#silmread

LOTR CHAPTERS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Chapter Seventeen: Homeward Bound

Only two chapters left, but this one’s no shorter or calmer for it! There’s still one battle to go, and if you’ve only known the movie versions until now, this one will come as quite a shock. Try to read these 30ish pages by the 31st.

such a great final chapter! starting right off with Sam’s pretty epic fight with Shelob. I love how it’s written like it’s the stuff of legend, I mean, he deserves that :) and it is the most impressive feat we’ve seen so far imo, right next to Frodo carrying the Ring for this long, I’d say. speaking of, thinking that Frodo is dead, Sam takes it and pretty much immediately puts it on to avoid the Orcs. I was sort of hoping he’d take it off before long, though D: but I guess since he hasn’t been “attuned” to it it’s not that dangerous yet. then again, they are right under Sauron’s nose basically..

as to the title of the chapter, and Sam’s struggle and not feeling worthy, ugh I feel this. but I also loved the voices in his head - which I pretty much read as Gandalf, Elrond, Aragorn, Frodo, basically anyone in the fellowship - telling him he is worthy. that was good. 

@zathuraroy5 kinda prompted me with my rendition of Goldberry, Tom Bombadil’s wife, and I kept thinking of the description Frodo gave her, “Slender as a willow-wand” and obviously, I was inspired by @ewebean‘s AOAA piece! it’s too gorgeous, it stuck forever in my mind, and it’ll be forever my headcanon for them tbh... but while reading that bit again, I also thought she could be our lovely trans river daughter ´w`

Erestor: Send the Ring to Tom Bombadil

Now, admittedly, I’m a tiny bit completely and utterly biased about Erestor, since he’s my absolute favourite, but this was a pretty good idea. I mean, no one else had offered anything useful yet. Someone’s gotta go first and Bombadil sounds pretty powerful if “within those bounds nothing seems to dismay him.” On the other hand, as Gandalf says, probably not understand and throw the ring away.

8/10, good attempt, I’m proud.

Glorfindel: Throw it in, or send it over, the Sea.

For an ancient lord of Gondolin, Glorfindel doesn’t offer much new right now. Throwing things in the sea is an age old tactic, true, but the Ring survived being lost for thousands of years. Unlike other ancient artifacts, this thing is almost sentient. The Sea isn’t going to help. Your friends across the water sent YOU over to help. 

6/10, I expected better but you tried.

Elrond: CAST IT INTO THE FIRE

As good as it might sound, this is a ridiculous plan. How are you going to get the Ring all the to Mordor? Walk? Are you going to walk all that bloody way, Elrond? No. You’d have to be exceptionally lucky to get into Mordor at all, let alone all the way up to Mount Doom alive - Sauron would have to be distracted by an attacking army or something. You should have pushed Isildur in. But to be fair, out of all of them, this is only one that offered an actual end to the Ring. I’d take my chances.