If you had the option to create an ending to LOTR.

... what would it be????
I would like samwise to go to the grey havens, because he was the character that impressed me the most, fierce, loyal and faithful... and although he left Frodo at the tower, he redeemed himself by single-handedly rescuing Frodo (with a bit of orc slaying in there as well )

I thought he did go, dunker. And my mom borrowed my books so I can't even check.......

I wouldn't change it at all

and i don't think Sam goes to the grey heaven

yes he went. but only after Rosie's death. he had been a ring bearer too, so he could go

i'm to lazy now to look for the source <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

According to the Tale of Years (Appendex B, page 1134) in the year 1482 of the Shire Reckoning:
Death of Mistress Rose, wife of Master Samwise, on Midyears Day. On September 22 Master Samwise rides out from Bag End. He comes to the Tower Hills and is last seen by Elanor, to whom he gives the Red Book afterwards kept by the Fairbairns. Among them the tradition is handed down from Elanor that Samwise passed the Towers, and went to the Grey Havens, and passed over the Sea, last of the Ringbearers.

I don't know if I believe this, but there is evidence for it such as the line,
Though you too were a Ringbearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come.
And more evidence in the Epilogue in Sauron Defeated:
And there is one other reason, which I shall whisper to you, a secret which I have never told before to no one, nor put in the Book yet. Before he went Mr. Frodo said that my time maybe would come. I can wait. I think maybe we haven't said farewell for good.

Excellent work, Finduilas.

I like to believe that he went over the Sea.

So do I. It wasn't much work to find the quotes (this time) . I had them all on my website already. (makes things a lot simpler)

good job Finduilas!

i'd like to see a little more about what the rest of the Fellowship did after the Ringbearers departed - there's a little in the Tale of Years & the Tale of Aragorn & Arwen, but i want more!

Finduilas, Eruve, MM - does HoME go into this? haven't got a chance to read yet(grr).

aryne *

I think Gimli bring Legolas into the caves at helm deep

Gimli visits Fangorn, and Legolas visits the Glittering Caves, but they both go over the sea to Valinor.

This is in the Tale of Years, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

The last page of the Tale of Years.

Yes, dad went to Valinor. I saw him get on the ship myself.

Anyway, I would definitely have Wormtongue eat Frodo if I could create an alternate ending. And the Old Willow would turn out to be Treebeard's long-lost brother Treemustache, and they would have a big party and steal Bombadil's yellow boots.

I wouldn't touch the ending.

I might include the epilogue from HoME IX, but other than that... NO WAY I'd change it. I just remember that the first time I read the LOTR I was rather frusterated by the abrupt ending. "Well I'm back. He said" and that's all.

I would not dare to touch it, it is so perfect.

I consider a really good book to be one that is almost depressing to finish (as in "What the heck do I read now? None of my other books can follow up to THAT."). JRRT is a prime example of this.

2 others in this category are "Magic's Price" by Mercedes Lackey and "The Deed of Paksenarrion" by Elizabeth Moon.

Id throw my twist. Sauron wins, gets the ring and plunges middle
earth into death and darkness. But thats just me. <!--EZCODE
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images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT="">

Speaking of The dark lord. It would have been cool if there was a book on Sauron and his quest for power, how he got his armies, etc. Or is there one already?

Noone pays enough attention to the evil guys. The Silmarillian tells alot though.

perhaps you would enjoy reading "The Quest of the Ring" in Unfinished Tales. it focussed on Saurons plot and the travel of the Nazgul to find the Shire. you can feel the dread of being in such a company