuming theyre married (that one shire custom about disappearing and coming back together) (bonus if bilbo does not explain)

Bilbo wearing mithril mail Thorin gave and people assuming theyre married

Alternatively theyre married but people are making bets when theyre gonna get together bc they don't know

Bofur has the best stone sense out of the entire company (i like him smart stupid 😔 ❤️)

inseperable heirs of durin (bonus dumb shenanigans) (bonus bonus: theyre also actually competent, theyre both just bored)

Bilbo's family having a time with the dwarves (bonus: hobbits taking in dwarves well enough for gossip and work) (wbk its dori thats having tea with them every 3 days between luncheon and dinner)

Dwalin being really good with kids even if he doesn't like it (he's building an army)

Dwalin Clocking Thorin's attraction to the hobbit and making fun of him for it (still supportive)

Anything that has to do with Dis and her being a menace specifically to Thorin

[youareunbearable]

Gang what if we were devoted to loving Maedhros as our last act of 2024

Mae's art is here by @sad--beep

[trees-of-valinor]

"He was as noble and fair as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer."

is such an amazing character description. All of it lends to the image of a being who is very stately and aged, but "kind as summer" in particular is incredibly evocative. Even if you generally dislike summer (like me), you can't help but know what it means.

It just conjures up the image and feeling of the softest most beautiful day, golden sunlight, flowers and meadows. Just life. And there is strength in summer. The heat of the sun, and summer is all about vitality and growth.

That short phrase says so much and shows Elrond's character so well. After everything he's been through, he still has so much life and strength.

He manages to show so much softness and kindness to people who come to him and his home for help, and is a person of healing, and the fact that he is able to be so and to remain so kind is his strength.

[klngfili]

[imaybeabear]

If you'll excuse me a moment, I have to go cry at the way Aragorn takes a moment in the preparation of a battle to comfort a child who is facing down terror and death and the way he holds his shoulder like he does to his friends and looks him in the eye and says so softly but so firmly "there is always hope"