History Awesome / TheLordOfTheRings

->''"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you '''STAND! MEN OF THE WEST!'''"''

->''"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!!"''

*** It must also be stated that, in no uncertain terms, Gandalf isn't just exerting his authority as the ''de jure'' leader of the Wizards and the White Council and making Saruman reconsider a hasty decision to try to leave and save face, oh no--he's physically ''forcing'' Saruman to turn around and look at him by simply (though not exactly) commanding "Come back!" and, against his will and all but ''visibly shaken'' from this, Saruman turns back around and is ''made'' to listen to everything Gandalf has to say and formally removed from his positions beyond just being the (former) master of Orthanc instead of just grudgingly accepting that he's not the top Wizard in Middle-earth anymore and then retreating to his chambers to scheme towards the Scouring of the Shire in an effort to return himself to power.

*** It must also be stated that, in no uncertain terms, Gandalf isn't just exerting his authority as the ''de jure'' leader of the Wizards and the White Council and making Saruman reconsider a hasty decision to try to leave and save face, oh no--he's physically ''forcing'' Saruman to turn around and look at him by simply (though not exactly) commanding "Come back!" and, against his will and all but ''visibly shaken'' from this, Saruman turns back around against his will is ''made'' to listen to everything Gandalf has to say and formally removed from his positions beyond just being the (former) master of Orthanc instead of just grudgingly accepting that he's not the top Wizard in Middle-earth anymore and then retreating to his chambers to scheme towards the Scouring of the Shire in an effort to return himself to power.

** Having failed with Théoden, Saruman exerts his will even harder on trying to convince Gandalf to come up and make peace with him, so much so that even Théoden believes he will do so, with all feeling as if the pair are above them. Gandalf just laughs it off, and when Saruman tries to withdraw he commands him to come back saying he had not given him leave to go, and Saruman returns as if unable to refuse (though he clearly wanted to), and then Gandalf ''breaks Saruman's power.''

* Only a few lines later, both Boromir and Aragorn start running back to help Gandalf fight the balrog in spite of the wizard telling them not too long ago that it's an enemy that's completely beyond them.

** Gimli manages to pull a short comeback at Saruman. As the wizard tried to enchant Rohirrim and Théoden, he simply stated how much of a nonsense it was.

* Eowyn killing the Witch King stands out not only for being an awesome moment on its own, but for being the moment where she finally breaks out the despair she has suffered since her first appearance; Ever since Theoden came under Grima's spell in Meduseld, Eowyn has been filled with despair, able to see her father-figure become corrupted, her cousin die and her brother be sent into exile but unable to do anything about it. Aragorn seemed like her only hope for salvation, but he left on a suicide mission into Dwimorberg. More than anything, Eowyn joined the Rohirrim because [[DeathSeeker she wanted to die]]. And now she stands in front of the Lord of the Nazgûl, greatest of Sauron's servants and a being that embodies despair itself, and she stands up to him and kills him.

** The Easterling warriors prove to be '''very''' formidable foes , fighting to the bitter end long after the Fall of the Witch King and the rout of the Orcs. Of all Gondor's enemies, they're consistently treated as the most powerful, which is especially cool because they're normal humans unlike Gondorians who have tend to have semi-divine ancestry via Numenor.

** Tolkien also pretty heavily implies that there were Orcish and Gondorian warriors who didn't do as well as our brave little hobbit."No such anguish had Shelob ever known, or dreamed of knowing, in all her long world of wickedness. Not the doughtiest soldier of old Gondor, nor the most savage Orc entrapped, had ever thus endured her, or set blade to her beloved flesh." He even goes so far as to say that Sam did better than characters who were considered legendary badasses [[Literature/TheSilmarillion in a world of legendary badasses.]] Small wonder he becomes TheDreaded to the Orcs.

* Only Boromir shows no fear at the Balrog in Moria.

