I finished The Two Towers two days ago!
Jan. 11th, 2025 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
between_time_and_42I won't say I was even more distraught than when I finished The Fellowship of the Ring, but I sure was distraught!!
As much as I'd love to put my entire thoughts and feelings about Book 4 into a single post, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that (at the risk of running out of both space and energy), so if I feel like I need to, I'll probably split this into two posts. Anyway: onwards and Excelsior!
As much as I'd love to put my entire thoughts and feelings about Book 4 into a single post, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that (at the risk of running out of both space and energy), so if I feel like I need to, I'll probably split this into two posts. Anyway: onwards and Excelsior!
I wasn't prepared for Book 3 to be the story of the Three Hunters/Merry & Pippin, and for Book 4 to be Sam & Frodo's story. Initially I had assumed that the narrative would just leap back and forth between all the characters for the entirety of The Two Towers, like the movie did. It made sense why it was split up the way it was, but I'm not gonna lie, I felt SO excited once Frodo & Sam's portion of the volume started, and I'm pretty sure I read through it a lot more quickly than Book 3...
Although it's not representative of what I think of as their relationship, I couldn't help but crack up when Frodo was getting annoyed at Sam in the beginning of "The Taming of Smeagol." Especially him calling Sam "you old ass." Which I suppose is no worse than what Sam's "Gaffer" calls him:
"You're nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee: that's what the Gaffer said to me often enough, it being a word of his."
I remember thinking at a few points in The Fellowship of the Ring that Sam was underrating and underestimating himself, and now I can see why. With a parent who regularly insults his intelligence, no wonder Sam doesn't think of himself as being very bright. :/
However, if there's one thing about Sam that he doesn't underestimate, it's his rope-tying skills, and I find it hilarious how offended he becomes when Frodo suspects the knot he tied in the rope to be the cause of the rope coming loose so easily. :'D
"Smeagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. 'Smeagol will swear on the Precious.'
"Frodo drew himself up, and again Sam was startled by his words and his stern voice. 'On the Precious? How dare you?' he said"
Oooof. Frodo knows EXACTLY how dangerous that swear is, since he's been carrying the "Precious" and is the one who's closest to it. I LOVE how clearly this scene shows the Ring's influence on Frodo, without having to make it overly explicit.
"For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog[...] Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.
"'Down! down!' said Frodo. 'Now speak your promise!'"
Ha, I always thought it was funny how Frodo speaks to Gollum like a dog in the movie ("Good Smeagol... Nice Smeagol..."), and here he's explicitly compared to a dog, and being told to get down like a dog who's jumping up on their owner. Shame Gollum is nowhere near as sweet and friendly as most dogs are, though. He's also CLEARLY overcompensating since he knows that Frodo & Sam don't fully trust him (well, Sam doesn't trust him at all), acting as subservient to Frodo as possible to keep him from suspecting him of anything. I think part of the reason why Sam dislikes this change in behavior so much is that he knows Gollum is trying to deceive them and is thinking "I wasn't born yesterday!" Which is another sign that he should really stop underestimating his own intelligence.
Now, I wasn't going to do any more blogging in photos because I was running out of space for it on DW, but this one scene was too long to transcribe so here's a photo of it:
...Oh damn, that photo is enormous. Too bad I have no sense of how to scale down images, so anyone reading this will just have to bear with me...
Anyway. I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND. First of all, Frodo being kind to Sam and telling him not to be too hard on himself or "think of any of your Gaffer's hard names" is just so sweet. It shows how, although Sam is Frodo's servant and therefore in a class below Frodo, the relationship that he and Frodo have is founded on mutual respect and care, as if they are equals (or as if Frodo considers himself and Sam to be equals). Secondly, "my dearest hobbit?!" "Friend of friends?!" I remarked on it before in Fellowship during the scene where Frodo wakes up in Rivendell after being stabbed, but there is nothing one-sided about Sam's devotion. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. And finally... I'm glad Sam didn't kiss Frodo's hand because that would have been too much for me to take. Oh, I love these two...
"'What is it?' growled Sam, misinterpreting the signs. 'What's the need to sniff? The stink nearly knocks me down with my nose held. You stink, and master stinks; the whole place stinks.'
"'Yes, yes, and Sam stinks!' answered Gollum."
BWAHAHAHA. Gollum is such a child. "No, YOU stink!"
"Sam's mind was occupied mostly with his master, hardly noticing the dark cloud that had fallen on his own heart."
