17 Passages From "Lord Of The Rings" Beautifully Recreated In Stained Glass
This is art fit for the halls of Rivendell. Artist Jian Guo uses digital art to mimic the artistry of old world stained glass and results speak for themselves.posted on
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in 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.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
In a great hall with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of carven wood. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for the autumn was come again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a carven staff of oak
“Of course, it is likely enough, my friends,” he said slowly, “likely enough that we are going to our doom: the last march of the Ents. But if we stayed home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later. That thought has long been growing in our hearts; and that is why we are marching now. It was not a hasty resolve. Now at least the last march of the Ents may be worth a song.”
Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed)—Gandalf came by.
But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness.
The first to come was one of noble mien and bearing, with raven hair, and a fair voice, and he was clad in white; great skill he had in works of hand, and he was regarded by well-nigh all, even by the Eldar, as the head of the Order. Others there were also: two clad in sea-blue, and one in earthen brown; and the last came one who seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff.
Via “The Book Of Unfinished Tales” by J.R.R. Tolkien
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!”
On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Fair lady!” said Frodo again after a while. “Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?”
“He is,” said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked at her questioningly. “He is, as you have seen him,” she said in answer to his look. “He is the Master of wood, water, and hill.”
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
To the sea, to the sea! The white gulls are crying, The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying. West, west away, the round sun is falling, Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling, The voices of my people that have gone before me? I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me; For our days are ending and our years failing. I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing. Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling, Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling, In Eressea, in Elvenhome that no man can discover, Where the leaves fall not: land of my people forever!
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.
The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.
“You cannot pass,” he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.”
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Then she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and Celeborn also was gone, and the land was silent.
There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had not yet come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.
Via Appendices to “The Lord Of The Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.” There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight became blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT.” He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. “I regret to announce that – though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you – this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!”
He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Artwork for the Lego Lake-town chase set has been around for a while.
The set, which has just five mini-figs — Bard the Bowman, Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, a Lake-town Guard and the Master of Lake-town — also features several Lake-town buildings, and a boat. I’d forgotten about it entirely until Ringer Sander recently reminded me of the existence of the Lake-town Chase set. Looking over the artwork again, I got thinking about the significance of that boat and exactly what this Lake-town chase might be, and its relation to what we saw in the trailer itself. So, from here on in, we’ll be talking about movie spoilers!
Who’s doing the chasing?
The question uppermost in my mind is, if it’s a chase, then who is doing the chasing? Somewhat stupidly, when the set was announced I assumed it would be orcs and they simply weren’t included so as to not give away a plot twist.
Upon seeing the trailer, I realised what should have clicked in the first place — the dwarves (represented by Thorin in the Lego set), Bilbo and Bard must surely be fleeing the Lake-town guard and the Master of Lake-town. Although there does seem to be an orc invasion of Lake-town (Legolas battles an orc or two in the trailer), this cannot be what the Lego set is based around.
Now, the design and structure of the boat that weaves through small ice floes and the granite columns of some ancient ruin in the trailer is undeniably the same as that of the Lego version. I think putting the two together, we just might be able to conclude that, this scene in the trailer is the Company is fleeing Lake-town. More, Dwalin’s line, “How do we know he won’t betray us?” must refer to their temporary ally Bard… and that Bard has just assisted their escape from Lake-town, and the clutches of the Master of Lake-town.
The character of Bard
But why has Bard allied with the Company?
After all, Bard will have already proven a strident opponent of the Company’s goals. In the trailers he states: “You will awake that beast and destroy us all.” At a different point he says “You have no right to enter that mountain.” to Thorin, a fact the dwarf fiercely disputes. And he also declaims, possibly to a crowd of people: “Fire and ruin. That is what you will bring upon us. He cannot see beyond his own desires!”.
Although Bard, it must be said is not the most optimistic of sorts, he does seem to be quite the Orator. And he is certainly not in favour of what Thorin Oakenshield plans.
The source of Bard’s about-face?
Yet something — the so-called Robin Hood qualities that he supposedly exhibits, perhaps? — must prompt him to align himself at least temporarily with the Company.
As many others have observed in various comment threads here on TORn, the Elven-king’s line “I offer you my help” might be directed at one of the minions of the Master of Lake-town and not Thorin, nor the other dwarves. It could be that — if this is some pact with the Master of Lake-town that Bard gets wind of (via Tauriel, maybe?), that could provide the impetus for a change of heart.
If that all sounds a bit far-fetched, recall that Peter Jackson earlier this year talked about enjoying the opportunity to film invented material. This involved, I am pretty sure, Bard and Lake-town (I am paraphrasing badly because I cannot find the original quote again). It’s also worth remembering that Jackson’s key characters in Middle-earth tend to have an arc of development.
In his adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, this is probably most prominent with Aragorn, of course. But it also occurs fairly dramatically with Faramir and to some extent, Elrond. Perhaps Bard will prove to be the Faramir of The Hobbit.
Anyway, if I’m correct, some dramatic event will occur to influence the thoughts of Bard.
Other consequences of this scenario? Well, I think it means that the Company won’t be using ponies to get to Lonely Mountain. Well, not apart from good old Shank’s Pony. It’s a minor detail that will irk some, but on the other hand, do the studio suits really want to frighten kiddies seeing Smaug roasting 14 ponies for brunch?
There is one nagging issue, of course, that I can’t entirely work out.
That second boat.
It’s certainly not the same boat. What is it doing there? The easy conclusion is that it must be bearing the Company to the mountain. But is it? Does it actually contain the Company? It’s hard to tell, but a large, reddish figure could be Bombur.
But, looking closely, it does seem to me that the boat is being rowed away from the mountain, not towards it. But don’t just take my word for it, have a look for yourself.