How hard and long was it, Aragorn?

[Guinevere]

I like the fall of that sentence too, and agree with Squatter that it fits Aragorn perfectly.I never felt it was an "awkward phrasing"! Anyway, I'd like to applaud Squatter's erudite post, it gives the perfect explanation.

I love Tolkien's language and for me, it is just the use of all these contrasting styles that makes reading LotR such a pleasure and adds to the reality of the characters and to the feeling of really being in another time. (I have read too many "historical" novels where just the setting is historical but as soon as the characters speak, the atmosphere is destroyed)

Originally Posted by Galadriel55
I sometimes oppose to close-reading novels for litte details as such

It's the same with me. When first reading Tolkien, I just enjoyed his special language unconsciously, without thinking about how and why it had this effect. But then I bought Prof. Shippey's excellent book " Tolkien, author of the century" which was really an eye opener. Especially because English is not my mothertongue, I profited a lot from it.