Jason BeetsIn 2020 and 2021, I published a series on my blog about "The Fellowship of the Ring."
The series primarily focused on the book, but I discussed the movie as well.
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My first article discussed hobbits' affinity for trinkets, Bilbo's family tree, the poem about the rings of power, a bath song, Tom Bombadil, and Frodo's narrow escape from Sauron's Ring Wraiths.
I also discussed Tolkien's frequent use of "queer" and "master," both of which sound peculiar to modern ears.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/08/world-building-in-fellowship.html
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I also created "The Tolkien Dictionary," a series where I defined unfamiliar words found in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Let's walk abreast over the hillock, and delve down through the dell, to find a bower where we can rest, along our way to Rivendell.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-tolkien-dictionary.html
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Some of us are venerable, others are renowned, but all display a doughty character and journey honor-bound.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-tolkien-dictionary-part-2.html
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In Rivendell, Bilbo preformed a song in King Elrond's home.
Bilbo discussed the song, which he wrote, with his audience, including Frodo and several elves.
Those talks referenced Elvish culture and history, and explored the importance of racial identity in Middle Earth.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-trip-to-rivendell.html
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Oaths and promises held great importance in Middle Earth, both in the early days of The Silmarillion and in the later days of The Lord of the Rings.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/09/of-oaths-and-promises.html
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The journey through the Ruins of Moria involved a difficult riddle, a lesson in Dwarvish history, and an epic battle that lead to Gandalf's demise.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-ruins-of-khazad-dum.html
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We should follow the freshet, down to the fen, where we can fill our ewer and phial, and find our twilit zen.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-tolkien-dictionary-part-3.html
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King Elrond and Lady Galadriel used magic rings to preserve their Elvish Kingdoms.
These rings placed the elves in a difficult position after Sauron's Ruling Ring was rediscovered.
I discussed the origin of the elven rings and those who wielded them on my blog, Meticulous Musings.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-elven-rings.html
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Elrond and Galadriel discussed what Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring of Power meant for their elven kingdoms.
Those consequences were also examined in the Silmarillion.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-fate-of-elves.html
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Following their flight through Moria, Gimli showed Frodo the reflecting pool of Mirrormere, which held special significance in Dwarvish history and prophesy.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/10/mirrormere.html
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#Tolkien #Dwarves #LordoftheRings #Silmarillion #Fantasy #HighFantasy
The Fellowship journeyed to the beautiful forest kingdom of Lothlorien, where elves had a special connection to their home, which appeared to preserve a time that had long since passed away.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/11/lothlorien.html
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Lady Galadriel, a wise, powerful, and benevolent ruler, was tempted to take the Ruling Ring, which Frodo offered to give to her.
"In place of the Dark Lord, you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! [...] Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!"
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/11/lady-galadriel.html
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Across meads and over downs, past wold and eyot, we journeyed listlessly only to find the sloe was spoilt.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-tolkien-dictionary-part-4.html
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Boromir, a member of the Fellowship, wanted to use the Ring of Power as a weapon in the war against Sauron.
"The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down," Boromir said during the Council of Elrond.
"Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!"
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/12/boromir-and-ruling-ring.html
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During a pivotal scene, Boromir tried to convince Frodo to give him the Ring of Power.
"And behold! in our need chance brings to light the Ring of Power," Boromir said.
"It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad not to use it, to use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the ruthless, these alone will achieve victory."
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/12/boromirs-final-gambit.html
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I discussed the separation of the Fellowship and Boromir's death in my analysis of the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and the Beginning of "The Two Towers."
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-end-of-fellowship.html
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No one better demonstrated the self-absorbed nature of the Shire than Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Lobelia, one of Bilbo’s relatives who desired to inherit Bilbo’s home at Bag End, is portrayed as a jealous and entitled woman who was disliked by her extended family and others in the Shire.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2021/04/lobelia-sackville-baggins.html
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Tom Bombadil's wife Goldberry is a joyful woman who regularly broke into song and lived happily with her husband, surrounded by the beauty of the natural world.
Frodo and his companions visited them on their way to Rivendell.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2021/04/goldberry.html
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Tom and Goldberry acted in harmony while setting the table for supper.
"Yet in some fashion they seemed to weave a single dance, neither hindering the other, in and out of the room, and round about the table; and with great speed food and vessels and lights were set in order. The boards blazed with candles, white and yellow."
