LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring, Post 5

This is the fifth post of a series of posts on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  This series focuses on the first volume of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.

You can find the first post here. 

The second post here.

The third post here.

The fourth post here. 

 

 

Summary: Bk1 Ch 7_8_9

Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil

When the hobbits get to Tom Bombdil’s house, they are greeted by a woman, Goldberry, who mysteriously tells them that she is “daughter of the River.”  The hobbits are enchanted by her.  They ask her who is Tom, and she replies that he is “the Master of wood, water, and hill.”  When Tom walks in, he has the hobbits wash and sit down for supper.  Afterwards, all tired they were led to a room with beds and quickly fell asleep.

Three of the hobbits had dreams that night.  Frodo dreamt of wolves and an eagle that bore him away.  Pippin dreamt of being trapped again in the willow tree.  Merry dreamt of a flood overfilling the house.  Only Sam did not dream but slept contentedly.

In the morning they found that it was raining, and they sat around with Tom telling them stories of the Old Forest.  The he told them stories of the Great Barrows, followed by ancient tales from pre-memory.  At one point, Frodo asked him, who he was?  Tom replied that he was here before the Kings and Barrow-wights, and elves, and even the Dark Lord.  When the rain ended, they had another supper, even better than the previous night’s. 

After supper, Tom asked Frodo to see the ring, and Frodo handed it to him.  Tom put it on his finger, and to everyone’s surprise he did not disappear.  Tom handed the ring back to Frodo, and Frodo suspicious that it was not the true ring put it on his finger and he disappeared.  After laughing about the disappearance, they all went back to the bedrooms for the night.

Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs

After breakfast the next morning, the hobbits resumed their journey heading north.  Up the first hill, Frodo realized he had not said goodbye to Goldberry and was about to turn around when she appeared toward the top of the hill.  She bid farewell and blessed them.  They continued, riding over the hills of the Barrow-Downs.  Up and down the hills was slow going.

A fog rolled over the hills, and the hobbits felt trapped.  The fog was so thick that it had darkened the sky.  At one point Frodo realized the other three were not trailing behind him.  When he called out to them only a cold, dark voice responded, and it seemed it came from a tall shadow.  The shadow touched him and Frodo fainted.

When he came to, he found the other three hobbits lying beside him.  The cold voice sang a deathly song, and its shadowy arm stretched toward Frodo.  Frodo grabbed a sword and hacked at the arm.  He remembered Tom Bombadil’s song and he sang it, and shortly Tom’s voice could be heard in the distance singing back.  When Tom arrived, his magical song drove off the dark shadow. 

With that, the other three hobbits came out of their stupor.  Tom traveled with them for a while, and in the morning after breakfast Tom gave them the advice to head on the road to the town of Bree and get to an old inn called The Prancing Pony.

Chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

 The hobbits come to Bree, the chief town of the region of Bree-land, a region of mixed hobbits and men.  The Road ran through Bree and at the foot of a hill stood the Inn with the sign of the Prancing Pony.  The Inn was run by Barliman Butterbur, a big folk man.

The hobbits did not receive a warm reception at the inn, but were led to a parlor room to rest and eat.  After getting refreshed and rested, the hobbits joined the other guests in the big common room.  There they got into discussions with the locals, a mix of hobbits, men, and dwarves.  While the other hobbits were enjoying their conversation, Frodo noticed a strange looking man in the shadows against the wall listening intently and quietly smoking his pipe.  Frodo was told that such men as that who roam about the countryside are called Rangers, and that particular man goes by the name Strider.

At one point, Strider came over to Frodo, who had been going by the name Mr. Underhill, and introduced himself.  Strider told Frodo to restrain his fellow hobbits from talking too much.  They had gone on about Bilbo Baggins and his disappearance from the Shire.  Frodo realizing the danger of the conversations decided to distract by jumping on the table and talking and singing a song.  It drew a loud cheer and applause, but Strider found it even worse than the loose talk of the other hobbits.  He told “Mr. Baggins”—knowing his proper name—he would like to have a word with him, but Frodo put him off until later.

In the meantime, someone had seen Frodo just vanish, and Frodo reappearing dispelled that notion.  It was now time for everyone to go onto bed, and, as they were going off, and Strider again came over to Frodo requesting a word with him.

###

L Comment:

Thank you very much for the helpful summary, Manny!

 

As I was reading the chapter 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs', I was struck by how much darker the novel seems compared with when I read it for the first time as a teenager. In its mood and imagery, the chapter resembled other Christian pilgrimage literature, such as the Divine Comedy and The Pilgrim's Progress. The Slough of Despond and parts of the Inferno came to my mind as I imagined Frodo suddenly isolated in the thick fog, the captive of the mysterious and terrifying Barrow-Wight.