** There's also the fact that Hobbits are recognized as basically being the ideal vehicles to transport the Ring to Mordor. They are small and have a proclivity for stealth, and given their relative obscurity, the forces of evil would have a hard time identifying and locating them. They are naturally humble with no dreams of greatness (Sam's greatest dream is just to great a beautiful and marvelous garden), making them the least susceptible race to the Ring's promises. They are also the least physically impressive race, meaning that if any of them fall to its corruption, the amount of damage that they can do is minimal (and would consequently also be less likely to draw Sauron's attention). Despite being small in size, their great inner strength made them able to accomplish a mission that men, elves, dwarves, and even physical gods would have failed.

** The Easterling warriors prove to be '''very''' formidable foes , fighting to the bitter end long after the Fall of the Witch King and the rout of the Orcs.

* In an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome during the first book, Gandalf goes toe-to-toe with several of the Nazgul at Weathertop, to the point where the Hobbits can see the flames from miles away.

[[AC:Meta]]
* The book's original publication is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in itself. Co-founder Stanley Unwin published ''Literature/TheHobbit'' on his ten-year-old son's recommendation (believing that children were a good judge of good children's books), and commissioned a sequel which eventually became [=LotR=], which his now-grown son recommended as well - even though they might lose money on it. His father [[DoingItForTheArt gave him the go-ahead]]: "If you believe this to be a work of genius, you may lose a thousand pounds." (The first print run, 3,500 copies, sold out within six weeks. And it's ''still'' selling.)
* Another example is how, along with ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' changed the face of the entire fantasy genre.
* ''The Lord of the Rings'' was considered to be an impossible work to adapt into a Live-Action rendition. Too big and too grand in scope and size. Jackson's films not only succeeded (albeit with [[PragmaticAdaptation some liberties]]) with stunning visual and audio work to bring this world and story to life, [[GenreTurningPoint it was one of the biggest things that gave the fantasy genre a newfound respect in the public and mainstream eye]].
** An underrated hero in the production of the trilogy is Robert Shaye, New Line Cinema's chief executive. Peter Jackson had a falling out with Miramax and Harvey Weinstein, trying to pitch the series as two films, only to be rejected by Michael Eisner. Undeterred, Jackson shopped the film to New Line, and Shaye only had one condition; that the series be a trilogy like the source material.
* The Rankin/Bass adaptation had the following dramatic monologue from Gandalf. It is not taken directly from Tolkien, but written for the animated film. However, it is brilliant and poetic, and actually sounds like Tolkien could have written it:
-->'''Gandalf voiceover''': "Who causes the minutes to fall dead? Adding up to no passing hour, bringing no change from day to night, as the unseen sun fails to filter into the ever-present shadows? Who is this Dark Lord who turns starless nights into sunless days? How does His piercing eye see through the ever-present darkness, seeing all—and nothing? The restless eye, in His Dark Tower, wearing a veil of protective shadows He has woven from fear. And yet He fears too. In the security of His protective realm, He fears the winds of the world are turning against Him, tearing aside His veils and troubling Him, with tidings of bold spies that have passed through His fences."
* Before ''any'' of the films were even released, Creator/NewLineCinema released [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuUEqTKn5Ho a teaser trailer]], which promised that each film would release during the Christmas season of each respective year (2001, 2002, and 2003). [[IGaveMyWord They kept their promise]].
** In the case of ''The Return of the King'', with ''hours'' to spare.
* For Quarantine in 2020, Creator/JoshGad got together most of the cast of the films, the ''entire'' Fellowship, plus the actors and actresses for Eowyn, Eomer, Arwen, Theoden, plus a final letter from Creator/IanHolm, as well as Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens and Howard Shore on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_U0S6x_kCs a Zoom call]] for charity for children. He had them recite a lot of their most famous conversations or lines.

** And there's the fact that best the One Ring had to offer to Sam is ''making Mordor a garden''. The guy is so humble that he make the Ring run out of options.

--> '''Aragorn:''' Then we must do without hope! There is always ''vengeance''!

--> '''Théoden:''' I sit no longer!

-->'''Gandalf:''' "''The Horns of the Rohirrim!'' Theoden is come at last!"

-->And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own, even in Sammath Naur the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-dûr was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung. From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm, a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain. At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgûl, the Ring-wraiths, and with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom.