Reading The Lord of the Rings for the First Time 🌿READING VLOG

[@SuStel]

A lot of people don't notice that in the book, Aragorn's quest upon leaving Rivendell is not to bring Frodo to Mount Doom; it is to go to Minas Tirith in answer to Faramir and Boromir's dream. He joins the Company because he's going the same way.

[@robertpearson8798]

I recommend reading the Silmarillion at some point to further understand the world Tolkien created. It’s a different kind of read that LOTR but it’s one of my favourites.

[@user-zx9jq4pv1w]

Aragorn's line about going to Mordor with Frodo makes sense because the movies make Frodo far more passive and hostage to events than Frodo in the book. Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, all encourage Frodo to go on without them while they fend off the bad guys. In the book, Frodo is never in doubt about going to Mordor, he doesn't want to lead any of the others into what he is sure is a suicide mission. Sam says as much to Aragorn when they are debating which way to go down by the lake. Sam believes Frodo will take off in secret on his own so he doesn't lead the others to their deaths but he has had some thirty years to get to know Frodo's mind set.

[@Svensk7119]

Thou art quite correct, good sir (ma'am?)!!

[@matthewbreytenbach4483]

At the ford of Bruinen Movie Frodo: Is luggage Book Frodo: Sod off! Or I'll take all nine of you, here and now!

[@PalleRasmussen]

One of many occasions, where PJ and FW takes every opportunity to make the noble unnoble, the steadfast weak and doubtful. *I HATE PJ AND FW!"*

[@brettmuir5679]

​@@matthewbreytenbach4483don't forget Farmer Maggot did just about the same thing when they came asking about...

[@matthewbreytenbach4483]

@@brettmuir5679 A shrewd and stout-hearted Hobbit is old Maggot :)

[@monkeymox2544]

Loved this, it's always great to see someone experiencing these wonderful books for the first time! It's funny, I have noticed booktubers over recent years reading LOTR for the first time, often having to say that they "didn't find it boring", presumably due to a growing opinion among modern fantasy readers that LOTR is in some respect outdated. I'm only in my early 30's, but I don't remember coming across many people who thought LOTR was particularly outdated when I was growing up. I was 12 when the first film came out, so if anything there was suddenly loads of enthusiasm for the books. It's kind of interesting how there're people only slightly younger than me who have completely different expectations of fantasy. I'm not sure if this has something to do with social media and attention spans, or if it's because of the influence of people like Brandon Sanderson, but in a few short years the fantasy landscape seems to have changed dramatically. It used to be anathema to admit you don't like LOTR - now it seems to be becoming fashionable!

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Agreed with everything you said! Each time I mentioned that I was starting the LotR to someone, usually those older than me, they always said, “Just get through the first half of the book and then it’ll get good. The first half is boring,” and I actually preferred the first half! I loved taking our time in the Shire and expanding the world in a way that was peaceful before setting off on a perilous journey. It was so interesting to hear people call it boring each time I mentioned it!

[@AllyEmReads]

I'm so happy you enjoyed the Tom Bombadil chapter! My dad and I love that chapter, just because it's almost a preface showing just how big Middle-Earth is, you know? Also I just love Goldberry, she's so fascinating to me.

[@garyjenkins7249]

Tom is the representation of Middle Earth itself. Just like our own Earth doesn’t care about our petty wars, Tom really can’t be bothered with the affairs of mortal beings. Just like our Earth was before us and will be after, so is Tom Bombadil.

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Wait i love this analysis

[@x-wing8785]

Tolkien never said what Tom Bombadil actually is. Sometimes he gave different indications as to what it might be, but never any exact answer. "Enigma" was an expression he often used. Or "just an invention". "not an important person - to the narrative", even if "he represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyse the feeling precisely. I would not, however, have left him in, if he did not have some kind of function." -Tolkien So it's pretty hard to say what he is. It may also be that Tolkien wanted to tease the reader a little. Best answer is that he is just Tom Bombadil and that's it. :)

[@brettmuir5679]

Is this Bombadil speaking?

