Quotes Tolkien Silmarillion Quotes

This only was wanting. Now comes the night. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

All have their worth and each contributes to the worth of the others. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Here ends the SILMARILLION. If it has passed from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Then he called him Maeglin, which is Sharp Glance, for he perceived that the eyes of his son were more piercing than his own, and his thought could read the secrets of hearts beyond the mist of words. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

But Ilúvatar knew that Men, being set amid the turmoils of the powers of the world, would stray often, and would not use their gifts in harmony; and he said: 'These too in their time shall find that all that they do redounds at the end only to the glory of my work. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Not all those who wonder are lost. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Shall we mourn here deedless forever a shadow-folk mist-haunting dropping vain tears in the thankless sea ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

This doom she chose, forsaking the Blessed Realm, and putting aside all claim to kinship with those that dwell there; that thus whatever grief might lie in wait, the fates of Beren and Lúthien might be joined, and their paths lead together beyond the confines of the world. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

For if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomable at the foundations of the Earth. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Love not too well the work of thy hands and the devices of thy heart; and remember that the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West, and cometh from the Sea. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

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. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death ...
... (quoting an obituary) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Victory after all, I suppose! ... Well, it seems a very gloomy business. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are ... and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Now fair and marvellous was that vessel made, and it was filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright; and Earendil the Mariner sat at the helm, glistening with dust of elven-gems, and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow. Far he journeyed in that ship, even into the starless voids; but most often was he seen at morning or at evening, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from voyages beyond the confines of the world. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Therefore Morgoth came, climbing slowly from his subterranean throne, and the rumour of his feet was like thunder underground. And he issued forth clad in black armour; and he stood before the King like a tower, iron-crowned, and his vast shield, sable unblazoned, cast a shadow over him like a stormcloud. But Fingolfin gleamed beneath it as a star; for his mail was overlaid with silver, and his blue shield was set with crystals; and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashipn the theme of Iluvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Iluvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I did not buy a book called Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson, which has the temerity to compare itself, on the front cover, to 'Tolkien at his best.' The back cover attributes the quote to the Washington Post, a newspaper whose quotations will always damn a book for me from now on. How dare they? And how dare the publishers? It isn't a comparison anyone could make, except to say 'Compared to Tolkien at his best, this is dross.' I mean you could say that even about really brilliant books like A Wizard of Earthsea. I expect Lord Foul's Bane (horrible title, sounds like a Conan book) is more like Tolkien at his worst, which would be the beginning of The Simarillion.
The thing about Tolkien, about The Lord of the Rings, is that it's perfect. ~ Jo Walton

I can manage," said Frodo. "I must. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that came down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

But good luck to you - today and every day! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Small wonder that spell means both a story told, and a formula of power over living men. -On Fairy Stories ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

The love of Arda was set in your hearts by Ilúvatar, and he does not plant to no purpose. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I am he that walks unseen. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Melkor's envy grew then the greater within him; and he also took visible form, but because of his mood and the malice that burned in him that form was dark and terrible. And he descended upon Arda in power and majesty greater than any other of the Valar, as a mountain that wades in the sea and has its head above the clouds and is clad in ice and crowned with smoke and fire; and the light of the eyes of Melkor was like a flame that withers with heat and pierces with a deadly cold. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

But where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet and good tilled earth. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Don't put a lump of rock under my elbow again! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

There came a time near dawn on the eve of spring, and Luthien danced upon a green hill; and suddenly she began to sing. Keen, heart-piercing was her song as the song of the lark that rises from the gates of night and pours its voice among the dying stars, seeing the sun behind the walls of the world; and the song of Luthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where he feet had passed. Then the spell of silence fell from Beren, and he called to her, crying Tinuviel; and the woods echoed the name. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Well, you can go on looking forward," said Gandalf. "There may be many unexpected feasts ahead of you. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Home is now behind you, the world is ahead! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Give with a free hand, but give only of your own. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased, except those who had to mow the grass. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

He is fallen and his cure is beyond us, but I would still spare him, in the hope that he may find it. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

As she ran her gown rustled softly like the wind in the flowering borders of a river. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Don't be a fool Mr. Baggins if you can help it. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

She walks in starlight in another world. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

He thought much but said little. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

