The Lord Of The Rings Quotes

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.
The Lord of the Rings
Farewell speech of Bilbo Baggins, Chapter 'A Long-Expected Party'.

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 path and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
The Lord of the Rings
The Old Walking Song sung by Bilbo Baggins, Chapter 'A Long-Expected Party'.


Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The Lord of the Rings
Verse of the Ring, quoted by Gandalf, two lines of which are inscribed on Bilbo Baggins' ring, identifying it as the One Ring, Chapter 'The Shadow of the Past'.

"Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again."
"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 Lord of the Rings
Gandalf and Frodo Baggins, Chapter 'The Shadow of the Past'.

"What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!"
"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."
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo and Gandalf on the betrayer Gollum, Chapter 'The Shadow of the Past'.

"He deserves death."
"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 judgement. 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, or good or Ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least."
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo and Gandalf discussing the fate of the betrayer Gollum, Chapter 'The Shadow of the Past'.

"You say the ring is dangerous, far more dangerous than I guess. In what way?"
"In many ways. It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him."
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo and Gandalf, Chapter 'The Shadow of the Past'.
He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: it's springs were at every doorstep and every path was it's tributary. "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to."
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo about his uncle Bilbo Baggins, Chapter 'Three is Company'.

"I knew that danger lay ahead, of course; but I did not expect to meet it in our own Shire. Can't a hobbit walk from the Water to the River in peace?"
"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."
The Lord of the Rings
Gildor to Frodo, Chapter 'Three is Company'.

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
The Lord of the Rings
A Walking Song sung by Frodo, Sam and Pippin, as they set off for Buckland, Chapter 'Three is Company'.

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
The Lord of the Rings
Gildor, Chapter 'Three is Company'.

Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo, Chapter 'Three is Company'.

"They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak," answered Sam slowly. "It don't seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected — so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were."
The Lord of the Rings
Sam speaking of the Elves, Chapter 'A Short Cut to Mushrooms'.

Sing hey! For the bath at close of day
That washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is a noble thing!
The Lord of the Rings
One of Bilbo's favorite bath songs sung by the hobbits after arriving at Frodo's new house in Buckland, Chapter 'A Conspiracy Unmasked'.

O! Wanderers in the shadowed land
despair not! For though dark they stand,
all woods there be must end at last,
and see the open sun go past:
the setting sun, the rising sun,
the day's end, or the day begun.
For east or west all woods must fail...
The Lord of the Rings
Song in the Woods sun by Frodo as the four hobbits walk through the Old Forest, Chapter 'The Old Forest'.

O slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water!
O reed by the living pool! Fair River-daughter!
O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after!
O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves' laughter!
The Lord of the Rings
Song to Lady Goldberry, Tom Bombadil's wife, by Frodo, Chapter 'In the House of Tom Bombadil'.

Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the Little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.
The Lord of the Rings
Tom Bombadil, Chapter 'In the House of Tom Bombadil'.

There is a seed of courage hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, waiting for some final and desperate danger to make it grow.
The Lord of the Rings
Chapter 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs'.

Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow,
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.
None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master:
His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster.
The Lord of the Rings
Tom Bombadil song in which Tom helps the hobbits once again, Chapter 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs'.

Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!
The Lord of the Rings
Tom Bombadil song calling on the hobbits to follow him as he runs down the hills, Chapter 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs'.

Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders.
Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!
The Lord of the Rings
Tom Bombadil laughs and sings this to the hobbits after they beg for him to come with them to Bree, Chapter 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs'.

There is an inn, a merry old inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
one night to drink his fill.
The Lord of the Rings
Having reached Bree and settled into the inn, Frodo sings this song by Bilbo to the hobbits, Chapter 'At the Sign of the Prancing Pony'.

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.
The Lord of the Rings
The Riddle of Strider, a poem contained in a letter from Gandalf which the innkeeper gives to Frodo, Chapter 'Strider'.

Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.
The Lord of the Rings
The Fall of Gil-galad poem spoken by Sam, Chapter 'A Knife in the Dark'.

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
The Lord of the Rings
Rhyme of the Troll sung by Sam, Chapter 'Flight to the Ford'.