[@dsmdgold]

It's easy to miss in the novel, but it was never the plan that the whole company would go to Mordor, Boromir had to return Gondor, had duties there. Aragorn felt that the Boromir's dream was a summons, so he too was going to Gondor. But the road to Mordor and Gondor overlapped for much of the way, so the parting at the end of the Fellowship was predestined. Gimli and Legolas only committed to going as far as the passes over the mountain. They had to cross the mountains to get back home, so they were basically going the same way as well,

[@mattkean1128]

It absolutely stands up to its reputation. I remember finding it very beautiful, especially once the fellowship is together.

[@mjdaniel8710]

I first read these books, The Hobbit and Silmarillion starting back in the 70s when I was around 14 and I still do every couple of years

[@Thelaretus]

Some excerpts from the book: 《Ever since the middle night the great assault had gone on. The drums rolled. To the north and to the south company upon company of the enemy pressed to the walls. There came great beasts, like moving houses in the red and fitful light, the _mûmakil_ of the Harad dragging through the lanes amid the fires huge towers and engines. Yet their Captain cared not greatly what they did or how many might be slain: their purpose was only to test the strength of the defence and to keep the men of Gondor busy in many places. It was against the Gate that he would throw his heaviest weight. Very strong it might be, wrought of steel and iron, and guarded with towers and bastions of indomitable stone, yet it was the key, the weakest point in all that high and impenetrable wall. The drums rolled louder. Fires leaped up. Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it. But about the Gate resistance still was stout, and there the knights of Dol Amroth and the hardiest of the garrison stood at bay. Shot and dart fell thick; siege-towers crashed or blazed suddenly like torches. All before the walls on either side of the Gate the ground was choked with wreck and with bodies of the slain; yet still driven as by a madness more and more came up. Grond crawled on. Upon its housing no fire would catch; and though now and again some great beast that hauled it would go mad and spread stamping ruin among the orcs innumerable that guarded it, their bodies were cast aside from its path and others took their place. Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded, cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth, heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no bow sang. For a moment all was still. The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke. Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone. Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face. All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dínen. ‘You cannot enter here,’ said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. ‘Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!’ The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter. ‘Old fool!’ he said. ‘Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!’ And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade. Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last. [...] Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure. But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw. After a while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of the siege and the outer fields. Still they were unchallenged, and still Théoden gave no signal. At last he halted once again. The City was now nearer. A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow of death. The horses were uneasy. But the king sat upon Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas Tirith, as if stricken suddenly by anguish, or by dread. He seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. His heart beat slowly. Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps Théoden would quail, bow his old head, turn, slink away to hide in the hills. Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering. Far, far away, in the South the clouds could be dimly seen as remote grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them. But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing second it stood dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle; and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great _boom._ At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: _Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!_ _Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!_ _spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,_ _a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!_ _Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!_ With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. _Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!_ Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first _éored_ roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City. [...] Over the field rang his clear voice calling: ‘Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world’s ending!’ [...] _Death_ they cried with one voice loud and terrible.》 - The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

[@johns1625]

"I would have gone with you to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor" is important because that is his answer to "would you destroy it?" Aragorn is saying no, he would not destroy it, but he would have waited until the last moment to take it from Frodo or refuse to destroy it. Just like Frodo did.

[@NatalieDreaming1994]

I love the Lord of the Rings! It was me and my sister's first fandom (my dad took us to see the movie when I was 7, and my sister was 4). I ended up reading the books 2 years after that and have been a lover of fantasy ever since. I'm glad you enjoyed it and can't wait for you to read the other two 🍁🍂

[@rickardroach9075]

3:55 Almost every adaptation omits Tom Bombadil. Leaves more more for priceless moments like Gimli musing on the consistency of squirrel droppings.

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Ooo I’m loving all the b-roll 🥹 GORGEOUS!

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Thank you!

[@b4yma]

There is an allusion to Tom Bombadil in the movie when Merry and Pippin are trapped by the tree in Fangorn Forest and Treebeard rescues them. He uses almost the same words as Tom Bombadil when he saves them from the willow man.

