"It's done!" "Yes, Arwen. It's over now."

Well, peeps, I finally did it.  I can now say that I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy!  *confetti and general fanfare*

(With the exception, of course, of the appendices in TROTK.  But I do plan to read those.  Soon.)

How does it feel to have finished it?  How do you take up the threads of an old life?;)  More importantly, how do you even begin to blog about it?  The simple answer is, I don't know, to all questions.  Since it's still sinking in that I've actually finished what seemed to be such a huge undertaking, I'm what you might call shell-shocked.  Joyfully shell-shocked, but nonetheless.

So, what was my final opinion?

;D

Seriously though, did I learn a heck of a lot more about Middle-earth?  Of course. Did opinions on certain characters change?  A little.  Were old loves strengthened?  Ooh, boy oh boy, just you wait;)  Did I like certain characters less in the trilogy?  Unfortunately…yes.

  For this post, rather than try to review the books, I'm mostly just going to clog your connections with pictures of the Epicness known as The Lord of the Rings.  And epic quotes and songs therefrom.  And amongst these pictures quotes, I shall intersperse random thoughts begging to be let out.  Now, I have to say that one of my (very few) complaints with these books, is that I found the first two a little slow in their first halves.  Not that I don't appreciate "slower" books, or that I only enjoy bam-bam-bam action books.  There was just…something little lacking in TFotR and TTT.  But just a little.

Another complaint was…Gimli.  *ducks*  I'm sorry, I'm sorry!  But here's the thing.  His little crush/infatuation with Galadriel was cute when it started out.  But by the end of the first two books, I basically prepared myself to be annoyed every time Gimli opened his mouth.  Because, seriously.  Threatening to end a friendship - not to say a person's life - if they didn't deem Galadriel the most beautiful being ever to walk in Middle-earth?  Come on, now.  That's just…weird.  And he just did not stop talking about her.  Okay, okay, we get it, she's pretty.  So's Lothlorien.  That doesn't mean you need to force your opinion on literally every person you come across.

This is what Little Person's face came to look like whenever Gimli started talking.

So, now that we've gotten that out of the way…I totally loved Lothlorien in TFotR.  Like, I cannot even begin to tell you.  It was so incredible.  So now I have a problem:  Is my favorite location Rivendell, Lothlorien, or Ithilien???


I loved how Tolkien described the chapters in Lorien.  I could picture everything, it seemed:)  *happy sigh*




This.  This was one of my favorite quotes out of the entire trilogy.  I'm just saying.  Beautiful.  Speaking of Haldir, I loved him in the books.  He was awesome.

"A star was bound upon her brows, 
A light was on her hair
As sun upon the golden boughs
in Lorien the fair."
~ The Fellowship of the Ring


Don't ask me why I find this cool.  I'm weird.  But you already knew that.


"The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone
When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and dells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stooped and looked in Mirrormere,
And saw a crown of stars appear,
As gems upon a silver thread,
Above the shadow of his head.
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls:
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dum.
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and windless Mirrormere;
There lies his crown in water deep,
Till Durin wakes again from sleep."
~ The Fellowship of the Ring





This is a great man.  Never tell me he isn't.

Moving on to The Two Towers…

Ahem, yes.  TTT.  When I read the second page, I was rather furious at J.R.R. Tolkien.  ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY KILL OFF A CHARACTER IN THAT CRUELLY INDIFFERENT MANNER.  Having first witnessed Boromir's (completely heartbreaking) death at the end of TFotR movie, I was expecting an emotional death scene.  You know, the very touching kind, that he cried while writing?  (Inkheart movie plug.  Watch it.)  But no!  "But Boromir did not speak again."  That would have been touching…had it been preceded by emotion of any kind.  Which it most certainly was NOT.  *glares at Tolkien*  You. Sick. Heartless. Man.

Aside from that, I have to say that, again, the first half of TTT was too slow.  Or maybe it was just that I wasn't in the mood for it.  At any rate, I ended up skipping over some of it.

*cough* But.  Leaving those two downers aside…*grins*

I DID love the second half of TTT.  Mostly because…


…of this guy right here.  

Without a doubt my favorite literary character I have ever come across, I love Faramir so flippin' much. And boy, oh boy, was that love strengthened by reading the books;)  

Bless you, Pippin!


The above picture sums up a good bit of why I love Faramir.  He has suffered so much in his life, yet he remains approachable and open, instead of closed and bitter.  He clearly treats people with respect and kindness no matter what their station.  Go read TRotK if you want proof.  



(Don't you dare laugh at me XD)


Of course, other parts besides just Faramir were good.  Frodo and Sam and Gollum were quite entertaining.  (Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli…ahem….)

Ithilien!!!  Oh, how I loved the descriptions of Ithilien!  It was so beautiful (and a very fitting place for Faramir and Eowyn - *cough* yes, well.  Moving on.)

"Presently [the stream] brought them to a small clear lake in a shallow dell:  it lay in the broken ruins of an ancient stone basin, the carven rim of which was almost wholly covered with mosses and rose-brambles; iris-swords stood in ranks about it, and water-lily leaves floated on its dark gently-rippling surface; but it was deep and fresh, and spilled ever softly out over a stony lip at the far end."
~ The Two Towers

I just love how it seems like Tolkien, tired of writing for so long about hopelessness and ashen land and war, decided to give himself and us a reprieve, and wrote about a peaceful place, found in the heart of the shadow.

Shelob's Lair was epic.  (What am I saying, all of it was epic.)  But especially Shelob's Lair.  YOU GO, SAM!!!!!!  Plus, it was very nice to not have to witness Frodo take utter leave of his senses and make Sam leave him.  The whole they-got-separated-thing was much better:)


"And with that he staggered to his feet and was Samwise the hobbit, Hamfast's son, again.
'Now, come, you filth!' he cried.  'You've hurt my master, you bture, and you'll pay for it.  We're going on; but we'll settle with you first.  Come on, and taste it again!'"
~ The Two Towers

We also meet Eowyn and all the Rohan people in TTT, which is another plus.



I like this gif, but DON'T think I'm an Eowyn/Aragorn shipper.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  They both ended up with the person with whom they're supposed to .  And Eowyn and Faramir make me so incredibly happy…*blissful sigh*  So yeah.  I just think the gif is kinda cool:D




The epicness.  



See? I like Aragorn too.  In fact, I love him more each time I read or watch the trilogy.  He's really such a great guy.  I especially loved how tenderly he cared for everyone during the last battles and such, healing AND defending everyone. 


Yes, I do love Aragorn Elessar.  (Just…not quite as much as Faramir.  But he's close. XD)








Why must this trilogy be so doggone beautiful??!





(In case you didn't know, "The Steward and the King" was my favorite. chapter. ever.)


But anyway, another of my favorite quotes ever was the part of Sam's song while trying to rescue Frodo:

"His voice sounded thin and quavering in the cold dark tower:  the voice of a forlorn and weary hobbit that no listening orc could possibly mistake for the clear song of an Elven-lord.  He murmured old childish tunes out of the Shire, and snatches of Mr. Bilbo's rhymes that came into his mind like fleeting glimpses of the country of his home.  And then suddenly new strength rose in him, and his voice rang out, while words of his own came unbidden to fit the simple tune.

In western lands beneath the Sun
the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run, 
the merry finches sing.
Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night
and swaying beeches bear
the Elven-stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair.

Though here at journey's end I lie 
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done, 
nor bid the Stars farewell."
~ The Return of the King



I actually sort of skimmed over this part in the book, but this quote is epic.  And true.



Honestly, I can't decide if I thought the ending was a bit rushed.  After such a long trilogy, maybe he was just in a hurry to get to some half-way cheerful stuff ;), but it seemed rather hurried.  Nevertheless, it was beautiful.

I expected nothing less:)

"And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on 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."
~ The Return of the King












































Comments

  1. So. Beautiful.

    I concur wholeheartedly. Tolkien’s masterpiece has been my favourite since I turned eleven, and it just feels so… real. I completely agree with everything in this review.

    (Except I love Aragorn just a taaadd more than Faramir… but they’re both awesome :D)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love losing myself in these books every couple years! (When I have the time, hehe. I attempted to reread them this September and quickly realized that I should not try to do that when also working/studying full time. xD Looking forward to next autumn when I'll be done with school and -- theoretically -- free to dive in again!) Thank you for commenting!

      (Haha, I understand. As you said, they're both awesome. :))

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