diff --git a/ext/liquid/block.c b/ext/liquid/block.c
index 2ffeddd..47f589d 100644
--- a/ext/liquid/block.c
+++ b/ext/liquid/block.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "liquid_ext.h"
 
 VALUE cLiquidBlock;
-ID intern_assert_missing_delimitation, intern_block_delimiter, intern_is_blank, intern_new,
+ID intern_assert_missing_delimitation, intern_block_delimiter, intern_is_blank,
    intern_new_with_options, intern_tags, intern_unknown_tag, intern_unterminated_tag,
    intern_unterminated_variable;
 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ static VALUE rb_parse_body(VALUE self, VALUE tokenizerObj)
             break;
         }
         case TOKEN_STRING:
-            rb_ary_push(nodelist, rb_str_new(token.str, token.length));
+            rb_ary_push(nodelist, liquid_string_slice_new(token.str, token.length));
             if (blank) {
                 int i;
                 for (i = 0; i < token.length; i++) {
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@ void init_liquid_block()
     intern_assert_missing_delimitation = rb_intern("assert_missing_delimitation!");
     intern_block_delimiter = rb_intern("block_delimiter");
     intern_is_blank = rb_intern("blank?");
-    intern_new = rb_intern("new");
     intern_new_with_options = rb_intern("new_with_options");
     intern_tags = rb_intern("tags");
     intern_unknown_tag = rb_intern("unknown_tag");
diff --git a/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.c b/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.c
index d611231..d315218 100644
--- a/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.c
+++ b/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.c
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 
 VALUE mLiquid;
 VALUE cLiquidTemplate, cLiquidTag, cLiquidVariable;
+ID intern_new;
 
 void Init_liquid(void)
 {
+    intern_new = rb_intern("new");
     mLiquid = rb_define_module("Liquid");
     cLiquidTemplate = rb_define_class_under(mLiquid, "Template", rb_cObject);
     cLiquidTag = rb_define_class_under(mLiquid, "Tag", rb_cObject);
@@ -12,4 +14,5 @@ void Init_liquid(void)
 
     init_liquid_tokenizer();
     init_liquid_block();
+    init_liquid_string_slice();
 }
diff --git a/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.h b/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.h
index 3eba3ae..36b9a10 100644
--- a/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.h
+++ b/ext/liquid/liquid_ext.h
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
 
 #include "tokenizer.h"
 #include "block.h"
+#include "slice.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 
+extern ID intern_new;
 extern VALUE mLiquid;
 extern VALUE cLiquidTemplate, cLiquidTag, cLiquidVariable;
 
