J.R.R. Tolkien > Quotes

“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.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“I evidently came back by much too straight a road from my trip. I think Gandalf might have shown me round a bit. But then the auction would have been over before I got back, and I should have had even more trouble than I did. Anyway it’s too late now; and really I think it’s much more comfortable to sit here and hear about it all. The fire’s very cosy here, and the food’s very good, and there are Elves when you want them. What more could one want?”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Time went on, and still he [Frodo] was no nearer to a choice.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“nor looked upon the faces that had beheld the Light of Valinor.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

“Muitas vezes a esperança nasce quando tudo parece perdido”
― J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

“draco uenit, aliter stultus sum!” clamauit. “pontes decide! ad arma! ad arma!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, Hobbitus Ille: The Classic Bestselling Fantasy Novel: The Latin Hobbit

“It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice.
'I will take the Ring,' he said, 'though I do not know the way.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“That’s hard, trying to go without me and all. If I hadn’t a guessed right, where would you be now?’ ‘Safely on my way.’ ‘Safely!’ said Sam. ‘All alone and without me to help you? I couldn’t have a borne it, it’d have been the death of me.’ ‘It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘and I could not have borne that.’ ‘Not as certain as being left behind,’ said Sam. ‘But I am going to Mordor.’ ‘I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I’m coming with you.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“Sméagol won’t grub for roots and carrotses and - taters. What’s taters, precious, eh, what’s taters?’
‘Po—ta—toes,’ said Sam. ‘The Gaffer’s delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

“would appear in the third volume. As originally planned, this index would contain much etymological information on the languages, particularly on the”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“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, The Two Towers

“Strider is too poor a name, son of Arathorn,’ he said. ‘Wingfoot I name you.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“The Fairy Story (or Folk-tale if you prefer that name) has at any rate been altered: for in this case it has been welded into the 'history'. And not, I think, for the first time by our poet. Beowulf and the Monster were already grafted onto the court of Heorot before ever he made this poem. But however it was done, by one poet or a succession of them, it caused great changes not only of detail but of tone. And it did not leave the history unaffected. You have only to consider how different is magic, faerie, and the like when it takes place in the court of Camelot in the time of Arthur, that are placed in history and geography, from a mere fairy-tale; and how different is the atmosphere of Arthur's court for all its atmosphere of 'history' because of this fairy-element, to understand what I mean.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell

“till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“We may stand , if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.”
― J. R. R. Tolkien

“Still, we can only go on.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“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 still grows, perhaps, the greater”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons—he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards, and all such folk as ever passed that way; but he was no longer quite respectable. He was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighbourhood to be ‘queer’—except by his nephews and nieces on the Took side, but even they were not encouraged in their friendship by their elders. I”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you have got death as the reward of your trust in him; but had you conquered, little better would your wages have been.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Misery me! I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understood that defeat may be glorious. It seems very uncomfortable, not to say distressing. I wish I was well out of it.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“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 for ever 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.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“There was a merry passenger, a messenger, a mariner: he built a gilded gondola to wander in, and had in her a load of yellow oranges and porridge for his provender; he perfumed her with marjoram and cardamon and lavender.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, Tales From The Perilous Realm

“Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against refusal of the burden that is laid on me. Against – well, if it must be said, against trust in the strength and truth of Men.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“We shall see, we shall see!” he said,”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

“It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

“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 on the running stream. But”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers