The Return of the King Quotes

The 8 most famous lines from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King (1955), each with its speaker and the scene it belongs to. These are the quotes readers underline, copy into essays and put on walls - gathered in one place, explained in a line.

• “The rule of no realm is mine... 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 I do not come to take it now, but to aid it. For I also am a steward. Did you not know?”

  - Gandalf. p. 16 - to Denethor; the book's thesis on power, spoken by the wizard who could claim a throne and never will.

• “A cage. To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”

  - Éowyn. p. 47 - the shieldmaiden's definition of a cage; the reason her storyline still lands seventy years on.

• “Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me! ... But no living man am I! You look upon a woman.”

  - Éowyn. p. 114 - the Witch-king's prophecy meeting its loophole at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

• “His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.”

  - Aragorn. p. 148 - on Merry in the Houses of Healing; the book's whole theory of sorrow in two clauses.

• “The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm.”

  - Narration (Sam's thought). p. 186 - Sam's hobbit-sense surveying the gardens of Minas Ithil; Tolkien's anti-imperialism in a flowerbed.

• “suddenly her winter passed, and the sun shone on her... I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.”

  - Éowyn. p. 262 - the Houses of Healing; the argument the book has with its own warrior romance.

• “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.”

  - Frodo. p. 338 - the farewell at the Grey Havens; the most-quoted passage in modern fantasy, and the reason 'bittersweet' is the wrong word for it.

• “Use all the wits and knowledge you have of your own, Sam... And use it sparingly.”

  - Galadriel. p. 330 - the gift of the small box of earth that becomes the mallorn; Lórien's farewell, practical as a seed.

Why these lines survive

J.R.R. Tolkien’s sentences earn their fame by compression: each line carries the whole book’s argument in a form you can carry in your pocket. Read in order, the 8 quotes above also sketch the novel’s shape - the world it opens, the pressure it applies, the note it ends on. If you meet them before the book, nothing is spoiled beyond mood; if you meet them after, each one lands like a place you have been.

Quote collectors: pair this page with the The Return of the King quiz to see which lines actually stuck, the book club questions when you want to argue about them, or how long the reread takes - about 9 hours and 36 minutes at an average pace. If the lines did their job and you want more of the same nerve, the books like The Return of the King list is next.

Want the whole shelf’s lines? Our J.R.R. Tolkien books in order guide lists every book.

How to use a quotes page

Three honest uses. Before reading: skim the first two quotes to taste the prose - if the voice does not pull you, the book will not either. During: mark which quote you actually reach in the text, because the distance between famous line and lived scene is where a book keeps its secrets. After: pick the one quote you would defend at dinner and check it against the discussion questions - a quote you can argue about is a quote you understood. What a quotes page is not for is replacing the book; five lines of J.R.R. Tolkien are an invitation, not a summary.

More quote collections

The Odyssey quotes, Moby-Dick quotes, Don Quixote quotes, Alice in Wonderland quotes - or browse quotes from all 133 classics. Then see which of them stuck on the original book quiz.

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