I still gave this one five stars, because the majority of the novel is incredible. Aragorn fulfills his destiny, Merry and Pippen both have incredible final arcs, and the action is all generally amazing.

There is a section of this book though that is a slight slog – spoiler alert – Frodo and Sam are tired, hungry, thirsty, and have a long hike through Mordor. While they do get waylaid at least once, much of this section is just being tired, hungry, thirsty, and hiking.

I’ll also note that the final scene of the ring’s existence happens very quickly after the very long build-up. As in, we’ve got 30 pages of hiking, then all of a sudden, the ring is destroyed within 1-2 pages.

With all that being said, it’s still a five star novel. Even if I’m sounding like a grouch, I enjoyed every page.

The ending with the Scouring of the Shire is great, and I wished that this was included in the films.

Highlights

‘On, Shadowfax! We must hasten. Time is short. See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 1 | Location 119-120  2024-02-12 23:02:25



‘Be careful of your words, Master Peregrin! This is no time for hobbit pertness. Théoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and subtle, a man of far greater lineage and power, though he is not called a king.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 4 | Location 234-235  2024-02-12 23:12:03



‘If you have walked all these days with closed ears and mind asleep, wake up now!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 5 | Location 246-246  2024-02-12 23:12:49



The old man laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Denethor: ‘Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 6 | Location 293-297  2024-02-12 23:16:39



did not hinder it, for generous deed should not be checked by cold counsel.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 8 | Location 360-361  2024-02-12 23:22:22



‘Aragorn?’ said Beregond. ‘Who is he?’ ‘Oh,’ stammered Pippin, ‘he was a man who went about with us. I think he is in Rohan now.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 8 | Location 387-388  2024-02-13 22:39:41



The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 15 | Location 625-625  2024-02-14 23:03:10



‘Halbarad Dúnadan, Ranger of the North I am,’ cried the man. ‘We seek one Aragorn son of Arathorn, and we heard that he was in Rohan.’ ‘And you have found him also!’ cried Aragorn
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 16 | Location 659-661  2024-02-14 23:05:53



‘I bring word to you from my father: The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 16 | Location 673-674  2024-02-14 23:06:51



‘It is a gift that I bring you from the Lady of Rivendell,’ answered Halbarad. ‘She wrought it in secret, and long was the making. But she also sends word to you: The days now are short. Either our hope cometh, or all hope’s end. Therefore I send thee what I have made for thee. Fare well, Elfstone!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 16 | Location 678-681  2024-02-14 23:07:34



‘Rise now, Meriadoc, esquire of Rohan of the household of Meduseld!’ he said. ‘Take your sword and bear it unto good fortune!’ ‘As a father you shall be to me,’ said Merry. ‘For a little while,’ said Théoden.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 18 | Location 725-728  2024-02-15 23:19:56



‘Then, by your leave, lord, I must take new counsel for myself and my kindred. We must ride our own road, and no longer in secret. For me the time of stealth has passed. I will ride east by the swiftest way, and I will take the Paths of the Dead.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 19 | Location 750-752  2024-02-15 23:22:33



Who shall call them from the grey twilight, the forgotten people? The heir of him to whom the oath they swore.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 20 | Location 805-808  2024-02-15 23:26:34



‘What do you fear, lady?’ he asked. ‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 22 | Location 873-875  2024-02-15 23:31:49



And there stood Gimli the Dwarf left all alone. His knees shook, and he was wroth with himself. ‘Here is a thing unheard of!’ he said. ‘An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!’ With that he plunged in.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 23 | Location 912-914  2024-02-16 22:52:21



‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 24 | Location 947-948  2024-02-16 22:55:35



They have all gone to some doom: Gandalf and Pippin to war in the East; and Sam and Frodo to Mordor; and Strider and Legolas and Gimli to the Paths of the Dead. But my turn will come soon enough, I suppose.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 28 | Location 1097-1098  2024-02-18 22:56:41



For say to Denethor that in this hour the King of the Mark himself will come down to the land of Gondor, though maybe he will not ride back.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 30 | Location 1168-1169  2024-02-18 23:02:31



The king turned to Merry. ‘I am going to war, Master Meriadoc,’ he said. ‘In a little while I shall take the road. I release you from my service, but not from my friendship.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 31 | Location 1202-1203  2024-02-18 23:05:34



‘You wish to go whither the Lord of the Mark goes: I see it in your face.’ ‘I do,’ said Merry. ‘Then you shall go with me,’ said the Rider.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 32 | Location 1263-1265  2024-02-18 23:09:35