Uh... Sam, buddy, I know you're devoted to Frodo and all, and ensuring Frodo's safety/health takes top priority because of the mission he's on... But please, take care of yourself, man. (Not that they can really practice self-care in such a depressing environment, though, as we'll soon see when we keep reading...) I'm also pretty captivated by the description of the Ring feeling heavier around Frodo's neck as he gets further into Mordor. Carrying the Ring was never easy, but it's clearly becoming more and more of a burden, as if the Ring WANTS to destroy its bearer.
Reading the description of the land beyond the Dead Marshes really blew me away with how vividly the sickness and desolation were depicted. When Sam said "I feel sick," I was right there with him. I felt like every ounce of hope I had had been sucked out of me. So I can only imagine how the characters felt at this moment. Almost as if they, and I, were seeing something that no mortal should ever have been allowed to see. I haven't praised the writing itself often enough when reading these volumes, but scenes like this really make me reflect on how great a writer Tolkien was.
"'See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? THE Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea! Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!'"
...Wow, all this time I've been blathering some nonsense about how Gollum is addicted to the Ring because it makes him feel loved, and now I see that all it's been feeding him is the desire to catch fish all day and eat them without being bothered. :P I'm sorry, I just think it's really funny that Gollum wants the Ring so badly and this is the best he can come up with for why he wants it. But it's also a bit sad, now that I'm thinking about it... or maybe pitiful is a better word for it. With the One Ring, Gollum could have so much power at his fingertips, and all he wants to do with it is catch and eat fish, because that's the only life he's known for 500 years. Throughout this volume, I often wondered if Gollum could have been rehabilitated and recovered from his exposure to the Ring, but I think this bit shows that he's too far gone for that.
So... I have to say, as much as I love Sam (and as truly difficult it is for me to think of a moment in Book 4 where this exchange could have taken place), I was genuinely surprised and a bit disappointed that he never tried to tell Frodo what he had heard Gollum debating with himself about. Because his suspicions were correct- Gollum was plotting something against Frodo, and even if Sam couldn't figure out all the details, he surely had heard enough to recognize that Gollum wanted to get rid of both Frodo and Sam. If I were in Sam's shoes, I would have tried to get Frodo alone at the first opportunity I could, and then tell him what I had overheard. And I know they didn't have many opportunities to be alone together... but that's NOT MANY, not NONE. Seeing how protective Sam is over Frodo, I feel like it would have made sense for him to have spoken to Frodo about Gollum. But, well, then we wouldn't have the drama of the end of Book 4... I also have to say that to me, Gollum's entire behavior/demeanor after they reach the Gates SCREAMS "untrustworthy"- it seems to obvious that he's putting on a show for Frodo- but then again, there really wasn't any other way for them to have entered Mordor save storming the Gates, and although I sympathize with Frodo in wanting to get the task over and done with as quickly as possible, I certainly don't think that would have been a wise decision.
"'I did not mean the danger that we all share,' said Frodo. 'I mean a danger to yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that! It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Smeagol you said. Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end.'"
Okay... So when I had watched the movies recently, my main thought regarding Gollum was: "Why didn't they just kill him?" And I accepted that Frodo & Sam needed a guide to Mordor, but I didn't see how either of them could put up with someone so obviously evil who intended to do them harm (in the book even more so, because Frodo never falls under Gollum's sway like he does in the movies). The only explanation seemed to be that Frodo didn't feel he had a right to decide whether Gollum deserved to live or die- which I understood- and also that he pitied him... Which I didn't understand. Sure, I did admit to pitying Gollum just a few paragraphs ago... But I didn't really see why Frodo would have felt the same way. Until I read this part. I now see that the nature of Frodo's pity for Gollum isn't exactly "I can't possibly kill this poor, wretched creature," but more like... empathy. When Frodo speaks about the "Precious" and how it will warp Gollum's desires, he's speaking from experience. He hasn't tried to use it, but he knows from fighting the Ring's influence just what it's capable of doing, and how difficult it is to resist it. His words to Gollum here thus become so much more emotional for me to read. When Frodo warns Gollum not to let the desire for the Ring into his head, I don't think he's just telling him that because he knows it's a lost cause and Gollum will never get his "Precious" back. I think he's genuinely warning him because he doesn't want to see the Ring destroy him any more than it already has. Overall, I find it fascinating how Frodo & Gollum have this connection of mutual understanding, although they're at odds for the entirety of the story. I wonder if Gollum ever felt a shred of empathy towards Frodo, or if he no longer had the ability to feel that kind of emotion by this point.
"And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate. But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the world's youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. This was an evil choice. Which way should he choose? And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice?"
It's interesting to me that Frodo still finds it difficult to make decisions without outside pressure (like Boromir trying to take the Ring from him) or counsel (as such that Gandalf provided). And yet he's already made the biggest decision of all- to embark on a life- and mind-threatening quest that even some of the most powerful people in the world refuse to take on. I also find it interesting that the narration uses Boromir's/the Men's word- "halfling"- to refer to Frodo, in a way that makes it sound like this is how Frodo thinks of himself (even though the hobbits tend to just call themselves hobbits). I don't really have any further thoughts on that... I just feel really bad for Frodo.
"'Were there any oliphaunts?' asked Sam, forgetting his fear in his eagerness for news of strange places."
That's... really random, Sam. Also not really the right time to recite a poem...
"Frodo stood up. He had laughed in the midst of all his cares when Sam trotted out the old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt, and the laugh had released him from hesitation."
Ohhh, wait! I know this probably isn't the takeaway that Tolkien intended, but... Could it be that Sam brought up oliphaunts and recited the poem because he noticed that Frodo seemed downhearted and he wanted to cheer him up? And of course, it worked. <3 I LOVE these two, I tell ya! I love them!
"He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain, asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound. Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiseling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: 'I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no.'"
UMMMM??? I AM LOSING MY MIND ONCE AGAIN. Not only do I love these two, but- and I'll say it again- THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, AND SAM ACTUALLY SAID SO. This scene is just so beautiful, because it's so real. Have you ever been with someone- a best friend or maybe your partner- and even if they're doing something so mundane, you end up just looking at them with a stupid smile, overwhelmed with joy and love for them? I am so glad that Sam has this kind of love in his life and that he's able to appreciate it even in the darkest of days. I wish that kind of love on everyone. <3
"'What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?'
"'Po- ta- toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly...'"
Oh my god, I can't believe the "po- ta- toes" line is actually in the book :'D Although I wish it had included "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew." I've been saying that for YEARS to myself whenever someone brings up potatoes. (Also, damn, it makes me sad that Gollum doesn't even remember what potatoes are... Although he probably just doesn't recognize them being referred to as "taters.")
"'Nay! Not Elves [...] Elves fo not walk in Ithilien these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look on, or so 'tis said.'
"'Meaning we're not, I take you,' said Sam. 'Thank you kindly.'"
Oh my fucking god, the SNARK. I love you, Samwise Gamgee. (I also forgot to say it, but I love him even more after it was revealed in this chapter that not only does he share one of my hobbies- gardening- but he shares another one too- COOKING. A hobbit after my own heart, I swear.)
Alright, so I think it's time to end this post and save the rest of my blogging for another one (or another time). The ending of this book is a DOOZY so I want to cover it as thoroughly as I can and not make it an afterthought. See y'all in the next one!
Although it's not representative of what I think of as their relationship, I couldn't help but crack up when Frodo was getting annoyed at Sam in the beginning of "The Taming of Smeagol." Especially him calling Sam "you old ass." Which I suppose is no worse than what Sam's "Gaffer" calls him:
"You're nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee: that's what the Gaffer said to me often enough, it being a word of his."
I remember thinking at a few points in The Fellowship of the Ring that Sam was underrating and underestimating himself, and now I can see why. With a parent who regularly insults his intelligence, no wonder Sam doesn't think of himself as being very bright. :/
However, if there's one thing about Sam that he doesn't underestimate, it's his rope-tying skills, and I find it hilarious how offended he becomes when Frodo suspects the knot he tied in the rope to be the cause of the rope coming loose so easily. :'D
"Smeagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. 'Smeagol will swear on the Precious.'
"Frodo drew himself up, and again Sam was startled by his words and his stern voice. 'On the Precious? How dare you?' he said"
Oooof. Frodo knows EXACTLY how dangerous that swear is, since he's been carrying the "Precious" and is the one who's closest to it. I LOVE how clearly this scene shows the Ring's influence on Frodo, without having to make it overly explicit.
"For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog[...] Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.
"'Down! down!' said Frodo. 'Now speak your promise!'"
Ha, I always thought it was funny how Frodo speaks to Gollum like a dog in the movie ("Good Smeagol... Nice Smeagol..."), and here he's explicitly compared to a dog, and being told to get down like a dog who's jumping up on their owner. Shame Gollum is nowhere near as sweet and friendly as most dogs are, though. He's also CLEARLY overcompensating since he knows that Frodo & Sam don't fully trust him (well, Sam doesn't trust him at all), acting as subservient to Frodo as possible to keep him from suspecting him of anything. I think part of the reason why Sam dislikes this change in behavior so much is that he knows Gollum is trying to deceive them and is thinking "I wasn't born yesterday!" Which is another sign that he should really stop underestimating his own intelligence.
