Tears in LOTR
Originally posted 10/1/03 on lordoftherings; updated to add ROTK film data.
Since everyone's been talking so much about how ROTK makes them cry, and since I've been impressed at the ability of the actors to get all weepy themselves, I thought I'd do a search in the actual book and catalog all the times the characters are in tears. Here is the full list of quotations, from searches on the words "tears," "weep," and "wept." ("Cry" is only used as "shout," in Tolkien, it seems.)
More or less in order of how they appear in the books...
Gandalf telling the story of Gollum: 'He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world, and he journeyed up the River, till he came to a stream that flowed down from the mountains, and he went that way.' ...' He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat...'
Gandalf inviting Sam along: ‘Me, sir!’ cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. ‘Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!’ he shouted, and then burst into tears.
Strider after the Weathertop attack: ' ...I fear, Sam, that they believe your master has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will. We shall see!' Sam choked with tears.
Letting Bill the Pony go: Sam burst into tears, and fumbled with the straps, unlading all the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground.
Sam, at Galadriel's mirror: After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. `No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said.
Attack of the Watcher outside Moria: Sam leaped after him, and then hearing Frodo's cry he ran back again, weeping and cursing.
After Gandalf's fall: Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping, and then he found that he himself was weeping as he ran. ... Grief at last wholly overcame them, and they wept long: some standing and silent, some cast upon the ground.
Leaving Lorien: The travellers now turned their faces to the journey; the sun was before them, and their eyes were dazzled, for all were filled with tears. Gimli wept openly.
Boromir after trying to get the Ring: For a while he was as still as if his own curse had struck him down; then suddenly he wept.
Sam passed his hand over his eyes, brushing away the tears. 'Steady, Gamgee! ' he said. `Think, if you can! He can't fly across rivers, and he can't jump waterfalls.'
Aragorn at Boromir's death: He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him.
Gollum in Emyn Muil: . 'I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sméagol, gollum, gollum!' Suddenly he began to weep and bite at his ankle again.
Sam being reminded by Frodo that they probably won't live past Mt. Doom: He took his master's hand and bent over it. He did not kiss it, though his tears fell on it. Then he turned away, drew his sleeve over his nose, and got up, and stamped about, trying to whistle, and saying between the efforts: 'Where's that dratted creature?'
Gollum telling tales: '...we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum.' He began to weep and mutter. The hobbits waited patiently.
Gollum being captured by Faramir's men: Gollum went limp, and began to whine and weep.
Frodo at the Morgul Vale: '...Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.' Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge.
Sam after Shelob's attack: Then at last he began to weep; and going to Frodo he composed his body, and folded his cold hands upon his breast, and wrapped his cloak about him; and he laid his own sword at one side, and the staff that Faramir had given at the other. ... He fancied there was a glimmer on the ground down there, or perhaps it was some trick of his tears, as he peered out at that high stony place where all his life had fallen in ruin.
Eowyn saying goodbye to Aragorn before Paths of the Dead: Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous.
In Minas Tirith: The winged Shadows were not seen again that day, yet ever and anon, high above the city, a faint cry would come, and many who heard it would stand stricken with a passing dread, while the less stout-hearted quailed and wept. ... But when men ran to learn what it might be, they cried aloud or wept. For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen fighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields.
Pippin with Denethor, hearing of Faramir's wounds: He saw tears on that once tearless face, more unbearable than wrath. ‘Do not weep, lord,’ he stammered. ‘Perhaps he will get well. Have you asked Gandalf?’
‘Faramir! Faramir!’ men cried, weeping in the streets.
Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. ‘They said that he was dying,’ he sighed, ‘and now he is dead.’
On the Pelennor Fields, at Theoden's fall: Yet one stood there still: Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for he had loved his lord as a father.
Eowyn on the battlefield: Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek.
Pelennor Fields: And there stood Meriadoc the hobbit in the midst of the slain, blinking like an owl in the daylight, for tears blinded him; and through a mist he looked on Éowyn’s fair head, as she lay and did not move...
With Theoden on the battlefield: Merry could not speak, but wept anew. ‘Forgive me, lord,’ he said at last, ‘if I broke your command, and yet have done no more in your service than to weep at our parting.’
Eomer finding Theoden: And those who stood by wept, crying: ‘Théoden King! Théoden King!’ But Éomer said to them:
Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen,
meet was his ending. When his mound is raised,
women then shall weep. War now calls us!
Yet he himself wept as he spoke.
Prince Imrahil, for Theoden: Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier in honour of the king and his great onset; and he wept.
Pippin in Minas Tirith: And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.
Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the flame died in his eyes, and he wept; and he said: ‘Do not take my son from me! He calls for me.’
Merry, found by Pippin in Minas Tirith: ‘Where is the king?’ he said. ‘And Éowyn?’ Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again.
Bergil in the Houses of Healing: Then looking at Faramir he burst into tears.
Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir, wept, for all the people loved him.
Eomer, Houses of Healing: ‘Éowyn, Éowyn!’ cried Éomer amid his tears.
Sam seeking Frodo in Cirith Ungol: `Frodo, Frodo! Master!’ he cried half sobbing. ‘If they’ve killed you, what shall I do?'
Cirith Ungol again: `Frodo! Mr. Frodo, my dear!’ cried Sam, tears almost blinding him. `It’s Sam, I’ve come!’
Yet more Cirith Ungol, after an unkind word from Frodo: There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung with pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled from his eyes.
Sam in Mordor: Hardest of all it was to part with his cooking-gear. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of casting it away.
With Frodo at the foot of Mt. Doom: Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. ‘I said I’d carry him, if it broke my back,’ he muttered, ‘and I will!’
Gollum on Mt. Doom: ‘Don’t kill us,’ he wept. ‘Don’t hurt us with nassty cruel steel!'
Theoden's funeral: But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: ‘Théoden King, Théoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me. for a little while. Farewell!’ ...When the burial was over and the weeping of women was stilled, and Théoden was left at last alone in his barrow, then folk gathered to the Golden Hall for the great feast and put away sorrow; for Théoden had lived to full years and ended in honour no less than the greatest of his sires.
Sam, seeing Gandalf again in the Houses of Healing: But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.
Sam and Frodo being hailed as the Ringbearers: And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: ‘O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!’ And then he wept.
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed.
Finding the Party Tree cut down: As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears.
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins after the Scouring: She insisted on hobbling out on her own feet; and she had such a welcome, and there was such clapping and cheering when she appeared, leaning on Frodo’s arm but still clutching her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in tears.
Sam hearing that Frodo is leaving for the Grey Havens: ‘But,’ said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, ‘I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.’
Grey Havens: And amid his tears Pippin laughed. (Yes, that is the only mention of tears at the Grey Havens, despite/besides Gandalf saying, "I will not say, 'Do not weep...'")
So...conclusions from the book:
1) Sam is in tears quite a lot.
2) So is Gollum.
3) So are hobbits in general.
4) Faramir and Theoden are popular guys, judging from the amount of tears they inspire.
Now, compare to the tears in the films:
FOTR:
Sam looks close to tears when Frodo is stabbed at Weathertop.
Arwen lets a tear fall on Frodo while rescuing him.
Bilbo cries a bit after he nearly attacks Frodo in Rivendell.
Sam looks close to tears while letting Bill go outside Moria.
Gimli grieves on the tomb of Balin.
Sam looks close to tears when Frodo gets attacked by the cave troll.
Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin cry after Gandalf's fall.
Boromir weeps a little after attacking Frodo.
A tear falls down Aragorn's face after Boromir's death.
Frodo sheds tears over Gandalf, on the riverbank; then he and Sam weep on each other in the boat.
TTT:
Children and mothers being attacked by Orcs weep.
Eowyn cries over her cousin's death.
Eowyn sheds tears of joy when Theoden recovers.
Eowyn gets tears in her eyes when thinking Aragorn is dead.
Eowyn gets tears in her eyes when Aragorn returns alive.
Theoden weeps over his son's grave.
Arwen sheds tears when Elrond tells her Aragorn will die.
Frodo has tears in his eyes when Gollum brings him the rabbits.
Gollum curls up crying when Faramir captures him.
Grima sheds a tear upon seeing Saruman's army.
Women, children, and men weep at being separated in Helm's Deep.
