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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Sep 6 2021, 3:41pm
Post #1 of 11
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Favourite one-liners -
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As I listen again to the Harper Collins Audio versions of The Lord of the Rings, I am struck by the many brilliant bits of dialogue our Professor gave to his characters. Somehow though, the lines, in spite of their depth or brilliance, often are not made as grand pronouncements, rather—don’t blink or you’ll miss it—as throwaway lines, as if such are the ordinary fare of everyday speech.
One such line, is what Theoden (lightheartedly, I think) says of Hama and Eomer in TT:
”The guilty shall bring the guilty to judgement.”
One could make an entire lecture (or sermon ;) ) about this line.
Do you have any favourite one line bits of dialogue or words straight from the narrator to share, from any of Tolkien’s works?
(This post was edited by SirDennisC on Sep 6 2021, 3:43pm)
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Ataahua
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Sep 6 2021, 7:56pm
Post #2 of 11
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'His cat, he calls her, but she owns him not.'
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I adore this sly line about cat 'ownership' during an ominous section of the book. I imagine cat owners around the world let out a collective smirk when they came across it for the first time. 
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Sep 7 2021, 2:51am
Post #3 of 11
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Do we know whether JRRT kept, but was not kept by, cats?
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Ataahua
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Sep 10 2021, 1:57am
Post #4 of 11
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A quick Google search says he owned neither a cat or a dog.
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But he certainly picked up that quirk about cats' attitudes.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Sep 10 2021, 1:57am)
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cats16
Gondolin
Sep 10 2021, 5:32am
Post #5 of 11
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There are many little nuances in how a line like that can be read by a reader's "inner voice" that is serving as the narrator. Yet it captures so much of Gandalf the Grey, for me.
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Sep 11 2021, 4:00am
Post #6 of 11
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“Merry wished he was a tall rider like Eomer, and could blow a horn or something, and go galloping to his rescue.” ROTK The Ride of the Rohirram
I love this phrase, in which Tolkien captures all at once Merry’s frustration, youthfulness, naďveté, and heart. It has the rustic tone I reckon the inner-voice of a hobbit would have.
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Sep 11 2021, 8:05pm
Post #7 of 11
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“I don't keep water in my pockets."
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Missed it the first 2 or 3 readings. Been laughing ever since. 
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Hamfast Gamgee
Dor-Lomin
Sep 16 2021, 11:18pm
Post #8 of 11
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But one I have always liked is Boromir's comments in the Ring goes South after he and Aragorn have moved some snow with there bare arms, 'and doughty men too. Though lesser men with spades might have served you better,' shown his pride but also a little humility and a sense of humour!
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
Doriath
Oct 2 2021, 1:37pm
Post #10 of 11
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Tolkien was definitely not a cat-person
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Beyond the portrayal of cats in the person of Tevildo and his cohorts in the Lost Tales, and the cats of Queen Berúthiel, Tolkien wrote in a letter to Allen and Unwin in 1959, in response to an inquiry about a Cambridge cat breeder who had asked if she could register a litter of Siamese kittens under names taken from The Lord of the Rings:
My only comment is that of Puck upon mortals. I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor, but you need not tell the cat breeder that.
(Presumably the reference to "Puck" is a reference to the character from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, which is interesting given Tolkien's well-known ambivalent feelings toward Shakespeare.)
'But very bright were the stars upon the margin of the world, when at times the clouds about the West were drawn aside.'
The Hall of Fire
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Oct 3 2021, 9:19pm
Post #11 of 11
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my feelings about Siamese cats aren't all that far from Tolkien's - that particular breed gives me a weird vibe. Not sure why.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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