My Top 11 Moments from Lord of the Rings

I wasn't always a fan of Lord of the Rings or Tolkien's work. In fact I didn't read The Hobbit until I was sixteen years old, and didn't read Lord of the Rings until after I had seen Fellowship of the Ring. But once I began my journey in Middle-Earth there was no going back for me, I am officially a Ring-ite; I have all of Tolkien's published works (currently slowly working my way through The Silmarillion), the extended editions of Lord of the Rings on DVD, am incredibly pumped for The Hobbit and I even have my first name tattooed in Elvish on my wrist. After reading Wolfsklage's favourite moments from Lord of the Rings I was inspired to write my own, so here we go!
Remember this is my own personal opinion on my favourite scenes and moments from Lord of the Rings, and you may think the order is wrong or be enraged that I haven't included your favourite scene but to be honest I haven't included half of my favourite scenes and have omitted Fellowship of the Ring from this list entirely. That's not because I don't like Fellowship, I love that film but I could only have 11 favourites and its just that The Two Towers and Return of the King have the lion's share of the moments I like best; I could easily have done 11 favourite scenes from each of the three films!

Just to save typing time from now on, not because I'm lazy at all, I shall be using the following abbreviations:
Lord of the Rings- LOTR
Fellowship of the Ring- Fellowship
The Two Towers- Towers
Return of the King- King


11. Haldir is slain

"What's this?!" I hear you cry; "Your first entry into the Top 11 Moments of LOTR is the death of a minor character which lasts for only a minute at most?" Why yes, I say to you, and I shall now explain. Though Haldir is a minor character he is still important to the Battle of Helm's Deep; on Galadriel's orders he leads the Lorien Elves to the aid of Rohan, thereby honouring the old Alliance between Men and Elves, without them turning up the outcome of the Battle could have been very different. The Rohirrim may not have been able to hold on to the fortress, even hunkered down in the keep or the Glittering Caves, long enough for Gandalf and Éomer's reinforcements to arrive. And though he is quite an arrogant, obnoxious Elf, in my eyes at least, Haldir's death always manages to tug at my heartstrings. First off, we've already been told that Elves can die; many many Elves lost their lives during the Battle of the Last Alliance when Gil-Galad was slain and Isildur took the Ring, and there were Elvish corpses in the Dead Marshes. But Haldir is the first, and indeed only, Elf that we actually see die (I'm not counting any background Elves or the one who literally runs into a pike). And it's an incredibly moving moment; at the same time as Haldir is realising he is not a truly immortal being, seeing his own blood, looking at his kinsmen already slain on the battlefield and having the vicious Urûk-hai blade slice into his back, the audience too are realising the Elves are not some kind of magic being who can cheat death in any form. They will not die of old age and remain eternally young, yet even the Elves cannot survive being struck such a mortal blow. Also for me the actor has portrayed Haldir's fear and uncertainty at his own mortality perfectly. Elves do not have a great association with death, being immortal, which was shown brilliantly by Orlando Bloom's portrayal of Legolas' grief at losing Gandalf, and so when death comes to them they do not know how to react. Unlike when a great warrior like Boromir was slain, who encounters death on an almost daily basis and knows he too is certain of dying, refuses to go down without a fight before facing his own death with honour and acceptance, Haldir is scared, terrified of the unknown, more like you or I would be when faced with the end.  The music at this moment is just perfect too; the beautiful, ethereal voices of Elvish singers last heard in Lorien in Fellowship, with only minimal instrumentation to support their gorgeous voices give even more emotion to an already emotive scene.


10. "Well, I'm back."

The very last scene of the LOTR trilogy holds some personal resonance for me; recently I went travelling for a year in New Zealand aka Middle-Earth, and I have to say that upon returning home to the UK I had some conflicted feelings much as Sam has here. And I'm sure that 99.9% of the human population can relate to this; saying goodbye, either permanently or temporarily, to a friend, a lover, a parent or a child. Like Sam, we wish we could be with the person we have said goodbye to, but we have other commitments that keep us at home. As Frodo tells Sam, we "cannot always be torn in two. You have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy, and to be, and to do." There is just the merest whisper of background music in this scene, Frodo's short monologue allowed to take centre stage as Sam embraces his family and embarks on a new stage of his life. Though it pains Sam to say goodbye to Frodo, with whom he has been through so much, he knows that he can't go with him this time, he must stay behind, even for a little while, others need him more now than Frodo does. The torment for Sam is obvious, he promised Gandalf long ago that he would never leave Frodo, and here he is, allowing him to sail away to the Undying Lands without him. But it shows how much Sam has grown from the innocent gardener of the Shire he once was, he accepts his fate with dignity and returns to his wife and daughter. Sam wonderfully, and appropriately, rounds up and concludes the story with three simple words: "Well, I'm back."

9. "I am no man."

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that this is one of favourite scenes in LOTR; Éowyn is my favourite character from the series, proving that women can be just as strong as the men.
All through Towers and King Éowyn has been trying to prove she can fight just as well as the menfolk can, she states that she does not fear death but a cage; to be kept behind bars until use and old age accept them. In order to prove herself at the last she dresses as a man, and rides to war as Dernhelm. But in this one scene Éowyn is suddenly confronted with the reality of warfare. Her beloved uncle lies dying, her kinsmen are being killed and injured, and she is faced with the sudden very real possibility of death herself as she faces the Witch-King of Angmar. And she is scared. Éowyn has realised there is no glory in war, only in the songs and tales of it. Yet despite her fear she faces the Nazgûl just as valiantly and bravely as any Rider of the Mark. As the Fell-Beast moves to bite her in two she deftly sidesteps and hacks off its head. Everyone remembers how it was a woman that slew the Witch-King, but they seem to forget that Éowyn was the only one to kill a Fell-Beast as well. That's pretty bad-ass to me. Éowyn fights the Nazgûl valiantly, which was more than even the mighty Gandalf could manage, but is taken down by his mace. The Witch-King stands triumphant above his foe, fooled by her disguise and proclaims that "no man may kill me". All seems lost for Éowyn before Merry bravely comes to her aid, and taking the opportunity the brave Hobbit gives her, she stands, removes her helm and reveals herself as not a man, but a woman. In many fantasy novels women are portrayed as damsels in distress, princesses to be rescued from tall towers, beautiful creatures that float about waiting for their men to return from battle, able only to bear children, cook and sew. Yet here stands Éowyn, one of only two beings on the battlefield able to stand against the fearful Witch-King and end his life. In this one scene Éowyn has come on a huge arc; she has lived her dream of riding to war, she has realised the grim reality of battle, and she has won glory most men can only dream of. But we must remember that she had help slaying the Nazgûl; if it weren't for Merry, a  mere Hobbit, stabbing him in the knee and distracting him Éowyn probably would have died at the Witch-King's hand.

8. Pippin finds Merry on the battlefield

This is only a short scene but a very touching one. After the horrors of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields survivors and the wounded have gathered in the city of Minas Tirith. Yet out on the ruins of the battlefield Pippin searches for Merry, both of whom have been seemingly forgotten by the great lords and soldiers in the city. When Pippin finds him Merry is at death's door, convinced he's going to die and asks if Pippin is going leave him. But Pippin will not allow this; he covers his friend with a blanket and promises to look after him. Again there is little to no music in this scene, the emotion coming purely from the dialogue and the fine acting, and being all the greater for it. In this very short moment we find out just how much these two Hobbits have grown from the innocent and naïve young Halflings they were when they followed Frodo out of the Shire in Fellowship. Merry has become realistic and melancholy; Pippin more mature and worldly-wise. And both have become better Hobbits for it.

7. The Hobbits return home

I had originally been going to put in Aragorn's coronation scene in here, including the "You bow to no-one" moment, but I felt this scene, or rather collection of scenes, more befitting. This is why and what the Hobbits' were fighting for, this is what Sam meant when he said "There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for." Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin have returned home, not as the heroes they have been hailed as in far distant lands, but as wandering loafers, their fellow Hobbits completely unaware of their exploits and deeds. And this, perhaps, is the greatest reason why Sauron had to be defeated; not so that Aragorn could become king and marry Arwen, not so that the Gondorians could live in peace again and rebuild their cities and not so that the Rohirrim no longer had to live in fear of Saruman in his tower at Orthanc. The Ring had to be destroyed so that the Hobbits could continue to live in the Shire, in peace and innocence and unaware of the world around it. While I would have liked to have seen "the Scouring of the Shire" as in the book I understand why Jackson cut it from the film, it would had added a lot of unnecessary running time to the film and wouldn't have helped with the character development of the Hobbits as a species. The film's portrayal of the Hobbit's return home has a much better flow than in the book; they come home to find that nothing has changed in their beloved Shire while they themselves have changed, almost beyond recognition. I think it's a feeling anyone can relate to, whether you've been away for just a week on holiday, or months at university or even years travelling, you always come home to find all is as it was, but you yourself are different.
And on a more humourous note: Pippin's little eyebrow-raise and smirk when Sam goes to do whatever he does to Rosie is just to die for!

6. Éowyn and Faramir in the Houses of Healing

As I've already mentioned Éowyn is my favourite character from LOTR, and Faramir is quite possibly my second favourite character. For me these two prove that opposites attract;  Éowyn is a fighter, fascinated by war and glory in death, whereas Faramir is a lover, more interested in stories, music and hearing tales from travelling wizards. And both fly in the face of convention, if you described their character's to someone who didn't know LOTR and asked them to guess what sex they were they'd probably say Éowyn was male and Faramir female. That's not to say I think Faramir is effeminate and Éowyn butch; I like that they are the way they are. I like that they both defy the stereotypes set for their sexes and be their own person, live their own life. But I digress, and return to the Houses of Healing scene, a scene I feel is much forgotten as its only on the Extended Edition of King. Compared to all the battle scenes that come before and after, it is a calm and quiet moment giving the audience a nice break from the action, allowing us to return to the human side of the story. While the romance between Aragorn and Arwen is almost constantly, and sometimes sickeningly, shoved down our throats, Éowyn and Faramir's courtship is a quiet, subdued and frankly sweet affair. This is not the great, fairytale hero/princess love story that Aragorn and Arwen's is, Éowyn and Faramir are almost like a modern couple; meeting in a neutral place, chatting and getting to know one another, finding interests and traits in common and gradually falling in love. It also comes as quite a turning point for these characters. As I said before Éowyn and Faramir are not the traditional princess and prince, but this scene allows them to grow as characters and show they can defy even their own stereotypies. In comforting Éowyn and taking care of her Faramir is allowed to show his more noble and princely side; he gets to rescue the damsel in distress. And Éowyn in her turn gets to be the fairytail princess; she lets go of her desire to go to war and win glory in death. She lets herself be looked after, she allows Faramir to take care of her and in choosing Faramir Éowyn chooses life.

5. Sméagol and Gollum have a talk

How can anyone not enjoy this scene? Gollum and Sméagol's little tate-a-tate has got to be one of the most iconic film sequences of all time, up there with the rolling stone in Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark, E.T. and Elliot flying across the moon and the shower scene from Psycho. The acting by Andy Serkis here is just incredible, he is essentially portraying two personalities of one character having a conversation with itself, and the cinematography ingenious, at first panning across as Gollum and Sméagol have their little debate, then cutting between the two so that it looks like a classic conversation scene. And the subtle physical differences that occur between Gollum and Sméagol as the personalities take possession of the body, Gollum's pupil's are smaller and Sméagol holds his head lower, are expertly crafted by both the animators and Serkis himself. The fact that Sméagol holds his head lower and behaves noticeably more child-like indicates that he is a much more submissive personality than Gollum, perhaps the reason why he succumbed to the power of the Ring so easily. I know many compare Sméagol to a Schizophrenic, which I don't deny, but to me I always thought he was more like a drug addict; totally addicted to and dependant on his drug, the Ring, but at the same time despising what it turns him into, Gollum. The despair that Sméagol shows when he says he hates Gollum is heartbreaking, you can almost feel the pain, guilt and suffering that he has endured the last 500 years of his life, and the sheer joy when he rids himself of Gollum (if only temporarily) never fails to make me raise a little cheer to Sméagol's triumph. Serkis has amazed me with every character he has portrayed through motion capture; his turns as King Kong and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes are impressively accurate in terms of primate behaviour, but for me his star turn will always be as Gollum and Sméagol, portraying very real human emotion without ever actually being on-screen.

4. "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" & The End of All Things

I know that technically there are two scenes in my number four spot, but I couldn't choose between the two or replace another of my top 11 scenes with one of them, so I've been forced to have the two here. They are very similar scenes though, both focus on Frodo and Sam and their incredible friendship and both are very emotive.
On the slopes of Mount Doom, Frodo and Sam are making their last desperate attempt to reach the summit and destroy the Ring, when Frodo, overcome by thirst, hunger and sheer exhaustion, collapses. Sam dutifully comforts his master and friend, trying to cheer him by recalling memories of the Shire in springtime; but Frodo is too far gone. He has borne the Ring for too long and it has taken its toll on him. Though not shown in the movies Sam too has carried the Ring, only for a short time, so he knows a little of the temptation and evil of the Ring (in the book he sees himself as a mighty warrior, defeating Sauron and replanting Middle-Earth as he wishes, though his good Hobbit-sense quickly sees through the Ring's lies) and frustrated by the hold it has on Frodo, Sam finally snaps. He can longer bear to see his master in pain, so he summons the very last of his strength and declares that immortal line: "Then let us be rid of it, once and for all. I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" before picking Frodo up and carrying him piggy-back on the last stretch of their terrible journey. At this point, though their friendship is greater than many of us could ever know, in my mind Sam is still acting as a servant to his master here, assisting him in his task. Sam carries Frodo because he has to, he has to free Frodo from the Ring.
At The End of All Things, the Ring has been destroyed, Sauron is defeated, the Nazgûl are gone and the orcs, trolls, Southrons and Easterlings who fought for the Dark Lord are running scared and leaderless. Frodo and Sam are alone on the slopes of Mount Doom as the volcano belches out lava which follows them as a river of death. Frodo's joy at realising the Ring is gone and he is finally free is short-lived, as the two Hobbits realise (as Sam did on the Plains of Gorgoroth) that there won't be a return journey for them. And so, totally exhausted and with no way out, they sit together upon a rock and wait for the inevitable end. And for me this is where Frodo and Sam become more than master and servant; this is where their friendship transcends the social boundaries of Hobbit society and the well-to-do, Upper class Baggins and the average, working class Gamgee become the very greatest and truest of friends. Personally I don't understand the homosexual connotations that many people lay on Frodo and Sam; I can't see it at all. I think Frodo was never really that interested in love or romance full stop, and Sam, well, come on, he crushed so hard on Rosie; she was the first thing he thought of when he and Frodo were remembering the Shire. They had 13 children together for goodness sake! But I digress. For me this scene shows friendship in its purest sense; Frodo and Sam know and accept they're going to die, there's nothing they can do about it, so what they do instead is remember the good times and simply comfort each other. The music again is perfect, barely there, just quiet simple notes to highlight and amplify the emotion of the scene, and the dialogue is just beautiful. Frodo's quote at the end is one I hope to utter someday, with my best friend at my side; "I'm glad you're with me, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things." Such a simple thing, but one I think everyone on this Earth strives for: to simply be glad that you have a good friend with you, whether its at the end of all things or no.

3. The Last March of the Ents

This scene always lifts my heart. The Ents are be far my favourite race in Middle-Earth, and one of my all time favourite literary creations. Quite literally Tree-Herders the Ents act as Shepards of the Forest; they are woodland spirits and are charged with the welfare of Middle-Earth's woods. Tolkien was not a fan of the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent destruction of the natural world which was necessary to fuel it; he, as I do, much prefer the idea of taking only what you need from what nature provides us with and giving thanks for that. Hence the use of Saruman, his orcs and the weaponry forges being a metaphor for the Industrial Revolution and the Ents representing nature fighting back.
Treebeard is by his very nature wary of the world outside his wood, and does not worry himself with its affairs or take sides with its inhabitants. But upon the arrival of two little Hobbits, like pebbles creating ripples on a pond, the Ents are forced to recognise and act upon the horrors of war. After the Ent-Moot, Treebeard is taking Merry and Pippin back to the Shire, and on Pippin's request they head south, towards Saruman's tower of Isengard, rather than heading north-west and straight home. According to Pippin's plan Treebeard is confronted by the reality of what is happening just beyond his borders, and the shock and pain he feels when he sees the deforestation is palpable. He has been talking jovially, recounting memories to his companions but as soon as he lays eyes on the felled trees he falls silent, no backing music or sound effects to distract from the devastation. Just Treebeard's shock is felt so is his anger as he realises the perpetrator of these war crimes; his anger boils over and he calls to his fellow Ents. Treebeard's war cry is, to me, one of the most glorious and spine-tingling sounds I've ever heard. It is the sound of nature, the cry of the forest. And it is angry. It demands vengeance for the wrongs that have done to it. At his behest, the Ents gather and march upon Isengard, the trees of Fangorn marching off to war at Helm's Deep. The music in this scene is just exquisite too, the gorgeous tones of Ben Del Maestro fill your ears, fitting the usually peaceful and neutral Ent's march to fight wonderfully. The Ents have finally chosen a side to fight for in the war, and it is their own.

2. The Ride of the Rohirrim

What more needs to be said about this scene other than... the rousing war speeches and battle cries? The awesome music? The thunderous sound of thousands of horses charging at the enemy? The sight of the stoic orcs cowering in fear as the Rohirrim bear down upon them? Like the Last March of the Ents, this scene always makes me emotional, I can feel my heart pounding and my blood boiling, each time I see this moment the suspicion that I am descended from Anglo-Saxon warriors gets re-affirmed.

1. The Lighting of the Beacons

So this is it, my number one moment in LOTR and only three character's really feature in it; Pippin, actually lighting the beacons, Gandalf, ensuring the beacons really are lit, and Aragorn seeing the final beacon at Edoras. There is little dialogue, and 99.9% of this scene is, quite frankly, epic, music composed the brilliant Howard Shaw, and the glorious scenery of New Zealand's Southern Alps. This scene was the reason I wanted to travel to New Zealand, to see for myself this awesome landscape, to see Middle-Earth made real. This scene was the reason I truly fell in love with Peter Jackson's LOTR, that he could turn this huge, complex and wonderful book into film, show this beautiful world for "real", and the best part wasn't showing the Shire, or characterisation, or wonderful casting or even pulling lines straight from the books and appendices, but the gorgeous simplicity of a great score with stunning, natural scenery. This is the true beauty of Middle-Earth and the true greatness of LOTR.

Well, it is for me anyway. If you have differing opinions please do either comment, or draw up your own list and send me a link!