Tolkien Gateway:Featured quotes/Archive

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Archive.pngThis is an archive of past featured quotes discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current nominations page.

Successful nominations

14 April 2007 - 13 August 2008

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
The Hobbit, An Unexpected Party

13 August 2008 - 12 November 2009

That is a fair lord and a great captain of men. If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading, great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.
Legolas speaking of Prince Imrahil, The Return of the King, The Last Debate

Agree. Wonderful quote. -- Ederchil 12:30, 31 July 2008 (EDT)
Agree. Beautiful words. :) ~~ Þelma 13:30, 4 August 2008 (EDT)
Agree. Truly beautiful words. -- Eldarion Telcontar 14:11, 12 August 2008 (EDT)
Agree. Thought-provoking. -- Ingwe
Agree. Looks good to me, updating the Main Page right now.-- Hyarion

12 November 2009 - 2 January 2011

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens," said Gimli.
"Maybe," said Elrond, "but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.
The Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring Goes South

Agree. Though technically, I'd agree with any quote nom. What happened to the system? Was it to be weekly or monthly? -- Ederchil (Talk/Contribs/Edits)
Very true, anything for a change. Perhaps an automated system that selected a quote from a database would be better, I seem to recall seeing that discussed somewhere a while ago. Agree. --Aule the Smith 21:48, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Agree. Quite proverbial. -Ingwe
Agree - Very interesting quotation.-- KingAragorn  talk  contribs  edits  email  17:27, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Agree - It definetely makes you think (obviously it's Elrond)--Breragor
Agree Ok, so should we put to this quote up? The current one was here the last time I've visited TG, which was a long time ago, so this is not good. :) I think we all agree the above one is a wonderful quote. ~~ Þelma 00:47, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

2 January 2011 - 24 June 2011

Morgoth held hurled aloft Grond, Hammer of the Underworld, and swung it down like a bolt of thunder. But Fingolfin sprang aside, and Grond rent a mighty pit in the earth, whence smoke and fire darted. Many times Morgoth essayed to smite him, and each time Fingolfin leaped away, as a lightning shoots from under dark cloud; and he wounded Morgoth with seven wounds, and seven times Morgoth gave a cry of anguish, whereat the hosts of Angband fell upon their faces in dismay, and the cries echoed in the Northlands.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"

I know it's a longer one - and I don't mind it being made shorter (in fact it probably is a bit too long; maybe from "Many times..." onwards) - but I just love it because I have a natural bias towards Fingolfin! Indeed, any of the quotes from this paragraph or the subsequent couple of paragraphs would, I think, be excellent because it captures a key even in the history of Arda with Tolkien's excellent literary skill. Also, would be good to have a quote about a non-Third Age event. Proposed by: --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 20:20, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Agree: I like the quote in full. It gives a good idea of the tone of Sil. --Ederchil (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 22:32, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
Agree: Great Quote! Good to have a quote from The Silmarillion... -- Eldarion Telcontar 21:04, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

24 June 2011 - 4 February 2012

Fëanor was the mightiest in skill of word and of hand, more learned than his brothers; his spirit burned as a flame. Fingolfin was the strongest, the most steadfast, and the most valiant. Finarfin was the fairest, and the most wise of heart.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

4 February 2012 - 23 August 2014

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. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Mount Doom"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

23 August 2014 - 3 December 2014

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: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you.
The Return of the King, "The Grey Havens"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

3 December 2014 - 26 November 2017

I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.
The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

26 November 2017 - 25 December 2018

Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.
The Return of the King, "The Grey Havens"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

25 December 2018 - 3 July 2020

The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him. We will go where he leads.
The Two Towers, "The White Rider"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

3 July 2020 - 2 January 2021

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
The Hobbit, "The Return Journey"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

2 January 2021 - 20 January 2022

"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, "Mount Doom"

Chosen unilaterally by User:Mith due to lack of successful nominations.

20 January 2022 - 21 May 2022

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
Haldir in The Fellowship of the Ring, "Lothlórien"

Agree --Dernhelm 21:29, 27 August 2016 (UTC)
Agree --Grace18 17:41, 28 December 2021 (UTC)
Agree --LorenzoCB 12:07, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

21 May 2022 - 1 January 2023

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.
Gandalf in The Return of the King, "The Last Debate"

Agree. --Grace18 01:05, 31 December 2021 (UTC)
Agree. Lovely, lovely quote. I didn't know of it. --LorenzoCB 22:15, 31 January 2022 (UTC)
Agree. This is a good quote that sums up an important theme of The Lord of the Rings. --Pachyderminator 03:21, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

1 January 2023 - 23 June 2023

Then when Fingon heard afar the great trumpet of Turgon his brother, the shadow passed and his heart was uplifted, and he shouted aloud:

Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come! And all those who heard his great voice echo in the hills answered crying:

Auta i lómë! The night is passing!
The Silmarillion, "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"

Agree. I love this quote! It is so inspiring and beautiful! I think it would make a great featured quote. -Rohiril
Agree. It's a popular quote and fits the Featured Article of Gondolin. --LorenzoCB (talk) 20:50, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

23 June 2023 - 2 January 2024

Tall ships and tall kings
Three times three,
What brought they from the foundered land
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree.
The Two Towers, "The Palantír"

Chosen unilaterally by User:LorenzoCB to fit the Númenórean theme of the Main Page.

2 January 2024 - present

Farewell sweet earth and northern sky,
For ever blest, since here did lie,
And here with lissom limbs did run,
Beneath the moon, beneath the sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
More fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world,
And were dissolved and backward hurled
Unmade into the old abyss,
Yet were its making good, for this—
The dawn, the dusk, the earth, the sea—
That Lúthien on a time should be!
The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien"
Agree. --Hands of a healer (talk) 16:57, 27 December 2023 (UTC)
Agree, but the last stanza better.--LorenzoCB (talk) 13:49, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

Unsuccessful nominations

Tolkien's Own

The Hobbits are just rustic English people, made small in size because it reflects the generally small reach of their imagination --not the small reach of their courage or latent power.
J.R.R. Tolkien

Disagree; though, yes, Tolkien wrote them all, the first and third are in-universe and should thus be attributed to their respective characters. -- Ederchil (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 07:56, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
Undecided -I think if you add "- not the small reach of their courage or latent power" to the end, then I might agree.-- KingAragorn  talk  contribs  edits  email  17:00, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
Disagree; I think a quote which is more "profound" on the nature of Hobbits would be better --Mith (Talk/Contribs/Edits) 14:13, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Drúedain's complaint

There he fell asleep; but after a while he was wakened by a voice from the figure behind him. 'I hope you are rested,' it said, 'but if you wish for more sleep, I beg you to move to the other one. He will never need to stretch his legs again; and I find your cloak too hot in the sun.'
Unfinished Tales, "The Drúedain"

Disagree Not a terrible quote, but I think it lacks a certain context needed for it to be fully appreciated. --Grace18 17:41, 28 December 2021 (UTC)
Disagree. For the same reasons as Grace18. --GondolinFan 18:21, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

Lament for the Rohirrim

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall", Lament for the Rohirrim

Agree: This poem is one of my Favorite poems in all of Tolkien's works beside the Song of Earendil by Bilbo. So I totally agree with being a quote on this page.--Aragorn is Awesome
Disagree. Too long for a "quote". --LorenzoCB 19:05, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

To Isengard!

To Isengard! Though Isengard be ringed and barred with doors of stone;
Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,
We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door;
For bole and bough are burning now, the furnace roars - we go to war!
To land of gloom with tramp of doom, with roll of drum, we come, we come;
To Isengard with doom we come!
With doom we come, with doom we come!
The Two Towers, "Treebeard"

Disagree. An entire poem is not suitable for a Featured quote. --LorenzoCB (talk) 20:50, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

A steward's duty

The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward. Did you not know?
The Return of the King, "Minas Tirith"

Disagree. I don't this works very well when taken out of context. --Pachyderminator 03:21, 11 April 2022 (UTC)