Tolkien Party Tag 2016

Believe it or not, I’ve actually been thinking of this post ever since last September. Hamlette’s (always splendid) Tolkien party was the week before our wedding and I actually wrote out all my answers for her tag ahead of time, but then (what with finishing my wedding dress and *coughs* all sorts of Wonderful People Arriving in Town ;D) I ran out of time to put my pictures in. :) :) But I’ve been thinking about it ever since and am now curled up on my couch across the country and able to dig through Pinterest again… so here we are!

(And oh this is making me want to read the books again.)

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1. How many books by J.R.R. Tolkien have you read? ~ Hmmmm, let us see… The LOTR (Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Return of the King), The Hobbit, and Farmer Giles of Ham. Once upon a time I also started reading Leaf by Niggle.

2. Have you seen any movies based on them? ~ No.

3. Are there any scenes/moments that make you cry? ~ Well this part always gets me choked up:

*SPOILERS*

“The old man was too quick for him. He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone. He lifted up his staff, and Gimli’s axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. The sword of Aragorn, stiff in his motionless hand, blazed with a sudden fire. Legolas gave a great shout and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame.

‘Mithrandir!’ he cried. ‘Mithrandir!’

‘Well met, I say to you again, Legolas!’ said the old man.

“They all gazed at him. His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.” - TTT

4. Are there any scenes/moments that make you laugh? ~ I do dearly love the scene with Merry and Pippin as sentries, lying at their ease and smoking on the thrown down stones of the gates of Isengard.

5. Have you ever chosen a Middle Earth name for yourself? If so, what is it? ~ Lady of Anorien. ;)

6. Who would you want to party with/marry/fight to the death? (pick three characters, one for each) ~ Partying: probably Merry or Pippin. Fighting to death (not my thing), but I’ll say one of the Southrons/Haradrim. As to marrying… Well, with humor and honor and thoughtfulness and leadership (and an enjoyment of manly pursuits) my Very Own Man has some personality traits akin to a number of the characters; Sam, Gimli, Faramir, and Aragorn springing first to mind. (I know, that’s four, but I’m really describing my own knight. ;))

7. When was the last time you visited Middle Earth, via books or movies? ~ Officially, about two years ago.

8. Do you consider Gollum to be a villain? Why or why not? ~ *spoilers* Yes, but (like a LOT of the greatest villains), he’s most definitely conflicted – pulled to the goodness he sees – but then in the end ultimately turning and giving himself completely to the power of the Ring. Incidentally (and this really used to bother me, but I think I’m starting to see what Tolkien was after), he really mirror images Frodo. The only thing in the end that creates a difference is divine intervention, if you will. It’s a fine line, but, in my opinion at least, that little moment at Mount Doom is the high water mark of all that ultimately tips the entire story into the realm of complex types and shadows and away from the realm of allegory. (If you're interested, I shared some of my thoughts on Frodo here a few years ago.)

9. How would you sum up what Tolkien's stories mean to you in one word? ~ Momentous. (That didn’t seem quite strong enough at first, but I googled the definition to be sure and the meaning’s even bigger than I thought and absolutely fits.)

10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotes from the books or movies. ~ For a summary:

#1: “I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – FOTR

#2: “All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.” – FOTR 

#3: “P.P.S. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber room: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him. Fare Well!” – FOTR

#4: “Day was opening in the sky, and they saw that the mountains were now much further off, receding eastward in a long curve that was lost in the distance. Before them, as they turned west, gentle slopes ran down into dim hazes far below. All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. …fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a disheveled dryad loveliness.

 

“South and west it looked towards the warm lower vales of Anduin, shielded from the east by the Ephel Dúath and yet not under the mountain-shadow, protected from the north by the Emyn Muil, open to the southern airs and the moist winds from the Sea far away. Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendents; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapestries the hidden stones; sages of many kinds putting forth blue flowers, or red, or pale green; and marjorams and new-sprouting parsleys, and many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam…

“The travelers turned their backs on the road and went downhill. As they walked, brushing their way through bush and herbs, sweet odours rose about them. Gollum coughed and retched; but the hobbits breathed deep, and suddenly Sam laughed, for heart’s ease not for jest.” – TTT

#5: “Then came the voice of Faramir close behind. ‘Let them see!’ he said. The scarves were removed and their hoods thrown back, and they blinked and gasped.

“They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the doorstep, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front a thin veil of water was hung, so near that Frodo could have put an outstretched arm into it. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour. It was as if they stood at the window of some elven-tower, curtained with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all kindled with an unconsuming fire.” – TTT

#6: “…As he went by the cave-mouth he saw that the Curtain was now become a dazzling veil of silk and pearls and silver thread: melting icicles of moonlight.” – TTT

#7: (My seventh selection is a long one, rather too long to write out in it’s incredible, gorgeous entirety--but it’s Sam’s thoughts on heroic deeds and great tales while sitting on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol.)

#8: “You did indeed!” said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm about the hobbit’s shoulders, and gazing out the window. Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.” – ROTK

#9: “Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

“And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.” – ROTK

#10: “…Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and he looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke softly. ‘My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?’ ‘Walk no more in the shadows, but awake!’ said Aragorn. ‘You are weary. Rest a while, and take food, and be ready when I return.’” – ROTK
(And if you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on this particular, tingly passage, you can read more here. ;))

Well there we are! Do chime in with any of your thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Do we have any similar answers?