There’s no need to tout the wonders and genius of Lord of the Rings. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a reader who hasn’t enjoyed Tolkien’s epic adventure. Rather than walk through the storyline, which would be impossible in a short post, I want to share why I think the book continues to be a classic. I’ll suggest two ideas. And then I’ll share some of my favorite quotes. At the end, you can read the candid review from my nine-year-old son, with whom I read the series out loud. For the record, we read the hardcover editions with illustrations by Alan Lee.
The Small vs. the Great
Most stories are engaging for us because we can see ourselves in them. We know that we are small, and the world is big. And we often find ourselves up against things that loom above us. It’s scary, and, at times, hopeless. How can we possibly do what’s asked of us? And yet, we know we have to push forward—somehow, despite the odds. That’s Frodo Baggins in this tale. He’s literally tiny (as a hobbit), and yet he finds himself with the task of destroying the very thing that could annihilate all of Middle Earth. A mammoth task for a miniscule person.
The beauty, joy, and hope in this story is that as the tale progresses, Frodo and the other characters develop; they change and grow, just as we do. And the idea that the great defeat the small is steadily challenged. That’s a critical message for kids. (It’s a critical message for adults, too.)
You’ll encounter plenty of adventures where the small challenge the great. But I won’t spoil any of it for you. As a parent, I found it helpful to highlight these places when I was reading, pausing to let my son comment on what was happening.
Depth
The depth of the Lord of the Rings is legendary. And the two places where this comes out clearest are the land and the languages. The maps are helpful, though I’ll admit the constant references to topography can be dizzying in places. Tolkien had such a vision of the land in his own mind, and shares that whenever he can. So, it’s worth it to have a look at the maps occasionally.
The linguistic depth comes out not just in the foreign tongues of Dwarves and Elves—languages that Tolkien famously created from his own background as a philologist and professor of literature—but also in the poetry and in the background tales that fill in the story, many of which are accessible in The Silmarillion and The Book of Lost Tales. (My son is already planning on having me read the former to him next.) All this is to say that Tolkien has created another world, not merely a story. And that leaves plenty of room for you and your kids to delve deeper into Middle Earth.
Favorite Quotes
I have plenty of places I had to mark as we read. My son would notice when I paused and say, “Oh, you found another good quote?” Here’s just a selection of them.
“The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 83)
“There is a seed of courage hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, waiting for some final and desperate danger to make it grow.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 140)
“He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 260)
“[Sauron] is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 269–270)
“We put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 373)
“When the great fall, the less must lead.” (The Two Towers, p. 438)
“A wild beast cornered is not safe to approach. And Saruman has powers you do not guess. Beware of his voice!” (The Two Towers, p. 581)
“I used to think that [adventures] were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually—their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they’d have been forgotten. . . . I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?” (The Two Towers, p. 719)
“The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.” (The Return of the King, p. 871)
“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, p. 890)
“The Shadow that bred [the orcs] can only mock, it cannot make.” (The Return of the King, p. 924)
My 9-year-old Son’s Review
"It was a nice long series. It was a fun story—that other nine-year-olds would probably like. My favorite character is Gimli because my dad sometimes made his voice sound a little silly. My least favorite character was Gollum. His voice and language were strange, and he looked really creepy in all the pictures. I don’t recommend watching him in the real-life movies either. I still have nightmares about him. Despite that, I highly recommend the books."