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Oh! I didn’t know this! Thank you for the fun fact!

[@Laurelin70]

​@@StoriesForCoffeeIt is in the Extended Edition.

[@findingashlie]

this was such a beautifully shot video! also I am now very interested in reading lord of the rings! 🍁🌊🌳

[@DavidRoberts]

Looking forward to see videos on Two Towers and Return of the King 🙂 🦊

[@skyhawksailor8736]

I wish I had thought of dressing up our children as characters from Lord of the Rings. I had read the books back in the early 80's and when the first movie was going to be coming out, I sat down to reread Fellowship of the Ring the Saturday before the movie came out, finishing it that day. The next week we drove the 135+ miles to Reno to watch the movie. The gentleman sitting behind us cracked us up at the end of the movie as Frodo and Sam finish talking, the gentleman loudly said "What the H*ll". We cracked up laughing and my wife turned around and explain it was the first part of a three part series. He thanked her for letting him know what was going on.

[@captainnolan5062]

I am so glad to see you have read The Fellowship of the Ring. However, The Lord of the Rings is not a series. It is one book that was published in three volumes due to its length. 🌳

[@robertpearson8798]

It’s interesting that someone thinks of Tom as allegory since it’s well known that Tolkien hated allegory. I love the character and the chapters that he’s in but I can understand why it wasn’t included in the films. Jackson said that they were having difficulty trying to decide what to include in the film and what to leave out. Once they decided to eliminate anything that didn’t directly help Frodo get the ring to Mount Doom it became much easier. A longer miniseries would be a better fit for Bombadill.

[@x-wing8785]

"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." -J.R.R. Tolkien

[@docopoper]

I think if Tom was the type of person to accept the grave task of destroying the ring, he would be affected by it. It is the fact that he is not trying to achieve anything at all and is fully content that makes Tom immune. I really love the lyrics of the ring's seduction theme in the movies: "The strength, the weapon, the needs of the valiant". The temptation of the ring is that decision we all face any time we wish to affect change. It's whether we compromise on our morals to more efficiently enact the good we wish to achieve. From that perspective, anybody wishing to do the act of good that is destroying the ring will experience the temptation of the ring.

[@withthecoven]

this is making me want to re-read LOTR i think its been like 10 years since my last (and first) read through of the series

[@StoriesForCoffee]

This is your sign to reread!

[@MinaReads]

This thumbnail is so beautiful omggg okay now to watch the video 🍿👀

[@StoriesForCoffee]

🥺🥺🥺 the highest honor!

[@nathanfrick6236]

It’s probably been said already, but I cannot recommend highly enough, the audiobook version narrated by Andy Sirkis - especially for the Two Towers and Return of the King - you get so much more Gollum and it’s surreally good!! Also it’s just generally an excellent narration.

[@brettmuir5679]

Do people not know how to read anymore without a helper? I have never understood audiobooks. My mind drifts without words on a page

[@johns1625]

​@@brettmuir5679 we can't read at work or while doing other things

[@SpacemanTheo]

​@@brettmuir5679 and some people drift when they're just staring at a page. Or they just really like the performance of the narrator(s). It's an art and is just as enjoyable at reading in text. Remember that radio came long before tv and that's how people had entertainment. A host would read live or plays would be acted out.

[@wickerlibrary]

been waiting for this one!!! love hearing your thoughts in reading vlogs, seeing you enjoy this series is gonna be so much fun! hearing about your family's connection to the movie was the sweetest ever, reminded me of how i listened to the audiobook for the hobbit yeeeeeears ago on a family road trip. it's just so fun to experience these stories with your family!

[@yazeedgaming1413]

Loved the Journey i really need to read LOTR, i have idolized Tolkein from the movies and lore videos but never read the books, Hello from Saudi Arabia🌴

[@harryjamessmithmusic7762]

Fantastic job! I love these books so much. Professor Tolkien did a great job. I love the movies/films too.

