My thoughts on The Lord of the Rings
A few weeks ago, I said that I was trying to reread The Lord of the Rings in time for Easter, and last week, I said that I'd finished it! I finally have time to write about it today. My thoughts are not particularly ground-breaking, but hopefully you'll enjoy reading them; these are not all of my thoughts by any means, but hopefully someday I'll have time to write a longer, more detailed post. A quick warning first: this entire post contains spoilers!
Alan Lee again... amazing! I wish I could produce art like that...
Eowyn (Miranda Otto) and Faramir (David Wenham) in the films
- I love it how the separate story-lines are, well, separated. It works so much better having Sam and Frodo's story after the rest of the Company's, both in The Two Towers and The Return of the King. It just increased my interest in both threads of the story and kept everything uncomplicated but still compelling.
By Alan Lee. I love his LOTR artwork.
- Speaking of Sam and Frodo, their friendship is beautiful. Sam is amazing! Almost my favourite part of the whole of The Return of the King is the part where he takes Sting and the Ring from Frodo, thinking his master is dead; he realises that, although he wants to stay and mourn Frodo, the Quest must be completed.
- Pippin is my favourite hobbit. Full stop.
- Merry is much less irritating in the book than in the film. I actually liked him.
- If I could live anywhere in Middle Earth, it would be Edoras.
- Having read Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight since I last read LOTR, I can really see how Anglo-Saxon Rohan and its culture is.
- It's interesting how the different cultures in Middle Earth are similar to real-world cultures. There have been a lots of scholarly articles and books written about this, so I can add little to the discussion.
- Eowyn and Faramir are amazing. I read that Tolkien considered a romance between Aragorn and Eowyn, but decided against it. He was right: she's really better off with Faramir. I actually prefer him to Aragorn.
- Arwen... unfortunately, I didn't like her that much. She was just rather aloof, and she didn't feel that real to me. I wish we'd seen some more of her, too.
- Legolas is great in the books. I don't get the whole hype about him in the films, but he is a real and likeable character in "real life". I think it makes him more likable that we see how old he actually is. (I googled this and he's several thousand years old. Wow.)
- Apparently, Boromir is meant to be about forty, while Aragorn is in his eighties. That makes their dynamic completely different to the dynamic in the films.
Boromir (Sean Bean), again in the films (in case you hadn't guessed...)
- I can't forgive the films for missing out the scouring of the Shire. If the hobbits weren't going to be affected by the Ring, then it takes lots of poignancy and meaning away from the whole epic.
- Final point for today: the ending is so, so bittersweet. It made me feel melancholy for the rest of the day.
Alan Lee again: the Grey Havens
I'm hoping to watch the films soon, so you can expect a post about them in a few weeks. Sometime, I will also write a longer and more coherent post about LOTR! It was amazing to revisit them again.
What do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts?
Finally commenting on your blog! (It's lovely, by the way! I hope I find time soon to peruse your older posts.)
ReplyDeleteThe hobbits are just the best, aren't they? Frodo is my favorite, but I love them all. I think Merry is the most overlooked/underrated (no thanks to the movies), but I LOVE him so.
Eowyn and Faramir are 😍😍😍 So is Alan Lee! His art is glorious!
Okay, so. About the Scouring of the Shire. Its absence in the movies is awful, but at the some time, it could be its own movie. From an adaptation standpoint, its absence is pretty unforgivable. But from a movie making standpoint I think I might be wise. It would probably destroy the pace of the movie (not to mention make it six hours long XD). Just my two cents.
The eNDING--
Hah, we are continuing to stay on the same time-table regarding this, because I was planning on putting up my first segment of my LOTR movie review tomorrow!
DeleteInterestingly, the separation of the storylines is actually something I *don't* like as much - partly because I have to admit I find Frodo and Sam's storyline a bit less interesting, so that storyline drags a little for me.
I had heard that too about Tolkien originally intending an Aragorn/Eowyn romance! That would have been super interesting to see, but I do love Eowyn with Faramir. <3 (I don't think I could say that I prefer Faramir to Aragorn, though. Faramir's wonderful, of course, but Aragorn is just...*flails inexpressibly because Tolkien's SO GOOD at making fabulous characters*) I like Arwen a lot, actually! You don't see much of her, but I feel like we get a sense of warm dignity and gravitas from what we do see. I too would have very much liked to have seen more of her!
And yes, I just love Alan Lee's illustrations! :D
Am I the only one who thinks Frodo and Sam's storyline is the best part of the book? 😢😅
DeleteRuth: Frodo and Sam's storyline is Amazing. When I read LOTR the first time, I thought it was too long: how wrong was I! This time round, I found it the most compelling part of the book. And I do see what you mean about the Scouring. I have heard that when the final film came out, people thought it had too many endings anyway, so having yet another chunk on the end might just have been too much! Merry is also brilliant. The movies completely RUIN him (and Pippin. And a lot of other things, which I plan to rant about in a departing-from-my-normal-staid-style post in a few weeks' time).
DeleteAnd Lizzie: wow, this is very coincidental that we're on the same page, so to speak. It'll be a while till I write my thoughts on the films, though...
While I didn't find Sam and Frodo's storyline dragged, I can see that it might do sometimes... I think that as I was reading it crazily fast, I had to make myself get through it quickly, which, while it isn't always ideal for reading, worked pretty well in this case.
Arwen... I'm finding it hard to explain exactly what I mean, but I just couldn't get that excited about her. I think it's maybe because I actually remembered there being more scenes with her in that didn't exist (I know, that's weird!) so when I found that there *wasn't* that much of her, it was a bit disappointing.
Alan Lee's art is the best :D
Oops, you all probably figured this out, but my comment wasn't meant to be a specific reply to Ruth's. :P
Delete(And also, many apologies for not liking Frodo and Sam's storyline as much. *smiles sheepishly* It's still good! I still like it! It just doesn't suck me in as fully as the journey of The Three Hunters and Gandalf beating sense into Theoden and Denethor's fascinating characterization (I was VERY disappointed with his portrayal in the movies) and all that cool stuff.)
Oh yes, Denethor is really not good in the movies. Also, the weird tomato-eating scene is NOT NORMAL to say the least. I must say that it is only in The Return of the King that I prefer Sam and Frodo's storyline. The TT one isn't as gripping...
DeleteI just read your LOTR post, Lizzie... I LOVED it! I'm hoping to comment later today, so I won't comment on your post on my own blog xD
Lizzie, all that is FASCINATING as well. It's ALL so good. How can it be this good 😭
DeleteYes, that scene is very strange...turning Denethor into a greasy unwashed slob with horrendous table manners was a Choice, for sure.
DeleteAw, thank you! (Hehe, I suppose that starting a game of blog-comment-tag could become a little confusing ;P)
Ruth, It IS though! I know, right??
Yes, I know... and his HAIR! Terrible. Like Heathcliff's hair in the 1992 adaption of "Wuthering Heights", if you've seen that...
DeleteYes, it is! So amazing!
I totally agree with you, Cecilia! Your thoughts are spot-on. I really like your commentary on Eowyn (my favorite character), Aragorn, and Faramir. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you've been tagged on my blog!
Wow, thank you, Liz; I'm honoured!! I'm looking forward to doing the questions!!
DeleteEowyn's the best, isn't she?