diff --git a/ext/liquid/slice.c b/ext/liquid/slice.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fcc564
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/liquid/slice.c
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#include "liquid_ext.h"
+
+VALUE cLiquidStringSlice;
+
+static void mark_slice(void *ptr)
+{
+    if (!ptr)
+        return;
+    struct string_slice *slice = ptr;
+    rb_gc_mark(slice->source);
+}
+
+static void free_slice(void *ptr)
+{
+    struct string_slice *slice = ptr;
+    xfree(slice);
+}
+
+VALUE liquid_string_slice_new(char *str, long length)
+{
+    return rb_funcall(cLiquidStringSlice, intern_new, 3, rb_str_new(str, length), INT2FIX(0), INT2FIX(length));
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_allocate(VALUE klass)
+{
+    struct string_slice *slice;
+    VALUE obj = Data_Make_Struct(klass, struct string_slice, mark_slice, free_slice, slice);
+    return obj;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_initialize(VALUE self, VALUE source, VALUE offset_value, VALUE length_value)
+{
+    long offset = rb_fix2int(offset_value);
+    long length = rb_fix2int(length_value);
+    if (length < 0)
+        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "negative string length");
+    if (offset < 0)
+        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "negative string offset");
+
+    if (TYPE(source) == T_DATA && RBASIC_CLASS(source) == cLiquidStringSlice) {
+        struct string_slice *source_slice = DATA_PTR(source);
+        source = source_slice->source;
+        offset += source_slice->str - RSTRING_PTR(source);
+    } else {
+        source = rb_string_value(&source);
+        source = rb_str_dup_frozen(source);
+    }
+
+    struct string_slice *slice;
+    Data_Get_Struct(self, struct string_slice, slice);
+    slice->source = source;
+    slice->str = RSTRING_PTR(source) + offset;
+    slice->length = length;
+    if (length > RSTRING_LEN(source) - offset)
+        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "slice bounds outside source string bounds");
+
+    return Qnil;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_slice_to_str(VALUE self)
+{
+    struct string_slice *slice;
+    Data_Get_Struct(self, struct string_slice, slice);
+
+    VALUE source = slice->source;
+    if (slice->str == RSTRING_PTR(source) && slice->length == RSTRING_LEN(source))
+        return source;
+
+    source = rb_str_new(slice->str, slice->length);
+    slice->source = source;
+    slice->str = RSTRING_PTR(source);
+    return source;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_slice_slice(VALUE self, VALUE offset, VALUE length)
+{
+    return rb_funcall(cLiquidStringSlice, intern_new, 3, self, offset, length);
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_slice_length(VALUE self)
+{
+    struct string_slice *slice;
+    Data_Get_Struct(self, struct string_slice, slice);
+    return INT2FIX(slice->length);
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_slice_equal(VALUE self, VALUE other)
+{
+    struct string_slice *this_slice;
+    Data_Get_Struct(self, struct string_slice, this_slice);
+
+    char *other_str;
+    long other_length;
+    if (TYPE(other) == T_DATA && RBASIC_CLASS(other) == cLiquidStringSlice) {
+        struct string_slice *other_slice = DATA_PTR(other);
+        other_str = other_slice->str;
+        other_length = other_slice->length;
+    } else {
+        other = rb_string_value(&other);
+        other_length = RSTRING_LEN(other);
+        other_str = RSTRING_PTR(other);
+    }
+    bool equal = this_slice->length == other_length && !memcmp(this_slice->str, other_str, other_length);
+    return equal ? Qtrue : Qfalse;
+}
+
+static VALUE rb_slice_inspect(VALUE self)
+{
+    VALUE quoted = rb_str_inspect(rb_slice_to_str(self));
+    return rb_sprintf("#<Liquid::StringSlice: %.*s>", (int)RSTRING_LEN(quoted), RSTRING_PTR(quoted));
+}
+
+void init_liquid_string_slice()
+{
+    cLiquidStringSlice = rb_define_class_under(mLiquid, "StringSlice", rb_cObject);
+    rb_define_alloc_func(cLiquidStringSlice, rb_allocate);
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "initialize", rb_initialize, 3);
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "==", rb_slice_equal, 1);
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "length", rb_slice_length, 0);
+    rb_define_alias(cLiquidStringSlice,  "size", "length");
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "slice", rb_slice_slice, 2);
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "to_str", rb_slice_to_str, 0);
+    rb_define_alias(cLiquidStringSlice,  "to_s", "to_str");
+    rb_define_method(cLiquidStringSlice, "inspect", rb_slice_inspect, 0);
+}
diff --git a/ext/liquid/slice.h b/ext/liquid/slice.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..050b465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/liquid/slice.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#ifndef LIQUID_SLICE_H
+#define LIQUID_SLICE_H
+
+extern VALUE cLiquidStringSlice;
+
+struct string_slice {
+    VALUE source;
+    char *str;
+    long length;
+};
+
+VALUE liquid_string_slice_new(char *str, long length);
+
+void init_liquid_string_slice();
+
+#define STRING_SLICE_GET_STRUCT(obj) ((struct string_slice *)obj_get_data_ptr(obj, cLiquidStringSlice))
+
+#endif
diff --git a/ext/liquid/tokenizer.c b/ext/liquid/tokenizer.c
index a70efa3..d00a6ba 100644
--- a/ext/liquid/tokenizer.c
+++ b/ext/liquid/tokenizer.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ static VALUE rb_initialize(VALUE self, VALUE source)
 {
     struct liquid_tokenizer *tokenizer;
 