My Reply to L:

Yes, I agree L, the Barrows chapter is very dark. It's probably the first real incident where we see the power of the dark side.

 

I was thinking of the Divine Comedy in the previous chapter. Frodo's dream if I remember was first with being chased by a wolf and then lifted by an eagle. Dante (the character, not the author) is forced to go through world of the afterlife because he was being pursued by three creatures, the last being the wolf. And then in Purgatorio Dante is lifted up by eagle from the lower part of the mountain to the terraces section. There may be parts of LotR that allude to the Divine Comedy. I have not read Pilgrim's Progress, but I would imagine such a spiritual journey could have echoes in LotR.

 

As to Barrows, that is a unique noun for hills or hilly country that only seem to be used in England. Barrows also has a particular allusion to burial grounds. There is probably more to the use of "Barrows" than we understand.

Ellie Comment:

Thank you for these summaries, Manny! They definitely help a lot, there is so much to remember.

 

I really loved the chapter about Tom Bombadil, where I found two big Christian themes, one of which is confession (which is specifically Catholic, I would say). When Frodo talks with Tom Bombadil, Tolkien describes Frodo feeling compelled to tell him the whole story, to tell him even more information he told Gandalf:

 

"Indeed so much did Tom know, and so cunning was his questioning, that Frodo found himself telling him more about Biblo and his own hopes and fears that he had told before even to Gandalf."

 

I feel like this is a great allusion to a certain divine nature to Tom Bombadil, along with the fact that when Frodo asks Goldberry who Tom really is, she simply replies "He is." which definitely reminded me not only of the "I Am that I Am" of the Old Testament in which God names Himself, but also of the New Testament ("Before Abraham was, I am"). Tom Bombadil is such a strange and intriguing character, I wish Tolkien told us what he actually was, but also this failure to categorize him in Tolkien's world gives his character a great meaning

Michelle Reply to Ellie:

Ellie, I also thought of "I AM" when Goldberry said that.

My Reply to Ellie:

Ellie wrote: "I really loved the chapter about Tom Bombadil, where I found two big Christian themes, one of which is confession (which is specifically Catholic, I would say). When Frodo talks with Tom Bombadil, Tolkien describes Frodo feeling compelled to tell him the whole story, to tell him even more information he told Gandalf:

"Indeed so much did Tom know, and so cunning was his questioning, that Frodo found himself telling him more about Biblo and his own hopes and fears that he had told before even to Gandalf."
"

I did not pick up on that. I will have to go back and re-read that. Thanks for pointing it out Ellie.

I too picked up on what seems to be the divine nature of Tom Bombadil. However, I can't see anything Christian in him. He strikes me as some sort of wood demi god from pagan mythology. I intend to flesh that thought out more but if you can connect him with some sort of Christian tradition, I would love to see that.

Kelly Comment:

Tom Bombadil seems to me to be a type of an Adam figure. What he might have been like before the fall. Not divine, but also not affected or limited by sin. When he plays around with the ring and it doesn't have the same effect on him, similar to the temptation that is derived from original sin that everyone else, even Gandalf and Galadriel acknowledge. He also is able to experience joy and shed the weight of darkness quicker than the others. Goldberry seems to share these qualities also.

Michelle Reply to Kelly:

I thought of him like a type of an angel-figure.

My Reply to Kelly:

Kelly that is an interesting thought. I never thought of that. He does seem to have some sort of magic powers which I don't think Adam had.

 

One thing I will say when I do put my thoughts together is to reference Goldberry's comment that Tom is "Master of wood, water, and hill." Taken from a Christian perspective, those three elements could refer to cross, baptism, and death, hill being a burial mound. But then what does that mean? I don't know.

 

Can anyone tell if Goldberry is his spouse or his daughter? What exactly is their relationship?

Michelle Reply to Me:

I thought she was his wife, but now I'm wondering if that was an assumption on my part. Hopefully someone else could clarify!

Kelly Reply to Me:

I think Goldberry is his spouse. Also, I am thinking he is not an allegorical Adam but just a type, who, hints at what man might have been had he not fallen.

 

My Reply:

OK, I found it. Goldberry is Tom's wife but only knowable from outside the LotR. From Wikipedia:

 

"Goldberry first appeared in Tolkien's 1934 poem, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,[4] re-worked into a 1962 poetry collection of the same name.[5] The poem tells of how she drags Tom into the river before he escapes, returning later to capture her and make her his bride."

 

So one has to know an outside source to know their relationship. I only questioned it because Goldberry strikes me as much younger than Tom, and at one point she identifies herself as "the daughter of the River." While that doesn't mean she's Tom's daughter, the suggestion of daughter is raised to the reader.