[@playermartin286]

Great job? lol that´s a bit of an understatement

[@harryjamessmithmusic7762]

@@playermartin286 lol

[@matthewbreytenbach4483]

Another reason not to try to fly the eagles to Mordor is that human settlements have a habit of shooting at them to keep them away from their livestock. Gwahir actually owed Gandalf a favour for a while before the Hobbit because he was shot and Gandalf drew the arrow out and treated the wound. That Sauron can blow them out of the sky should they come near Mordor also beats mention.

[@wickerlibrary]

this is such a silly little comment but i am in love with the green pen you're using to underline and annotate there is something just so satisfying about that color!

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Omg yess they’re so nice! I got them at Michaels!

[@Grimm44]

Those books fits tight in the Box you can use chalk or something to loosen it up

[@klausolekristiansen2960]

It is very interesting to hear your thoughts while reading the book. There is no way to fit Aragorn's parting words into the story of the book. Aragorn and Frodo do not see each other after Frodo makes his decision to leave the fellowship behind. I would have liked to hear you thoughts about the barrow wight.

[@danhalstead705]

The people who argue that the Eagles could have flown the ring to Mordor are people whose knowledge of Lord of the Rings comes from the movie Clerks instead of reading the books as you have. Tolkien also clarified his answer to this in his collection of letters which is well worth the read.

[@michaelaporee260]

Read it for the first time this year and watched the movies in earnest and loved every second of ot!

[@pinkhydrangea2440]

I love everything about this video! 🌿🍃

[@crebostar]

🌜🌎🌛 Now I’m curious what all the annotations and highlights are. 😂 Looking forward to vlogs on the next two volumes.

[@StoriesForCoffee]

Oh! I can tell you! I had two markers to highlight. One to underline my favorite quotes and the other underlined key pieces of world building or information that didn't make it into the movie, and then I'd annotate random thoughts or commentary in the margins if I had a reaction to note to myself

[@isafuentes3949]

Omg I need the playlist of your video!

[@elessar8057]

The Tom Bombadil also shocked me in my first read.

[@dannyc.3382]

Welcome to Middle Earth. Try the Tale of Luthien and Beren next.

[@brettmuir5679]

Or the gut wrencher, "The Children of Hurin". 1977, Silmarillion first published, 4th grade teacher reads to us the story, " Of Turin Turumbar". I was just discovering The Hobbit at the time. Imagine how opposite these two representations of Middle Earth are to a ten year old whilst being so delicious in what they conveyed as small windows into a much larger world. I have been hooked for 47 years

[@cpmf2112]

If you get to The Silmarillion you will read about the world being formed from music conducted by Eru, basically God in Tolkiens universe. Tom Bombadil is the spirit of the music. He was formed before the world itself was formed and therefore the ring cannot affect him. The ring would affect you over time, little whispers and nagging thoughts would make you seek power.

[@lotrfanhome]

Tom Bombadil gave the hobbits their swords (not Aragorn). The hobbit swords were magicked to be more effective against the Witch King of Angmar and his minions during the Cardolan war in the Barrow-downs region that Frodo's sword glows red in the presence of the Witch King. But the movies cut out altogether that Frodo stabbed the Witch King so any rusty old sword would do in the films. Want to see a 44 hour version of the film? I'm in the process of making it, Book 1 already done.

[@djokealtena2538]

Aaah yes Tom Bombadil....we all debate on who he is. But Tom would have been too confusing for the movie and it was already cut because of time. Maybe one day when we will dig up this supposedly mythical 15 hour version.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Oh The Ring would affect you, it would convince you that you would gain respect and love by wearing it. It is in its nature that it finds your weakness and wishes and dreams and longing, and then it exploits them.

[@Herr_Schindler]

17:18 Just wait for the second book. Also, great video. I wait for the second and third book

[@mrbronson1000]

Just found You, My Ladyyy, Trillion kisses from Peter from Hungary!!! As a fellow Lover of Lord of the Rings... ;)

[@RollingReader]

Great vlog! Might have to do another re-read. (Probably my tenth thus far!)🌲

[@alundavies1016]

I love the story around Tom Bombadil. I think it would have complicated the film though. Books can add nuance and you can have a voice outside the direct narrative, but with film it really should be “show, not tell” and explains Tom Bombadil in a cinematic manner would be very difficult.

