If you ever feel like you can't ever create anything worthwhile, remember that Tolkien thought this sequence was kind of weak and considered scrapping it.

RIP Bernard Hill

And so passes Théoden, King of Rohan, Lord of the Riddermark, Last of the second line of Kings and first of his name. May he find honor in the halls of his fathers.

Never before and again was a mortal man compared to one of the Valar, a middleman none the less. I hope that Bernard Hill is now sitting next to the Valar and his forefathers in peace. Rest In Peace

God I love hearing his pronunciations and cadence. The part where he says spears shall be shaken. Shields be splintered sounded for all the world to me like it was from the Beowulf intro.

This was beautiful. J.R.R. Tolkien was indeed as masterful linguist. Imagine listening to him reciting the entire trilogy as an epic ballad.

Hail the victorious dead.

Now I wish we had an audiobook with Tolkien reading his own works like this. What a WONDERFUL voice he had for narrating.

Hail Theoden, king! May he rest in peace!

“I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed…” King Thoden of Rohan

I love how Tolkien slowly builds up the metaphor of the water breaking the dam, at first just "pouring in slowly but steadily" and then when charging they "roared like a breaker foaming to the shore": As one could say: The dam of uncertainty is breached and the full force of light and horse and bravery is sweeping over the orcs... So amazing...

I love how Tolkien gets caught up in the moment while reading this

RIP to Bernard Hill

HAIL THE VICTORIOUS DEAD

If only Tolkien had narrated his entire work

The man survived world war I, lost several of his best friends in the process, and instead of drinking himself to an early grave and beating his family out of grief he chose to create one of the most beautifully crafted stories of our time. I wish I got to meet him

"Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:" "Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young." Bernard Hill embodied Theoden to legendary levels.

The comparison of Théoden to Oromë *chef's kiss*

Hail Theoden King of the Mark. may you find peace in the halls of your fathers. Hail now Eomer, King.

The parallel between Hurin saying "The day shall come once more" back in the first age in the battle of many tears, and Theoden saying " 'Ere the sun rises!" in the third age. Beautiful.

Hail the victorious dead! 😢

Gives me goosebumps. It feels like an ancient myth passed along through oral tradition.

"Too late was worse than never." Hits hard

One of the joys of this reading is that, when you listen carefully to Theoden's speech, starting when he says "shield be splintered", you hear Tolkien change his accent to an accent reminiscent of Old English, the language he used as inspiration for the culture of the Rohirrim. It's marvelous to hear him step backwards into a deeper time -- come to think of it, I wonder if he was conscious of doing it.

In Gondor’s darkest hour, Rohan came to its aid.

Rip my king

Yesterday the world lost a great man. Hail Théoden King, may you now rest forever in the halls of your fathers for the world is now just a little bit darker without your brilliance to shine upon it.

This brought me close to tears, to actually hear the voice of the writer himself *with* the movie. 😭Beautiful.

A man who had spent WW1 in the trenches and seen unbelievable sadness and pain could pour out all his imagination and feelings into dozens of books. I wish I had as much determination and creativity as JRR Tolkien

Hail the victorious dead!

Whoever paired each notable scene in the reading with its counterpart scene in the movie did one hell of a job synchronizing them. I couldn't believe how well they were paired together.

The gravity with which he reads the word "boom". I legit shiverred.

Our boy Théoden snatching a horn and blowing it so mightily it breaks in two. That would pump you up to charge headfirst into the host of Mordor

i can't explain why but i cried

There's a beauty about Tolkien's usage of language that is unparalleled by any other author.

Hearing him read this makes me realise how his epic passages harness the spirit of great poetry/rap/spoken word. Their flow and force take the meaning of the words to a new level.

I like the addition of shouting “death” before they ride to gain courage, it is a very Norse way of going into a fight

Only one other being in Middle-earth besides Fingolfin was ever compared to Orome, and that was Theoden.

His cadence and the pace at which he reads it makes the text all that more palpable, I imagine he knew in an out exactly how each line in the book should be read. - No Audiobook will probably ever compare. The only one who knows would be his children, they could probably reenact how they remember him reading it to them, but I don’t think we will ever get to see that.

My good Lord! 😢 THIS WAS AMAZING! Brought to tears at the sound of The Professor himself Mustering the Rohirrum!!!❤❤❤🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️🧙‍♂️🍻

I wish Jackson would have emphasized the horns more. In the book it was something Tolkien used to spark hope into the breast of the people of Gondor. Saying that forever after tears would spring to Pippin's eyes whenever he heard a horn. "Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”

"But Theoden could not be overtaken", IMO is right next to "and Morgoth came." as most epic lines in the Legendarium.

It was Tolkien that taught me to love to read. I still remember being completely engrossed, lost in these very passages, the narrative of this battle. I wish I could speak to Tolkien, and thank him.

I didn't realize he passed away... may you find peace in your family's embrace sir Bernard Hill.

The battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins.

That horn added in has no reason to hit as hard as it does.

Dude can write.

The professor really had a way with words. He truly was the master of the written word. The way this has been done as absolutely astounding! Well done.👍

One of the best scenes ever written. The scene where Aragorn bows to the hobbits is another one that gets me every time.

It’s a pity that Tolkien did not record his own narration of his magnum opus. The lord of the rings is narrated perfectly by its creator.

The book was just simply amazing. Movies were awesome as well, but the writing was a masterpiece

I’m reading return of the king every night for my 10 year old and this was the one chapter I absolutely could not wait to read. I’m not shamed to admit I choked up. Theoden being compared to Orome is the epitome of the word epic.

All credit to Peter Jackson and Bernard Hill for capturing the absolute essence of this sequence. Yes many of the details are subdued and absent, but when you hear the reading over the scene it just clicks so well!

Rip King

There is a reason why LotR is timeless.

This man was there and fought. He won

So, it was not only the sudden impact of the Rohirrim with their thundering horns that broke the fighting spirit of the besieging ork army. It was the unexpected predominance of light which meant that Sauron's power had been overcome. The protective shield of darkness for the orks that also demoralized men was gone. This reminds me of the battle of Helm's Deep where the morale of the orks was mainly crushed not by the Rohirrim but by the unexpected appearance of a whole moving forest of angry huorns.

Am I the only one who shudders at the way Tolkien says the word "boom"?

This brings tears to my eyes.

Fey he seemed, for the battle fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins.

"At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new tire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City."

Hail Theoden, Son of Thengul, King of the Golden Hall.

When I got finished reading LOTR, it was like I was in a trance. My mind was in Tolkien's world while my body was still in the normal physical world here. Honestly, other books are paltry compared to Tolkien's works. You can tell it was a labor of love to him. I'm fortunate to live in a time where the books and the movies exist.

i will never in my lifetime be able to explain how much this means to me

The amount of passion that has gone into the books, movies, music, etc. is unparalleled

every time I see it, I click it. And every time I click it, I say "jesus fucking christ it's so good".

Thank you, thank you! I was saddened to see that video gone. I wish I could help with crediting the original uploaders. Meanwhile, I thank you once again!

Bro, I got chills from hearing Tolkien read this scene

Terrific. I could see the action happening strictly through his reading. The words painted as good a picture of the event as the movie scene did.

White horse upon a field of green but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house but he was ever before them. Maaaannn I love how he read that part...this whole moment gives me chills & brings tears to my eyes...thank you Tolkien!

Tolkien reads prose like poetry, it's actually amazing to listen to. I'm glad this video survived.

I've listened to this countless times, here and elsewhere. I always felt bad for Guthlaf, the banner bearer. His horn had been borrowed by Theoden and so when "all the horns of the host were lifted in music", I believed Guthlaf had no horn to blow and join in. Silly me, I now think, because of course a banner bearer for King Theoden has more horns at hand! I like to think that once it "burst asunder", Guthlaf shrugs and grabs his spare.

I remember when I got into my first day in college and meeting people. l Would ask them for what they liked and when l said that l loved Tolkien's work, MANY would say that they disliked LOTR because and l quote "It's a harry potter rip off" Imagine my reaction

Tolkien had a way with words. I love the movies, but the books will always be my first love... I need to read them again.

"Bless us and splash us, my precious!" I own a couple of vinyl LPS of Tolkien reading from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. His recitation of Riddles in the Dark is especially entertaining. I haven't listened to these recordings in years. Thank you for refreshing my memory of hearing the author himself reading excerpts from his magnum opus.

Sh!t. A man who went to war, saw brothers die, evil blossomed with impunity from the blood spilled on every field. This man lived. Survived. Not only endured the horrors that sought to claim his body and flesh but also his sanity and soul... ...this man... ...wrote. A story. The story of man. The story of good, and of heart. A story that no matter how many cultures over the vast pages of history scrawl THEIR story it's never lost, never forgotten. Of love. Of sacrifice. Of greed. Of anger. Of self. Of selflessness. Of the hero. Not just the great vanquisher, the one who could flick dragons from off his mighty nose. No. The one who stopped himself. Who let self die. Who chose to sacrifice, so that others might live to ask the questions. No matter the where or when, mankind seems to always need to write down, tell, and sing these same stories. ......why do you think that is?

Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers RAN LIKE NEW FIRE IN HIS VEINS

Wonderful. I think I have to read the books again. Ere the sun rises!

I imagine it being recited in a fire lit Mead Hall, the audience spellbound like we are. The rhythm of the words as the horses start to gallop is intoxicating. Impossible not to be moved by it.

...rolling over the fields a great BOOM

I cried

Hail Theoden King!

Wow. Made me cry.

RIDE NOW! RIDE NOW! RIDE TO GONDOR! God I love Theoden

What I wouldn't give to have the audiobooks narrated by Tolkien himself.

The man sounds like a sports commentator. LEGEND!!!

This is why the internet was invented folks. The cumulative creativity of society has the decision to make things like this happen or absolute poison. But this video defy's all the shit we all worry about society creating. This is why Tolkien is my favorite author and my biggest inspiriation. This is what people are meant for. I never knew my grandparents but I feel close to John from reading all his works. I hope you all have a good day. Edit: and yes i did drink typing this and this is what i decided to do with it

I would love to know what Tolkien imagined the Rohirrim singing to sound like

There's a reason why Tolkien is a master writer.

Hearing this brought tears to my eyes

This is pure gold, now I know how Tolkien himself pronounce the words he created like valar or eored

it's just too good, I keep coming back

This was my favorite scene in the entire trilogy. Always makes me tear up 🥹🥺🥹

Hail, King of the Mark!

Thank you for reuploading this! Nothing gives me chills like Theodeon's charge

1:42 '...its topmost tower like a glittering needle..' Like an obelisk. Absolutely brilliant reading: thank you for this! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Fuck. Yes.

THANK YOU 1000000000 for bringing back this immense video, an absolute masterpiece of Tolkien’s godlike skill ❤❤❤

His voice is in his words. Wonderful to hear him.

I almost cried-this is beautiful. 🥹