Wedding Readings - Help Needed :)
 

Hi All--

Wonder if I might pick your collective brain for some quoteable material---I will be doing a few readings at my sister's wedding on Friday, and thought an excerpt, poem or song from Tolkiens works might be perfect!! While "The Road Goes Ever On.." seems the obvious choice, I was hoping to be pointed towards something a bit more obscure and apropos...?

An excerpt/poem/song would be fine, from any of Tolkiens collected works...

Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

"Where there's a whip, there's a will, my slugs." Perfect! :D

Perhaps part of the tale of Tinúviel as told by Strider in FOTR?

LOL! Or perhaps, "One Ring to Rule Them All..."

I'll take a look at Tinuviel now... Thanks!

Other thoughts?

For a wedding? I think that is a good choice. For example:

Apart from the Tale of Tinuviel,which seems the most odvious choice,why don't you try a little bit of Thingol and Melian?The meeting part?I don't know if you do,but in our weddings we read a part of apostle Paul's letters that fits.

I think there aren't many apart from those already mentioned. I think the problem is that most of the possible parts are short, apart from those mentioned above, like the lay of Lúthien. It is, of course, possible to just have a shorter quote, but it depends what exactly is the custom and how would you like to use it... Anyway, in case you wanted to consider them, there might be e.g. some parts about Faramir and Éowyn (but I think it is not exactly suited for that, but you be the judge, maybe it is in this case) or whatever... You might like to go through all of them yourself, because, you are the one who should know what is "situationally appropriate" - like, in relation to the people and their relationship and all. For instance, even the random thing from Frodo about Sam with the "You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do" (which can be sort of directed towards both, not only one of them - hey, actually! Only now have I realised - wouldn't it be all too great to apply this really to both of them together, you know, in the spirit of the well-known wedding-verse "and they shall be one..."), that could be good as well... But in any case, the best are probably the "classics" as mentioned by others. Maybe, as the last one, of the "songs", some part of the song of the Ent and Entwife. But then again, you have to judge what is the best situationally fitting... it might be even something completely unlikely and not so obviously related might work, you should just consider that too...

This is a toughie..there are very few happy love stories in Tolkien and no real love poems. There are lovely scenes such as Faramir and Eowyn holding hands unknowing waiting for the stroke of doom but unless the congregation are all Tolkienists I wonder how much sense they would make. The wedding of Aldarion and Erendis is lovely if you forget how the story ends but out of context? Hmm

So much as I love Tolkien I think if I were choosing a wedding reading I would go for something like this (it is easier to follow if you ignore the line breaks):


i carry your heart with me
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

There are some nice lines in the "Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", Appendix A, where they meet in Lórien, though their renouncement of the Shadow is included. Whether that fits the personal context of the bridal couple remains for you to decide.

"But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.
"He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said."

Whatever you chose - and I would be curious to know..I hope all goes well..