I've always liked the beginning. Not the beginning in the Shire, though I love that part too, but after the Fellowship is formed and they're all getting ready to leave. It's exciting to me, like I'm going on a real journey with them. I used to reread that section a lot.

I also like the part when they first learn Strider is more than he seems. I've always loved moments of revelation like that.

But the part that moves me most is when Sam first sees elves.

Oh, my, that's a hard one.

Pippin finding Merry on the battlefield and taking care of him, I think. Terror and grief and otherworldliness and loyal friendship and sturdy hobbit common sense all mixed up together.

For pure humor value, nothing beats the meeting of Theoden's entourage with Merry and Pippin at Isengard. That's just howlingly fall-down funny, for all that the humor is understated.

Now, my favorite part of the movies thus far is Boromir coming to his senses after assaulting Frodo, and then attempting to rescue Merry and Pippin. This is a basically decent guy who was enticed to screw up, and he's going to pay with his life. I totally never got into the whole Denethor-Boromir-Faramir dynamic until I saw Sean Bean's Boromir, and now it's what David and I bat around most when we discuss the books.

(I, for instance, think that a good paper could be had out of Denethor's perversion of the "good death" and pyre burial, a la Beowulf.)

I haven't been a particular fan of Boromir in the books either, and the movie's changed that for me too. One of my favorite moments in FotR is when he's teaching Merry and Pipping swordplay — it's such a Gondor warrior thing to do, and at the same time so sweet and entirely human (I can't imagine Legolas, for example, doing anything of the kind) — and then when he accidentally knocks one harder than he meant to he looks so horrified, and they both tackle him. It's a great moment all by itself, and of course it also sets up the also-wonderful later moment you referred to, in which he attempts to rescue them.

I have three.

Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn's amazingly courageous race in pursuit of the orcs who have Merry and Pippin (utterly ruined in the movie, as they played it for laughs. Grrr.)

Gandalf pointing out to Gimli that Gimli himself is not un-dangerous, and that Gandalf is the most dangerous thing Gimli's likely to meet.

And the byplay between Legolas and Gimli at Helm's Deep, culminating in the orc with the iron collar.

All of which probably confirms that the dwarf is my favorite character. *g*

Actually, he's tied with Fangorn for favorite. Interesting, isn't it, when you consider the actor choices for those two roles.

I do dearly love ents.

Ooh, I do dearly love ents, too.

I think of them when I am trying not to be hasty.

Oh, gosh. In what time period? Now? When I first read them?

Just one?

Running through all my favorite bits in my head, I'm surprised to find that the one that doesn't put up a "yeah, but" in my head is Frodo and Sam after the Ring goes into the fire. Dear Sam, saying "well, yes, it may be true that we're going to die, but maybe we could die a little farther down the mountain? Because, hey, it couldn't hurt, right?"

I suppose that in some ways sums up the entire journey for me. It's about grace in the end, or luck, however you want to put it - but you have to go all the way, extend yourself as far as humanly possible (or farther) to put yourself into that place where grace can operate.

The battle of the Pelennor Fields.

We had the bit where Theoden charges as one of the readings in our wedding.

Frodo and Sam at the Havens. It makes me cry every time, just thinking about it. Sam followed Frodo so far, so very far and here he can't follow.

"And I can't come."

"No, Sam. Not yet anyway," then, "you have so much to enjoy, and to be, and to do."

I think it means I'm a shameless romantic.

So, truepenny, heresluck, mirrorthaw, what does all this say about us, then?

:)

Um. That y'all are much less bloodthirsty and morbid than I am?

:)

[written before reading any of the other comments]

Galadriel being tempted, and then passing the test.

I have no idea why this part got me, when I first read it, but it certainly did. Still does, though the shock of it has been cushioned somewhat by time and familiarity. Still there, though.

Other than that, there is the leave-taking between Sam and Frodo, and most especially the journey Sam makes home afterwards. And I'm not sure why for those, either.

Helm's Deep, for me, with the Pelennor Fields coming in a close second. Apparently I am a Rohirrim fangirl. ;)

Eowyn and Aragorn, the Ents and the Entwives, Galadriel deciding to go into the West Because I am a sucker for the love that cannot be, and yet cannot be ended. And Tom Bombadil, because someone should be free.

Mer

I feel like the only (wannabe?) fantasy writer in the world who doesn't much like Tolkien. Respect, yes. Like, no.

The bits I remember loving best in the books were the Denethor attempting to burn Faramir alive and then, also and differently, Faramir and Eowyn walking in the gardens of the House of Healing.

I'm there with you. Maybe we should start an AA style club where we'd begin each meeting by taking turns standing up and saying, "My name is ****** and I don't like Tolkien." Of course, with just the two of us, the meetings would be a little thin.

The end with the Havens

"But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it
has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are
in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep
them."

Probably others, but that's the quote I know off by heart and that's what I keep coming back to. The price Frodo has to pay.

This part feels really post-WWI England to me--it resonates.

Wicked cool icon.

Is "pretty much all of Book I of _The Two Towers_" too broad an answer?

No. That's a fine answer.

Frodo and Sam in Ithilien. "Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness." Those three paragraphs of description, mostly of plants, capture my heart in some inexpicable way that the high mythic epic stuff can never quite match.

And second on my list might be Sam using the soil of Lorien to restore the Shire -- clearly, gardening is somehow emotionally meaningful for me. If I remember rightly, I found these bits to be really resonant even as a child, though back then they were matched by my wonder at the elves.

Don't know why the elves haven't withstood the test of time in the same way....

