LOTR Read-A-Long; Return of the King Section 3

 I just cannot believe that this the end of Lord of the Rings. I just cannot believe that I WAITED this long in the live the finally read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I will say this  experience was so much better reading with friends like you. I am sure that I will never see any of you face to face, but I do consider you friends. I was about to talk to you about my thoughts and everything in between.


 I just could not believe how much Middle Earth changed throughout the war. It was nothing that the hobbits remembered when they left The Shire.

As always, leave your link in the comments.
Do you twitter then use the hash tag #LOTRreadalong .If you would like the discuss more about this section.

What Other Bloggers Thought:
All Booked Up
Little Red Reviewer 
Blue Fairy Bookshelf

The Section Questions:

What do you think Gandalf was going to speak with Tom Bombadil about?
I for one am not that sure at all. Well maybe it is in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil . It maybe worth a looking into and seeing if we could find out what Gandalf is really up to with Tom. Who really knows what that Gandalf character is up to anyways..:)

What did you think of the two weddings? Do you think Eowyn will eventually find happiness with Faramir?

Ahhh...I am not that sure what to really think of two weddings. I was wondering what was Sam going to do in the end.He could not live with Mr. Frodo forever...could he. I do hope that everyone find happiness in their marriages and everything is so much more than they expect it to be for each partner.

What did you think of their meeting with Saruman on the road home?  I was half expecting someone to just kill Saruman.





I thought that it was funny that he was a peasant and such. I did not believe that this is was going to be the last that we saw of Saurman anyway. He is like the flu, he always pops up at the least opportune times. I just seemed that he needed to live to make the readers wonder what became of him. It would have been nice to have his head hewed off, but no such luck. It was a pretty tense encounter nonetheless.

Holy Cow I was not expecting the scouring of the shire.  If this is your first time reading, were you surprised? And if this isn't your first time reading, does the shock get a little easier to swallow on re-read?



I could not believe what I was seeing in The Shire. The hobbits surely did not think that this was the right place. If I were them my thoughts would have been "Am I in an alternate universe.' I was shocked to see what happened to the Shire in this chapter. Seeing the kind of destruction that took place while the Hobbits were absent would be a tough pill to swallow.
I am glad that did lead the revolt in taking and cleaning the Shire back the way that it was when they left so long ago.

What did you think of the very end, of the departure of the Havens?



To me this part is sad throughout this chapter. With the quest complete and everything is back to normal. How do you live your life now knowing that you saved Middle Earth. Sam wanted so badly wanted to come with, but he knew that he could not come along.

Characters are supposed to change and develop during a story, right?  Who changed more, Sam or Frodo?

For me it was Sam. He began the quest as an obedient follower to his Master Frodo. Throughout the journey he became so much more decisive and was the Ring bearer for a time. In the end it seemed that he much more happier and was leading more of a life than being a servant.


Come and join us in the reading of  The Children of Hurin during the month of December. Posts won’t be as formal as these, but Little Red Reviewer  and Stainless Steel Droppings and I look forward to your comments!

LOTR Read-A-Long: The Return of the King Section 1

Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising
I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!

Welcome back to the quest through Middle Earth everybody. I hope that everyone is enjoying the journey as much as I am in The Return of the King. This week it was my task to figure out some question for the group to answer. You can add other thoughts as well.
In this section, it filled with plenty of actions in the first 6 chapters that was for certain. In this section, there was preparing for the imminent Battle that was about to take place in Minas Tirith. The gathering of other all the other people(nations) in one place to take on the Orc and other of Saurman’s evil army.
There were plenty of surprises in the section as well. Finding out that Both Eowyn and Merry snuck in to fight for the People of Rohan. I liked this part that you cannot deny for fighting for what I believe in.
on twitter? use #LOTRreadalong
Link your post in the comments, or tweet it to me.  Once again, thank you for joining us on our journey to Middle Earth!
What Other Bloggers Thought:
 Little Red Reviewer
Blue Fairy’s Bookshelf 
Lynn's Books 
Polishing Mud Balls
Book Den

1.With the company that went with Aragorn through the Paths of Death. Would you have volunteered knowing it may be curse and ghosts haunting the paths?
 I think that I would have volunteered to go with Aragon to the Path of Dead. It was a quite difficult task for the Company of Rangers to start out with.They find the lost army of the undead oathbreakers who dwell in the Paths of the Dead, a mountain hall where they have been enslaved since their treachery ages ago.
i would have like to be a part of something like that with the Company of Rangers. Aragon used the oathbreakers of ultimately defeat the Corsairs of Umbar. It makes me smile thinking of the way that the Company of Rangers and Oathbreakers came into the battle at the right moment.                   

2.What were your thoughts of Merry and Pippin in the preparation to the Battle of Gondor. It seemed that each ruler just thought that each hobbit could not be a contribution to the battle.  
I felt that each hobbit were mot being treated as solider, but as a child in which their physical appearance resembles. If I were either one of them I would have been ticked that the Lord or King of either people not really allowing them fight in a battle that Pippin and Merry wanted to be a part of hands down.
In the end both Pippin and Merry were involved in the way even if their services were no longer required by Rohan or Gondor. I would have fought tooth and nail to be a apart of this battle as all the other able men were as well.        
3.Did you think that the preparations to the Battle sparked your interest and  all or did you find that the flow was bogged down a bit?
I did think at times that it got a little long with the descriptions and the parts that were lulled. Tolkien did shows that a great battle does not just take place over night. Their is a strategy in the planning and attempt to take down the enemy that is trying to overtake your place. Tolkien also shows his experience from the World War I once again.
i thought that it was great that Tolkien implemented his war experiences into this epic tale of good vs evil. Like the Allied Powers vs the Central Powers. I do think that after this read along I am going to do some real life war reads.

4. I thought that it was great that both Eowyn and Merry made it to the Battlefield. Yet against orders of the King and made a huge contributions. What did you think both of them doing this and would you have done this if it was you?I thought that it took a lot of guts from both of them. Merry did not think that he was riding into battle with Eowyn in the first place. Merry thought that he was riding to battle Dernhelm.Merry did find out there was a reason that Dernhelm did not chat to much on their 4 day horse ride to Minas Tirith.
The Witch-King was taken down by Éowyn and, with help from Merry. Both were hurt pretty bad in the combat against the Witch-King.
I am not that sure if I would have committed  insubordination against my King or father. It is pretty hard to say what i would have done. Well…it would have depended upon what my thoughts would have been on the situation.
5. What do you think of Denethor's rash decision to send Faramir to hold Western Osgiliath against the hosts of the Enemy that outnumbered their own greatly?
I think that Denethor has lost all reason after the loss of his son Boromir. For crying out loud he sent his remaining heir on a suicide mission, in which was hopeless to come out victorious. I feel that Denethor should be relieved of his duties considering that he is not think straight right now. He is morning the loss Boromir his favorite child.
This book was perfect start with the same kind of action that we left off with the Fellowship. It may be separated. This journey is enthralling and action packed throughout the first 1/3 of The Return of the King.