"the Shadow was only a small and passing thing"

[eldritchhobbit]

Best wishes and great happiness to gondoriangirl, who has her Hobbit "Coming of Age" birthday today. Happy birthday, and may the hairs on your toes never grow less!


In other news, my review of Star Wars, Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith is now available at Pop Thought.


Now, in honor of gondoriangirl, one of my favorite quotes from The Lord of the Rings, a passage that speaks to the very soul of -- what else? -- a Hobbit:

"The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep."

-from The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Comments

[maidoforange.livejournal.com]

Great review, EH! I have a similar relationship to you with SW. I remember standing in quite a line with my father and brother to see ROTJ back in the day. You express it FAR more intelligently that I could. I can but salivate over Ewan McGregor and his portrayal of Obi-Wan.

Happy Birthday to GG. Great quote for her.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

(((MoO)))! Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words. I know exactly what you mean, by the way - I remember standing in line with my father waiting for the original trilogy films. A New Hope was the first non-Disney film I saw in the theater!

I'm so glad you liked the quote. Three cheers for GG!

[gondoriangirl.livejournal.com]

(((((((((((((((Amy)))))))))))))))))) Thank you so much! That quote actually is very fitting because I, too, find solace amongst the stars.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

(((((((Katrina)))))))! I hope you had a fantastic day. I'm so glad you liked the quote! :)

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

Two things about your icon:

1) I read the text at PRECISELY 10am. :::snap:::
2) In the con suite they had LotR fortune cookies and mine said (something like) "you will have good fortune when you are NOT named in your uncle Bilbo's will."

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

1) I read the text at PRECISELY 10am. :::snap:::

LOL! I know we're often on the same wavelength, but that's a bit scary! ;)

2) In the con suite they had LotR fortune cookies and mine said (something like) "you will have good fortune when you are NOT named in your uncle Bilbo's will."

How funny! And what a great idea. I hope you're having a fantastic time!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Excellent choice of quote - such a fabulous passage.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like it! It's one of those that really sticks with me.

[serpentcoils.livejournal.com]

you certainly got everything right in your review. X) just the way i felt! and samwise! oh, so sweet. *hugs you and sam*

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad you liked the review - that means a lot, coming from you! *hugs you back (and Grievous, too!)*

[estellye.livejournal.com]

Your review matched up pretty much exactly to how I have been feeling about the whole thing. The Force is still with us after all these years, despite the somewhat careless treatment it has received. It lives beyond George Lucas and there is only so much harm he can do to it. Anyway, we all know his heart is in the right place. This is the story that has lived inside him for the majority of his life. The fact that it has taken up residence in the rest of us is a testament to its overall worthiness.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Beautifully put! I couldn't agree more.

The fact that it has taken up residence in the rest of us is a testament to its overall worthiness.

Oh, well said! I owe great thanks to Lucas for bringing this to the screen, but as you imply, it's even bigger than he is. And now that he's introduced his story, it won't end even though new films may not be produced. Your post is most inspiring - thank you so much!

Hello

[faramirgirl.livejournal.com]

I had enjoyed your review on Star Wars. I had tears in my eyes in a few spots also. I have only seen the movies and not read the books, so I don't know as much as you do about it. But I thought the betrayal of the army was very good. How they were all fighting for the same thing and then they started to kill all the jedi's. I had also like the part where Anakin was stuggling with himself, to kill the jedi or the sith. To me it was Anakin greed to always wanting more that detoryed him. And what made me made was the fact that he was about to became a father and was able to kill children. Another thing that got to me is that Pamde gave up hope because of Anakin and not even the twins gave her a reason to live. I just wanted to hug Yodo when he had said that he failed. But over all I really did like the movie, for me it filled in parts for me. I guess that I really need to read the books.

Re: Hello

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your kind reply! You made so many good points, and picked out places in the film that really moved me, too (especially poor Yoda saying he had failed!).

he was about to became a father and was able to kill children

Good point! Just the killing alone was awful, but what it meant to show him so excited about his own children, and then capable of doing that... great point! I hadn't thought about it exactly that way, but you're quite right.

I'm glad that, overall, you liked the movie too. It's hard to think that there won't be any more Star Wars films!