‘Do you wish then,’ said Faramir, ‘that our places had been exchanged?’ ‘Yes, I wish that indeed,’ said Denethor. ‘For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 37 | Location 1423-1425  2024-02-19 22:38:16



And in his arms before him on his horse he bore the body of his kinsman, Faramir son of Denethor, found upon the stricken field.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 41 | Location 1587-1588  2024-02-19 22:51:07



For yet another weapon, swifter than hunger, the Lord of the Dark Tower had: dread and despair.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 43 | Location 1632-1633  2024-02-20 23:13:01



So it was that Gandalf took command of the last defence of the City of Gondor.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 43 | Location 1651-1652  2024-02-20 23:14:59



‘Farewell, Peregrin son of Paladin! Your service has been short, and now it is drawing to an end. I release you from the little that remains. Go now, and die in what way seems best to you.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 44 | Location 1674-1676  2024-02-20 23:17:29



Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 46 | Location 1733-1737  2024-02-21 23:09:21



Grond crawled on.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 46 | Location 1741-1742  2024-02-21 23:09:51



‘Old fool!’ he said. ‘Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!’ And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 46 | Location 1757-1759  2024-02-21 23:12:05



Rohan had come at last.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 46 | Location 1762-1762  2024-02-21 23:12:26



‘Kill gorgûn! Kill orc-folk! No other words please Wild Men,’ answered Ghân. ‘Drive away bad air and darkness with bright iron!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 49 | Location 1864-1865  2024-02-22 23:01:31



Ghân-buri-Ghân squatted down and touched the earth with his horny brow in token of farewell. Then he got up as if to depart. But suddenly he stood looking up like some startled woodland animal snuffling a strange air. A light came in his eyes. ‘Wind is changing!’ he cried, and with that, in a twinkling as it seemed, he and his fellows had vanished into the glooms, never to be seen by any Rider of Rohan again.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 49 | Location 1866-1869  2024-02-22 23:02:07



Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 51 | Location 1929-1933  2024-02-22 23:06:23



ground. ‘To me! To me!’ cried Théoden. ‘Up Eorlingas! Fear no darkness!’ But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 52 | Location 1966-1969  2024-02-22 23:09:23



A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.’ ‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’ Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. ‘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 Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 53 | Location 1987-1991  2024-02-22 23:10:52



Merry’s sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee. ‘Éowyn! Éowyn!’ cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang. Éowyn fell forward upon her fallen foe.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 53 | Location 2010-2013  2024-02-22 23:12:51



The old king smiled. ‘Grieve not! It is forgiven. Great heart will not be denied. Live now in blessedness; and when you sit in peace with your pipe, think of me! For never now shall I sit with you in Meduseld, as I promised, or listen to your herb-lore.’ He closed his eyes, and Merry bowed beside him. Presently he spoke again. ‘Where is Éomer? For my eyes darken, and I would see him ere I go. He must be king after me. And I would send word to Éowyn. She, she would not have me leave her, and now I shall not see her again, dearer than daughter.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 53 | Location 2023-2027  2024-02-22 23:14:44



‘Éowyn, Éowyn!’ he cried at last. ‘Éowyn, how come you here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death! Death take us all!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 54 | Location 2049-2050  2024-02-22 23:16:06



‘Men of Rohan!’ he cried. ‘Are there no leeches among you? She is hurt, to the death maybe, but I deem that she yet lives.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 55 | Location 2079-2080  2024-02-22 23:18:27



And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 56 | Location 2132-2134  2024-02-23 23:21:46



And in that hour the great Battle of the field of Gondor was over; and not one living foe was left within the circuit of the Rammas. All were slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the River. Few ever came eastward to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came only a tale from far off: a rumour of the wrath and terror of Gondor.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 57 | Location 2143-2146  2024-02-23 23:23:08



Then suddenly Denethor laughed. He stood up tall and proud again, and stepping swiftly back to the table he lifted from it the pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming to the doorway he drew aside the covering, and lo! he had between his hands a palantír.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 59 | Location 2242-2244  2024-02-23 23:29:47



Then Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there wreathed in fire and smoke he took up the staff of his steward-ship that lay at his feet and broke it on his knee. Casting the pieces into the blaze he bowed and laid himself on the table, clasping the palantír with both hands upon his breast. And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that Stone, unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other purpose, he saw only two aged hands withering in flame.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 60 | Location 2270-2273  2024-02-23 23:32:26



And then Denethor gave a great cry, and afterwards spoke no more, nor was ever again seen by mortal men.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 60 | Location 2275-2276  2024-02-23 23:32:40