-    Check_Type(source, T_STRING);
+    source = rb_string_value(&source);
     Data_Get_Struct(self, struct liquid_tokenizer, tokenizer);
     tokenizer->cursor = RSTRING_PTR(source);
     tokenizer->length = RSTRING_LEN(source);
diff --git a/lib/liquid/context.rb b/lib/liquid/context.rb
index 6d06854..795db80 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/context.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/context.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module Liquid
     end
 
     def increment_used_resources(key, obj)
-      @resource_limits[key] += if obj.kind_of?(String) || obj.kind_of?(Array) || obj.kind_of?(Hash)
+      @resource_limits[key] += if obj.kind_of?(StringSlice) || obj.kind_of?(String) || obj.kind_of?(Array) || obj.kind_of?(Hash)
         obj.length
       else
         1
diff --git a/test/liquid/block_test.rb b/test/liquid/block_test.rb
index f4b4494..483b682 100644
--- a/test/liquid/block_test.rb
+++ b/test/liquid/block_test.rb
@@ -12,34 +12,34 @@ class BlockTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     template = Liquid::Template.parse("{{funk}}  ")
     assert_equal 2, template.root.nodelist.size
     assert_equal Variable, template.root.nodelist[0].class
-    assert_equal String, template.root.nodelist[1].class
+    assert_equal StringSlice, template.root.nodelist[1].class
   end
 
   def test_variable_end
     template = Liquid::Template.parse("  {{funk}}")
     assert_equal 2, template.root.nodelist.size
-    assert_equal String, template.root.nodelist[0].class
+    assert_equal StringSlice, template.root.nodelist[0].class
     assert_equal Variable, template.root.nodelist[1].class
   end
 
   def test_variable_middle
     template = Liquid::Template.parse("  {{funk}}  ")
     assert_equal 3, template.root.nodelist.size
-    assert_equal String, template.root.nodelist[0].class
+    assert_equal StringSlice, template.root.nodelist[0].class
     assert_equal Variable, template.root.nodelist[1].class
-    assert_equal String, template.root.nodelist[2].class
+    assert_equal StringSlice, template.root.nodelist[2].class
   end
 
   def test_variable_many_embedded_fragments
     template = Liquid::Template.parse("  {{funk}} {{so}} {{brother}} ")
     assert_equal 7, template.root.nodelist.size
-    assert_equal [String, Variable, String, Variable, String, Variable, String],
+    assert_equal [StringSlice, Variable, StringSlice, Variable, StringSlice, Variable, StringSlice],
                  block_types(template.root.nodelist)
   end
 
   def test_with_block
     template = Liquid::Template.parse("  {% comment %} {% endcomment %} ")
-    assert_equal [String, Comment, String], block_types(template.root.nodelist)
+    assert_equal [StringSlice, Comment, StringSlice], block_types(template.root.nodelist)
     assert_equal 3, template.root.nodelist.size
   end
 
diff --git a/test/liquid/parsing_quirks_test.rb b/test/liquid/parsing_quirks_test.rb
index ef21117..5df524f 100644
--- a/test/liquid/parsing_quirks_test.rb
+++ b/test/liquid/parsing_quirks_test.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class ParsingQuirksTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     template = Template.parse(text)
 
     assert_equal text, template.render
-    assert_equal [String], template.root.nodelist.collect {|i| i.class}
+    assert_equal [StringSlice], template.root.nodelist.collect {|i| i.class}
   end
 
   def test_raise_on_single_close_bracet
diff --git a/test/liquid/string_slice_test.rb b/test/liquid/string_slice_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0565a32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/liquid/string_slice_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require 'test_helper'
+
+class StringSliceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_new_from_string
+    assert_equal 'slice', Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 0, 5).to_str
+    assert_equal 'and', Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 6, 3).to_str
+    assert_equal 'dice', Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 10, 4).to_str
+    assert_equal 'slice and dice', Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 0, 14).to_str
+  end
+
+  def test_new_from_slice
+    slice1 = Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 0, 14)
+    slice2 = Liquid::StringSlice.new(slice1, 6, 8)
+    slice3 = Liquid::StringSlice.new(slice2, 0, 3)
+    assert_equal "slice and dice", slice1.to_str
+    assert_equal "and dice", slice2.to_str
+    assert_equal "and", slice3.to_str
+  end
+
+  def test_slice
+    slice = Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 2, 10)
+    assert_equal "and", slice.slice(4, 3).to_str
+  end
+
+  def test_length
+    slice = Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 6, 3)
+    assert_equal 3, slice.length
+    assert_equal 3, slice.size
+  end
+
+  def test_equal
+    assert_equal 'and', Liquid::StringSlice.new("slice and dice", 6, 3)
+  end
+end