#rereading lotr

[thoughtsontolkien]

"He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could."

J. R. R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Book 1, Chapter 1: A Long-Expected Party

Hobbit parties must be fuckin wild and I like to imagine that there are like 30 completely stoned hobbits just lying on the grass

[metamorphesque]

These lines (first from the films, thereafter from the books) taught me something profoundly essential about how to be there for a friend, a lover, or a loved one when they are consumed by despair, weighed down by grief, or overwhelmed by the weight of mental torment. It taught me that some burdens are sacredly personal; untransferable tasks that each of us must face in our own time and way.

Yet, while we cannot take their pain or carry their burden for them (no matter how much we wish we could), there is something else we can do. While we cannot lift their burden, we can lift them. We can carry their weary body, their weary heart, as they bear the weight of their pain. In doing so, we offer them a sanctuary — a place of care and safety, where they can begin to confront their hurt without the fear of being alone in its gaze.

While the pain may be theirs to bear, the journey through it need not be traveled in solitude.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, I love you.

[lasaraleen]

I love how entirely guilty Boromir feels after trying to get the ring from Frodo. The way he calls out to him after realizing what he’s done, the way he falls to the ground and cries. He was more than this moment, and he bravely defended his little friends, making them seem important to the cause and keeping them alive. I love him. He’s imperfect, but noble. He was more than that moment. He was all the moments before, and the moments after.

[ten-of-imps]

A little rant about LOTR books

Sam was a gardener. Frodo was his sir, he owned the garden.

The first nitgh the three hobbits are sleeping in the woods while leaving the Shire, Pipin wakes up and tells Sam breakfast has to be served at eight thirty and then asks him did he warmed up water to wash up. That's not friendship, that's not how or what you'd ask your friend when you wake up.

I don't think it's stated in the books but Sam is a servant. I guess him being a gardener should have been clear.

Why am I so concerned about this fact you may ask. Well, because then it puts a completely different lense on the story now, rereading this after so many years. The first time around I might have been too little to understand this dynamic, so it flew over my head, and everything was friendship, magic and later maybe even a little gay. But now this changes everything.

Maybe not everything, but looking in the future of the story, Sam sticking with Frodo seems a little bit more cruel. You stick with your friends and family until the end, not your boss. I know I need to take into account the time period, what was appropriate and how this relationship dynamic was seen differently then. And I'm trying but. They weren't friends, they had a business relationship, and also Gandalf made Sam go by threatening him with magic, even if jokingly, poor Sam had no idea.

[maalidoesart]

devil in disguise

[fancy-rock-dove]

Having some feelings this evening about Frodo’s reaction to people around him being corrupted by desire for the One Ring. How generally devoid it is of any blame placed on that person, and how he instead treats it as a tragedy to spare others from by distancing himself.

It’s a big deal in the latter books that Frodo wants to show Sméagol kindness if possible because things have progressed so far that Frodo can recognize his own experience in him. But what’s really making me stare at a wall right now are Frodo’s early days reactions even before the personal identification is as strong.

Basically, I can’t stop thinking about how deeply Frodo’s reaction to that last encounter with Boromir is informed by the fact that the first person to ever try and take the ring from Frodo was actually Bilbo. The fact that the first person Frodo ever saw corrupted to that point, even for a moment, was the kind, clever, caring uncle who adopted and taught him, and who Frodo thinks the world of.

Just thinking about the personal relationship Frodo had with the very first person he saw the Ring affect and how fundamentally that set the tone for his understanding of it for the entirety of the journey.

[thelien-art]

“Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.” “No!” said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. “You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!” Boromir smiled. “Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?” said Aragorn. But Boromir did not speak again.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers.

[ladynynaeve]

Frodo & Sam + The Sea in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

[lotreaux]

The "Riders of Rohan" chapter is full of gems but one of those is that there were three horses that Éomer offered to give to the Three Hunters, and since Gimli plainly refused to "ride a beast", he ended up riding behind Legolas. The films present this as if there were only two horses so they made do out of necessity, but no, Gimli son of Glóin just didn't want to sit on a horse by himself and said as much proudly to the Third Marshal of the Riddermark. King.

[thoughtsontolkien]

I love the term ‘eleventy-first’ there’s something so endearing about it and it should come into everyday English saying a-hundred-n-eleven is so time-consuming why don't we just say eleventy-one

[armenelols]

Númenor is so sexy. The pillars the colours the mosaics the tapestries the languages the blood sacrificies the cults the thirst for eternal life. Something about the corruption of something pure and beautiful into its most twisted image, yet its preservance, and the stealing of the fruit of the white tree, and Gondor and Arnor, because nothing beautiful every truly dies, and humans fundamentaly crave art and goodness and joy, and even in dark times, hope never dies, and guides them home

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Silmarillion-knower Celeborn when this sounds vaguely familiar:

[smolestboop]

I will not get over the fact that the Arkenstone refers to Thorin's heart and that Bilbo has been carrying it with him in the last few chapters....carrying Thorin's heart in his hands.... and having to give it away with a look of longing.... (lays down on floor)

[chronic-melancholicx]

not a day goes by that i don’t think about gimli telling legolas “You comfort me. Where you go, I will go,” and then a few chapters later, legolas telling gimli “You comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh,” like the dedication to each other, i love them so much

[pumkinpie579]

I rewatched Rings of Power this week and the obsession is stronger than ever.

If evil, why hot?

[verkomy]

“‘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.’” I love women so much you have no idea