History TheLordOfTheRings / TropesDToF

* TheFlameOfLife: Gandalf identifies himself as "servent of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of Anor" during his confrontation with Durin's Bane, and reveals at the end he has been entrusted with one of the Three, Narya (sometimes called the Ring of Fire). His task on Middle-earth is to encourage, inspire, and fill men with the right sort of fire to confront evil, and after his fall on Durin's Bridge the text describes it as his light going out.

* EverybodyKnewAlready: Frodo spends several chapters keeping secret the idea that he is going to leave the Shire permanently, coming up with an elaborate cover story about moving to Buckland and even buying a home there, which leaves him in consternation (upon seeing the new house set up for him by Merry, Pippin, and Fatty) at telling them that he has no plans to actually live there. As it turns out, though, the three of them figured it out months ago, between Frodo's melancholy attitude, the bizarreness of selling his family home to his local nemeses, the fact that he's been talking to Gandalf so much, and having heard him mutter things like "will I ever see the valley again?" That said, they reassure him that it's only known to them, since they know him well enough to tell when he's lying.

The story begins with Bilbo's homely descriptions of the hobbit characters' interaction, gradually changes to Frodo's scholarly and [[PurpleProse slightly purple narration]] throughout most of the rest of the book, and ending with Sam's down-to-earth, humble (but still educated) language towards the end -- the second half of Book Six, detailing the Scouring and renewal of the Shire, is directly implied to have been written by Sam ("I ''have'' finished. The last few pages are for you").

--> '''Frodo:''' For I have become very fond of Strider. Well, fond is not the right word. I mean he is dear to me; [[GoodIsNotNice though he is strange, and grim at times]]. [[YouAreACreditToYourRace In fact, he reminds me often of you. I didn't know that any of the Big People were like that]]. [[InnocentBigot I thought, well, that they were just big, and rather stupid:]] [[DumbIsGood kind and stupid like Butterbur]]; or [[StupidEvil stupid and wicked like Bill Ferny]]. But then we don't know much about Men in the Shire, except perhaps the Breelanders.\\

--> '''Witch-King:''' Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn [=...=] He will bear thee away to the Houses of Lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.

-->''Frodo looked around in horror. The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and gray, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails upon the lands about. High mounds of crushed and powdered rock, great cones of earth fire-blasted and poison-stained, stood like an obscene graveyard in endless rows, slowly revealed in the reluctant light. They had come to the desolation that lay before Mordor: the lasting monument to the dark labour of its slaves that should endure when all their purposes were made void; a land defiled, diseased beyond all healing, unless the Great Sea should enter in and wash it with oblivion.\\

* DungeonCrawling: The Fellowship's travel through Moria is the TropeCodifier. A party of adventurers need to make their way through an ancient dwarven mine-city, fighting a boss battle along the way. Unlike later examples of this trope, however, there are no combat until the second half, and they are not looking for a treasure at the end.

* DrumsOfWar: After Pippin drops a stone down the well in the Mines of Moria, the Fellowship hears the sound of a hammer tapping, echoing up out of the well. It's not explicitly stated, but if Pippin hadn't dropped the stone, they may have been able to avoid attention from the Orcs that now infest the mines. A little later, in the Chamber of Mazarbul, they find the Dwarven expedition's ApocalypticLog, which mentions "drums, drums in the deep". Moments later, the Fellowhsip hears drums - a signal made by the Orcs that they are gathering to attack the Fellowship.

* {{Doorstopper}}: Despite being [[DividedForPublication called a trilogy]], it's really just one giant book. Which the publisher divided into three volumes. Different reasons have been given: to reduce its intimidating size, to earn three sets of attention-getting reviews, or to get around the initial financial and paper-supply shortages by printing three Fellowships rather than one three-in-one. Many later editions restore the three parts to one big book, though.

* EvilVersusEvil: Saruman was constantly plotting against Sauron.

* DrumsOfWar: After Pippin knocks a stone down the well in the Mines of Moria, the Fellowship hears drum-beats echoing up out of the well. It's not explicitly stated, but this is the sound of the orcs that now infest the mines gathering to attack the Fellowship.

** It's a running theme in the books. Theoden offers forgiveness to Grima Wormtongue, and the latter is baffled and thinks it's a ruse, and flees. Saruman cannot comprehend the mercy shown by the Shire when he's expelled (and it gets him killed by Grima who has had enough of Saruman's orders.)

* DeadlyDeferredConversation: {{Subverted}} in ''The Two Towers''. The lines quoted below sound like they are going to be this trope, but both characters survive and the conversation presumably happens at some point. Faramir to Frodo:
-->"I would gladly learn how this creeping Smeagol became possessed of the Thing of which we speak, and how he lost it, but I will not trouble you now. If ever beyond hope you return to the lands of the living and we re-tell our tales, sitting by a wall in the sun, laughing at old grief, you shall tell me then."

** Minas Morgul, aka the Tower of Dark Sorcery, was built as Minas Ithil by the exiled Númenóreans to protect Gondor from Sauron's forces. Then the Witch-King of Angmar, TheDragon to [[BigBad Sauron]], showed up with an army and made himself at home.

* DistantSequel: ''The Lord of the Rings'' takes place sixty years after ''Literature/TheHobbit''; this is not immediately noticeable due to most main characters belonging to species that are either very LongLived or actually [[TheAgeless ageless]], but enough time has passed for Bilbo to become an old man with an adult nephew and for the city of Dale to be ruled by the grandson of Bard, who becomes its ruler at the end of ''The Hobbit''.

%%* {{Determinator}}: The Three Hunters, Gollum, Frodo and Sam, especially when going through Mordor.

%%** Morgul Vale.

%%** The Southron chieftain with the black serpent banner.

%%* TheFaceless: The Nazgûl.

* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: As he lies in Eowyn's arms dying from the mortal wounds inflicted upon him by the Witch-King in the aftermath of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, Theoden comments, "My eyes darken," before trying to comfort his niece and proudly declaring he no longer feels ashamed of himself for letting Saruman nearly destroy Rohan.

*** Somewhat downplayed in the narration making clear, that neither Sam nor some of the greatest heroes of Men [[note]] [[TheChildrenOfHurin Turin]] and [[silmarillion Beren]] are specifically namedropped[[/note] would have the power to hurt her so. Shelob herself lowering her bulk on a blade pointing upwards though...

* DarkestHour: Happens at least once in each book; Frodo's flight to Rivendell pursued by all nine of the Nazgûl, the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, the Breaking of the Fellowship, the Battle at Helm's Deep, the Siege of Gondor, the Battle at the Black Gates.