“The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge’s fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin’s halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.”
I’ve been re-reading The Lord of the Rings for the fourth or fifth time, though it’s the first time I’ve read it in over a decade.
Thanks to the re-reads and the films, I know the story inside and out but I’d forgotten just how well-written the book is. Probably a cliche at this point, but the world feels absolutely lived in and nothing feels “tropey”.
Especially now, I’m loving being back in Middle-Earth.