How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph).
Quote #1
Stone-hard are the Dwarves in labour or journey, but this endless chase began to tell on [Gimli], as all hope failed in his heart. Aragorn walked behind him, grim and silent, stooping now and again to scan some print or mark upon the ground. Only Legolas still stepped as lightly as ever, his feet hardly seeming to press the grass, leaving no footprints as he passed; but in the waybread of the Elves he found all the sustenance that he needed, and he could sleep, if sleep it could be called by Men, resting his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of the world. (3.2.78)
These elves are relentless. They don't age, tire, or even die the way we unfortunate mortals do. Here is Legolas, after days of solid running after orcs, still stepping "as lightly as ever." He doesn't even need to sleep, which is quite efficient if we may say so. But what's really interesting about Legolas's stamina is that his physical youth ties him symbolically to the youth of Middle-earth. Elves are the Firstborn of the races of the world, present when Middle-earth was new and fresh. One way to think of the elves' departure from Middle-earth is as a coming of age story for Tolkien's world. The elves are associated with the early stages of Middle-earth's history, but over the course of The Lord of the Rings, as Middle-earth ages, they aren't needed anymore.
Quote #2
Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior and a lord of men. Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. (3.5.88)
When Merry and Pippin first go on Frodo's quest, we don't have a strong sense of what they will bring to the Fellowship. They are merry (no pun intended) and good-hearted, but they also get into a ton of trouble (remember Pippin alerting the orcs to their presence in the Mines of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring Book 2, Chapter 4?). But with youths like these, it's all about potential. Boromir and Aragorn are proven soldiers. But Merry's and Pippin's futures are blank slates.
Quote #3
I shall miss them. We have become friends in so short a while that I think I must be getting hasty—growing backwards towards youth, perhaps. But there, they are the first new thing under Sun or Moon that I have seen for many a long, long day. I shall not forget them. I have put their names into the Long List. Ents will remember it.
Ents the earthborn, old as mountains,
the wide walkers, water drinking:
and hungry as hunters, the Hobbit children,
the laughing-folk, the little people,they shall remain friends as long as leaves are renewed. Fare you well! (3.10.81)
In Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf justifies bringing Merry and Pippin along on this Ring quest instead of sturdy soldiers because the point of the quest is not strength of arms but cheer and friendship. After all, it's these powers that will support Frodo through the dark days of his battle with the Ring (see The Fellowship of the Ring Book 2, Chapter 3). Despite the fact that Merry and Pippin are now separated from their hobbit buddies, their continued purpose is not lost on Treebeard. They may be young, but they bring lighthearted laughter to their older, wearier companions.
Quote #4
"That—glass ball, now. He seemed mighty pleased with it. He knows or guesses something about it. But does he tell us what? No, not a word. Yet I picked it up, and I saved it from rolling into a pool. Here, I'll take that, my lad—that's all. I wonder what it is? It felt so very heavy." Pippin's voice fell very low, as if he were talking to himself.
"Hullo!" said Merry. "So that's what is bothering you? Now, Pippin my lad, don't forget Gildor's saying—the one Sam used to quote: Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
"But our whole life for months has been one long meddling in the affairs of Wizards," said Pippin. "I should like a lot of information as well as danger. I should like a look at that ball." (3.11.28-30)
Once again, Pippin's curiosity gets the better of him. First, in the Mines of Moria with the stone in the well (see The Fellowship of the Ring Book 2, Chapter 4), and now with Saruman's "glass ball." Nearly everyone addresses Pippin as "lad," even Merry, which makes sense because he is the youngest member of the Fellowship. Sometimes, he even seems like a bit of a stereotype, because all of Pippin's character traits are so typically youthful. He's curious, adaptable, careless, and always quick with a joke. But this makes him a useful contrast to the other, older members of the cast, particularly grave Aragorn and his wisdom of "many winters" (3.6.72).
Quote #5
You have taken no harm. There is no lie in your eyes, as I feared. But he did not speak long with you. A fool, but an honest fool, you remain, Peregrin Took. Wiser ones might have done worse in such a pass. But mark this! You have been saved, and all your friends too, mainly by good fortune, as it is called. You cannot count on it a second time. […] Don't shudder! If you will meddle in the affairs of Wizards, you must be prepared to think of such things. But come! I forgive you. (3.11.89)
When Gandalf hears Pippin's story of the palantír, he is relieved. Things could have been a lot worse. But he still feels free to give Pippin a good scolding for his carelessness. Gandalf's treatment of Pippin reinforces once more that Pippin is the youngest character in the novels, and the one most needing to acquire the wisdom that comes from experience. In this discussion between Pippin and Gandalf, whom do you identify with more—wise Gandalf or the naughty kid?
Quote #6
"What a fix!" said Sam. "That's the one place in all the lands we've ever heard of that we don't want to see any closer; and that's the one place we're trying to get to! And that's just where we can't get, nohow. We've come the wrong way altogether, seemingly. We can't get down; and if we did get down, we'd find all that green land a nasty bog, I'll warrant." (4.1.4)
Of all the things that occurred to us might happen when Frodo and Sam ditched the rest of the Company at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, getting lost was not one of them. It all looks so easy on Tolkien's maps of Middle-earth. Just keep on trucking towards a dark, restless evil, and you're in Mordor. But it's in moments like these that Frodo's utter inexperience with travel really shows through.
Quote #7
"But it's only sense: put the one lowest as is most likely to slip. I don't want to come down atop of you and knock you off—no sense in killing two with one fall."
Before Frodo could stop him, he sat down, swung his legs over the brink, and twisted around, scrabbling with his toes for a foothold. It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood, or more unwise.
"No, no! Sam, you old ass!" said Frodo. "You'll kill yourself for certain, going over like that without even a look to see what to make for. Come back!" He took Sam under the armpits and hauled him up again. "Now, wait a bit and be patient!" he said. (4.1.33-5)
In this scene, the age difference between Frodo and Sam becomes quite clear. Not only is Frodo Sam's boss, but he is also the wiser of the two, and the less careless (at least, until the Ring starts taking him over). Here in this scene on the rock face of Emyn Muil, Frodo doesn't shy away from bossing Sam around, calling him an "old ass," and picking him up like a child.
Quote #8
"The old fortress, very old, very horrible now. We used to hear tales from the South, when Sméagol was young, long ago. O yes, 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. (4.3.34)
Whenever Gollum remembers his youth, he always gets more Sméagol-like, without so much of the "evil light in his eyes" (4.3.52). We can't forget that Sméagol didn't start out as Gollum. He became Gollum through murder and misery, all thanks to the Ring. The fact that even characters like Gollum and Saruman do not start evil suggests something important about the moral universe of The Lord of the Rings: nothing is born bad. If we all start out as moral blank slates, and it's only when we act wrongly that we become evil, there must be a bit of a parallel between youth and goodness. It's only with time and bad choices that Gollum goes from being a hobbit-like lad to his current, twisted self. Remember, even the orcs come from the corruption of elves, and are not created bad (source, pg. 250) No wonder Merry and Pippin, the youngest of the crew, also seem the most innocent.
Quote #9
But we have our tales too, and news out of the South, you know. In the old days hobbits used to go on their travels now and again. Not that many ever came back, and not that all they said was believed: news from Bree, and not sure as Shiretalk, as the sayings go. But I've heard tales of the big folk down away in the Sunlands [...] They put houses and towers on the oliphauntses backs and all, and the oliphaunts throw rocks and trees at one another. So when you said "Men out of the South, all in red and gold," I said "were there any oliphaunts?" For if there was, I was going to take a look, risk or not. But now I don't suppose I'll ever see an oliphaunt. Maybe there ain't no such beast. (4.3.71)
Oh, you have youthful tales, Gollum? Well Sam's got 'em, too. Sam's recitation of the Shire rhyme about oliphaunts ("Grey as a mouse,/ Big as a house,/ Nose like a snake,/ I make the earth shake" [4.3.71]) is such a sudden reminder of the Shire and the youth that both Frodo and Sam passed there that it makes Frodo laugh. Here they are, sitting looking at Cirith Gorgor and talking about Cirith Ungol, and Sam's youthful song evokes a laugh, possibly because it ties together joyful things: the Shire, their past, tales, and happiness.
Quote #10
"See here, Captain!" [Sam] planted himself squarely in front of Faramir, his hands on his hips, and a look on his face as if he was addressing a young hobbit who had offered him what he called "sauce" when questioned about visits to the orchard. There was some murmuring, but also some grins on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit, legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their experience. "See here!" he said. "What are you driving at? Let's come to the point before all the Orcs of Mordor come down on us! If you think my master murdered this Boromir and then ran away, you've got no sense; but say it, and have done!" (4.5.24)
Sam's youth and his homely habits are both a great strength and a great weakness for him among all of these wise, tough guys. He cuts straight to the point of Faramir's debate with Frodo, asking point blank if Faramir thinks Frodo murdered Boromir. But his plain-spoken manner adds a touch of the ridiculous to the scene, so that Sam's honesty and loyalty take on a comic edge for the people watching him. He's a bit like an indignant child, and his anger doesn't hold much clout.