Ok as I noted earlier I started the Lord of the Rings trilogy again (read it in high school). I forgot how much I enjoyed it and what an incredible writer Tolkien was. He was a master of story telling. Here is one simple example:
Now they laid Boromir in the middle of the boat that was to bear him away. The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head. They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden belt of Lorien gleamed about his waist. His helm they set beside him, and across his lap they laid the cloven horn and the hilts and shards of his sword; beneath his feet they put the swords of his enemies. Then fastening the prow to the stern of the other boat, they drew him out into the water. They rowed sadly along the shore, and turning into the swift-running channel they passed the green sward of Parth Galen. The steep sides of Tol Brandir were glowing: it was now mid-afternoon. As they went south the fume of Rauros rose and shimmered before them, a haze of gold. The rush and thunder of the falls shook the windless air.
Sorrowfully they cast loose the funeral boat: there Boromir lay, restful, peaceful, gliding upon the bosom of the flowing water. The stream took him while they held their own boat back with their paddles. He floated by them, and slowly his boat departed, waning to a dark spot against the goldenlight; and then suddenly it vanished. Rauros roared on unchanging. The River had taken Boromir, son of Denethor, and he was not seen again in Minas Tirith, standing as he used to stand upon the White Tower in the morning. But in Gondor in after-days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars.
Aragorn and Legolas go on with a song of tribute to Boromir and Gondor but I think you get the idea of what I am talking about. Tolkien was a true master of his craft. If you are thinking about reading them for the first time or again like me, you won't be sorry. Also sorry if my geekness shows but this is really as good as I remember it being - lol!
Now on to Two Towers and battle of Helms Deep and Shelob ....