Kerstin Comment:

Manny wrote: "Three of the hobbits had dreams that night. Frodo dreamt of wolves and an eagle that bore him away. Pippin dreamt of being trapped again in the willow tree. Merry dreamt of a flood overfilling the house. Only Sam did not dream but slept contented."

 

I wonder if this is also a foreshadowing of what is going to happen to the characters. With Frodo there will definitely be a significance with an eagle. I don't quite remember what all happens to Pippin and Merry. With Sam, he is the faithful servant and quite content in the role.

We'll have to keep this passage in mind as we move deeper into the tale and see.

 

Tom Bombadil's feels like a true safe haven. Nothing bad from the outside world threatens or penetrates. The hobbits don't have to worry about anything, just eating, resting, and listening to the tales of Tom. They are being cared for by Tom and Goldberry like beloved children. Tom has slipped into a father figure and Goldberry into a mother figure. It is such a wholesome place they gather strength for the challenges ahead without being aware of it. When they leave Goldberry blesses them like a mother would and Tom steps into the role of protector until they are past the Barrow Downs.

Frances Comment:

You can sense the richness and depth of Tolkien’s genius in the many different images that spring forth from his writing, can’t you? I found this about mysterious Tom: “Bombadil was described in Tolkien’s books as ‘older than the old,’ a benevolent entity who begins life around the time all life began . . . In a 1937 letter to his publisher, Tolkien described Bombadil as ‘the spirit of the vanishing Oxford and Berkshire countryside.’ Tolkien chose not to write in allegory, but it’s clear he saw Bombadil as nature personified — right up to the character’s ambivalence about interfering in the larger world around him. “

###

So what are we to make of Tom Bombdil and Goldberry?  They are definitely mysterious.  My first reaction when I came to Goldberry inviting the four hobbits into the house was, oh my gosh, a female character!  This was the first real female character we have come across, a book that will be fairly sparse of women characters.  There are of course the women hobbits at Bilbo’s birthday party and Mrs. Maggot but they are all vague and undeveloped. It’s surprising to me how women enjoy LotR since it’s such a boy oriented book.  Perhaps some of the ladies here can answer why they enjoy this boyish book.

My first thought to what Tom might be was to identify him as some sort of nature deity.  He does have some sort of magic powers, especially with his singing.  Goldberry identifies herself as “daughter of the River.”  Taken literally that is something right out of Greek mythology.  Tom is certainly naturally attuned to the woods, the trees, the stream, and later we see the hills.  His stories seem to be about the history of Middle Earth within the parameters of nature.  All his songs are filled with nature.  Here’s one from chapter seven:

 

I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies,

green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady,

the last ere the year’s end to keep them from the winter,

to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted.

Each year at summer’s end I go to find them for her,

in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down Withywindle;

there they open first in spring and there they linger latest.

By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter,

fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes.

He is within nature, doing things with nature, and using nature for his ends.  Goldberry says that he is “Master of wood, water, and hill."  When he accompanies the hobbits out in Barrow-downs, he comes to a limit to how far he can go and will go no further.  Pippin asks him if he thinks they will be attacked this evening.  Tom answers him with a qualification.

 

‘No, I hope not tonight,’ answered Tom Bombadil; ‘nor perhaps the next day. But do not trust my guess; for I cannot tell for certain. Out east my knowledge fails. Tom is not master of Riders from the Black Land far beyond his country.’

“Out east my knowledge fails,” is the first time we are told of Tom’s limitation.  When the hobbits urge him to continue with them, Tom does not.  Take note, in that last sentence, that is the only place where “master” is not capitalized, and it’s linked to a limit beyond his domain.

They begged him to come at least as far as the inn and drink once more with them; but he laughed and refused, saying:

 

Tom’s country ends here: he will not pass the borders.

Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!

 

Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin’s back, and rode up over the bank and away singing into the dusk.

His country ends there.  It’s almost like he’s linked to a particular plot of earth, and his powers will not be efficacious beyond it.  This alludes to a local nature deity in pagan worldview.

On the other hand, if we look at Tom from a Christian perspective, he seems he has been given some sort of divine nature.  Goldberry’s description of Tom as “Master of wood, water, and hill” can be taken as a Christian identity.  Wood is associated with the cross and the trees in Eden, water as from the river that was once thought to have its source in Eden flowing down to Earth and, of course, associated with baptism, and hill associated with the hill of Calvary and the burial mounds for the dead.  Why is “Master” capitalized?  I believe it’s capitalized every time someone refers to him as master.  “Master” capitalized seems to me to be an allusion to Christ, who is sometimes referred to as “Master” in the Gospels.  Tom repeatedly saves the hobbits, from the Old Willow, from the Dark Shadow in the Barrow-downs, and from the dark riders as he gives them the path to get to Bree.  He saves them and he does it merely with the spoken word.  “For he spoke, and it came to be” (Ps 33:9).  Jesus speaks and miracles happened.  Now Tom is clearly not Jesus, but perhaps he could be a delegate such as a saint in a hagiography.  There are lots of examples, but I’ll just pick a Biblical one.  St. Peter brings Dorcas back to life in Acts 9 through the power of words. 

I really like Kelly’s thought that Tom and Goldberry are types for Adam and Eve prior to the Fall.  Frodo asked at one point.

 

‘Who are you, Master?’ he asked.

 

‘Eh, what?’ said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. ‘Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? But you are young and I am old. Eldest, that’s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless – before the Dark Lord came from Outside.’

That does put Tom in the mythic past of before the Earth and history were formed.  It does put him in an Edenic context.  He could be associated with Jesus because Jesus is the new Adam.  Tom is the Adam that could have been if Adam and Eve had not disobeyed.

There is a third aspect to Tom that is suggested in the text.  He is a story-teller. 

 

He then told them many remarkable stories, sometimes half as if speaking to himself, sometimes looking at them suddenly with a bright blue eye under his deep brows. Often his voice would turn to song, and he would get out of his chair and dance about. He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and the strange creatures of the Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under brambles.

 

As they listened, they began to understand the lives of the Forest, apart from themselves, indeed to feel themselves as the strangers where all other things were at home. Moving constantly in and out of his talk was Old Man Willow, and Frodo learned now enough to content him, indeed more than enough, for it was not comfortable lore. Tom’s words laid bare the hearts of trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers. It was not called the Old Forest without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods; and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords. The countless years had filled them with pride and rooted wisdom, and with malice. But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning, and a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through the woods on both sides of the river. His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground, and invisible twig-fingers in the air, till it had under its dominion nearly all the trees of the Forest from the Hedge to the Downs.

Tom is a bard, a teller of stories, one who a sings of history and feats.  It is particularly significant in ancient Celtic cultures where the bards were associated with nature.  Here is how Wikipedia describes “bard.”

 

In the words of the Oxford English Dictionary, the bards were an "ancient Celtic order of minstrel-poets, whose primary function appears to have been to compose and sing (usually to the harp) verses celebrating the achievements of chiefs and warriors, and who committed to verse historical and traditional facts, religious precepts, laws, genealogies, etc."

But such bards existed in many pre-literate cultures.  Homer is considered a bard.  Tom continued with his tales.

 

Suddenly Tom’s talk left the woods and went leaping up the young stream, over bubbling waterfalls, over pebbles and worn rocks, and among small flowers in close grass and wet crannies, wandering at last up on to the Downs. They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all.

And Tom goes further and further back, beyond human memory.

 

When they caught his words again they found that he had now wandered into strange regions beyond their memory and beyond their waking thought, into times when the world was wider, and the seas flowed straight to the western Shore; and still on and back Tom went singing out into ancient starlight, when only the Elf-sires were awake.

The bard doesn’t just tell a story, he creates reality itself.  If you want to read a book on the nature of bards, pick up Alfred Lord’s The Singer of Tales, where Lord “formulates oral tradition as a theory of literary composition and its applications to Homeric and medieval epic. Lord builds on the research of Milman Parry and their joint work recording Balkan guslar poets.”    One could think of J.R.R. Tolkien as a bard (albeit that LotR is a written and not an oral composition) by the telling of the tale of this epic.  In this sense we could almost see Tom Bombadil as Tolkien himself.

So which is it?  Is Tom a pagan nature deity, an Edenic prelapsarian Adam, or a bardic singer of tales?  His person, I think, is so mysterious, so rich, and so deep that he encompasses all three.  There is no reason to limit his persona.

###

Kerstin Reply to Me:

Manny wrote: " It’s surprising to me how women enjoy LotR since it’s such a boy oriented book. Perhaps some of the ladies here can answer why they enjoy this boyish book."

I think first and foremost it is a very good story exceptionally well written. Everything else is secondary.

We have a quintessential hero's quest here. Man in his divinely ordained role as protector. What are the characters compelled to fight? The loss of peace, stability, order, and culture, in other words, they fight for their freedom to live within their inherited traditions. Now this serves women too. Only in peace and freedom can one raise stable families and provide for the needs of daily living. When a population gets enslaved - and this is the big outside threat - the family unit and thereby the culture that arose from it gets destroyed.
There is something deeply satisfying, even primal, in a well written hero's quest.

I would say my favorite female hero in literature is Penelope of the Odyssey. While her husband, as a result of dumb decisions, wanders around for twenty years before he finally gets home, she protects home and hearth. But it goes much deeper than that. Their marriage bed is no ordinary bed, it is carved out of a tree stump still rooted in the earth which Odysseus built himself. The house was built around it. On this bed they conceived their son Telemachus, and in the long years of waiting she is protecting his inheritance. That's quite heroic for a (young) woman in her prime given she has her choice and lure of male suitors. Aside from the material aspects, she is protecting at home peace and stability while the men are off at war.
In contrast, Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra chose to defile the marriage bed, and his house and kingdom fell apart.

If one is to fend off threats from the outside, it takes heroic actions of both, men and women, those that are on the front lines and those who keep the home fires burning.

Michelle Comment:

There may be only one female so far, but soon Galadriel, Arwen and Eowyn will enter the picture. It's never bothered me with books. Some of my favorite are with male characters. Maybe because I'm in my mid-fifties, who knows.

Kerstin Reply to Me:

Manny wrote: "So which is it? Is Tom a pagan nature deity, an Edenic prelapsarian Adam, or a bardic singer of tales? His person, I think, is so mysterious, so rich, and so deep that he encompasses all three. There is no reason to limit his persona."

Here is another layer: The name Thomas means twin. He is like..., and like..., etc. Just like a twin who is part of a whole but still wholly separate.

It struck me that Tom Bombadil has an ordinary first name unlike most of the characters, which are creations of Tolkien.

My Reply to Kerstin:

Oh you're right Kerstin. I didn't realize that. Tom is the only contemporary name in the entire story with the possible except of his wife Goldberry. I guess Goldberry is contemporary, though perhaps unusual. So Tom and Goldberry not only go back to the beginning of time but in a sense they go forward to contemporary time. 

###

One other thought on Tom and Goldberry, and this is perhaps a question and not a thought. How does Tom and Goldberry figure into the novel? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not think they come back into the story. They are only here in these three chapters: six, seven, and eight. They are not part of the structural story. Tolkien could have left them out and had the hobbits get into other adventures on their way to Bree. What purpose does Tom and Goldberry play in the novel?

###

Kerstin Reply:

That's a good question!

It may be to represent the past before the past, the pre-history. Throughout the story we read about ancestries and legacies of one sort or another. The history of a person, who somebody's ancestors are, where a certain people originally came from and why they were forced to settle in a new place long ago. All these things are still being documented and brought to mind as relevant. But there must have been something before known history, and Tom and Goldberry are a remnant of that time.

The value of tradition seems to me another theme in the book.

###

I don’t have much to say about the chapter at the Prancing Pony.  I did find it humorous.  Here men and hobbits and dwarves and the allusive Rangers, a hodge podge for sure, all gathered together, shared stories, and got drunk.  Tolkien must have had his weekly Inklings gatherings at the local pub in mind.  The Prancing Pony scene reminded me of the bar scenes in the Star Wars movies where aliens of many eclectic species from across the universe come together to imbibe and fraternize.  The scene was so popular that I would say it became a meme in itself, and though I have not seen all the Star Wars movies, that meme was reproduced into all the movies as far as I can tell.  Wikipedia has an entry for that original bar scene called Mos Eisley, the name of the town it was to have happened, possibly parallel to the town of Bree.  Since Star Wars owed some inspiration to LotR, I have to believe that the bar scene was an imitation of the scene at the Prancing Pony.  There is something funny about a gathering of eclectic characters coming together to socialize.

###

Bruce Comment:

This post is direct excerpts from Your Friend In Reykjavik:

 

In Icelandic folktales, we have countless stories about giant, ugly creatures that turn to stone when exposed to the sun. They are sometimes described as dumb and like tricking people in their favour. They usually live up in the mountains in caves. In The Hobbit, giant ugly creatures turn to stone when exposed to the sun. When they are not outside, they stay inside caves. Tolkien later explained that since trolls were created from stone by Morgoth using a spell cast in darkness, they change back to their true form when exposed to the sun, therefore turning to stone.

 

Tolkien did impressive work; he created all the characters, a whole new world, and a few languages.

 

One of the languages was the Angerthas or Dwarf runes. It was a runic script used by the dwarfs that utilized both runes and glyphs when written. It was created by the elven loremaster Daeron of Doriath and was at first called Cirth or Certar Daeron. The dwarfs learned the runes from the elves and took up that language. Later it became the dwarf language.

 

While other languages in Middle-Earth, like the Elvish languages (Quenya and Sindarin), were inspired by Latin and ancient Indian, the dwarf runes were inspired by the Nordic runes of the Vikings.

My Reply to Bruce:

Bruce, wow, some good stuff you posted. You should space it out a little bit so as to not overwhelm. Fascinating the connection with the Icelandic myths. That seems to be a real strong connection. I bet there is fodder there for anyone looking to do a term paper or Master's thesis.