Merry seems to have tears in his eyes when getting frustrated by the Ents.
Sam gives his speech toward the end in tears.
Frodo is very nearly weeping during Sam's speech.
ROTK:
Smeagol weeps during his transformation into Gollum.
Merry gets tears in his eyes when parting from Pippin.
Arwen sheds a few tears at the vision of her son.
Denethor appears to have tears in his eyes when grieving for Boromir.
Faramir gets choked up when Denethor turns him away.
Sam weeps when Frodo tells him to go home.
Frodo as well seems to have tears in his eyes there.
Pippin seems about to cry at the end of his song.
Arwen sheds a tear in Aragorn's dream.
Eowyn seems about to weep when Aragorn turns her down.
Denethor seems about to weep when thinking Faramir is dead.
Frodo seems about to weep when realizing Gollum has trapped him in Shelob's lair.
Frodo has tears in his eyes when telling Gollum he has to destroy the Ring "for both our sakes."
Sam weeps over Frodo after the Shelob incident.
Citizens are crying during the attack on Minas Tirith.
Eowyn weeps over Theoden on the battlefield.
Pippin seems choked up when finding Merry on the battlefield.
Sam begins weeping when describing spring-in-the-Shire to Frodo, and pretty much keeps it up till the time of the Eagle rescue.
Frodo seems to shed a tear when standing at the Cracks of Doom (just the lava fumes?).
Frodo joins him in weeping "at the end of all things."
Gandalf sheds a tear, and Merry and Pippin weep, when watching Mount Doom erupt.
Merry, Pippin, and Sam (and all fifty million viewers) weep at the Grey Havens.
Did I miss any?
My main conclusion of note is that they seem to be making the women a lot weepier in the movie versions. Overall, though, the pattern of tears is pretty similar between book canon and movie canon. This suggests to me that, as we already knew, they preserved the emotional heart of the story quite well for the films, whatever other changes they made.
Since everyone's been talking so much about how ROTK makes them cry, and since I've been impressed at the ability of the actors to get all weepy themselves, I thought I'd do a search in the actual book and catalog all the times the characters are in tears. Here is the full list of quotations, from searches on the words "tears," "weep," and "wept." ("Cry" is only used as "shout," in Tolkien, it seems.)
More or less in order of how they appear in the books...
Gandalf telling the story of Gollum: 'He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world, and he journeyed up the River, till he came to a stream that flowed down from the mountains, and he went that way.' ...' He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat...'
Gandalf inviting Sam along: ‘Me, sir!’ cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. ‘Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!’ he shouted, and then burst into tears.
Strider after the Weathertop attack: ' ...I fear, Sam, that they believe your master has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will. We shall see!' Sam choked with tears.
Letting Bill the Pony go: Sam burst into tears, and fumbled with the straps, unlading all the pony's packs and throwing them on the ground.
Sam, at Galadriel's mirror: After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. `No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said.
Attack of the Watcher outside Moria: Sam leaped after him, and then hearing Frodo's cry he ran back again, weeping and cursing.
After Gandalf's fall: Frodo heard Sam at his side weeping, and then he found that he himself was weeping as he ran. ... Grief at last wholly overcame them, and they wept long: some standing and silent, some cast upon the ground.
Leaving Lorien: The travellers now turned their faces to the journey; the sun was before them, and their eyes were dazzled, for all were filled with tears. Gimli wept openly.
Boromir after trying to get the Ring: For a while he was as still as if his own curse had struck him down; then suddenly he wept.
Sam passed his hand over his eyes, brushing away the tears. 'Steady, Gamgee! ' he said. `Think, if you can! He can't fly across rivers, and he can't jump waterfalls.'
Aragorn at Boromir's death: He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand. So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him.
Gollum in Emyn Muil: . 'I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sméagol, gollum, gollum!' Suddenly he began to weep and bite at his ankle again.
Sam being reminded by Frodo that they probably won't live past Mt. Doom: He took his master's hand and bent over it. He did not kiss it, though his tears fell on it. Then he turned away, drew his sleeve over his nose, and got up, and stamped about, trying to whistle, and saying between the efforts: 'Where's that dratted creature?'
Gollum telling tales: '...we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum.' He began to weep and mutter. The hobbits waited patiently.
Gollum being captured by Faramir's men: Gollum went limp, and began to whine and weep.
Frodo at the Morgul Vale: '...Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.' Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge.
Sam after Shelob's attack: Then at last he began to weep; and going to Frodo he composed his body, and folded his cold hands upon his breast, and wrapped his cloak about him; and he laid his own sword at one side, and the staff that Faramir had given at the other. ... He fancied there was a glimmer on the ground down there, or perhaps it was some trick of his tears, as he peered out at that high stony place where all his life had fallen in ruin.
Eowyn saying goodbye to Aragorn before Paths of the Dead: Then it seemed to Gimli and Legolas who were nearby that she wept, and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous.
In Minas Tirith: The winged Shadows were not seen again that day, yet ever and anon, high above the city, a faint cry would come, and many who heard it would stand stricken with a passing dread, while the less stout-hearted quailed and wept. ... But when men ran to learn what it might be, they cried aloud or wept. For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen fighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields.
Pippin with Denethor, hearing of Faramir's wounds: He saw tears on that once tearless face, more unbearable than wrath. ‘Do not weep, lord,’ he stammered. ‘Perhaps he will get well. Have you asked Gandalf?’
‘Faramir! Faramir!’ men cried, weeping in the streets.
Beregond bowed his head to hide his tears. ‘They said that he was dying,’ he sighed, ‘and now he is dead.’
On the Pelennor Fields, at Theoden's fall: Yet one stood there still: Dernhelm the young, faithful beyond fear; and he wept, for he had loved his lord as a father.
Eowyn on the battlefield: Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek.
Pelennor Fields: And there stood Meriadoc the hobbit in the midst of the slain, blinking like an owl in the daylight, for tears blinded him; and through a mist he looked on Éowyn’s fair head, as she lay and did not move...
With Theoden on the battlefield: Merry could not speak, but wept anew. ‘Forgive me, lord,’ he said at last, ‘if I broke your command, and yet have done no more in your service than to weep at our parting.’
Eomer finding Theoden: And those who stood by wept, crying: ‘Théoden King! Théoden King!’ But Éomer said to them:
Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen,
meet was his ending. When his mound is raised,
women then shall weep. War now calls us!
Yet he himself wept as he spoke.
Prince Imrahil, for Theoden: Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier in honour of the king and his great onset; and he wept.
Pippin in Minas Tirith: And never in after years could he hear a horn blown in the distance without tears starting in his eyes.
Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the flame died in his eyes, and he wept; and he said: ‘Do not take my son from me! He calls for me.’
Merry, found by Pippin in Minas Tirith: ‘Where is the king?’ he said. ‘And Éowyn?’ Then he stumbled and sat down on a doorstep and began to weep again.
Bergil in the Houses of Healing: Then looking at Faramir he burst into tears.
Then an old wife, Ioreth, the eldest of the women who served in that house, looking on the fair face of Faramir, wept, for all the people loved him.
Eomer, Houses of Healing: ‘Éowyn, Éowyn!’ cried Éomer amid his tears.
Sam seeking Frodo in Cirith Ungol: `Frodo, Frodo! Master!’ he cried half sobbing. ‘If they’ve killed you, what shall I do?'
Cirith Ungol again: `Frodo! Mr. Frodo, my dear!’ cried Sam, tears almost blinding him. `It’s Sam, I’ve come!’
Yet more Cirith Ungol, after an unkind word from Frodo: There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung with pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled from his eyes.
Sam in Mordor: Hardest of all it was to part with his cooking-gear. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of casting it away.
With Frodo at the foot of Mt. Doom: Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. ‘I said I’d carry him, if it broke my back,’ he muttered, ‘and I will!’
Gollum on Mt. Doom: ‘Don’t kill us,’ he wept. ‘Don’t hurt us with nassty cruel steel!'
Theoden's funeral: But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: ‘Théoden King, Théoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me. for a little while. Farewell!’ ...When the burial was over and the weeping of women was stilled, and Théoden was left at last alone in his barrow, then folk gathered to the Golden Hall for the great feast and put away sorrow; for Théoden had lived to full years and ended in honour no less than the greatest of his sires.
