(P.S. Fake pipe – I do not smoke. The intriguing expression is real though …)
Celebrating Tolkien and His Timeless Works
On the 25th of March, Year 3019 of the Third Age, the One Ring was destroyed in the depths of Mount Doom – bringing an end to the dominion of Sauron and the heralding the liberation of Middle-earth.
In our world, this day marks a worldwide celebration and appreciation of Tolkien and his works.
Celebrations usually take the form of Middle-earth reading marathons; with some even more reading marathons.
Pick your favourite passages and let the words flow within your mind, as you experience the magic of Tolkien.
I myself have just begun my 9th or 10th re-read of The Silmarillion; which will lead me on to re-experience The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien is a fantastic writer and master world builder.
To honour today’s celebration, here are three favourite passages of mine from his 3 distinct works.
Any fan who has read the stories of Middle-earth will realise how excellent Tolkien was at creating and describing drama and emotion on an epic scale…
The Silmarillion; Chapter 20, ‘Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad’
He’s also a pretty good comic…
The Hobbit; Chapter 8, ‘Flies and Spiders’
Not to mention his top-notch skills as a thriller writer…
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; Book I, Chapter 3, ‘Three is Company’
This day, Wednesday 25 March 2015 sees also the launch of the Tolkien Estate website. Go and have a look at what the new page has to offer.
In the meantime, the good people at Middle-earth News have been doing some fantastic coverage on this year’s Tolkien Reading Day, based on the theme of “Friendship”. Head over to the site (here) to check out some of their fantastic contributions.
There is even a dedicated hashtag on Twitter #TolkienReadingDay – so 
make sure you tweet your way through this day! Hurray! Okay …
Now it’s up to you to share with us any favourite passages you cherish and simply love re-reading; looking forward to getting to a particular page every time you pickup that crumbled copy of The Lord of the Rings, or any other book by the Professor.
In the meantime, Happy Reading!
A Tolkienist's Perspective 
I was beginning to think I was the only person in the blogosphere who remembered what today is. This made my day. Also, I love the passage you chose for The Hobbit. I just finished reading that part. The Sil is my favorite of his works by far. Love the pic, btw. I want a fake pipe now.
Thanks Toni! Fake pipes are cool, I must admit. And I agree that The Silmarillion has been contesting for 1st place (in my mind) for quite a long time. I just can’t decide … argh!
The first section there, from the Nirnaeth sends shivers down my spine whenever I read it. Such a sad chapter!
Cheers
Same here Steven. The chills, the chills!
I am ashamed to admit I didn’t realize today was That Day. Oops! So glad you reminded me. I’m putting it on my calendar so I don’t forget next year, and I mentioned it (and your post) on my blog just now too.
I have a leather bracelet that has three of my favorite lines of LOTR inscribed on it, so I’ll share those:
“I took the journey upon myself.” (Boromir)
“Go where you must go, and hope!” (Gandalf)
“One must tread the path that need chooses.” (Gandalf again)
Do not be ashamed hamlette; I almost forgot a few days before. Those are beautiful lines from your bracelet – thanks for sharing. They further show how much Tolkien was a master of words – in just a simple line, he packs a powerful punch. Brilliant stuff.
Reblogged this on Confessions of a Geek Queen.
I love how you shared your favorite passages! I didn’t think to take pictures of the actual pages. Happy belated Tolkien Reading Day
!
Happy belated Tolkien Reading Day to you too Kylie! 🙂
Enjoyed this post 🙂 Loved the 3 passages you quoted. I also gave my memorable 3 LOTR quotations here: https://earthandoak.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/discussing-3-memorable-quotations-from-j-r-r-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/ would be interested in your thoughts!
Thank you so much earthoak! Glad you like the post. Thanks for sharing with us your posts. Fantastic choices I must say – especially the FOTR quote. There’s so many passages to choose from 😀
Thanks so much for the kind feedback! 🙂
I’ve read “the hobbit”…I want to read more Tolkien books… my favorite part in the book in the the very first passage of the book because I was literally thrilled and excited for knowing Bilbo’s journey- “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit……., and that means comfort.”
Hey Shree! There’s much more to read from Tolkien. If you love The Hobbit, you’ll definitely love his other works. Your choice of the opening sentence is also one of my favourites. A classic line in English Literature 🙂
I think my favourite passage goes back to the first time I read LOTR. It gave a window into a mysterious and wondrous past and I was hooked. The music of pipes unseen as a man running from danger enters deep into strange woods to see a sight in a green glade surrounded by hemlock as he becomes dazzled by a singling and dancing nightingale! He rushes forward calling out her name and she is gone!
I shall correct myself – it was only when she returned did he call out her name. Yes, he was a great writer weaving the epic into the everyday and opening up a whole new world in our imaginations. There is not only depth in his writing skills but also a cosmic-sized depth in the stories he left us.