 

What really caught my eye was how you point out that the various languages within the book are based on current languages. Elvish on Latin and Dwarf's languages on Germanic. One intuits this but it's good to have it formally put down to confirm it. The languages should be coming up soon, and I will definitely keep this in mind.

 

Some of the numerology you pointed out is also interesting. It makes sense.

LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring, Post 4

This is the fourth post of a series of posts on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  This series focuses on the first volume of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.

You can find the first post here. 

The second post here.

The third post here.

 

 

Summary: Bk1 Ch 4_5_6

Chapter 4: A Shortcut to Mushrooms

The next morning the hobbits awoke to find the elves gone, but they had left some of their delicious bread.  From the elves’ warning the night before, Frodo wanted to leave for Bucklebury immediately and insisted that the other hobbits let him go alone.  The other hobbits refused leaving him and reaffirmed their commitment to their journey.  Frodo then insisted that they take a shortcut through the forest rather than travel by the road.  As they started off, they heard a distant shrieking cry which made they move on.

Once they came to the end of the forest they were forced to turn southward and they came upon a section of land that was “well-ordered.”  They recognized it as the land of Farmer Maggot, a farmer who many years before had terrified Frodo with his dogs when Frodo was a lad.  Frodo then had been caught stealing some of Maggot’s wild mushrooms, and Frodo had never forgotten.  As they approached the house, they were confronted by Maggot and his three dogs.  After recognizing Pippin and then the others, Maggot invited them in for supper with his wife.  After supper and reminiscing discussion, Maggot with his sons decided to drive them in his wagon the five miles to the ferry.  At the ferry they met Merry who has been waiting for them.  Maggot had left them a surprise of mushrooms.

Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked

Merry led the others to a flat-bed ferry boat which he had moored at a bank, and climbing on board with the ponies they pushed off.  During the slow float across the river, Frodo felt his life transformed.  When they got to the other side, Sam and Frodo looked back across the river and could see a dark figure that had been following them. 

It was still some distance to go from the Brandywine River to Frodo’s house at Crickhollow, but that dark figure on the other side without a boat would have to spend a day to get to a crossing bridge and another day to get down,  The hobbits felt safe enough to spend one night at Frodo’s house before moving on.  Once they got to the house, where the fifth hobbit, Fatty Bolger, was waiting, Frodo felt it was just like home since the other hobbits had moved his old furniture in.  Each hobbit took a bath, singing and splashing each other, and they had a late supper.  Again Frodo wanted to leave the other hobbits behind because the quest was going to be too dangerous, but to his surprise the other hobbits revealed that they knew about the ring and the quest all along and insisted on going.  So they ate, drank, and sang a song of fellowship.  They decided in the morning to be off and not go by the road but through the Old Forest.  Fatty would not be going.

Chapter 6: The Old Forest

The hobbits got up very early in the morning and headed out.  Fatty Bolger was happy he would be staying behind. 

It was difficult making it through the forest, and it seemed that the surroundings were forcing them in directions they did not want to go.  At one point they realized the trees were shifting to guide them in a particular direction.  At another point the trees allowed them to pass into an opening in the forest, and the hobbits rushed through it.  Merry recognized the valley as leading to the Withywindle River, and they realized they were headed in the wrong direction.  So they veered northward, into a dense wood again. 

It was hot and they were tired.  They had been traveling a fortnight by now, and suddenly as they reached a bank of a stream drowsiness came upon them.  Frodo felt this was an unnatural drowsiness and wanted to move on.  But they laid down, Merry and Pippin down against a huge willow tree.  Sam got up to look for the ponies when he heard a plash.  Frodo was in the water, and when he got out said the tree had pushed him in.  When they looked for the others, Merry and Pippin were trapped inside the crevice of the big willow tree.  The tree had swallowed them up.  They didn’t have an axe, so they decided to try to burn the tree.

Suddenly they heard a strange singing and a man came upon them singing a nonsensical song.  It was Tom Bombadil, and when Frodo and Sam told him about Merry and Pippin, he yelled at Old Man Willow to let them out.  He broke a branch off the willow and started hitting the tree.  Tom started singing inside the crack and lo and behold the willow tree let Merry and Pippin out.  Tom invited the four house to his house for supper, and they accepted.  Tom moved too fast for the hobbits to follow but they followed his voice which continued to sing his nonsensical song.

###

Michelle Comment:

Tom Bombadil is almost like an angel, appearing suddenly when needed, and advising the hobbits 🙂

Ellie Comment:

What I noticed in these chapters was the emphasis on companionship and fellowship, which I think is very important not only in Catholicism but in Christianity in general. Frodo could have left alone, but his friends were there to support him and I think Tolkien wanted to show how important companions are for an individual.

 

I've also always thought of Tom Bombadil as Tolkien personified in his own book and looking at chapter 6 as well as future chapters, I think Tom Bombadil might be Tolkien, the 'subcreator' who knows a whole lot about what's going on but also he seems like some sort of God-figure, if I can call it that... but that's for future discussions. I think Tom Bombadil is a really fun character but one who has a lot of wisdom to share, somebody who doesn't judge and takes in these stray hobbits

My Reply to Ellie:

Yes, I think you're absolutely right. I planned to elaborate on that in the coming days. But you almost took the words out of my mouth.

Patrick Comment:

Does anybody connect Tom Bombadil with the concept of the Numinous presented in "The Wind in the Willows" chapter 7, "Piper at the Gates of Dawn"?

 

The god of nature, Pan, a satyr, appeals to the characters in that chapter. Early Christians saw Pan as a Christ-figure.

 

I mention this because Tolkien loved Kenneth Grahame as a child, and Tom Bombadil fits in the mold of mystical caretaker of nature.

My Reply to Patrick:

Patrick, I am not familiar with The Wind in the Willows (though I have a vague memory of reading some of it years ago) but you might be onto something there. The tree that swallowed Merry and Pippin was a willow tree and was referred to as Old Man Willow. Thanks for that insight.

Kerstin Reply to Patrick:

Tom Bombadil is one of the hardest characters to classify. The mystical caretaker of nature seems to me a favorite one especially from a secular perspective. But I find that too limited. He exudes the joy of life like no other character I know of. Always cheerful and fully aware of his surroundings, probably to a deeper extend than we are. He reminds me of the famous quote by St. Irenaeus, The glory of God is man fully alive. Tom Bombadil is fully alive. The negative things of life don't touch him because he is too alive for them. Julian of Norwich comes to mind as well, All shall be well, and all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.

My Reply:

Let's hold off discussing Tom Bombadil. The very next chapter is devoted to him. Let's wait for the next section.

L Comment:

Thank you very much for the helpful summary, Manny. The sixth chapter really stood out for me with Tolkien's depiction of the awful unending confusion of the hobbits lost amid the quiet menace of the trees. I felt nearly as dizzy reading it as the poor hobbits must have been trying to find their way through the Old Forest! Tom Bombadil's nonsense verses again reminded me of George McDonald's character Curdie, who makes up nonsense rhymes to ward away goblins in 'The Princess and the Goblin'. I think Curdie is the purest human depiction of courage that I have ever come across in fiction.

My Reply to L:

You're welcome, and that is anoher allusion that is quite possible. I believe Tolkien was a fan of McDonald. I have not read McDonald's The Princess and the Goblin, from which Curdie is from, so I can't comment.

Kerstin Reply to L:

Oh that's a great comparison! I hadn't thought of that at all, and I lead the discussion on the book in 'Victorians!' last year, lol.

Now my follow-up thought would be, what is it about nonsense rhymes that wards off evil? I'll have to think about that.

My Reply to Kerstin:

That is a very interesting question. Late 19th and early 20th century English literature is populated with nonsense rhymes, both as stand alone poems or set pieces within novels. I'm thinking of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland which contains nonsense rhymes and the poetry of Edward Lear. You can read about nonsense verse here:

 

There are various forms of nonsense verse. Here are some that I can think of. One is employing words that make sense but together do not seem like a logical statement; second is employing language that is completely made up or are just phonemes; third is a combination of one and two; fourth is a creation of a whole language (here I'm thinking of James Joyce's Finnigan's Wake which is a whole novel in nonsensical language). There may be more. That article doesn't mention it, but I think nonsensical language is linked to folklore.

 

With Tom Bombadil, my guess is to set him apart from a common society. Shared language is at the basis of a shared community. Someone with his own language and sense is apart from the community or is from a community in one's past. Just like when we read Old English and it seems nonsense to us, so could a person who speaks in an older version of a language suggest a hereditary lineage.

 

Or he could just be crazy....lol. 

###

Have you noticed how in almost every single chapter, there is a meal shared between several persons? 

From chapter 2, on the last night at Bag Ends:

The four younger hobbits were, however, in high spirits, and the party soon became very cheerful in spite of Gandalf’s absence. The dining-room was bare except for a table and chairs, but the food was good, and there was good wine: Frodo’s wine had not been included in te sale to the Sackville-Bagginses.

 

‘Whatever happens to the rest of my stuff, when the S.-B.s get their claws on it, at any rate I have found a good home for this!’ said Frodo, as he drained his glass. It was the last drop of Old Winyards.

Later in that chapter, after being on the road and meeting the elves, the hobbits join them for supper.

 

Pippin sat up and rubbed his eyes. He shivered. ‘There is a fire in the hall, and food for hungry guests,’ said an Elf standing before him.

 

At the south end of the greensward there was an opening. There the green floor ran on into the wood, and formed a wide space like a hall, roofed by the boughs of trees. Their great trunks ran like pillars down each side. In the middle there was a wood-fire blazing, and upon the tree-pillars torches with lights of gold and silver were burning steadily. The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and pouring drink; others brought food on heaped plates and dishes.

 

‘This is poor fare,’ they said to the hobbits; ‘for we are lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are our guests at home, we will treat you better.’

 

‘It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party,’ said Frodo.

Indeed, the next morning after the elves have departed, the hobbits had breakfast with the leftover bread.  In chapter 4, Farmer Maggot invites the hobbits in for supper with his family.

 

Frodo now accepted the invitation gratefully, to the relief of Pippin and Sam. The sun was already behind the western hills, and the light was failing. Two of Maggot’s sons and his three daughters came in, and a generous supper was laid on the large table. The kitchen was lit with candles and the fire was mended. Mrs. Maggot bustled in and out. One or two other hobbits belonging to the farm-household came in. In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare. The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones.

In chapter 5, when the hobbits reach Frodo’s house at Crickhollow and have their splashing fun in their baths, they have a late supper.

 

They had supper in the kitchen on a table near the fire. ‘I suppose you three won’t want mushrooms again?’ said Fredegar without much hope.

 

‘Yes we shall!’ cried Pippin.

 

‘They’re mine!’ said Frodo. ‘Given to me by Mrs. Maggot, a queen among farmers’ wives. Take your greedy hands away, and I’ll serve them.’

There are more instances, and let’s not forget the novel starts with a birthday party and moves in short order to another birthday party years after.   This gathering for a meal is certainly more in the novel than just the natural need for people to eat at certain time intervals.  Tolkien, with this rhythmic punctuating of gathering for a meal, is raising the meal to something more than the obvious.  Can we think of it as a metaphor?  I would. 

So what does this metaphor stand for?  When people come together for a meal, they come together in a bond or through the meal they form bonds.  There is a shared goodwill between those at the table.  Family and friends come together for a meal.  You are in communion with those at the table.  Indeed, communion implies Holy Communion.  In Holy Communion one is in communion within the Body of Christ.  Notice at Mass the taking of Holy Communion comes after the Eucharistic prayer that stitches together the whole Church body (living and dead), after the community praying of the Our Father—if we share a Father, then we are brothers and sisters—and after we offer peace to all in the Body.  The holy meal follows that bonding process.  This is what I think Tolkien is suggesting with his rhythmic pacing of meals.  Those at table come into communion.  This is why such a good feeling is shared after the dinner with the elves.  This is why the hobbits have such shared fun in splashing each other as they bathe at Crickenhollow. 

One step then from communion I think is fellowship.  What is fellowship?  From Merriam-Webster’s, and I’ll only include the definitions that apply here:  (1) companionship, (2) community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience, (3) a company of equals or friends; an association, (4) the quality or state of being comradely.  

Fellowship, then, is being in communion of friends with a particular shared interest or activity.  The hobbits are in fellowship with each other with the shared interest of the quest to dispose of the ring.  This fellowship is formed, stitched, and sealed through the process of shared meals.  (Let me guess, there will never be a shared meal between the hobbits and orcs.)  The novel’s first volume is called “The Fellowship of the Ring.”  In time, if I remember correctly, I think the whole first volume is an enlarging of this fellowship. 

###

Kerstin Comment:

Yes! If I remember correctly there is only Gollum in the entire book who goes off and eats alone, but that won't be until "The Return of the King".

 

There is something so deeply mystical about sharing a meal. We do it all the time and don't think much about it. Yet it gives us sustenance far beyond the nourishment of the body. Who would ever think of having a get-together without a meal or at least some kinds of refreshments?

 

Thinking about this I am reminded of the Odyssey and how hospitality takes on a very different character than what we're used to today. The arriving stranger, mostly Odysseus or in the beginning his son Telemachus, is offered a meal first, then his name is asked, and what brings him to this particular place. The meal goes before everything else, even asking the stranger his name or who he is!

Bruce Comment:

Also the Iliad and American Indian stories have multiple stories of how a brave soul faces down death by walking fearlessly into an enemy camp to retrieve a daughter, wife, or even a corpse, and there stories nearly always include calmly sharing a meal with an enemy who respects your courage. The story of Leo the Great and Attila the Hun may be another version of this story.

 

Iliad, Blog 3, Visiting the Enemy Camp, Greeks vs Indians

 

The Warrior Cultures of the Iliad and the American Indian, Bravely Visiting the Enemy Camp