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So, this is my reading of the new Italian translation by Ottavio Fatica. I'm happy l read it because it's part of the history of The Lord of the Rings in Italy - but never again.

I lothed it.

There's a story saying that Fatica claimed not to get what readers find in this book. Some say this is a urban legend because that interview cannot be found anywhere.

I don't need that interview. ⬇️

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And this is the true end. The last chapter.
Or is it?
Because, like Sam, there are more pages for us to write.

I can read this ending thousands of times and it will never be with dry eyes.
But always, I'm grateful for Tolkien's gift. For his invitation to do as the Hobbits: not just witness the story, but bring it back with us, let her empower us and guide our action.

This is a powerful book.

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When l read LotR the first time, so many years ago, l didn't like this more ending. What did l care of the Shire? The true story was the epic one. Sauron had been destroyed. Nothing else was important.

Today l think this is one of the most important chapters in the book.
This is the reason why this story has been told.

Maybe, it's an invitation to bring this story back with us too, into our life. And use it powerfully.

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This chapter really has that feeling of homecoming.
After all the epic happenings, the story has to end here, where it started. In a place of common sense.
Tolkien masterfully brings us home. The atmosphere changes. The language changes. There's a different feeling to everything.
It's home... But not quite.

Our hobbits have changed, but the Share had not stayed still either.

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Sotell me something: how it is that you perseive the grand story has ended, and yet, the story is not over?
After two very different ending, you feel that there's more and that what's to come is important.

It's not Tolkien's trick to add some more pages. It's integral to the story and her heart.
And you want to know all abou it.

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I seriously love the love story between Faramir and Eowyn. It's a story of courage, strength and fortitude. And yet it is also about quiet, almost hidden actions. Decisions taken in the deep places of the heart.

These people who face the darkness not in front of the Black Gate, but on the bastions of their homeland are as much heros as the one who fought with the sword.

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And so yes. In the meantime, l quietly managed to finish.The Lord of the Rings 😜

They say LotR has many ends. If you consider the distraction of the Ring the first, tragic end, then this is the second. The happy ending that everyone wants.
It's the eucatastrephe, so of course Tolkien gave it to us.

A friend of mine always wants to stop reading here, but l think LotR is the masterpiece it is because it doesn't end here.

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The way Tolkien describes Sam and Frodo's bond in this last leg of the journey, the most harrowing, makes me think he must have had a real-life example in mind. It's so realistic and involving that he can't have made it up.
I wonder if he saw this kind of comradery in the trenches of WWI. Soldiers developed a very peculiar, uncommon bond in those terrible circumstances. May Tolkien have had that in mind when he wrote this?

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The crossing of Golgoroth is terrible. Frodo and Sam are losing everything. Including hope, for Frodo. In the end, even Sam falters. And yet, somehow, Tolkien manages to keep hope alive.
The episode where Sam sees the star high above, between the clouds (could it be Eärendil?) is one of my very favourite passages in the book.

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This is one of my favourite chapters. Sam coming into his 'power'. I love it!
And my favourite moment in the chapter is when Sam sings and Frodo answers his song.
Something like this happens in the Silmarillion too, when Fingon is looking for Maedhros. Tolkien didn't know whether readers would ever read the Silmarillion, so I wonder whether he included this episode because he loved the concept so much. It is very touching.