[WIR] The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

[Libertad]

Book 4, Chapter 9: Shelob’s Lair

1. Even bereft of sight, Tolkien manages to do a great job in making the lightless cave of Shelob descriptive, from the foul miasma sapping at the hobbits’ will to their deadened sense of time from being unable to know how far they journey to how much longer they have to go.
2. Tolkien’s description of Shelob is great, too: “two great clusters of many-windowed eyes - the coming menace was unmasked at last.” Never heard a monstrous spider described in such a way before, but it works perfectly.
3. New word learned today: “sward,” or the grassy surface of land!
4. The little narration of Sauron imagining his “not really friends but more an unspoken non-aggression pact” with Shelob is rather amusing, yet also a surprisingly humanizing touch for the Dark Lord. He imagines her catching and eating his orcs as akin to a pet owner providing treats to a cat, and tolerates her presence because her lair serves as a fine defense against Mordor’s enemies.
5. Gollum betrays the hobbits, who would have thought!

Book 4, Chapter 10: The Choices of Master Samwise

1. “He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master’s sword in his left hand. Then he charged. No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts, where some desperate small creature armed with little teeth, alone, will spring upon a tower of horn and hide that stands above its fallen mate.” Frowise is canon.
2. I knew that Frodo’s apparent death at Shelob’s hands was coming on account of seeing the movie, but the scene was still an emotional rollercoaster.
3. New word learned today: “anigh,” an archaic form of “nigh!”
4. One of the orcs saying in a whisper that “even the Biggest can make mistakes” shows that they aren’t all unquestioning, although such speech is obviously rare and forbidden.
5. “Frodo was alive but taken by the enemy.” Wow, what a cliffhanger!

And I’m done with the Two Towers! Return of the King, here I come!

 

[billd91]

And I’m done with the Two Towers! Return of the King, here I come!

Oh, have you got a treat ahead of you! There are some utterly amazing passages in RotK.

 

[el-remmen]

There are some utterly amazing passages in RotK.

He gets downright Biblical during the Battle of Pelinor Fields. I live for every, "And LO!"

 

[Nikosandros]

Book 4, Chapter 9: Shelob’s Lair

1. Even bereft of sight, Tolkien manages to do a great job in making the lightless cave of Shelob descriptive, from the foul miasma sapping at the hobbits’ will to their deadened sense of time from being unable to know how far they journey to how much longer they have to go.

I love that part, very well written. Unfortunately, it is completely unfilmable. The movie version is nice, but doesn't pack the same punch.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm just glad we didn't get Shelob's Lair in smell-o-vision.

 

[Hriston]

I'm just glad we didn't get Shelob's Lair in smell-o-vision.

The scratch and sniff card would have been rank, but Divine as Shelob may well have been worth it!