‘Well, Merry! Thank goodness I have found you!’ He looked up and the mist before his eyes cleared a little. There was Pippin!
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 62 | Location 2339-2340  2024-02-24 23:15:58



For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 63 | Location 2382-2383  2024-02-24 23:20:12



come athelas! come athelas! Life to the dying In the king’s hand lying!
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 66 | Location 2475-2477  2024-02-25 23:16:15



It is best to love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 69 | Location 2583-2584  2024-02-26 22:47:20



‘Say not so!’ said Gimli. ‘There are countless things still to see in Middle-earth, and great works to do. But if all the fair folk take to the Havens, it will be a duller world for those who are doomed to stay.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 70 | Location 2642-2644  2024-02-26 22:51:51



And Aragorn spoke in a loud voice to the Dead Men, crying: ‘ “Hear now the words of the Heir of Isildur! Your oath is fulfilled. Go back and trouble not the valleys ever again! Depart and be at rest!”
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 72 | Location 2704-2706  2024-02-26 22:56:38



Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 73 | Location 2753-2755  2024-02-27 23:26:09



Then he drew Andúril and held it up glittering in the sun. ‘You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought,’ he said.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 75 | Location 2821-2822  2024-02-27 23:32:15



The two vast iron doors of the Black Gate under its frowning arch were fast closed. Upon the battlement nothing could be seen. All was silent but watchful.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 78 | Location 2911-2912  2024-02-28 23:09:21



When all was ordered, the Captains rode forth towards the Black Gate with a great guard of horsemen and the banner and heralds and trumpeters. There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn with the sons of Elrond, and Éomer of Rohan, and Imrahil; and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also, so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 78 | Location 2919-2922  2024-02-28 23:09:46



There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn with the sons of Elrond, and Éomer of Rohan, and Imrahil; and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also, so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness. They came within cry of the Morannon, and unfurled the banner, and blew upon their trumpets; and the heralds stood out and sent their voices up over the battlement of Mordor.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 78 | Location 2920-2923  2024-02-28 23:09:26



‘Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with me?’ he asked. ‘Or indeed with wit to understand me? Not thou at least!’ he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 79 | Location 2939-2940  2024-02-28 23:11:11



‘The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!’ For one moment more Pippin’s thought hovered. ‘Bilbo!’ it said. ‘But no! That came in his tale, long long ago. This is my tale, and it is ended now. Good-bye!’ And his thought fled far away and his eyes saw no more.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 81 | Location 3024-3027  2024-02-28 23:18:15



As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about his neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted upon the walls of Mordor.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 83 | Location 3107-3109  2024-02-28 23:23:15



‘Am I still dreaming?’ he muttered. ‘But the other dreams were horrible.’ ‘You’re not dreaming at all, Master,’ said Sam. ‘It’s real. It’s me. I’ve come.’ ‘I can hardly believe it,’ said Frodo, clutching him. ‘There was an orc with a whip, and then it turns into Sam!
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 88 | Location 3298-3301  2024-03-01 23:29:43



‘But I suppose you must take it back.’ Now it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it again.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 89 | Location 3328-3330  2024-03-01 23:31:54



Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Núrnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 96 | Location 3572-3574  2024-03-02 22:38:41



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.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 104 | Location 3852-3853  2024-03-04 23:10:18



‘Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to go, and he’ll go.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 105 | Location 3912-3914  2024-03-04 23:15:54



‘Wicked masster!’ it hissed. ‘Wicked masster cheats us; cheats Sméagol, gollum. He musstn’t go that way. He musstn’t hurt Preciouss. Give it to Sméagol, yess, give it to us! Give it to uss!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 107 | Location 3965-3967  2024-03-04 23:19:44



‘I have come,’ he said. ‘But I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!’ And suddenly, as he set it on his finger, he vanished from Sam’s sight.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 108 | Location 4014-4015  2024-03-04 23:23:10



Frodo gave a cry, and there he was, fallen upon his knees at the chasm’s edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held aloft the ring, a finger still thrust within its circle.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 109 | Location 4032-4033  2024-03-05 22:26:25



‘Precious, precious, precious!’ Gollum cried. ‘My Precious! O my Precious!’ And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek he fell. Out of the depths came his last wail Precious, and he was gone.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 109 | Location 4034-4036  2024-03-05 22:26:33



‘Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,’ said a voice by his side. 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.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 109 | Location 4047-4048  2024-03-05 22:28:36



‘But do you remember Gandalf’s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 109 | Location 4053-4055  2024-03-05 22:29:12



‘The realm of Sauron is ended!’ said Gandalf. ‘The Ring-bearer has fulfilled his Quest.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 110 | Location 4080-4080  2024-03-05 22:30:45



Do you think they’ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom?
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 111 | Location 4113-4114  2024-03-05 22:33:36



‘Then, Éowyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely, and so sorrowful
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 116 | Location 4318-4319  2024-03-06 23:21:12



Then Faramir stood up and spoke in a clear voice: ‘Men of Gondor, hear now the Steward of this Realm! Behold! one has come to claim the kingship again at last. Here is Aragorn son of Arathorn, chieftain of the Dúnedain of Arnor, Captain of the Host of the West, bearer of the Star of the North, wielder of the Sword Reforged, victorious in battle, whose hands bring healing, the Elfstone, Elessar of the line of Valandil, Isildur’s son, Elendil’s son of Númenor. Shall he be king and enter into the City and dwell there?’ And all the host and all the people cried yea with one voice.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 120 | Location 4450-4455  2024-03-07 23:39:40



‘Men of Gondor, the loremasters tell that it was the custom of old that the king should receive the crown from his father ere he died; or if that might not be, that he should go alone and take it from the hands of his father in the tomb where he was laid. But since things must now be done otherwise, using the authority of the Steward, I have today brought hither from Rath Dínen the crown of Eärnur the last king, whose days passed in the time of our longfathers of old.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 120 | Location 4457-4460  2024-03-07 23:40:14



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!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 121 | Location 4470-4473  2024-03-07 23:41:40



And Aragorn gave to Faramir Ithilien to be his princedom, and bade him dwell in the hills of Emyn Arnen within sight of the City.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 121 | Location 4497-4498  2024-03-07 23:44:26



And Gandalf said: ‘This is your realm, and the heart of the greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 122 | Location 4531-4535  2024-03-07 23:48:11



Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered the sceptre, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky. And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undómiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfilment.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 123 | Location 4569-4571  2024-03-07 23:51:13



But the Queen Arwen said: ‘A gift I will give you. For I am the daughter of Elrond. I shall not go with him now when he departs to the Havens; for mine is the choice of Lúthien, and as she so have I chosen, both the sweet and the bitter. But in my stead you shall go, Ring-bearer, when the time comes, and if you then desire it.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 124 | Location 4589-4591  2024-03-07 23:52:53



But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: ‘Théoden King, Théoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me, for a little while. Farewell!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 125 | Location 4634-4636  2024-03-07 23:56:00



Faramir, Steward of Gondor, and Prince of Ithilien, asks that Éowyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants it full willing. Therefore they shall be trothplighted before you all.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 125 | Location 4647-4649  2024-03-07 23:57:31



Then Éowyn gave to Merry an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 126 | Location 4662-4664  2024-03-07 23:58:51



Then Legolas repaid his promise to Gimli and went with him to the Glittering Caves; and when they returned he was silent, and would say only that Gimli alone could find fit words to speak of them. ‘And never before has a Dwarf claimed a victory over an Elf in a contest of words,’ said he. ‘Now therefore let us go to Fangorn and set the score right!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 126 | Location 4669-4672  2024-03-07 23:59:38



Treebeard’s face became sad. ‘Forests may grow,’ he said. ‘Woods may spread. But not Ents. There are no Entings.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 127 | Location 4717-4718  2024-03-08 00:03:40



‘Here then at last comes the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring,’ said Aragorn. ‘Yet I hope that ere long you will return to my land with the help that you promised.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 128 | Location 4725-4726  2024-03-08 00:04:19



‘If it be truly the last, I am glad,’ said Saruman; ‘for I shall be spared the trouble of refusing it again. All my hopes are ruined, but I would not share yours. If you have any.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 129 | Location 4772-4773  2024-03-08 22:48:48



Which reminds me: what’s become of my ring, Frodo, that you took away?’ ‘I have lost it, Bilbo dear,’ said Frodo. ‘I got rid of it, you know.’ ‘What a pity!’ said Bilbo. ‘I should have liked to see it again. But no, how silly of me! That’s what you went for, wasn’t it: to get rid of it?
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 131 | Location 4852-4854  2024-03-08 22:55:15



‘What! My Bill?’ cried Sam. ‘Well, I was born lucky, whatever my gaffer may say. There’s another wish come true! Where is he?’ Sam would not go to bed until he had visited Bill in his stable.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 135 | Location 5005-5007  2024-03-08 23:08:49



