Top 500 J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes (2024 Update)
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351. “A good vocabulary is not acquired by reading books written according to some notion of the vocabulary of one’s age group. It comes from reading books above one.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

352. “And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word of explanation?”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

353. “My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

354. “No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

355. “We are plain quiet folk, and I have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, and uncomfortable things.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

356. “But good luck to you – today and every day!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

357. “But the enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. And pawns are as likely to see as much of it as any. Sharpen your blade!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

358. “Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

359. “Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary, and dungeons for the overbold.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

360. “I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament...”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

361. “I give you this toast: To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

362. “The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

363. “But it is not for thy valour only that I send thee, but to bring into the world a hope beyond thy sight, and a light that shall pierce the darkness.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

364. “For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through the shadows.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

365. “The world was fair, the mountains tall In Elder Days before the fall...”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

366. “Orcs, and talking trees, and leagues of grass, and galloping riders, and glittering caves, and white towers and golden halls, and battles, and tall ships sailing, all these passed before Sam’s mind.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

367. “Lazy Lob and crazy Cob are weaving webs to wind me. I am far more sweet than other meat, but still they cannot find me! Here am I, naughty little fly; you are fat and lazy. You cannot trap me, though you try, in your cobwebs crazy.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

368. “And if Sam considered himself lucky, Frodo knew he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

369. “O! Tril-lil-lil-lolly the valley is jolly, ha! ha! -Elves of Rivendell.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

370. “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!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

371. “And he smote the Balrog upon the mountainside.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

372. “Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

373. “Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

374. “There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

375. “I fear that in my eagerness to persuade you, I lost patience. And indeed I regret it.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

376. “Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their gray coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

377. “And there was Frodo, pale and worn, and yet himself again; and in his eyes there was peace now, neither strain of will, nor madness, nor any fear. His burden was taken away.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

378. “Hail the victorious dead!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

379. “Few there were who could change his courses by counsel. None by force.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

380. “It was dark and dim all day. From the sunless dawn until evening the heavy shadow had deepened, and all hearts in the City were oppressed. Far above a great cloud streamed slowly westward from the Black Land, devouring light, borne upon a wind of war; but below the air was still and breathless, as if all the Vale of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous storm.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

381. “I’m going on an adventure.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

382. “Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zaram. Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

383. “Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, ‘a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.’ Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

384. “What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees Up, up it goes, And yet never grows? A mountain.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

385. “At last the time came for him to say good-bye to his friends. “Farewell, Balin!” he said; “and farewell, Dwalin; and farewell Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur! May your beards never grow thin!” And turning towards the Mountain he added: “Farewell Thorin Oakenshield! And Fili and Kili! May your memory never fade!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

386. “Shall we mourn here deedless forever a shadow-folk mist-haunting dropping vain tears in the thankless sea.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

387. “For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

388. “Sleep! I feel the need of it, as never I thought any dwarf could, riding is tiring work. Yet my axe is restless in my hand. Give me a row of orc-necks and room to swing and all weariness will fall from me!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

389. “Green are the leaves I leave in Mirkwood.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

390. “For behold! the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

391. “Behold your Music! This is your minstrelsy; and each of you shall find contained herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself devised or added. And thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt perceive that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

392. “Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

393. “Farewell! O Gandalf! May you ever appear where you are most needed and least expected!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

394. “Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

395. “Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.’ ‘Is it indeed?’ laughed Gildor. ‘Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

396. “You are a very fine person, Mr Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

397. “Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

398. “Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

399. “It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

400. “This only was wanting. Now comes the night.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien