Book detail: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.
The Return of the King is the third and concluding book in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It follows the events of The Two Towers and brings together the diverse characters and forces in a final confrontation against the dark lord Sauron. The book is renowned for its complex narrative, richly developed characters, and its influence on the fantasy genre.
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“And the Ring is so heavy, Sam. I begin to see it in my mind all the time, like a great wheel of fire.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And Gandalf said: "This is your realm, and the heart of the greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what must be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But... I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising I came singing into the sun, sword unsheathing. To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Orcs, and talking trees, and leagues of grass, and galloping riders, and glittering caves, and white towers and golden halls, and battles, and tall ships sailing, all these passed before Sam's mind.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Though here at journey's end I lie In darkness buried deep, Beyond all towers strong and high, Beyond all mountains steep, Above all shadows rides the Sun And Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, Nor bid the Stars farewell.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“It is the way of my people to use light words at such times and say less than they mean. We fear to say too much. It robs us of the right words when a jest is out of place.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Yet seldom do they fail of their seed, And that will lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times and places unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Indeed you did your best...I hope that it may be long before you find yourself in such a tight corner again between two such terrible old men. ~ Gandalf to Pippin”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking through his tears, and no one spoke to him, indeed none seemed to heed him. He brushed away the tears, and stooped to pick up the green shield that Eowyn had given him, and he slung it at his back. Then he looked for his sword that he had let fall; for even as he struck his blow his arm was numbed, and now he could only use his left hand.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“But do you remember Gandalf’s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!" “But no living man am I!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Thank you, Sam," he said in a cracked whisper. "How far is there to go?" I don't know," said Sam, "because I don't know where we're going.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And yet their wills did not yield, and they struggled on.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Well, you have now, Sam, dear Sam,' said Frodo, and he lay back in Sam's gentle arms, closing his eyes, like a child at rest when night-fears are driven away by some loved voice or hand. Sam felt that he could sit like that in endless happiness.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: 'I'm coming Mr. Frodo!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And if Sam considered himself lucky, Frodo knew he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“His face was sad and stern because of the doom that was laid on him, and yet hope dwelt ever in the depths of his heart, from which mirth would arise at times like a spring from a rock.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“It needs but one foe to breed a war, and those who have not swords can still die upon them.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn knelt, and Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head and said: Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden was taken away.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“And yet, Eomer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me, for you she loves and knows; but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds, and lands far from the fields of Rohan. - Aragorn to Eomer, of Eowyn”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“My friend, you had horses, and deed of arms, and the free fields; but she, being born in the body of a maid, had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonoured dotage; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of the staff he leaned on. -Gandalf to Eomer, of Eowyn”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“I do not know what is happening. The reason of my waking mind tells me that great evil has befallen and we stand at the end of days. But my heart says nay; and all my limbs are light, and a hope and joy are come to me that no reason can deny. [...] I do not believe that darkness will endure!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard's face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it's no good worrying about tomorrow. It probably won't come.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“He knew that all the hazards and perils were now drawing together to a point: the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Silver flow the streams from Celos to Erui In the green fields of Lebennin! Tall grows the grass there. In the wind from the Sea The white lilies sway, And the golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin In the green fields of Lebennin, In the wind from the Sea!”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“Alas, not me, lord!" she said. "Shadow lies on me still. Look not to me for healing! I am a shieldmaiden and my hand is ungentle.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“If this is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about her, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“The way is shut. Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not look at them. The way is shut, his voice said again. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
“I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun; and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a Shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.”
Source: The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings