Return of the King - Page 2

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-29-2002, 09:29 PM

True, that, S-L L. I cannot imagine Tolkien writing something 100% cheerful...or has he?

Eldanuumea · 05-30-2002, 03:30 PM

Correct me if my memory serves me false, but I believe Tolkien wrote a book of verse centered around Tom Bombadil, and there's a tale called Roverandom which I've not read.

Comic Book Guy · 05-30-2002, 06:09 PM

There's also Goblin Feet, Tolkien hated it mind.

Goblin Feet
by J.R.R. Tolkien

I am off down the road
Where the fairy laterns glowed
And the little pretty flitter-mice are flying"
A sleder band of gray
It runs creepily away
And the hedges and the grasses are a-sighing.
The air is full of wings,
And of blundery beetle-things
That warn you with their whirring and their humming.
O! I hear the tiny horns
Of enchanted leprechauns
And the padded feet of many gnomes a-coming!

O! the lights! O! the gleams! O! the little twikly sounds!
O! the rustle of their noisless little robes!
O! the echo of their feet-of their happy little feet!
O! the swinging lamps in the starlit globes.

I msut follow in their train
Down the crooked fairy lane
Where the coney-rabbits long ago have gone,
And where silvery they sing
In a mooving moonlit ring
All a twinkle with the jewels they ahve on.
They are fading round the turn
Where the glowworms palely burn
And the echo of their padding feet is dying!
O! it's knocking at my heart-
Let me go! O! let me start!
For the little magic hours ar all a-flying.

O! the warmth! O! the hum! O! the colors in the dark!
O! the guazy wings of golden honey-flies!
O! the music of their feet-of ther dancing goblin feet!
O! the magic O! the sorrow when it dies.

There is also Farmer Giles of Ham, the Father Christmas letters and Mr Bliss.

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-30-2002, 09:45 PM

So maybe he did write cheerful things. But I'm still in the midst of The Silmarillion, mind

Eldanuumea · 05-31-2002, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eruviel Greenleaf
So maybe he did write cheerful things. But I'm still in the midst of The Silmarillion, mind

You certainly won't find much to smile about there. My overwhelming feeling after my first reading was, God these elves are violent! Why does everyone perceive elves as so angelic and above human passions?

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-31-2002, 09:14 AM

Probably because they seem very, very different in LotR. Hmm. No, definitely not much that is happy in the Sil.

Shadowfax · 06-04-2002, 10:09 PM

When I finished Lord of the Rings I cried for like 5 minutes straight! I think I was overwhelmed by the beauty and brilliance of it and it just seemed complete - don't know how else to say that.

When, however, I finished the Sil, it made me understand a bit more of how the end of LotR all fits together (before, I don't think I fully understood what it meant for the elves & ringbearers to 'go into the west', but now I do). Yeah, I cried a bit at the end of the Sil, too. I love Tolkien!

Nienna Grey · 06-08-2002, 02:05 AM

I think the ending is bitter-sweet.

Sweet because Middle-earth is saved from the peril which threatened it but bitter because of the way Frodo is left broken and traumatised as a result of what happened to him, not to mention unrecognised for his efforts.

Sometimes the ending doesn't feel right to me, it's as if it was hurriedly thrown in at the last moment. I'm sure that was not the case, but that's just how it seems.

Hobbette · 06-08-2002, 08:39 AM

I agree with you, NG. I also thought the end was wrapped up too quickly/hurriedly - the Shire is destroyed, the Shire is rebuilt, Frodo et. al leave... It made me think of Star Wars: The Next Generation -- for 58 minutes of a 1-hour episode, they try to figure out some mystery. Then, in the last minute, we hear the "captain's log" telling us that everything worked out in the end!

I guess Tolkien felt that the details were not important. If the points of the books were to tell a story about the destruction of the ring, good vs. evil, and how the journey changed all that participated, then I guess the ending was sufficient.

(I feel like I should ask forgiveness from the Entmooters for speaking negatively! I mean, I really love the books and can't wait to read them again!

)

Kalimac · 06-16-2002, 05:55 PM

Tolkien actually did write an alternate ending to ROtK. You can read it in the History of Middle-earth series of 12 books. It's it here under Sauron Defeated Part One: The End of the Third Age XI The Epilogue:

http://tolkien.ru/texts/eng/home.shtml
Password: Tolkien

The alternate ending is primarily about Sam, Rosie and all those kids he had. Tolkien wrote two or three versions. The final version is one of my favorites where Sam and Elanor (on her 16th birthday) discuss the War of the Ring and Frodo.

