Great Throughts Treasury

"And they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"And yet, Eomer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me, for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Aragorn looked at the pale stars, and at the moon, now sloping behind the western hills that enclosed the valley. 'This is a night as long as years', he said. 'How long will the day tarry?' 'Dawn is not far off', said Gamling, who had now climbed up beside him. 'But dawn will not help us, I fear' 'Yet dawn is ever the hope of men', said Aragorn." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Are we riding far tonight, Gandalf? asked Merry after a while. I don?t know how you feel with small rag-tag dangling behind you; but the rag-tag is tired and will be glad to stop dangling and lie down. So you heard that? said Gandalf. Don?t let it rankle! Be thankful no longer words were aimed at you. He had his eyes on you. If it is any comfort to your pride, I should say that, at the moment, you and Pippin are more in his thoughts than the rest of us. Who you are; how you came here, and why; what you know; whether you were captured, and if so, how you escaped when all the orcs perished?it is with those little riddles that the great mind of Saruman is troubled. A sneer from him, Meriadoc, is a compliment, if you feel honored by his concern. Thank you! said Merry. But it is a greater honor to dangle at your tail, Gandalf. For one thing, in that position one has a chance of putting a question a second time. Are we riding far tonight? Gandalf laughed. A most unquenchable hobbit! All wizards should have a hobbit or two in their care?to teach them the meaning of the world, and to correct them." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"As a lord was held for the strength of his body and stoutness of heart. Much lore he learned, and loved wisdom but fortune followed him in few desires; oft wrong and awry what he wrought turned; what he loved he lost, what he longed for he won not; and full friendship he found not easily, nor was lightly loved for his looks were sad. He was gloom-hearted, and glad seldom for the sundering sorrow that filled his youth." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"As you go down the water,? he said, ?you will find that the trees will fail, and you will come to a barren country. There the River flows in stony vales amid high moors, until at last after many leagues it comes to the tall island of the Tindrock, that we call Tol Brandir. There it casts its arms about the steep shores of the isle, and falls then with a great noise and smoke over the cataracts of Rauros down into the Nindalf, the Wetwang as it is called in your tongue. That is a wide region of sluggish fen where the stream becomes tortuous and much divided. There the Entwash flows in by many mouths from the Forest of Fangorn in the west. About that stream, on this side of the Great River, lies Rohan. On the further side are the bleak hills of the Emyn Muil. The wind blows from the East there, for they look out over the Dead Marshes and the Noman-lands to Cirith Gorgor and the black gates of Mordor." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in elven-tongues, even though he understood them little, held him in a spell, as soon as as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above the seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air about him, and it drenched and drowned him. swiftly he sank under its shining weight into a deep realm of sleep." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"At least for a while the road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Back now to the mountain! cried Thorin. We have little time to lose. And little food to use! cried Bilbo, always practical on such points. In any case he felt that the adventure was, properly speaking, over with the death of the dragon." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"But of bliss and glad life there is little to be said, before it ends; as works fair and wonderful, while they still endure for eyes to see, are ever their own record, and only when they are in peril or broken for ever do they pass into song." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Courage will now be your best defense against the storm that is at hand-?that and such hope as I bring." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Criticism - however valid or intellectually engaging - tends to get in the way of a writer who has anything personal to say. A tightrope walker may require practice, but if he starts a theory of equilibrium he will lose grace (and probably fall off)." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Evil labors with vast power and perpetual success - in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Far over the misty mountains cold to dungeons deep and caverns old we must away ere break of day to seek the pale enchanted gold. The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, while hammers fell like ringing bells in places deep, where dark things sleep, in hollow halls beneath the fells. For ancient king and elvish lord there many a gleaming golden hoard they shaped and wrought, and light they caught to hide in gems on hilt of sword. On silver necklaces they strung the flowering stars, on crowns they hung the dragon-fire, in twisted wire they meshed the light of moon and sun. Far over the misty mountains cold to dungeons deep and caverns old we must away, ere break of day, to claim our long-forgotten gold. Goblets they carved there for themselves and harps of gold; where no man delves there lay they long, and many a song was sung unheard by men or elves. The pines were roaring on the height, the wind was moaning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread; the trees like torches blazed with light. The bells were ringing in the dale and men looked up with faces pale; the dragon's ire more fierce than fire laid low their towers and houses frail. The mountain smoked beneath the moon; the dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom. They fled their hall to dying fall beneath his feet, beneath the moon. Far over the misty mountains grim to dungeons deep and caverns dim we must away, ere break of day, to win our harps and gold from him!" - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"Gandalf, dwarves and Mr. Baggins! We are met together in the house of our friend and fellow conspirator, this most excellent and audacious hobbit?may the hair on his toes never fall out!" - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

"He fell asleep immediately deeply, forgetting all his worries till the morning. To be precise, he dreamed of bread, butter and jam." - J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien