The Tolkien Blog Week Tag

HAPPY HOBBIT DAY EVERYBODY! *dances in circles* *twirls* And happy birthday to Bilbo & Frodo! In honor of this felicitous occasion, I'm here with my answers to Hamlette's tag for her Tolkien Blog Party!!

1. Aragorn: Favorite Tolkien hero/heroine
Question: what counts as a hero or heroine? Does it have to be a central character who gets their own arc/quest? Because it that case, the only characters who would qualify for the hero/heroine title would be Gandalf, Aragorn, Faramir, Frodo, and Eowyn. Oh, and maybe Treebeard, come to think of it.
Which I don't mind! You know who I would choose if the question was "Favorite Tolkien character"...that would be Sam. There's perhaps an argument to be made that Sam is a hero, saying that his quest is either getting Frodo to the mountain, or rejuvenating the Shire. However, I would say that he's an accessory helper in Frodo's quest, and rejuvenating the Shire was a group effort.
ANYWAY. Among those six, my favorite is...
Oh dear.
I have to choose between Aragorn and Faramir?? 
But I WUV them. Both of them. Very, very much.
Ahhh but I have to say Faramir. At least, at this very moment. This surprises me as much as it does you, I promise. 
I mean to say. The way he treats Frodo! And his attitude to war ("I do not love the arrow for its swiftness...")! And the fact that he loves his brother so much even though his father is always comparing them! And his sheer epic awesomeness! And the moment where he's coming back to Gondor and fighting off the attackers, and!!!! Also how much Beregond loves (philia-s) him! And his loyalty to Aragorn! And then his injury and slow healing process, and his arc, and the romance with Eowyn...<3 <3 <3 I wuv him. I wuv Aragorn, too, but I wuv Faramir more, I do believe. At least, at this moment. Idk. Aragorn is...higher. Faramir is more relatable in many ways, I think. And also has more of a visible arc. I dunno, that's just my opinion at the moment. I'm feeling rebellious today.

But also how can I resist a character of whom Tolkien says this: 

“A new character has come on the scene (I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien): Faramir, the brother of Boromir.” --Letter 66

2. Boromir: Favorite Tolkien character arc
Eowyn. Eowyn Eowyn Eowyn. 
Literally. Love her arc. So. Much.

I mean, she goes from pining after one man who is already taken in a very warrior-maiden-angst-y way to wishing for death and thus going out to fight the enemy disguised as a man, not wanting to see the next day's light, to being happily married to the man who is PERFECT FOR HER (literally it is so cute guyyyyyys I am never going to stop squealing about those two) and the in-between parts are so perfect, and she is so sassy, but also literally tamed by Faramir in many ways, and GAH. This arc, y'all. So good.

(um, also the moment where she asks Aragorn if she can with him on the paths of the dead, and points out that other people are going, dude, and he says "they're going with me because they love me", and she's like: "....yes. Your point?" Is one of my very favorite LOTR things. XD)

3. Frodo: Favorite song or poem by Tolkien
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is good does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken
A light from the shadows shall spring
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless again shall be king.

'Nuff said.

Image credit: Tea With Tolkien

4. Gandalf: Favorite wise Tolkien quotation

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament....There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth, and more than that: Death: by the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires." 

Or perhaps even more my favorite:

"The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow my exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals."

5. Gimli: A Middle-earth location you'd like to visit
Gon. Dor. GONDOR. Specifically Minas Tirith. Always and with all my heart do I want to visit that city which would obviously be basically the fulfillment of everything we want European cities to be, but which they never completely are, with the added benefit of being IN MIDDLE-EARTH and ARAGORN BEING THERE. 
(Rivendell second, though. XD)
(Oh but I forgot about the Shire! Dang! I don't know, between Minas Tirith and the Shire...gah. Probably still Minas Tirith, but JUST BARELY. And that might change, like, in the next five minutes.)

6. Legolas: Favorite Middle-earth Weapon
Anduril, the Flame of the West, that was Broken and Reforged! Obviously. ;)

Fr. DD has this edition of LOTR on a shelf in his office, and I drool over it every time I go in.

7. Merry: Favorite way to celebrate Tolkien's stories
Reading them? Ranting about them in a group setting? Is this a trick question? 

But if reading them is not an acceptable answer for this, I'll have to say...I got a Tolkien cookbook out of the library this spring and did a day where I made all the hobbit meals, and it was GREAT fun, and very delicious also. That was a fun way to celebrate his stories, for sure. 10/10 would recommend.

8. Pippin: Favorite funny Tolkien quotation
I'm not entirely sure I can pick a favorite, since there are many, and also, I don't think about *funny* Tolkien quotes all that often, but I do like this one:

“The minor imp of Slubgob’s brood who specially attends to preventing C.S.L. and myself from meeting provided a special attraction in the morning with the leaking of the scullery tap coinciding with the blocking of the sink!” --Letter 96

It references The Screwtape Letters while also retaining a sense of humor about friendship, household misfortunes, and the difficulties of doing the good. Idk, I find it amusing!

Or maybe:

“[At the Inklings was read] some excerpts from C. S. L.’s ‘Who Goes Home?’ – a book on Hell, which I suggested should have been called rather ‘Hugo’s Home’.” --Letter 72

(This refers to Hugo Dyson, who, I believe, is the Inkling who took a persistent dislike to LOTR.)

9. Samwise: A Middle-earth food you'd like to try
I mean, the obvious food I'd like to try is Lembas. But if you're looking at LOTR from a Catholic perspective (which you really should be), I already have tried Lembas. (And found it sweet. :)) 
So, instead I think I'll say I'd like to try Sam's rabbit stew. (With--you guessed it--potatoes, of course!) It sounds like it would be a delicious autumnal meal. 

Who do you think fits in the category of hero/heroine? Have you ever read Tolkien's collected letters? Had you ever heard of the Tolkien quotes I included?