Though it is late in the afternoon to be posting about this, in the spirit of the Once Upon a Time Challenge I must share with those who did not already know that March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day
The collective vibe of a host of kindred spirits must have reached out to me because even before I knew this was the case I used my middle of the night insomnia to begin reading The Two Towers.
Tolkien purists will no doubt question my blasphemy at heading this post with an image from the film version of The Return of the King. There is a method to my madness.
One of the many wonderful things about TheOneRing.net is that they, on significant days, post “Today in Middle-earth”. For March 25th, they present the following:
–Thorin and Gandalf’s chance meeting at the Prancing Pony (2941)
–The Host is surrounded on the Slag-hills (3019)
–Downfall of Barad-dûr and the passing of Sauron (3019)
–Frodo and Samwise reach the Sammath Naur (3019)
–Gollum seizes the Ring and falls in the Cracks of Doom (3019)
–Minas Tirith (3019)
–Frodo comes home (3020)
–Birth of Elanor the Fair, daughter of Samwise (3021)
As today marked the anniversary of the ultimate triumph in Middle-earth, I could not wait to rush home from work to celebrate by watching the last hour or so of The Return of the King, it was just too fun of an opportunity to pass up. Not surprisingly, tears fell. ‘Nuff said. 😉
To further honor this special day, I want to point you to a giveaway opportunity for The Lord of the Rings on Blu Ray. For details, go here.
And finally, on the Tolkien Reading Day post one of the questions they asked was whether or not you have a favorite passage from the books. I’ll be the first to admit that I find it impossible to single out just one passage as my FAVORITE, so instead I’ll just pick one of many favorites and talk about it generally:
It is the scene in The Return of the King where Tolkien writes about Aragorn and how one of the signs of the returning king is that he will bring healing in his hands (its been awhile, so I’m paraphrasing here). His acts in the Houses of Healing are such a spiritual part of the series for me and further endear me to the character. There is something profoundly powerful about a king–a leader, someone who could by all rights be high and lofty and remain distant from the ‘common man’– instead taking on the role of being a servant to his people and bringing healing to them. It is very moving and very cool. Love that part of the book.
How about the rest of you? Did anyone read any Tolkien today? What is one or two of your favorite passages from the books?
Ah! I did not realize today was Tolkien Reading Day… Alas, it is too late to dive into LOTR tonight… perhaps just one poem. 😉
Indeed, it is much too difficult to pick one scene as a favorite; there are just too many to choose from. The trek through the Mines of Moria is awesome; the tragedy and insanity of Denethor, rejecting Faramir is heartbreaking; the fight with the Witch King is awesome; the beautiful music near Mt. Doom… Ah, too many. Now I want to watch the movies again.
Thanks for letting me know about this. I pulled down my one volume LOTR edition and let the book kind of fall open to some pages and then it opened to the Helm’s Deep chapter of The Two Towers. The middle book is my favorite and I read some battle scenes with Aragorn, Eomer, Legolas and Gimli. It was funny reading Leoglas and Gimil fighting and keeping track of their kills again in a contest of fun amongst such dire circumstances.
Another favorite scene of mine is with the wizard Radagast the Brown. I also have a huge soft spot for any scenes with Bill the Pony, Brego and/or Shadowfax being the equine lover that I am. I also really like it when the hobbits meet “Strider” for the first time in FOTR.
LOTR talk is great any anytime but especially during the challenge.
as has been stated: too many memorable scenes! Any time one can chuckle is a good time and so, even at the beginning, when the hobbits set off gandalfs fireworks and have to face gandalf was too cute.
Naturally, one scene that jumps out first though is gandalf’s famous “you shall not pass!” Four words that are first and foremost in my head when any talk of LoTR happens.
Then of course the long speach that sam wise gives frodo that brings me to tears… too many moments…
Thank you for alerting me this!!!
I didn’t catch it until late yesterday. My favorite scene from the books is the exchange between Gollum and Bilbo in The Hobbit.
AlexJ: Good scene. That is probably my favorite part of The Hobbit as well.
Yoli: You’re welcome.
Deslily: That’s funny, the four words that always jump into my head are Gandalf saying, “Don’t tempt me Frodo!”. No idea why, they just always do.
Jeff S: It doesn’t surprise me at all that you like the horse parts in the books. I assume after all this time that you have watched the horse part of the extras on the extended edition dvd of Return of the King. Love that part.
Glad you could get a bit of Tolkien in on the day. Helms Deep scenes are great.
Logan: All great parts of the films, there isn’t a one that I don’t enjoy.
I like the part where Vader says “Frodo, I am oyur father.” No, wait something about that doesn’t seem quite right…
I’ve always liked the scenes when the Fellowship is born, the choosing of the members of the group. Strider (Aragorn) has long been a favorite character. I’ve thought more than once it wouldn’t be to bad to retire and live in Rivendell.
I could certainly do Rivendell for retirement, Richard. All those beautiful trees, the waterfalls, the open air, the fantastic architecture. I imagine any piece of music, and work of art, or any work of literature would be that much more amazing to experience in that setting.
Dang, I missed it. I’ve read this book innumerable times. Love them to pieces. The movies were great, I thought. I was also a fan of the 70s animated movies. So…. 70s!!
Daphen: They are so 70’s! LOL!
I’ve been listening to the audio books!
I cherish the CD prize I won from you a few years back, of Tolkein reading from his work. I keep thinking I’ll pass it on to my son, but somehow I can’t, yet. Maybe when he graduates from college. In 2040 or so.
I need to mark this day in my calendar, as it’s come and gone again without my taking part. Oh, I’m a dreadful fantasy lover…but I don’t mean to be on purpose!