Although, I really do love the 'published' ending . . this alternate version is touching too

Rána Eressëa · 06-18-2002, 02:00 AM

The end is very sad - but that is what made it genius.

ringbearer · 06-20-2002, 01:25 AM

the ending...with Sam saying "Well, I'm back." is saying "Life goes on"... it is PERFECTION!

Stalker in the Starlight · 06-20-2002, 01:48 PM

Mmmm, I liked the ending. It had a sense of finality to it, and yet, we know that there's no way the story's 100% over. The ending of ROTK is more like the ending of Frodo more than anything else. The other members of the Fellowship, though, still live and have lives of their own, and, even when Legolas and Gimli depart over the Sea, signifying the end of the formal Fellowship, that doesn't mean there won't be more adventures in Middle-Earth...I supose that's where the RPers come in.

I do not think Tolkien could have ended it on a more, to rephrase the word that is oh-so perfect in this situation, bittersweet note.

IluvSmeagol13 · 01-12-2003, 04:01 PM

i'm almost done with ROTK!i don't want it to end-but i want to find out wat happens!i'm at the chapter before mount doom!at the end of the first part in ROTK,i cried my eyes out!i was afraid 2 turn the page to the "cirith ungol" chapter.yes,i'm such a LOTR fan.

durin's bane · 01-12-2003, 04:15 PM

I thought the ending was amazing.

Renille · 01-12-2003, 04:46 PM

Mmm...the ending of RotK...the best part in the books. I love it so much. I tend not to breathe very much when I'm hooked on a book, so I don't know how exactly I don't go into shock or something by the end. But I don't. But anyway, after tension has been let down and the book is closing... when Sam is saying bye to Frodo, Gandalf and the elves, re-finding Merry and Pippin, etc., I am still not content to close the story until the "Well, I'm back." Then, I take the biggest breath of air ever, and everything seems clear again, not sad. Frodo is gone, but it's just another beginning for Sam and the others. They have to go on with their lives, and they accept it. I think that Merry, Pippin, and Sam's acceptance at the end is one of the noblest they did in the whole book.

Starr Polish · 01-12-2003, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Starr Polish
The ending of the book made me cry only a little bit, because I was prepared for it to be sad, and determined not to cry. It did touch me in some way that I can't explain. It changed me...well...that sounds weird. I told you I couldn't explain it. I'm glad the ending wasn't happy-go-lucky oh, everything's great now type of ending.

Finished reading it again (3rd time) last night, and I have no idea why I was determined not to cry. I let myself go, and cryed for about fifteen minutes. Not loud, wracking sobs (I don't let myself do that), but enough to make my chest hurt, and my heart felt like it was breaking. Teary once again as I think of it.

The best ending a book has ever had.

Dunadan · 01-12-2003, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Starr Polish
The best ending a book has ever had.

Too right. Can't see the film emulating it, though.

Elf Girl · 01-12-2003, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Renille

Mmm...the ending of RotK...the best part in the books. I love it so much. I tend not to breathe very much when I'm hooked on a book, so I don't know how exactly I don't go into shock or something by the end. But I don't. But anyway, after tension has been let down and the book is closing... when Sam is saying bye to Frodo, Gandalf and the elves, re-finding Merry and Pippin, etc., I am still not content to close the story until the "Well, I'm back." Then, I take the biggest breath of air ever, and everything seems clear again, not sad. Frodo is gone, but it's just another beginning for Sam and the others. They have to go on with their lives, and they accept it. I think that Merry, Pippin, and Sam's acceptance at the end is one of the noblest they did in the whole book.

Shh, people are looking at this that haven't finished.

RosieCotton · 01-13-2003, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadowfax
When I finished Lord of the Rings I cried for like 5 minutes straight! I think I was overwhelmed by the beauty and brilliance of it and it just seemed complete - don't know how else to say that.

When, however, I finished the Sil, it made me understand a bit more of how the end of LotR all fits together (before, I don't think I fully understood what it meant for the elves & ringbearers to 'go into the west', but now I do). Yeah, I cried a bit at the end of the Sil, too. I love Tolkien!

Me too! I definitely agree. The ending is really bittersweet, but I can't think of a better way to end it. I think that ending would be better than if Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin just waltzed into the Shire and they all lived happily ever after until the end of their days.

Rosie

05-29-2002, 09:29 PM	#21
Eruviel Greenleaf Alcoholic Villain-Fancying Elf Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Lyonesse Posts: 4,547	True, that, S-L L. I cannot imagine Tolkien writing something 100% cheerful...or has he? __________________ Eruviel Greenleaf in a past life. "Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." -The Gospel of Thomas SQUAWK!

05-30-2002, 03:30 PM	#22
Eldanuumea Elven Warrior Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Mississippi Posts: 123	Correct me if my memory serves me false, but I believe Tolkien wrote a book of verse centered around Tom Bombadil, and there's a tale called Roverandom which I've not read. __________________ "Queen of Sweetness and Light!" - Mordomin

05-30-2002, 09:45 PM	#24
Eruviel Greenleaf Alcoholic Villain-Fancying Elf Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Lyonesse Posts: 4,547	So maybe he did write cheerful things. But I'm still in the midst of The Silmarillion, mind __________________ Eruviel Greenleaf in a past life. "Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." -The Gospel of Thomas SQUAWK!

05-31-2002, 09:14 AM	#26
Eruviel Greenleaf Alcoholic Villain-Fancying Elf Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Lyonesse Posts: 4,547	Probably because they seem very, very different in LotR. Hmm. No, definitely not much that is happy in the Sil. __________________ Eruviel Greenleaf in a past life. "Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." -The Gospel of Thomas SQUAWK!

06-04-2002, 10:09 PM	#27
Shadowfax The Fleet-Footed Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: British Columbia Posts: 913	When I finished Lord of the Rings I cried for like 5 minutes straight! I think I was overwhelmed by the beauty and brilliance of it and it just seemed complete - don't know how else to say that. When, however, I finished the Sil, it made me understand a bit more of how the end of LotR all fits together (before, I don't think I fully understood what it meant for the elves & ringbearers to 'go into the west', but now I do). Yeah, I cried a bit at the end of the Sil, too. I love Tolkien! __________________ Jesus saved me "To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child" (Cicero, 106-43 B.C.) "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth" (Picasso)

05-30-2002, 06:09 PM	#23
Comic Book Guy Best Ex-Administrator ever Join Date: May 2001 Location: Ireland Posts: 60,547	There's also Goblin Feet, Tolkien hated it mind. Goblin Feet by J.R.R. Tolkien I am off down the road Where the fairy laterns glowed And the little pretty flitter-mice are flying" A sleder band of gray It runs creepily away And the hedges and the grasses are a-sighing. The air is full of wings, And of blundery beetle-things That warn you with their whirring and their humming. O! I hear the tiny horns Of enchanted leprechauns And the padded feet of many gnomes a-coming! O! the lights! O! the gleams! O! the little twikly sounds! O! the rustle of their noisless little robes! O! the echo of their feet-of their happy little feet! O! the swinging lamps in the starlit globes. I msut follow in their train Down the crooked fairy lane Where the coney-rabbits long ago have gone, And where silvery they sing In a mooving moonlit ring All a twinkle with the jewels they ahve on. They are fading round the turn Where the glowworms palely burn And the echo of their padding feet is dying! O! it's knocking at my heart- Let me go! O! let me start! For the little magic hours ar all a-flying. O! the warmth! O! the hum! O! the colors in the dark! O! the guazy wings of golden honey-flies! O! the music of their feet-of ther dancing goblin feet! O! the magic O! the sorrow when it dies. There is also Farmer Giles of Ham, the Father Christmas letters and Mr Bliss.

