Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring: Quotes: The Shire, Hobbiton

Poems and Tales of Middle-Earth:
(illustrations by Alan Lee)

Bilbo's travel song:
"The Road goes ever on and on
    Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
    Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
    And whither then? I cannot say."

Bilbo's adventure song:
"Upon the hearth the fire is red
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
   Tree and flower and leaf and grass
   Let them pass! Let them pass!
   Hill and water under sky,
   Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow me may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
   Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,
   Let them go! Let them go!
   Sand and stone and pool and dell,
   Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world begind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed.
   Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
   Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
   Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
   And then to bed! And then to bed!


	The Lord of the Rings Part I. The Fellowship of the Ring Quotes from Tolkien's Novel


	In the Shire: Hobbiton.
	"The hobbits [...] heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved, until they came to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-Earth and the right of all sensible folk. They forgot or ignored what little they had ever known of the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of the Shire. They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it." (prologue)

	"All the one hundred and forty-four guests expected a pleasant feast; though they rather dreaded the after-dinner speech of their host (an inevitable item). He was liable to drags in bits of what he called poetry."

	'I was professionally interested in your ring, you may say, and I still am. I should like to know where it is, if you go wandering again. Also I think you have had it quite long enough. You won't need it any more, Bilbo, unless I am quite mistaken.' (Gandalf) Bilbo flushed, and there was an angry light in his eyes. His kindly face grew hard. 'Why not?' he cried. 'And what business is it of yours, anyway, to know what I do with my own things? It is my own. I found it. It came to me.' 'Yes, yes,' said Gandalf. 'But there is no need to get angry.' 'If I am it is your fault,' said Bilbo. 'It is mine, I tell you. My own. My precious [Ndt: Recurring word attributed to the Ring by all the characters who have fallen under its spell]. Yes, my precious.'

	"Eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. Tremendous outburst of approval. I don't know half of you as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work out and see if it came to a compliment." (Bilbo)

	'It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think ar first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him. [...] A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings.' (Gandalf)

	"Frodo sat silent and motionless. Fear seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising in the East and looming up to engulf him. 'This ring!', he stammered. 'How, how on earth did it come to me?' "

	'Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.' (Gandalf) 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'

	'The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring. 'The Three, fairest of all, the Elf-Lords hid from him, and his hand never touched or sullied them. Seven the Dwarf-Kings possessed, but three he had recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed. Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago, they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants. Long ago. It is many a year since the Nine walked abroad. Yet who knows? As the Shadow grows once more, they may too walk again.' (Gandalf)

	'What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!' (Frodo) 'Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.' (Gandalf) [...] 'I can't understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live, after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.' (Frodo) 'Deserves it! I daresay he does. 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 have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least.' (Gandalf)

	"Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious [Ndt: Recurring word attributed to the Ring by all the characters who have fallen under its spell]. When he took it out, he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, not without a great struggle. He weighed the Ring in his hand, hesitating, and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will he made a movement, as it to cast it away - but he found that he had put it back in his pocket. Gandalf laughed grimly. 'You see? Already you too, Frodo, cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it. And I could not 'make' you - except by force, which would break your mind. But as for breaking the Ring, force is useless.' "