[@entwistlefromthewho]

I feel that people think the Tom Bombadil episode "doesn't fit" because pretty much every adaption leaves it out.

[@user-jg5ie8rc1s]

So many books are far better than the film adaptations. When you watch a film, no matter how great they are (I love the Lord Of The Rings films, and The Hobbit Trilogy) you are seeing it through the filter of the director/s, producer/s, the company that is financing the movie, and everyone else that is involved. When you read the book it is just you and the original author, and that is a wonderful thing.

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

The other part about using the eagles to fly to Mordor is that they'd have to ask them first. Did anyone even know precisely where they lived? And even if they did, was anyone capable of climbing to their aeries? And even if they could do both of those things, how long would it take? Probably weeks or months, and the answer might still be 'no'. They simply didn't have the time to explore that possibility.

[@JSeedProductions]

Bombadil is not an allegory. We know this because Tolkien does not do allegories due to his severe disliking of them.

[@Ms.SpookyNerd]

Great vlog. I'm not a high fantasy fan. But glad you enjoyed the books. 🍄🦇🎃☕📚🍂🍁

[@rmeyer0122]

🌳

[@berenerchamion4654]

Great review!🐸

[@dagwardenaer8450]

🌴

[@jasidog]

🌴🌲🌴

[@Lathspell_]

If Gandalf was to put on the ring he wouldn't become invisible either because he exists in both realms

[@entwistlefromthewho]

If you wan't more insight into the book I would highly recommend the official Reader's Companion book by Hammond & Scull. It will allow you to get more out of the books.

[@stevenstone307]

NATURE EMOJI HERE

[@frankb3551]

Yes, I can see why Tom's inclusion is missing because he does appear to exist outside of the world that all of the other characters are participating in, even Gandalf who is wise. Gandalf himself is also a very old friend of Tom's. I think Tom is unaffected, as you said, he is not interested in power. I suspect that he thinks of the ring as a plaything of very young children still caught up in jealousies, envy, various desires; I think that he sees all of the people of middle earth in that way. Note how when he helps the hobbits he treats even the seemingly evil as children overstepping their marks. He never gets angry or afraid.

[@unstrung65]

The best way to read any book is NOT have seen the movies . I am 76 and read The Trilogy about 4 times , way before the movies . The advantage is that you only have your own imagination to picture ,say , hobbits . Example , your imagination pictured Tom Bombadil !

[@gabbiepoppins]

this is making me really want to binge the movies!!! (idk if I'm brave enough for the books even as a fantasy girlie)

[@SpacemanTheo]

They're a smooth read, I promise. And if anything, get the audiobook. It's a delight to listen to!

[@Thelaretus]

⚘️

[@mollygardens6646]

I envy anyone who hasn’t already read LOTR!

[@brettmuir5679]

Everytime I read it it is the first time

[@jhurshman]

Regarding Aragorn's "I would have followed you…" quote in the movie: As someone who had read LotR multiple times before I saw the movies, I remember how jarring it was to me that in the movie Aragorn not only knows that Frodo is leaving alone (or semi-alone), but he seems fine with it. When I watched the movie, it didn't make sense to me that Aragorn (also Merry and Pippin) were so casual about the Ringbearer heading off on his own… I feel there's no way that book-Aragorn would have done that. He longed to go to Minas Tirith with Boromir, but he had promised to help Frodo in every way possible, so he would not have voluntarily allowed him to leave for Mordor without him. In the book, no one in the Fellowship actually know that Frodo and Sam have left until it's too late. (In fact, they think they might have been captured by the Uruk-hai except for Aragorn's reading of the signs at the shore.)

