It has been agesss since I wrote something Tolkien-related, and that is quite the shame. My very first instalment of this series was drawn from The Fellowship of the Ring, and that was just over a year ago!! Today, my Bookish Snippets are from The Two Towers!
I did keep it to a minimum of four quotes, but three of them are kinda lengthy bc I couldn’t bear to cut them down bc Tolkien is just one big chef’s kiss of a master of language. So, bear with me :’)
P.S. These are some of my favourite pics I have ever taken, and I’ve been waiting SINCE JANUARY to share them; I just didn’t know what the perfect post would be :’) Seems like Tolkien is just the right fit hehe.
*There is a spoiler in the first quote, & my subsequent description, so if you have yet to read the books or watch the films, I’d skip past that one (:*
Shall we begin?
Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide is turned.
Gandalf the heckin’ WHITE (we luv to see it)
We love a grand entrance. WE LOVE IT. Classic Gandalf being all sly & a bit “tricksy” with his resplendent reveal to Aragorn, Leggy, and Gimli: “oh hey guys, guess what, I’m not dead, and also I just kicked some balrog a$$, so now I’m in sicko white & shining mode!!”
There is so much still in store for these characters, and each of them have more dangerous paths to tread before all is resolved, but the tide has turned and we bloody love to see it. (Will I ever stop saying “we luv to see it”?? Probably not. Sorry.)
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love that which they defend…
Faramir, to Frodo & Sam
Oh, is this not beautiful? I think this quote is applicable forever and always. War is not glorious; it is not romantic; it is not something worthy of pursuit in and of itself. But it has been and probably always will be necessary, and so long as what it defends is the noble truth, it can be carried out with good cause.
Then, as he stood, darkness about him and a blackness of despair and anger in his heart, it seemed to him that he saw a light: a light in his mind, almost unbearably bright at first, as a sun-ray to the eyes of one long hidden in a windowless pit. Then the light became colour: green, gold, silver, white.
what Sam sees after long suffering in Shelob’s lair
If this is not one of the most exquisite descriptions of hope, I don’t know what is. I can’t even add anything else. It is too grand and wondrous.
Here she is, my favourite quote from TTT, in all her length & great glory hehe
Great ilexes of huge girth stood dark and solemn in wide glades with here and there among them hoary ash-trees, and giant oaks just putting out their brown-green buds. About them lay long launds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones, white and blue, now folded for sleep; and there were acres populous with the leaves of woodland hyacinths: already their sleek bell-stems were thrusting through the mould.
the Journey to the Cross-Roads
How can I even think about being a writer worth any salt when THIS EXISTS???? HOW.
I sTRIVE to be able to write as imagistic-ally as this. As magically as this. Especially about nature because that’s what I luv, luv, luv to write about.
I just cannot. Wow. Goodbye.
All done!! How did you like this instalment of Bookish Snippets | The Two Towers? Have you read this “book” yet? Have you seen the film?! I would love to hear if you have & how much you loved it 😉 I love Tolkien, and that is all I have to say on the matter.