“Literature works from mind to mind and is more progenitive. It is at once more universal and more poignantly particular. If it speaks of bread or wine or stone or tree, it appeals to the whole of these things, to their ideas; yet each hearer will give to them a peculiar personal embodiment in his imagination. Should the story say… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“Literature shrivels in a universal language, and an uprooted language rots before it dies. And it should be possible to lift the eyes above the cant of the ‘language of Shakespeare’... sufficiently to realise the magnitude of the loss to humanity that the world-dominance of any one language now spoken would entail: no language has ever possessed but a small… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“A man inherited a field in which was an accumulation of old stone, part of an older hall. Of the old stone… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“I will vouch for him before the seat of Denethor,' said Gandalf. 'And as for valour, that cannot be computed by stature. He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings, and great weariness is on him,… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“I have chosen Mr Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree). But” — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending; or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous "turn" (for there is no true end to any fairy-tale): this joy, which is one of the things which fairy-stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially "escapist," nor "fugitive." In its fairy-tale -- or otherworld -- setting, it is… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“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. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me some herbs, and I'll think better of you. What's more, if you turn over… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“But the Queen Arwen said: 'A gift I will give you. For I am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“If you lived near the edge of Mirkwood, you would take the word of no one that you did not know as well as… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“He was dark-haired as his mother, and promised to be like her in mood also; for he was not merry, and spoke little, though he learned to speak early and ever seemed older than his years. Túrin was slow to forget injustice or mockery; but the fire of his father was also in him, and he could be sudden and… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share
“Sam: Mordor. The one place in Middle-earth we don't want to see any closer, and the one place we're trying to get to. It's… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!” — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“Though sword shall be rusted, And throne and crown perish With strength that men trusted And wealth that they cherish, Here grass is still… — J.R.R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
