a journey through lord of the rings (pt.ii)

finished the fellowship of the ring, onto two towers. here are the quotes that stood out to me:


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.

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...and their eagerness for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them.

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"Despair, or folly?" said Gandalf. "It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning."

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"Bill my lad," he said, "you oughn't to have took up with us. You could have stayed here and et the best hay till the new grass comes." Bill swished his tail and said nothing.

(bill is a pony, obviously. i think this is one of my absolute favorites)

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"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."

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"In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed to one another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of darkness, its own secret has not been discovered. Not yet."

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All of them, it seemed, had fared alike; each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others.

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"It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish."

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"Tell me Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Gloin!"\

"Nay!" said Legolas. "Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Gloin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlorien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale."

"Maybe," said Gimli: "and I thank you for your words. True words doubtless; yet all such comfor is cold. Memory is not what the heart desires..."