06-08-2002, 02:05 AM	#28
Nienna Grey Enting Join Date: May 2002 Location: England Posts: 62	I think the ending is bitter-sweet. Sweet because Middle-earth is saved from the peril which threatened it but bitter because of the way Frodo is left broken and traumatised as a result of what happened to him, not to mention unrecognised for his efforts. Sometimes the ending doesn't feel right to me, it's as if it was hurriedly thrown in at the last moment. I'm sure that was not the case, but that's just how it seems. __________________ "Mornie Utúlië Believe and you will find your way"

06-08-2002, 08:39 AM	#29
Hobbette Sapling Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 7	I agree with you, NG. I also thought the end was wrapped up too quickly/hurriedly - the Shire is destroyed, the Shire is rebuilt, Frodo et. al leave... It made me think of Star Wars: The Next Generation -- for 58 minutes of a 1-hour episode, they try to figure out some mystery. Then, in the last minute, we hear the "captain's log" telling us that everything worked out in the end! I guess Tolkien felt that the details were not important. If the points of the books were to tell a story about the destruction of the ring, good vs. evil, and how the journey changed all that participated, then I guess the ending was sufficient. (I feel like I should ask forgiveness from the Entmooters for speaking negatively! I mean, I really love the books and can't wait to read them again! )

06-16-2002, 05:55 PM	#30
Kalimac Enting Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 81	Alternate ROtK Ending Tolkien actually did write an alternate ending to ROtK. You can read it in the History of Middle-earth series of 12 books. It's it here under Sauron Defeated Part One: The End of the Third Age XI The Epilogue: http://tolkien.ru/texts/eng/home.shtml Password: Tolkien The alternate ending is primarily about Sam, Rosie and all those kids he had. Tolkien wrote two or three versions. The final version is one of my favorites where Sam and Elanor (on her 16th birthday) discuss the War of the Ring and Frodo. Although, I really do love the 'published' ending . . this alternate version is touching too Last edited by Kalimac : 06-16-2002 at 05:56 PM.

06-18-2002, 02:00 AM	#31
Rána Eressëa The Rogue Elf Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,722	The end is very sad - but that is what made it genius.

06-20-2002, 01:25 AM	#32
ringbearer Elf Lord Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: St. Louis, Mo. USA Posts: 561	the ending...with Sam saying "Well, I'm back." is saying "Life goes on"... it is PERFECTION! __________________ Ringbearer Hide Witch, hide! The Good Folks come to burn thee! Their keen enjoyment hid behind A Gothic mask of duty!

06-20-2002, 01:48 PM	#33
Stalker in the Starlight Hobbit Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Right behind you! BOO! Posts: 24	Mmmm, I liked the ending. It had a sense of finality to it, and yet, we know that there's no way the story's 100% over. The ending of ROTK is more like the ending of Frodo more than anything else. The other members of the Fellowship, though, still live and have lives of their own, and, even when Legolas and Gimli depart over the Sea, signifying the end of the formal Fellowship, that doesn't mean there won't be more adventures in Middle-Earth...I supose that's where the RPers come in. I do not think Tolkien could have ended it on a more, to rephrase the word that is oh-so perfect in this situation, bittersweet note. __________________ 'Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harevest and the tall corn growing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?' -Lament of the Rohirrim, II 132-33 ~CARPE DIEM!~

01-12-2003, 04:01 PM	#34
IluvSmeagol13 Hobbit Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 21	i'm almost done with ROTK!i don't want it to end-but i want to find out wat happens!i'm at the chapter before mount doom!at the end of the first part in ROTK,i cried my eyes out!i was afraid 2 turn the page to the "cirith ungol" chapter.yes,i'm such a LOTR fan.

01-12-2003, 04:15 PM	#35
durin's bane Lady of Westernesse Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Canada (Help! Our parliament building is melting!) Posts: 761	I thought the ending was amazing. __________________ Yada, yada, yada

01-12-2003, 04:46 PM	#36
Renille Elven Lady of Speed-posting Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the cheese state Posts: 988	Mmm...the ending of RotK...the best part in the books. I love it so much. I tend not to breathe very much when I'm hooked on a book, so I don't know how exactly I don't go into shock or something by the end. But I don't. But anyway, after tension has been let down and the book is closing... when Sam is saying bye to Frodo, Gandalf and the elves, re-finding Merry and Pippin, etc., I am still not content to close the story until the "Well, I'm back." Then, I take the biggest breath of air ever, and everything seems clear again, not sad. Frodo is gone, but it's just another beginning for Sam and the others. They have to go on with their lives, and they accept it. I think that Merry, Pippin, and Sam's acceptance at the end is one of the noblest they did in the whole book. __________________ Oh the thinks you can think! Think and wonder and dream...far and wide as you dare! When your thinks have run dry, in the blink of an eye, there's another world there... (from Seussical the Musical. Listen to it...watch it...really.)

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