Now, I wasn't going to do any more blogging in photos because I was running out of space for it on DW, but this one scene was too long to transcribe so here's a photo of it:
...Oh damn, that photo is enormous. Too bad I have no sense of how to scale down images, so anyone reading this will just have to bear with me...Anyway. I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND. First of all, Frodo being kind to Sam and telling him not to be too hard on himself or "think of any of your Gaffer's hard names" is just so sweet. It shows how, although Sam is Frodo's servant and therefore in a class below Frodo, the relationship that he and Frodo have is founded on mutual respect and care, as if they are equals (or as if Frodo considers himself and Sam to be equals). Secondly, "my dearest hobbit?!" "Friend of friends?!" I remarked on it before in Fellowship during the scene where Frodo wakes up in Rivendell after being stabbed, but there is nothing one-sided about Sam's devotion. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. And finally... I'm glad Sam didn't kiss Frodo's hand because that would have been too much for me to take. Oh, I love these two...
"'What is it?' growled Sam, misinterpreting the signs. 'What's the need to sniff? The stink nearly knocks me down with my nose held. You stink, and master stinks; the whole place stinks.'
"'Yes, yes, and Sam stinks!' answered Gollum."
BWAHAHAHA. Gollum is such a child. "No, YOU stink!"
"Sam's mind was occupied mostly with his master, hardly noticing the dark cloud that had fallen on his own heart."
Uh... Sam, buddy, I know you're devoted to Frodo and all, and ensuring Frodo's safety/health takes top priority because of the mission he's on... But please, take care of yourself, man. (Not that they can really practice self-care in such a depressing environment, though, as we'll soon see when we keep reading...) I'm also pretty captivated by the description of the Ring feeling heavier around Frodo's neck as he gets further into Mordor. Carrying the Ring was never easy, but it's clearly becoming more and more of a burden, as if the Ring WANTS to destroy its bearer.
Reading the description of the land beyond the Dead Marshes really blew me away with how vividly the sickness and desolation were depicted. When Sam said "I feel sick," I was right there with him. I felt like every ounce of hope I had had been sucked out of me. So I can only imagine how the characters felt at this moment. Almost as if they, and I, were seeing something that no mortal should ever have been allowed to see. I haven't praised the writing itself often enough when reading these volumes, but scenes like this really make me reflect on how great a writer Tolkien was.
"'See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? THE Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea! Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!'"
...Wow, all this time I've been blathering some nonsense about how Gollum is addicted to the Ring because it makes him feel loved, and now I see that all it's been feeding him is the desire to catch fish all day and eat them without being bothered. :P I'm sorry, I just think it's really funny that Gollum wants the Ring so badly and this is the best he can come up with for why he wants it. But it's also a bit sad, now that I'm thinking about it... or maybe pitiful is a better word for it. With the One Ring, Gollum could have so much power at his fingertips, and all he wants to do with it is catch and eat fish, because that's the only life he's known for 500 years. Throughout this volume, I often wondered if Gollum could have been rehabilitated and recovered from his exposure to the Ring, but I think this bit shows that he's too far gone for that.
So... I have to say, as much as I love Sam (and as truly difficult it is for me to think of a moment in Book 4 where this exchange could have taken place), I was genuinely surprised and a bit disappointed that he never tried to tell Frodo what he had heard Gollum debating with himself about. Because his suspicions were correct- Gollum was plotting something against Frodo, and even if Sam couldn't figure out all the details, he surely had heard enough to recognize that Gollum wanted to get rid of both Frodo and Sam. If I were in Sam's shoes, I would have tried to get Frodo alone at the first opportunity I could, and then tell him what I had overheard. And I know they didn't have many opportunities to be alone together... but that's NOT MANY, not NONE. Seeing how protective Sam is over Frodo, I feel like it would have made sense for him to have spoken to Frodo about Gollum. But, well, then we wouldn't have the drama of the end of Book 4... I also have to say that to me, Gollum's entire behavior/demeanor after they reach the Gates SCREAMS "untrustworthy"- it seems to obvious that he's putting on a show for Frodo- but then again, there really wasn't any other way for them to have entered Mordor save storming the Gates, and although I sympathize with Frodo in wanting to get the task over and done with as quickly as possible, I certainly don't think that would have been a wise decision.
"'I did not mean the danger that we all share,' said Frodo. 'I mean a danger to yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that! It will hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Smeagol you said. Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end.'"
