I began (re-)reading the Lord of the Rings in January 2025 before bed as a part of an effort to have better “sleep hygiene”, and finally finished the Return of the King on New Years Day 2026. I have watched and marathoned and re-watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies since they came out nearly 25 years ago. They have formed the foundation of my nerdiness for most of my life. I’m sure I insisted on reading the books before the movies came out, so I have technically read these books before. However, most of what I remember from them was Tolkien’s long, detailed descriptions of rock paths. I don’t think I quite appreciated the books the first time around. This time was unexpectedly, delightfully different.
I picked the series as a bedtime read for two reasons – I assumed I was familiar enough with the plot that I would not have to pay too close attention to what I was reading thus preventing getting swept away reading until the wee hours of the morning, and the aforementioned detailed descriptions of rock paths. While I was right about these, I was also quite surprised – maybe stupidly – by the nuanced differences in character from the movie versions I am so familiar with, by the poignancy and tenderness captured during the turning of various tides, and by the additional richness brought to the world by side plots that were left out of the movies.
Since this is supposed to be a review of the Return of the King – I guess I’ll dig in deeper there. In short, this part of the story covers Pippin’s time in Gondor with Gandalf; Merry’s time with the Rohirrim after Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli have left Rohan; Frodo and Sam’s trek through Mordor; and then everyone’s journeys home.
We start in Gondor. Pippin, after touching things he oughtn’t’ve in the Two Towers, is swept away to Minas Tirith by Gandalf for safe keeping. Pippin – learning nothing from that experience – immediately throws himself into another sticky situation by pledging himself to the Steward of Gondor, and all-around weird guy, Denethor. While in Gondor, Pippin realizes Denethor is bad news, makes some friends in the various bodies of guards, joins everyone else in waiting for the war to arrive at the gates, and then dealing with said war once it arrives.
We then bop over to the Rohirrim and their journey from Rohan to Gondor as they rush across the countryside and hope that they make it in time to help stop Gondor from falling to the Enemy. We don’t spend much time with them as the two storylines merge pretty quickly.
The arrival of Rohan to the battle is announced by one of the most poignant paragraphs (to me) in the series – a moment that made me cry again when describing it to a new colleague over lunch not long after reading it myself. To be fair, she asked for it when she asked what parts of the book(s) had made me feel most deeply. At this point in the story, Minas Tirith is in dire straights. Their forces have been greatly diminished by years (presumably) of battling the Enemy and trying to keep his forces at bay, and very little back up has arrived. The leadership of the city is dead (Boromir), bonkers (Denethor), or spent (Faramir). The Enemy arrives strong, well-armed, and ready for a siege. It is clear from the first arrival of the Enemy that Minas Tirith will not survive. They are outmatched and outmanned even before the Nazgul show up to sow fear and despair. To make matters worse, Denethor has ceased to lead and is trying diligently to end himself and his line even as the Enemy attacks. The men have lost hope and assume that no one is coming to their aid. They are utterly alone and waiting to be destroyed by the Enemy. Pippin has come to find Gandalf to get help to save Faramir from his father. Gandalf is facing off with a Nazgul and then we get this:
“Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”
When all seems lost, out of the darkness alongside the dawn rides Gondor’s salvation. They are not ruined. The war is not lost. There is still strength in Men. There is still hope.
WOOF.
In the meantime, Aragorn et al are cleaning house the way up the river. In quick succession, we get the arrival of Rohan and with it Merry, the death of the Lord of the Nazgul, the arrival of Aragorn and team, and a victory for the Good Guys. As the main characters piece their stories together they figure out that it is very likely Sam and Frodo are still alive and on their way to Mount Doom. They determine the best thing they can do is taunt Sauron and give him something shiny to fixate on which they hope will give Sam and Frodo more time.
We then do a bit of a time jump backwards and catch up on the doings of Sam and Frodo, and accompany them on the last push across Mordor and into Mount Doom. They are successful – in the way that really matters – then scooped up by eagles, and then in the blink of an eye we’re waking up in a comfy bed in Gondor.
The last 5+ chapters follow the main characters on the beginnings of their lives after the saga of the Ring and the ending of the Third Age. The King is returned, the Fellowship is ended, the Hobbits head back to the Shire where they find that Sauruman (Sharkey) has been causing troubles. After facing war, the returning hobbits are well equipped to evict the ruffians and ne’er-do-wells that have been plaguing the Shire since their departure over a year ago. For all that they have spent the last year trekking and fighting, it was all done on other people’s soil for a war that they were only loosely connected to. As they finally ride into Hobbiton, they face the ravages not just of war but of capitalism in their own homeland.
“It was one of the saddest hours in their lives. The great chimney rose up before them; and as they drew near the old village across the Water, through rows of new mean houses along each side of the road, they saw the new mill in all its frowning and dirty ugliness: a great brick building straddling the stream, which it fouled with a steaming and stinking outflow. All along the Bywater Road every tree had been felled.
As they crossed the bridge and looked up the Hill they gasped. Even Sam’s vision in the Mirror had not prepared him for what they saw. The Old Grange on the west side had been knocked down, and its place taken by rows of tarred sheds. All the chestnuts were gone. The banks and hedgerows were broken. Great waggons were standing in disorder in a field beaten bare of grass. Bagshot Row was a yawning sand and gravel quarry. Bag End up beyond could not be seen for a clutter of large huts.
‘They’ve cut it down!’ cried Sam. ‘They’ve cut down the Party Tree!’ He pointed to where the tree had stood under which Bilbo had made his Farewell Speech. It was lying lopped and dead in the field. As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears.”
As with the quest that occupies the rest of the book, they get on with the work that needs to be done to ensure that the world is a better place for those that come after them. They tear down the dodgy new buildings, rebuild the hobbit holes, plant gardens and trees, and generally put things right. Then, Frodo meets up with Bilbo and the elves to sail to the Grey Havens.
Throughout reading the full series as well as the RotK, the portrayal of the characters made me fall even more in love with the story than I had been after 25 years of watching the movies. Even from the outset of the initial quest from the Shire with just the four hobbits, the tenderness and care that the main characters have for each other is deeply endearing. As Frodo is trying to sneak his way out of the Shire, he is found out by his beloved friends, and when he insists that he must go alone because of the danger his friends only reply that that is the precise reason that they must accompany him. Danger is not to be faced alone.
One of the key concerns of the world throughout the books is the decline of the quality Men, that Men no longer have honor or strength of character – a concern that is soundly rebutted by the demonstration not just of the quality of Men, but of the quality of anyone whether Man, Elf, Dwarf, or Hobbit who undertakes relationship with others with care, honor, respect, and love. The power of love to transform things for the better that is demonstrated throughout the book – love for each other, love for place, love for the world – is astounding, heartwarming, and deeply needed in the real world even today.
