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My First Journey Through Middle-earth Cometh To An End (a.k.a., Hey Folks, I Made It There And Back Again!)



Wow. I did it! I journeyed over some 1200 pages, met strange creatures, witnessed real magic, wept, gasped, laughed, moaned, yawned (occasionally), and by the end of it all felt as exhausted and grateful as Sam and Frodo dragging their precious, burdensome cargo to Mount Doom.

Herewith, as in my reviews of the two previous volumes, are some observations from a Tolkien novice. Please excuse me if I’ve mixed up my facts. (I probably won’t be reading The Silmarillion.)

�� What will stay with me is the sense of adventure and companionship. It’s an ingenious underdog story and a powerful parable about disparate groups of people working together for a common purpose. A timeless lesson for us all.

�� Long before Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s Rey, there was Éowyn, the ultimate kickass female warrior.

�� Speaking of Éowyn, I love the terrifying Witch King's “No living man may hinder me! But she's a woman!�� realization during the Pelennor Fields. In the book it’s filled with a lot more than it is in the film, including Merry learning that Éowyn is Dernhelm (which we all kinda knew). And tell me that J.R.R. didn’t borrow from the Bard’s “No man of woman born�� (from Macbeth) for this climactic confrontation.

�� Moments later, Théoden's dying speech, not knowing that Éowyn is right near him? De-vas-ta-ting.

�� Ghân-bur-Ghân, the chief of the Drúedain who helps Théoden through the forest to Minas Tirith, is a bit of a noble savage, and he slows down the action. I can see why his character was cut from the movie.

�� The Army of the Dead sequence. Frightening at first. But ultimately a beautiful section reminding us that forgiveness and redemption is possible.

�� Things not in the film: Bill �� Sam’s pony, last seen outside the Mines of Moria �� appears! (Dear reader: I cried.) Also: The Houses of Healing. Wow, Aragorn has super powers!

�� Scenes done better in the movies: the stirring , which is merely suggested in the book. And the spectacular leap-to-his-death-while-burning of the crazy steward Denethor.

�� What I liked about the “Scouring Of The Shire�� chapter �� besides seeing an unexpected character return, which scared the hell out of me! �� was that the hobbits didn’t need elves, wizards and dwarves to help them fight the bad guys. They had learned so many skills they could do it on their own.

�� The chapter titled “Many Partings�� is pretty literal. Me thinks that ending doth go on overlong.

�� Pippin and Merry drink Isengard beer (or is it Entish water or something?) and grow a couple of inches. I think it’s suggested in the films�� special editions. But their height competition in the book is very cool.

�� I love the humble, simple writing at the end. We’ve had grand, ornate language, witnessed courtly love and seen heroic deeds, noble sacrifices as well as unspeakable evil. But in the end we are back with an ordinary gardener settling down with his family. And Tolkien’s diction �� the last paragraphs are comprised almost entirely of one syllable words �� evokes the enduring spirit of the common people and the kind of life that so many characters in this book have fought to protect.