Sam, seeing Gandalf again in the Houses of Healing: But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.
Sam and Frodo being hailed as the Ringbearers: And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: ‘O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!’ And then he wept.
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed.
Finding the Party Tree cut down: As if this was the last straw Sam burst into tears.
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins after the Scouring: She insisted on hobbling out on her own feet; and she had such a welcome, and there was such clapping and cheering when she appeared, leaning on Frodo’s arm but still clutching her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in tears.
Sam hearing that Frodo is leaving for the Grey Havens: ‘But,’ said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, ‘I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.’
Grey Havens: And amid his tears Pippin laughed. (Yes, that is the only mention of tears at the Grey Havens, despite/besides Gandalf saying, "I will not say, 'Do not weep...'")
So...conclusions from the book:
1) Sam is in tears quite a lot.
2) So is Gollum.
3) So are hobbits in general.
4) Faramir and Theoden are popular guys, judging from the amount of tears they inspire.
Now, compare to the tears in the films:
FOTR:
Sam looks close to tears when Frodo is stabbed at Weathertop.
Arwen lets a tear fall on Frodo while rescuing him.
Bilbo cries a bit after he nearly attacks Frodo in Rivendell.
Sam looks close to tears while letting Bill go outside Moria.
Gimli grieves on the tomb of Balin.
Sam looks close to tears when Frodo gets attacked by the cave troll.
Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin cry after Gandalf's fall.
Boromir weeps a little after attacking Frodo.
A tear falls down Aragorn's face after Boromir's death.
Frodo sheds tears over Gandalf, on the riverbank; then he and Sam weep on each other in the boat.
TTT:
Children and mothers being attacked by Orcs weep.
Eowyn cries over her cousin's death.
Eowyn sheds tears of joy when Theoden recovers.
Eowyn gets tears in her eyes when thinking Aragorn is dead.
Eowyn gets tears in her eyes when Aragorn returns alive.
Theoden weeps over his son's grave.
Arwen sheds tears when Elrond tells her Aragorn will die.
Frodo has tears in his eyes when Gollum brings him the rabbits.
Gollum curls up crying when Faramir captures him.
Grima sheds a tear upon seeing Saruman's army.
Women, children, and men weep at being separated in Helm's Deep.
Merry seems to have tears in his eyes when getting frustrated by the Ents.
Sam gives his speech toward the end in tears.
Frodo is very nearly weeping during Sam's speech.
ROTK:
Smeagol weeps during his transformation into Gollum.
Merry gets tears in his eyes when parting from Pippin.
Arwen sheds a few tears at the vision of her son.
Denethor appears to have tears in his eyes when grieving for Boromir.
Faramir gets choked up when Denethor turns him away.
Sam weeps when Frodo tells him to go home.
Frodo as well seems to have tears in his eyes there.
Pippin seems about to cry at the end of his song.
Arwen sheds a tear in Aragorn's dream.
Eowyn seems about to weep when Aragorn turns her down.
Denethor seems about to weep when thinking Faramir is dead.
Frodo seems about to weep when realizing Gollum has trapped him in Shelob's lair.
Frodo has tears in his eyes when telling Gollum he has to destroy the Ring "for both our sakes."
Sam weeps over Frodo after the Shelob incident.
Citizens are crying during the attack on Minas Tirith.
Eowyn weeps over Theoden on the battlefield.
Pippin seems choked up when finding Merry on the battlefield.
Sam begins weeping when describing spring-in-the-Shire to Frodo, and pretty much keeps it up till the time of the Eagle rescue.
Frodo seems to shed a tear when standing at the Cracks of Doom (just the lava fumes?).
Frodo joins him in weeping "at the end of all things."
Gandalf sheds a tear, and Merry and Pippin weep, when watching Mount Doom erupt.
Merry, Pippin, and Sam (and all fifty million viewers) weep at the Grey Havens.
Did I miss any?
My main conclusion of note is that they seem to be making the women a lot weepier in the movie versions. Overall, though, the pattern of tears is pretty similar between book canon and movie canon. This suggests to me that, as we already knew, they preserved the emotional heart of the story quite well for the films, whatever other changes they made.