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The beautiful elf Arwen, King Elrond’s daughter, makes a slight appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring.
"Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring."
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2021/04/arwen.html
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I discussed Lobelia, Goldberry, Arwen, and Galadriel as I examined the portrayal of women in "The Fellowship of the Ring."
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2021/04/female-characters-in-fellowship.html
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When the hobbits arrived at Tom and Goldberry’s home, Goldberry welcomed them with a song.
"Now let the song begin! Let us sing together
Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather,
Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather,
Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water:
Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!"
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Bilbo returned from his heroic journey in The Hobbit to learn that he was presumed dead and that his possessions were being sold at auction.
"Bilbo's cousins the Sackville-Bagginses were, in fact, busy measuring his rooms to see if their own furniture would fit.
"In short Bilbo was "Presumed Dead," and not everybody that said so was sorry to find the presumption wrong.”
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"'Oh, Mr. Frodo, that's hard!' said Sam shivering. '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."
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'I will follow the Orcs,' Aragorn said at last.
'I would have guided Frodo to Mordor and gone with him to the end; but if I seek him now in the wilderness, I must abandon the captives to torment and death.
‘My heart speaks clearly at last: the fate of the Bearer is in my hands no longer. The Company has played its part. Yet we that remain cannot forsake our companions while we have strength left."
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"The only plan that is proposed to us is that a halfling should walk blindly into Mordor and offer the Enemy every chance of recapturing it for himself. Folly!" Boromir said.
"Surely you see it, my friend?' he said, turning now suddenly to Frodo again. 'You say that you are afraid. If it is so, the boldest should pardon you. But is it not really your good sense that revolts?"
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'We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now know too well," Elrond said.
"It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil.
"Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own.
"But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart."
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"'You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,' said Frodo. 'I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.'
Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh.
'Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,' she said, 'yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting.
'You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer.'"
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"It seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of the Elder Days, and was now walking in a world that was no more.
"In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lorien the ancient things still lived on in the waking world.
"Evil had been seen and heard there, sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside; wolves were howling on the wood's borders; but on the land of Lorien no shadow lay."
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"They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing.
"Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there was a space of sky.
"There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms, no shadow could be seen."
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'But what then would happen, if the Ruling Ring were destroyed as you counsel?' asked Gloin.
'We know not for certain,' answered Elrond sadly.
'Some hope that the Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought.
'But maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.'"
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"Now these were the Three that had last been made, and they possessed the greatest powers.
Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, they were named, the Rings of Fire, and of Water, and of Air, set with ruby and adamant and sapphire; and of all the Elven-rings Sauron most desired to possess them, for those who had them in their keeping could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world."
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"But Sauron could not discover them, for they were given into the hands of the Wise, who concealed them and never again used them openly while Sauron kept the Ruling Ring."
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Twilit: illuminated by twilight
Frodo decided to peer into the mysterious Mirror of Galadriel.
"‘I will look,’ said Frodo, and he climbed on the pedestal and bent over the dark water. At once the Mirror cleared and he saw a twilit land. Maintains loomed dark in the distance against a pale sky."
When Frodo looked into the mirror, he saw a mountainous land illuminated by twilight.
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"All about them as they lay hung the darkness, hollow and immense, and they were oppressed by the loneliness and vastness of the dolven halls and endlessly branching stairs and passages.
The wildest imaginings that dark rumour had ever suggested to the hobbits fell altogether short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria."
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"'Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,' said Gimli.
'Maybe,' said Elrond, 'but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.'
'Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,' said Gimli.
'Or break it,' said Elrond. 'Look not too far ahead! But go now with good hearts!"
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"As a matter of fact, it was all mine. Except that Aragorn insisted on my putting in a green stone. He seemed to think it important. I don't know why," Bilbo said.
"Otherwise, he obviously thought the whole thing rather above my head, and he said that if I had the cheek to make verses about Eärendil in the house of Elrond, it was my affair. I suppose he was right."
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Bower: A pleasant shady place
“After a while Pippin fell fast asleep, and was lifted up and borne away to a bower under the trees; there he was laid upon a soft bed and slept the rest of the night away.” (Chapter 3)
After Pippin fell asleep, his companions carried him to a pleasant shady place under a tree, where he slept the rest of the night.
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Three Rings for the Elven-kings, under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie.
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