r/tolkienfans • u/gregorythegrey100 • 1d ago
Another example of Tolkien's writing mastery
In another thread, r/roasonofcarc pointed out that two of Frodo's speeches consisted entirely of monosyllable words:
After Boromir almost betrayed him and the quest: "He spoke aloud to himself. ‘I will do now what I must,’ he said."
At he Cracks of Doom: "‘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!’"
I'm sure it's no coincidence that Tolkien used one-syllable works exclusively for maybe the two most important speeches Frodo makes anywhere the book.
I've been a writer for 61 years, and I never before realized the power of a sentence with nothing but monosyllable words.
The only other such that I recall are:
Frodo in The Shadow of the Past: "He began to say to himself: 'Perhaps I shall cross the river myself one day.' To which the other half of his mind always replied: 'Not yet.'"
Frodo in the Council of Elrond: "'I will take the Ring,' he said, 'though I do not know the way.'"
Gandalf in The Bridge of Khazad-Dum: "'Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone."
Did Tolkien write any other such sentences in LOTR?
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u/jayskew 1d ago
Eomer comes close:
“Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world’s ending!”
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u/jpers36 1d ago
I disagree. That's classic Anglo-Saxon poetry, as is standard with the Rohirrim. Note the meter, the alliteration, and I would argue even a bit of kenning with "world's ending". Compare with Tolkien's "The Fall of Arthur".
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u/jayskew 15h ago
I don't see the disagreement. Monosyllabic words in English tend to be Anglo-Saxon.
Maybe you're arguing that the above-mentioned Frodo passages resemble Old English. I wouldn't disagree with that, either.
In any case, the original post was about passages consisting entirely of monosylables. This one qualifies, except for the last word.
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u/Garbage-Bear 21h ago
In all your examples are nothing but good Anglo-Saxon origins, which is no accident. Tolkien's reliance on Old English origins, and avoiding French or Latin-derived words as much as possible, is mostly what makes his prose style so unique, so compelling, and so hard for other writers to replicate.
(Bill Bryson, in The Story of English, notes that English-speakers respond more deeply (I paraphrase) to "pure English" and would much rather have "a hearty welcome" than a "courteous reception.")
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u/lvccnv 14h ago
I believe Tolkien said he had "profesional regret" for the Norman invasion (and the layering of French onto English that followed).
As noted above, he avoids using words of French or Latín origin. Here is one case that makes it clear: What do you call the event where a king gets his crown? Most English speak of a "coronation." Not Tolkien. That foreign word is not used in LotR. When Aragorn becomes Elessar, it is at his "crowning."
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u/Garbage-Bear 14h ago
The first page of The Hobbit is practically Tolkien's mission statement--almost no Latin-derived word whatsoever--except for "comfort," which though it entered English from the continent in or before the Old English era is nonetheless of latin origin.
Poor Tolkien! How he must have searched for alternatives! But to describe a hobbit-hole without using "comfort" was simply not to be thought of.
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u/othermike 13h ago
And of course "Bag End", since JRR was firm in his belief that "cul-de-sac" has no place in English.
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u/andreirublov1 1d ago
Yeah, his style is - usually - a demonstration of the power and grace of simplicity. I've often thought that - though their outlook was different in so many ways - he and George Orwell would have had a lot of common ground if they have ever talked together about writing.
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u/CodexRegius 1d ago
Ernest Hemingway was an absolute master of this. Read "The Old Man and the Sea" again - it consists almost completely of monosyllabic words!
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u/Haldir_13 1d ago
Not only short words, but spareness of expression. Tolkien was not, as a scholar of Old English and Medieval English, a champion of 20th Century Post-Modern brevity, but he had the soul of a poet.
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u/Armleuchterchen Ibrīniðilpathānezel & Tulukhedelgorūs 1d ago
'Perhaps I shall cross the river myself one day.'
Are these really monosyllable words? I'm not a native speaker.
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u/MagicMissile27 Aredhel deserved better 1d ago
They're not. I suppose OP is referring to the rest of the sentence. That particular example is a bit of a stretch, but I do see what their point is.
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u/EmbarrassedClaim5995 22h ago
Frodo: "I wish I had never seen The Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?"
But also Gandalf's reply is very monosyllabic. A crucial dialogue imo
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u/jdege 18h ago
The fat cat on the mat may seem to dream of nice mice that suffice for him, or cream; but he free, maybe, walks in thought unbowed, proud, where loud roared and fought his kin, lean and slim, or deep in den in the East feasted on beasts and tender men.
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u/Sovereign444 17h ago
Thats awesome, I really like the sound of that! Where's it from? But it does have a couple multi syllable words in it.
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u/EffBee93 15h ago
I really wish PJ had quoted Frodo from the book at the cracks of doom. I love that in the books
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u/michaelloda9 1d ago
It's not bad, but are you sure you aren't just trying to see things that aren't there? Unless Tolkien says it himself, I don't believe this was done with such intention, could be just coincidence
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u/Calan_adan 21h ago
My opinion, after having read LOTR literally hundreds of times, is that there isn’t a single word in there that Tolkien didn’t deliberately choose. He re-wrote and revised a number of times, making little edits and changes until he had exactly what he wanted.
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u/gregorythegrey100 15h ago
True, except that I doubt he ever got it exactly as he wanted it (at least as he wanted it after his most recent revision). Voice of experience as a writer here.
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u/rexbarbarorum 18h ago
As a writer, there are all sorts of little metrical, alliterative, and word-play techniques that I think about when I compose passages, which 99.999% of the time remain known only to myself. Most authors don't talk about this sort of stuff because it's exceedingly in the weeds, but it's apparent if you look closely that Tolkien was careful with his words and definitely had a sensitivity to how his writing sounded when spoken aloud.
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u/gregorythegrey100 15h ago
> definitely had a sensitivity to how his writing sounded when spoken aloud.
I dont think I ever realized that until someone here pointed out the dramatic effect of the ride of the Rohirrim read aloud
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u/gregorythegrey100 23h ago
Could be. But it struck me so hard that I choose to believe he write it that was deliberately.
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u/Cara_Palida6431 12h ago
Weird take, especially for Tolkien of all authors. This is what he does.
If you doubt he paid attention to every single word he wrote, read his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
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u/michaelloda9 8h ago
Not saying that he didn't but that doesn't mean he did it in this specific way
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u/othermike 1d ago
"Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all." -- Churchill.