1.    “The burned hand teaches best.”

This pithy bit of wisdom is spoken Gandalf after Pippin touches the Palantir in The Two Towers. No matter what trouble the hobbits got themselves into, you could guarantee that Gandalf would have something quotable to say about it. Most of it would sound like it came straight out of the book of Proverbs.

2.    “Fair speech may hide a foul heart.”

You can’t fool Samwise Gamgee!

3.    “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.”

This is an ancient prophecy translated by Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Rings. I am taken with the image of the crownless being made king. The climax of Tolkien’s fictional world, as with ours, is of a servant-king being clothed in glory and recognized by all.

4.    “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

Those of you who live near dragons really need to write that down.

5.    “War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

How good is this?! In the end, Faramir proved to be not only more philosophical, but also a better warrior than his head-strong brother Boromir.

6.    “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

I have a confession to make. There have been public occasions when I have been tempted to use Bilbo’s cheeky quote just to see how people react.

7.    “I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself.”

This is Aragon the intercessor, but it brings to mind the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah 59:16 (“He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him”) and Isaiah 63:5 (“I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me”).

8.    “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

This is Gimli in The Two Towers. It could just as easily be Paul after Demas deserted him (2 Tim 4:10).

9.    “It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.”

This is Elrond, but it reminded me of something Bill Johnson said last week: “If I live in reaction to the powers of darkness, then the devil has a role in my agenda. And he is not worthy… I can’t afford to let what the devil has done affect me. I don’t want his fingerprints on my thinking. He is not worthy of setting my agenda.”

I’ll bet I’m the first person to compare Bill Johnson to an old elf!

10.     “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

I remember reading this part of the story as a kid and feeling ashamed. Like Frodo, I thought the fellowship would be better off with Gollum dead. But Gandalf is all mercy and wisdom. We’re not to be in the judgment business. That’s God’s domain. I wonder how many New Testament Christians prayed for the death of Saul of Tarsus. Gandalf gave Gollum a second chance and it made all the difference, even though Gollum was ultimately lost.

11.    “Above all shadows rides the sun.”

Preach it Sam! This quote comes from one of the darkest parts of the story (the Stairs of Cirith Ungol in The Two Towers). But there is nothing dark in the heart of this hope-filled hobbit. We may be walking in darkness, but God who said “Let light shine out of darkness” has made His light shine in our hearts. Frodo, ever conscious of his evil burden, gave in to despair. But Sam never gave up. If you could pick one hobbit to come on a journey with you, you’d want faithful and loyal Sam.

12.    “End? No, it doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one which we must all take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass… And then you see it… White shores, and beyond, a far green country, under a swift sunrise.”

This is my all-time favorite LOTR quote. The gates of Gondor are about to fall and Pippin fears that the end has come. Gandalf responds with this revelation of the Undying Lands or heaven. Ian McKellen nailed this line in Peter Jackson’s movie. (Click here if you can’t remember the scene.) Gandalf is not prophesying but remembering what heaven is like. When Pippin hears his words he is filled with hope and the fear of death is gone.

12. “End? No, it doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one which we must all take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass… And then you see it… White shores, and beyond, a far green country, under a swift sunrise.”

This is my all-time favorite LOTR quote. The gates of Gondor are about to fall and Pippin fears that the end has come. Gandalf responds with this revelation of the Undying Lands or heaven. Ian McKellen nailed this line in Peter Jackson’s movie. (Click here if you can’t remember the scene.) Gandalf is not prophesying but remembering what heaven is like. When Pippin hears his words he is filled with hope and the fear of death is gone.

Actually this quote is from the movie. In the books Gandalf doesn't say this and it is not a description of death: it is a description of what Frodo sees when he, sailing with Bilbo, Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, and other Elves, sees the Undying Lands.

Gandalf doe say it,I think, but he says it elsewhere in the story in the book.   :gandalf:

My favorite is Frodo's statement, "I will take the ring, though I do not know the way."  That can move me to tears in the right mood.

Being a Tolkien fan, I check up on these things. Here is the original quote, from The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter IX, The Grey Havens, p. 1007 (1993, one volume edition):

"And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise."

As you can see, it really refers to the Undying Lands, Valinor; Frodo was going there to seek healing from his wound by the Witch-King of Angmar. Peter Jackson, in his movie adaptation, modified that quote, giving it to Gandalf, to comfort Pippin in the siege of Minas Tirith.

How did I miss this Tolkien thread? :o ;D

"The Ring was meant to be found, but not by its maker." As Tolkien himself said, God is at the heart of the work.

Frodo's quest failed. He was completely overcome by the Ring. As Tolkien noted in one of his letters, it was God who essentially stepped in and tripped up Gollum, sending that wretch to his death along with the One Ring.

The more I read LOTR, and many times have I read it, there is always something new that comes out to illustrate the Traditional Catholicity of the text. :)

May the stars always shine upon thy meetings!