Further Lord of the Rings Thoughts

The weather delayed my family’s holiday plans for a day—a bummer, yes, but I made the most of my unexpected free day by fitting in The Two Towers on Christmas Eve. And I mean, come on, it’s The Two Towers. You know what I’m going to say. Helm’s Deep! Frodo, Sam, and Gollum! Gandalf the White! My favorite of the trilogy, which is hardly a hot take, but it’s true all the same.

Last time, I discussed my brain’s weird tendency to somehow underestimate the trilogy when I haven’t watched it in a while. It’s a personal failing and I’m trying to be better. Granted, I really should know better by now. Just looking around my house, I have a myriad of Lord of the Rings-related décor, both homemade (ex: a “SQUAD GOALS” poster with a picture of the four hobbits on Weathertop, a triptych featuring Sam’s beautiful speech from The Two Towers) and bought online (ex: a Bag End bathmat, a “Speak Friend and Enter” welcome mat.) These days, most recipes I make are inspired by one of my many fandoms, because life is short and why not, but Lord of the Rings was the first fandom that sent me running to my kitchen. I started with a recipe blog and moved onto the first cookbook I ever purchased. This world, these books, and these films are a big feature in my life, is what I’m saying.

But right now, in the middle of a slow-burn rewatch (it really will be the new year before I get to The Return of the King,) my brain just lives here. I bought an amazing, comfy Shire sweater that came in the mail while I was watching The Two Towers. And on the days in between movies, when I’ve been busy with work, family, or other commitments, I’ve been tiding myself over with various bits of goodness on YouTube.

It started when I remembered the awesome interview Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd did on Colbert last year, and that led me generally to more Monaghan/Boyd interviews—I love the knowledge they rattle off about their characters in this one!—and more Stephen Colbert stuff, including revisiting the epic rap he put together for the 20^th anniversary of trilogy. As I was cooking in preparation for our family’s Christmas smorgasbord, I watched the Zoom reunion a bunch of the cast (along with Peter Jackson and a few others) did for charity in 2020, hosted by Josh Gad—I laughed at John Rhys-Davies tilting his camera to recreate a memorable moment from Helm’s Deep, and I loved Josh Gad’s stunned reaction when Liv Tyler recited some of her Elvish lines. And then of course, you’ve got the fan videos. I still adore this one for Frodo and Sam.

Let’s close on a few moments from The Two Towers that were my extra-favorites this time around:

·        Gimli’s reactions during their first meeting with Eomer

·        Faramir’s attempt to interrogate Gollum/Smeagol

·        Merry’s distress over the Ents staying out of the fight

·        Followed, shortly, by Pippin getting Treebeard to take them to Isengard

·        “A wizard should know better!”

·        “Samwise the brave”

A Few Thoughts on Lord of the Rings

I rewatched The Fellowship of the Ring again last week. The plan was to do The Two Towers this week and The Return of the King after the holidays, but things got busy, so I’ll watch both in the new year. In the meantime, I’m in that state of mind where my brain is at least 40% Lord of the Rings at all times. So why not talk about it? (With that in mind, we are talking about the movies specifically here. I did love them before I loved the books, so I admit they’ll always be the first key to my heart, Tolkien-wise.)

Like many a Tolkien fan, I watched the first season of The Rings of Power as it premiered. More on that show another day, but I’d say it ranged from fine to good, with some wonderful parts and some just-okay parts. While I’d definitely rank it above the Hobbit trilogy, watching it gave me a little of the same feeling, that slight dragging down of my fangirlness. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t excite me, especially when, around the same time, Andor was blowing my mind every week, Werewolf by Night was fantastic, and Paddy Considine was giving a stellar performance over on House of the Dragon. In moments like this, I find I can be fair weather enough to think, “Yeah, I like Tolkien, but I’m not a huge fan.”

And then I rewatch the trilogy and I’m suddenly once again that girl who saw each one at least three times in the theater. I don’t know what it is—it’s not like I forget that I’ve always loved them. But it’s like good or mediocre Tolkien projects almost dull the memory of how much I love them, even as I watch these other projects and think, “Doesn’t compare to the trilogy.” I don’t rewatch Lord of the Rings as often as I do some of my other nerd fandoms, just because the sheer length is a major time investment, and although I know how great they are, I seem to need to see that first image of the Shire and hear the music to really go, “Oh right, every moment of this is entirely my shit.”

Honestly, it’s almost overwhelming to be hit afresh with how beautiful this trilogy is. Despite taking some creative license from the books, many purists forgive them for it because they still feel like the books. Every role is simply impeccably cast, from Sir Ian McKellen’s brilliant Gandalf to Andy Serkis’s revolutionary Gollum to my beloved hobbits. The production design and gorgeous scenery drip with the majestic beauty of Middle-earth, and every costume, set, and prop feel so lovingly made. There’s humor and heartbreak, enormous action and tiny moments, and a feeling that the whole trilogy is imbued with Tolkien’s history.

Obviously, the films have too many incredible moments, both large and small, to truly have favorites, but here are a few that stood out to me this time around when I was watching The Fellowship of the Ring:

·        Frodo leaping into Gandalf’s arms to greet him in the Shire

·        The devastated look on Gandalf’s face at the Council of Elrond when Frodo says he’ll take the Ring to Mordor

·        Boromir sparring with Merry and Pippin

·        “Nobody tosses a dwarf”

·        The hobbits crying after Moria

·        Aragorn and Boromir’s last words together

I’m looking forward to seeing family over Christmas (though it’ll make for some long mask-wearing days,) but I also know what’s waiting for me when the holidays are over. I think The Two Towers and The Return of the King are going to make for some topnotch self-care as I nurse my post-holiday introvert hangover.

The Return of the King (1955)

Even though The Return of the King has some undeniably-great stuff in it, I think that, like the movie, it’s my least favorite of the trilogy, albeit for different reasons  Still, the great stuff is excellent enough that it’s ultimately a very good read.

The war for Middle-earth comes to a head in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.  The corrupting influence of the Ring threatens to tear Frodo and Sam apart as they finally reach Mordor.  Gandalf tries to assist the human kingdom of Gondor as it’s set upon by Sauron’s forces, and Aragorn works to unite the kingdoms of men to fight together, as the long-awaited king they need.

We’ll start with the main detractor.  This, of course, is that the quest comes to an end when there’s still more than 80 pages left.  This is a problem the movie inherits from the book, but it’s even more dramatic here.  It takes forever to wrap up the story, and while I understand the purpose behind the scouring-of the-Shire sequence, it’s hugely anticlimactic after all that came before it.  There’s no reason it needsd to be as long as it is.

That really is the biggest strike against it, but it does have quite an effect on the overall feel of the book.  It buries the strongest, most compelling scenes and it makes the end of the book feel like a chore.  Instead of riding to a strong climax, it kind of plods to a drawn-out finish.

Which is a shame, because the great stuff is so great.  There’s Sam’s big sequence, which has always been my favorite part of the story, along with Eowyn’s beautiful storyline and the way Gollum factors into the critical moment.  I also like the fall of Denethor and how that plot builds and develops.

This book sees the original fellowship more fragmented than ever, with members scattered across a number of different locales and among different groups – it’s definitely hard to wait until the second half of the book for the resumption of Sam and Frodo’s plotline, although very satisfying when it finally does.  But if it splits them apart, it also brings them back together, and it is one of the good points of the over-long ending; I love these characters, and I especially love them as a unit.

Warnings

Fantasy violence, disturbing/scary moments, smoking/drinking, and strong thematic elements.