Okay... So when I had watched the movies recently, my main thought regarding Gollum was: "Why didn't they just kill him?" And I accepted that Frodo & Sam needed a guide to Mordor, but I didn't see how either of them could put up with someone so obviously evil who intended to do them harm (in the book even more so, because Frodo never falls under Gollum's sway like he does in the movies). The only explanation seemed to be that Frodo didn't feel he had a right to decide whether Gollum deserved to live or die- which I understood- and also that he pitied him... Which I didn't understand. Sure, I did admit to pitying Gollum just a few paragraphs ago... But I didn't really see why Frodo would have felt the same way. Until I read this part. I now see that the nature of Frodo's pity for Gollum isn't exactly "I can't possibly kill this poor, wretched creature," but more like... empathy. When Frodo speaks about the "Precious" and how it will warp Gollum's desires, he's speaking from experience. He hasn't tried to use it, but he knows from fighting the Ring's influence just what it's capable of doing, and how difficult it is to resist it. His words to Gollum here thus become so much more emotional for me to read. When Frodo warns Gollum not to let the desire for the Ring into his head, I don't think he's just telling him that because he knows it's a lost cause and Gollum will never get his "Precious" back. I think he's genuinely warning him because he doesn't want to see the Ring destroy him any more than it already has. Overall, I find it fascinating how Frodo & Gollum have this connection of mutual understanding, although they're at odds for the entirety of the story. I wonder if Gollum ever felt a shred of empathy towards Frodo, or if he no longer had the ability to feel that kind of emotion by this point.
"And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate. But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the world's youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. This was an evil choice. Which way should he choose? And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice?"
It's interesting to me that Frodo still finds it difficult to make decisions without outside pressure (like Boromir trying to take the Ring from him) or counsel (as such that Gandalf provided). And yet he's already made the biggest decision of all- to embark on a life- and mind-threatening quest that even some of the most powerful people in the world refuse to take on. I also find it interesting that the narration uses Boromir's/the Men's word- "halfling"- to refer to Frodo, in a way that makes it sound like this is how Frodo thinks of himself (even though the hobbits tend to just call themselves hobbits). I don't really have any further thoughts on that... I just feel really bad for Frodo.
"'Were there any oliphaunts?' asked Sam, forgetting his fear in his eagerness for news of strange places."
That's... really random, Sam. Also not really the right time to recite a poem...
"Frodo stood up. He had laughed in the midst of all his cares when Sam trotted out the old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt, and the laugh had released him from hesitation."
Ohhh, wait! I know this probably isn't the takeaway that Tolkien intended, but... Could it be that Sam brought up oliphaunts and recited the poem because he noticed that Frodo seemed downhearted and he wanted to cheer him up? And of course, it worked. <3 I LOVE these two, I tell ya! I love them!
"He was reminded suddenly of Frodo as he had lain, asleep in the house of Elrond, after his deadly wound. Then as he had kept watch Sam had noticed that at times a light seemed to be shining faintly within; but now the light was even clearer and stronger. Frodo's face was peaceful, the marks of fear and care had left it; but it looked old, old and beautiful, as if the chiseling of the shaping years was now revealed in many fine lines that had before been hidden, though the identity of the face was not changed. Not that Sam Gamgee put it that way to himself. He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: 'I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no.'"
UMMMM??? I AM LOSING MY MIND ONCE AGAIN. Not only do I love these two, but- and I'll say it again- THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, AND SAM ACTUALLY SAID SO. This scene is just so beautiful, because it's so real. Have you ever been with someone- a best friend or maybe your partner- and even if they're doing something so mundane, you end up just looking at them with a stupid smile, overwhelmed with joy and love for them? I am so glad that Sam has this kind of love in his life and that he's able to appreciate it even in the darkest of days. I wish that kind of love on everyone. <3
"'What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?'
"'Po- ta- toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly...'"
Oh my god, I can't believe the "po- ta- toes" line is actually in the book :'D Although I wish it had included "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew." I've been saying that for YEARS to myself whenever someone brings up potatoes. (Also, damn, it makes me sad that Gollum doesn't even remember what potatoes are... Although he probably just doesn't recognize them being referred to as "taters.")
"'Nay! Not Elves [...] Elves fo not walk in Ithilien these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look on, or so 'tis said.'
"'Meaning we're not, I take you,' said Sam. 'Thank you kindly.'"
Oh my fucking god, the SNARK. I love you, Samwise Gamgee. (I also forgot to say it, but I love him even more after it was revealed in this chapter that not only does he share one of my hobbies- gardening- but he shares another one too- COOKING. A hobbit after my own heart, I swear.)
Alright, so I think it's time to end this post and save the rest of my blogging for another one (or another time). The ending of this book is a DOOZY so I want to cover it as thoroughly as I can and not make it an afterthought. See y'all in the next one!