‘I am with you at present,’ said Gandalf, ‘but soon I shall not be. I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its affairs yourselves; that is what you have been trained for. Do you not yet understand? My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 136 | Location 5031-5033  2024-03-08 23:10:46



‘But if you would know, I am turning aside soon. I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 136 | Location 5034-5037  2024-03-08 23:11:02



‘You’re breaking arrest, that’s what you’re doing,’ said the leader ruefully, ‘and I can’t be answerable.’ ‘We shall break a good many things yet, and not ask you to answer,’ said Pippin. ‘Good luck to you!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 140 | Location 5175-5177  2024-03-09 22:37:53



‘Well I am staggered!’ said Pippin. ‘Of all the ends to our journey that is the very last I should have thought of: to have to fight half-orcs and ruffians in the Shire itself – to rescue Lotho Pimple!’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 141 | Location 5228-5229  2024-03-09 22:42:02



Nearly seventy of the ruffians lay dead on the field, and a dozen were prisoners. Nineteen hobbits were killed, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were laden on waggons and hauled off to an old sand-pit nearby and there buried: in the Battle Pit, as it was afterwards called. The fallen hobbits were laid together in a grave on the hill-side, where later a great stone was set up with a garden about it. So ended the Battle of Bywater, 1419, the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only battle since the Greenfields, 1147, away up in the Northfarthing.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 147 | Location 5428-5432  2024-03-09 22:58:41



‘They’ve cut it down!’ cried Sam. ‘They’ve cut down the Party Tree!’ He pointed to where the tree had stood under which Bilbo had made his Farewell Speech. It was lying lopped and dead in the field. As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 147 | Location 5448-5450  2024-03-09 22:59:55



Saruman turned to go, and Wormtongue shuffled after him. But even as Saruman passed close to Frodo a knife flashed in his hand, and he stabbed swiftly. The blade turned on the hidden mail-coat and snapped.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 149 | Location 5498-5499  2024-03-09 23:04:04



He kicked Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang on Saruman’s back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane. Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 149 | Location 5516-5519  2024-03-09 23:05:52



To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 149 | Location 5519-5522  2024-03-09 23:06:20



‘And the very last end of the War, I hope,’ said Merry. ‘I hope so,’ said Frodo and sighed. ‘The very last stroke. But to think that it should fall here, at the very door of Bag End! Among all my hopes and fears at least I never expected that.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 149 | Location 5526-5528  2024-03-09 23:06:41



On the thirteenth of that month Farmer Cotton found Frodo lying on his bed; he was clutching a white gem that hung on a chain about his neck and he seemed half in a dream. ‘It is gone for ever,’ he said, ‘and now all is dark and empty.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 151 | Location 5594-5596  2024-03-09 23:13:10



Sam Gamgee married Rose Cotton in the spring of 1420 (which was also famous for its weddings), and they came and lived at Bag End.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 152 | Location 5608-5609  2024-03-09 23:13:57



‘What’s the matter, Mr. Frodo?’ said Sam. ‘I am wounded,’ he answered, ‘wounded; it will never really heal.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 152 | Location 5624-5626  2024-03-09 23:15:26



‘I’ve heard some beautiful names on my travels, but I suppose they’re a bit too grand for daily wear and tear, as you might say. The Gaffer, he says: “Make it short, and then you won’t have to cut it short before you can use it.”
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 152 | Location 5634-5635  2024-03-09 23:16:56



My Diary. My Unexpected Journey. There and Back Again. And What Happened After. Adventures of Five Hobbits. The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring. Here Bilbo’s hand ended and Frodo had written: THE DOWNFALL
OF THE
LORD OF THE RINGS
AND THE
RETURN OF THE KING (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise.) Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 153 | Location 5652-5659  2024-03-09 23:18:30



Then Bilbo woke up and opened his eyes. ‘Hullo, Frodo!’ he said. ‘Well, I have passed the Old Took today! So that’s settled. And now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey. Are you coming?’ ‘Yes, I am coming,’ said Frodo. ‘The Ring-bearers should go together.’
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 154 | Location 5688-5691  2024-03-09 23:20:18



Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the Days of the Rings were passed, and an end was come of the story and song of those times.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 154 | Location 5703-5704  2024-03-09 23:21:33



At last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 155 | Location 5730-5731  2024-03-09 23:24:35



And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.
<The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings>(Tolkien, J.R.R.) Highlight on page 155 | Location 5734-5735  2024-03-09 23:24:43