On his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst, it will be a marvel! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I warn you, if you bore me, I shall take my revenge. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Though thereafter we may walk in the shadows, I will not go forth as a thief in the night. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

You cannot pass! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

My Precioussss!
-Gollum ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

it is horrible being all alone. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Heed no nightly noises! for nothing passes door and window here save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Elves are wondrous fair to look upon. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

To walk in Time, perhaps, as men walk on long roads ... to see the lie of old and even forgotten lands, to behold ancient men walking, and to hear their languages as they spoke them, in the days before the days, when tongues of forgotten lineage were heard in kingdoms long fallen by the shores of the Atlantic.
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lost Road ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

...his endearment fell on deaf ears like a stone dropping into an empty well. ~ Simon Tolkien

I am tired of stairs and stone passages. i would give a good deal for the feel of grass at my toes. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Not all that have fallen are vanquished. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: 'I'm coming Mr. Frodo! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Your talk of sniffling riders with invisible noses has unsettled me. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Follow your dreams, not the crowd. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Tolkien disapproved of Lewis's Narnia books because they worked by analogy, taking an existing myth and retelling it with different names and circumstances, whereas he felt that you should make your own myth out of whole cloth. But it's not possible to read The Silmarillion without seeing how Sauron's fall mirrors Satan's. It's only a question of how you triangulate your relationship to your source material. ~ M.R. Carey

Tolkien's words and sentences seemed like natural things, like rock formations or waterfalls, and wanting to write like Tolkien would have been, for me, like wanting to blossom like a cherry tree or climb a tree like a squirrel or rain like a thunderstorm. - Gaiman on J. R. R. Tolkien ~ Neil Gaiman

His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

A light like the glint of water on dewy grass flashed from under her feet as she danced. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I hear nothing but the night-speech of plant and stone. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I name you Elf-friend; and may the stars shine upon the end of your road! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

And what do you wish?' he said at last.
'That what should be shall be,' she answered. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

The names of the dwarves in The Hobbit were taken from verses of a very ancient Norse poem called Voluspà. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Legolas was standing, gazing northwards into the darkness, thoughtful and silent as a young tree in a windless night. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Smeagol won't grub for roots and carrotses and - taters. What's taters,precious, eh, what's taters?"
"Po-ta-toes!" said Sam. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I see that you are an elf-friend; the light in your eyes and the ring in your voice tells it. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Focus on creating value by finding and solving problems for others. ~ Mensah Oteh

The ring! exclaimed Frodo. 'Has he left me that? I wonder why. Still, it may be useful. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

We plunged into the deep water and all was dark. Cold it was as the tide of death: almost it froze my heart. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Wonderful folk, Elves, sir! Wonderful!' 'They are,' said Frodo. 'Do you like them still, now you have had a closer view? ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Is everything sad going to come untrue? ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

His rage passes description - the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Warriors achieve more than worriers. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

The light sprang up again, and there on the brink of the chasm, at the very Crack of Doom, stood Frodo, black against the glare, tense; erect, but still as if he had been turned to stone. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is; for I much desired to speak with him again. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

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. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Love is revealed progressively. ~ Mensah Oteh

People will treat you unkindly at times. Forgive them always. ~ Mensah Oteh

You are perfect, not tomorrow, not in the future, but today. ~ Mensah Oteh

Strength is not created by adversity; it is merely awakened by it. ~ Mark Eddy Smith

The Tolkien estate owns the writings of Professor Tolkien. 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' were sold by Professor Tolkien in the late '60s, the film rights. ~ Peter Jackson

Sleepiness seemed to be creeping out of the ground and up their legs, and falling softly out of the air upon theirheads and eyes. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Faith then they vowed
Fast, unyielding,
There each to each
In oaths binding.
Bliss there was born
When Brynhild woke;
Yet fate is strong
To find its end. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Life has a sense of humour; it hides its best treasures in unexpected places. ~ Mensah Oteh

I have no signs on my door - it was painted a week ago - , ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

What a lot of things you do use Good morning for! said Gandalf. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo shut his mouth tight with a snap. "That's right," said Gandalf. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Farewell Aragorn. Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Do not speak before your master, whose wit is greater than yours. And ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

There was a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm called Smaug. One ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

The table like old friends (as a matter of fact they were brothers). ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

And the magnitude of his own folly was at last laid bare. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien