Just a li'l obligatory LOTR meme
Oct. 23rd, 2003 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mollyringle![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
lordreaibn made me do it!name: Mol
age: 28
location: Seattle
have you read all the books in LOTR?: Yep.
favorite LOTR book and why: I suppose The Two Towers, because it's the central "meat" of the story, without the slow build-up at the beginning of Fellowship or the long and bittersweet wind-down at the end of Return of the King. And it's got "The Choices of Master Samwise," which pretty much hooked me as a fan for life.
favorite character from the books and why: Hrm; this is hard. The ensemble cast does such a good job. But I suppose I'll say Samwise, since I find him the most accessible. Hobbits in general are the most down-to-earth and have the best dialogue; Sam in particular undergoes the most emotional turmoil without losing touch with his identity, and thus proves himself the strongest character in the books despite also being perhaps the humblest.
favorite scene from the books and why: Like I said, the chapter "The Choices of Master Samwise" was really the thing that hooked me, but it's hard to call it my "favorite" since it's so sad. Basically it's just good drama. I'm also fond, in a more adventuresome way, of the brief bond between Merry and Eowyn in ROTK, and the bad-ass work they get to do together on the battlefields. They're an unlikely pair of allies, neither of whom is really supposed to be there (in the battle), which makes it all the more interesting.
favorite quote from the books:
I have a thing for smart-ass hobbits, so I'm fond of little bits of dialogue like:
'Water!' shouted Pippin. 'Where’s the water?'
'I don't keep water in my pockets,' said Frodo.
Or...
[After beaning Bill Ferny on the nose with an apple] 'Waste of a good apple,' said Sam regretfully, and strode on.
On the serious side, this paragraph is beautiful and sums up the whole of LOTR nicely:
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.
favorite LOTR movie and why: So far, Fellowship. The continuity is better; TTT is unavoidably more broken-up since the characters have been scattered. ROTK should tie it all back together and win the championship, though, is my guess.
favorite character from the movies and why: Whoever played Shadowfax was brilliant. OK, just kidding. Hrm; again a hard question, as again the ensemble cast is the real draw. Aragorn is undeniably fascinating as a character, and they make him seem more accessible in the film than in the book, I think. But I'm going to go with Frodo & Sam again, a dual win this time. Frodo's the more interesting one in Fellowship, but Sam should be his equal by the end of ROTK in terms of character development and importance.
favorite scene from the movies and why: After such a boys-don't-cry upbringing, especially in the realm of adventure movies, I was quite impressed with the moments after Gandalf's fall in Fellowship. Boys do cry! Look at that! Tastefully filmed, too. In terms of sheer gorgeousness of cinema, I'm awed by the shot near the start of TTT where Gandalf and the Balrog emerge, falling like a meteor, into the huge underground cavern, the fire lighting up the darkness and the water below...*goosebumps*
favorite quote from the movies: "His gardener." (Go smart-ass hobbits!)
what other books by J.R.R. Tolkien have you read?: Just The Hobbit, I'm afraid.
favorite song from the soundtrack: Either "Gollum's Song" or "Samwise the Brave."
Related chuckle: Someone on a message board commented that a fanfic author had taken "historical liberties" by letting the LOTR guys have chocolate. Now, I'm as devoted to LOTR and its legacy as the next fangirl, but "historical"? Let's not lose sight of reality, here. :) Besides (as someone else pointed out), they have other New World crops, so why not chocolate? *shrug*
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Date: 2003-10-24 12:23 am (UTC)I should snag this meme for personal use though...what better way to show off my drooling Tolkien fangirlishness? XDD
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Date: 2003-10-24 04:48 pm (UTC)But, yes, it's a fun way to pass some time if you're not otherwise occupied. :)
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Date: 2003-10-24 06:07 am (UTC)In Western lands beneath the Sun
the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run,
the merry finches sing.
Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night
and swaying beeches bear
the Elven-stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair.
Though here at journey's end I lie
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the day is done
nor bid the Stars farewell.
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Date: 2003-10-24 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-24 06:11 am (UTC)>>In terms of sheer gorgeousness of cinema, I'm awed by the shot near the start of TTT where Gandalf and the Balrog emerge, falling like a meteor, into the huge underground cavern, the fire lighting up the darkness and the water below...*goosebumps*
i agree!
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Date: 2003-10-24 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-25 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-24 09:40 am (UTC)As for favourite quotes, from the books and films, there's one that I love in both - even though it's in the wrong film, technically. It's Eowyn's speech about living by the sword, and fearing only a cage. She's such a strong and proud young woman, because of the hand life dealt her, and those lines show that so well.
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Date: 2003-10-24 04:47 pm (UTC)And, yes! I was pleased, on the re-read of ROTK, to find that Aragorn-Eowyn conversation, in a different place but almost untouched otherwise.
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Date: 2003-10-25 06:29 am (UTC)RotK Tracks
Date: 2003-10-27 12:22 pm (UTC)http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/view/9132
-Ké.
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Date: 2003-10-24 10:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-24 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-25 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-24 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-24 12:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-25 11:45 pm (UTC)Do you mind if I do this meme for myself on my lj? I have too much free time on my hands these days...
About the chocolate...it seems to me that if all that if Frodo and Sam are journeying to Mordor and everyone else is going to war, they are having pretty hard and miserable times. It would be really unfair if they didn't at least have chocolate to sooth them. ; D
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Date: 2003-10-26 01:51 pm (UTC)Yes, no wonder they're so depressed. Now, if they'd had chocolate-chip lembas to bring along, maybe things would have been happier.
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Date: 2003-10-27 07:42 pm (UTC)'Who's that? Be off! You can't come in. Can't you read the notice: No admittance between sundown and sunrise?'
'Of course we can't read the notice in the dark,' Sam shouted back. 'And if hobbits of the Shire are to be kept out in the wet on a night like this, I'll tear down your notice when I find it.'