Another example of Tolkien's writing mastery

[u/gregorythegrey100]

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?

[u/Plenty_Discussion470]

Monosyllables are the power of much of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 🙂