[@hkpew]

Book Aragorn and movie Aragorn aren't really the same character. Book Aragorn has spent virtually his entire life preparing for the days depicted in the books. His goal is to assist in the defeat of Sauron and to become the king of Gondor and Arnor, both because these are worthy goals in their own right and also because Elrond has told him that he can't marry Arwen until that has happened. He doesn't know that he will be able to succeed in this, but he's not afraid to try. He doesn't feel like he is destined to fail the test of the ring as Isildur did. While he has a lot of trials and obstacles to overcome over the course of the books, they serve less to turn him into the rightful king than to reveal that he already is the rightful king. Movie Aragorn is very much afraid that he will be unable to do any better than his ancestor, and has no desire to claim his throne. He's also prepared to give up Arwen, buying into Elrond's argument that it's better for her if he does. For him, the events of the movie are a character arc in which he learns that he is strong enough to face the temptation of the ring and reject it, and that he must take up the mantle of his kingship in order to save his people. The scene with Frodo is an important early part of that arc, as he faces the temptation of the ring head on and recognizes that he is strong enough to turn away from it. When he says that he would have gone with Frodo to the end he is saying both that he now knows that he is strong enough to do so, but that he understands Frodo's need to go alone and is also strong enough to let go completely. So yes, that scene is very different from the book, but it is because of larger differences between the book and the movie. To be fair, though, while book Aragorn probably wouldn't have let Frodo go alone so easily in the moment shown in the movie he eventually makes the same choice. Or do you think Aragorn couldn't have easily tracked down and caught up with Frodo and Sam if he'd decided to do so? Though it would have been a more difficult decision for him to let them go if he hadn't had Merry and Pippin to rescue, which he couldn't do if he'd gone after Frodo. But the things he says as he makes that decision show that he recognizes in his heart that he's done as much as he can for Frodo and must respect Frodo's decision to go alone.

[@jameshenner5831]

🦉

[@makitauknl]

💕💕😘😘

[@sandrapitts5280]

Sound effects on a Spotify reading? I need more info please. 😃

[@rickardroach9075]

9:19 Check out the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation.

[@lsrx101]

🌿🍃

[@bookishbubbles1992]

I’m here so early! No comments or views yet

[@StoriesForCoffee]

🫶🫶🫶

[@mcjordie]

💜💜💜

[@sophiareagan6425]

🍁

[@JohnSeney]

🌞🍁🍂

[@davesence6864]

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[@clairvoyantpegasus]

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[@sandrapitts5280]

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[@NigelIncubatorJones]

That comment about Bombabil was mostly correct, but its use of the word 'allegory' was wrong. Tolkien hated allegory, and Bombadil might have been an example of a concept, but he was not an allegory. People misuse that word all the time.

[@starlasell5698]

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[@emperorpicard4901]

I don't hink you quite understand the nature of the ring as Tolkien described it. You would still be corrupted by the ring because it would feed you lies that you can use the ring force people to respect you and be kind you. This need for respect and kindness is what will get you. Which is why Gandalf refused to take the ring, Gandalf is a fundamentally good person, but he understood that ring would twist his goodness, and that he would use the power of the ring out of a desire to do good, but that fundamentally the nature of that power is all together evil, because that power is the power to control and dominate. Even if you do it for good reasons, its still bad. I.e. the road to hell is paved with good intentions. You have to understand Tolkien's philosophy, he fought in WW1 and very much blamed the politicians and bureaucrats for the war, he detested bureaucracy which he considered to be a form of domination and control, he viewed them as evil even if they did things for a good reason. Its basically a "does the end justify the means" questions, and Tolkien's answer was a hard no. He was also a very religions christian, so his view was that only God had the ability to wield said power because God is fundamentally good"and could not be corrupted, but any other person trying to play god, i.e. use power, will inevitably become corrupted. So as far as Tolkien was concerned, almost every person in middle earth would have become corrupted by the ring. The hobbits are especially resistant because they have very little desire to change other people, they are "quite contempt to be left alone by the world of the big folk", and Tom Bombadil more so because Tom Bombadil is master of himself, he has no desire beyond controlling himself, so the ring can not seduce him since the ring can not give more power to control yourself, you already are your own master.

[@Svensk7119]

Temporary tattoos of Tolkienian Elves!!!! What a self-defeating thing! (Elves don't do tattoo!!)