I made such a big list I had to stop. Really, I have to say, "All of it." Any list leads to, "But that's so good partly because..." and "But that's not complete without..." and "But oh, what about... ."

I'll list the first few of my original attempt, though.

Tom Bombadil; the Inn at Bree; Strider and the hobbits finding the trolls from Bilbo's adventure; the Mirror of Galadriel; Ithilien; anything with Faramir in it; the trip by boat down Anduin; Sam and Frodo's discussion about what sort of tale they are in.

Pamela

Hmm. Offhand--the birthday party; Merry and Pippin with Fangorn; the entry into Lothlorien; someone mentioned Bombadil... it's a difficult question, and maybe I need to reread the trilogy. It depends on mood and who I've been talking to about what, in part.

I'm one of the strange, strange people who liked The Silmarillion more and tends to think of LotR as "that cool thing I can't really remember much, which I feel somewhat guilty about, but which got me into Silmarillion and produced some really neat movies." But on reflection, my favorite scenes are probably a tie between three:

1. Eowyn vs the Nazgul, and just Dernhelm in general;
2. The Ent stuff;
3. Frodo's travels between Bag End and Bree, with the dawning realization of what's following...and the sniffing. So wonderfully terrifying for a nervous twelve-year-old.

Randomly, my favorite scenes in The Silmarillion are Maedhros' rescue and Glorfindel's battle with the Balrog.

Ents. Anything to do with the Ents and their culture and their humor and especially the story of the Entwives.

Merry and Pippin. Especially Merry.

The initial scenes with Aragorn when he's Strider. I can't help feeling he loses something when he takes on the kingly persona. Although the way he dramatically casts the shards of Narsil on the table is great.

The songs and poems. Those actually drew me into the LOTR world more effectively than the storyline. I set most of them to music when I was twelve.

"Well, I'm back." What more is there to say? Perfect.

Rivendell. A place of beauty and refuge, though even that is doomed to fade.

Any scene with Galadriel.

Gimli and Legolas. Oh my lord, the whole Legolas and Gimli friendship, from the beginning snarks to the finale. Especially the head-tally scene.

The great hunt by Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. (Book only, please.)

I can't help feeling he loses something when he takes on the kingly persona.

So do I, now.

When I was eleven (my keyboard very stubbornly wants to make that elven,) though, I was waving a plastic sword and crying "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn! This is the sword that was broken and is forged again!"

My favorite part. Hm. My sister's is "And they sang as they slew"; my friend C's is a chapter earlier, with "Horns, horns, horns. On dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed." I will say, the Grond section in the same chapter is a wonderful bit to read aloud, with rhythms and echoes to beat the band.

But my own favorites:

For excitingness, it's "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik!" and the way Eowyn laughs and laughs as the Witch-king grounds to a confused halt.

For breaking my heart? Always, it's "I don't know, because I don't know where we're going." Sam blundering doggedly up the mountain gets me every single time.

(Let me put in a brief word for "And if I wanted the ring, I would have it!" in Bree, because Strider is a full-blown badass, and it's cool to see a badass not trumpet his own badassedness, or only a little bit.)

Dude! I get to use Silmarillion examples too?? Then it's all about the Gondolindrim, fleeing their burning secret city, a raggedy-ass Man at the front and valiant, doomed Glorfindel behind. It's a perfect expression of fighting the long defeat.

And the death of Felagund -- like Beowulf, only not so creaky in the joints. That was a hero.

I'm not sure if I really have favorites, but I can definitely say that the first part of the Fellowship of the Ring (up to Rivendell) made a strong impression on me as a kid. I had a rule that I couldn't read it after 5:00 pm.

I've always loved the parts with Ents. And horses. And the bits where Pippin acts stupid and Gandalf yells at him. I also love the part where they come home victorious only to find that their town has been taken over by evil industrialists--well, I don't love that it happened, but I love the realism.

Mine is a single quote. Which is probably my favorite partly because it crystallises my entire thesis...but also because it contains, to me, the entire elegaic tone of LOTR in one perfect speech. Treebeard to Galadriel and Celeborn:

' ... It is sad that we should meet thus, only at the ending. For the world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. I do not think that we shall meet again.'

I took 'The World is Changing' from that quote for my thesis title leader, because I love it so much.

It's closely followed by another speech--Gandalf's to Denethor, ending in 'For I also am a Steward. Did you not know?' I'm a sucker for the brief, incredibly powerful moments that Tolkien and McKillip are both so good at.

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. Eowyn I am, Eomund'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.'

This part is one of my grown-up favorites because one of my best girl friends at college did a reading of it. She has a Georgia-peach accent, and my brain retrofitted all the Rohirrim with Southern accents because Jenny's Eowyn was so impassioned.

Also: the death of Boromir, the Entmoot, the chapter called "Flotsam and Jetsam" and the Palontir.

My father did an amazing Sam when I was in kindergarten, solid and practical, so the Sam bits are Daddy-bits, and all other notions of Sam disappoint.

because it would have to be Eowyn's story... but if you're looking for moments, then I think the whole Faramir-Eowyn story narrated almost as an afterthought once the ring is gone. I adore Eowyn, and what Tolkein let her be, singlehandedly managed to convince me that his intentions to females, and his perceptions of them, were honourable, in spite of the lack of female protagonists.
I also loved Strider, as opposed to Aragorn, being all weary and unsure of himself in Fellowship, especially at the inn. He gets too kingly and godlike by the end of the third book, for me to connect with him, and I never did cotton on much to Arwen, even before Liv Tyler ruined the character completely for me.
Deepa D.