“Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We’ll wander back to home and bed.”
This past Sunday morning dawned with a near 30 degree change in the high temperature and a taste of autumn on the wind. It was at that moment that my commitment to participate in the Lord of the Rings group read solidified. I grabbed my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, went out in the chill air to sit on the back deck, and began my journey. By days’ end I was nearly half way through the book and realized I needed to stop and set it aside so that I could stay on course with the reading schedule so that the chapters being discussed would be fresh in my mind.
Andrea, one of the hosts, had mentioned this was her first time to read through the books. I mentioned, with utter conviction, just how cumbersome and at times difficult the first quarter or so of The Fellowship of the Ring was for me the first time I read it and encouraged her to not be dissuaded by this. And it was the complete truth. I did not enjoy the effort I was making trying to get into this book when I read it almost 10 years ago. I expected the same to be true this time and was determined to soldier on until I got to “the good part”.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was in “the good part” right from the prologue! I’m not sure why, maybe because I have matured in my knowledge of and appreciation for what Tolkien accomplished with his life’s work, but this first section of the book practically sang to me. There were revelations and pleasant surprises on nearly every page. I found a wickedly clever sense of humor, a number of seeds planted that will grow into bigger story elements later on, and found that I actually enjoyed spending this time with just the Hobbits by themselves, before Aragorn comes into their lives and their journey takes a decidedly downward turn.
It is my great pleasure to be posting this first of three discussions on The Fellowship of the Ring. There will undoubtedly be spoilers ahead, so please be warned.
1. Hobbits seem to have songs for everything! I didn’t realize this was a musical. . . . how are you liking all the songs?
When I read The Hobbit (the only Tolkien book I had read before Peter Jackson’s adaptations were released) I felt like the songs were a bit silly. I didn’t think much of it though as it was a “kid’s book”. Having grown to love The Lord of the Rings first through the films and then through the novels, I came to the realization this time that I liked the songs. And I found that I liked them for a number of reasons.
One, they are culturally significant. We know from our own history that songs as entertainment, as story telling, as ways to recollect the past, etc. were a relevant part of life. With insight gained over the past 10 years, and not just from Tolkien’s works, I understand and appreciate the significance of this part of the story so much more. I see them as important and not merely page-filler.
Two, they reveal to some degree Tolkien’s love for song, for rhyme, and of course for the musical legacy of dead and dying languages/cultures that were in large part his inspiration for Middle-earth.
Three, I like what they reveal about character. I found it fascinating that Bilbo had made up songs of his own, and found it more fascinating that Sam, seemingly the most innocuous of Hobbits, was one who sat at Bilbo’s feet, soaking up stories and songs and that this fact is revealed in Sam’s interactions with the other Hobbits in the group (although I think this occurs more in the next section of the book we are to discuss). I also like what they reveal about Tom Bombadil, though I will talk about him more in a later section. I am less enthused with his songs possibly because they seem a bit more on the silly side.
I was pleased to be reminded of the song that Pippen sings in the film version of The Return of the King. In Fellowship it is a song that Bilbo made up and put to the tune of an older song, some of the words of which I used to begin this post.
Music is such a powerful way in which to convey emotion and feeling. We get that today in our attachment to certain songs. I’m sad that the practice of getting together and singing is not a greater part of our lives today as it once was. Some of my most pleasant memories are choir performances and musicals from high school. My friends and I would often break into song in public just to goof off and have fun, singing the songs of whichever musical we were currently doing in school. The most fun one being Grease.
When I see the Hobbits in these early days, singing songs of that are joyful and some that are melancholy, it gives me pause. We know what is ahead for them and this is their last fleeting moments of innocence. They are about to learn about the greater world and that knowledge will cost them dearly.
2. I love that we learn about Gollum and his past so early on. It gives a dark and foreboding (dare I say, perilous?) feeling to the whole thing. Were you surprised that the story took a dive towards the dark and scary so quickly?
I enjoyed that too. I couldn’t remember when/if the Smeagol/Deagol story occurred in the trilogy and it was interesting to get it so early. Also interesting that the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf regarding the pity of Bilbo towards Gollum, before which this exchange occurs:
Frodo: “I wish it need not have happened in my time”.
Gandalf: “So do I…and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
is in this beginning section. It is a powerful moment that I honestly think works much better in its placement in the film. In the book Frodo has not even begun his journey whereas this statement is so much more powerful after some of the burden of what he must do is beginning to come to Frodo’s thoughts.
Irregardless, I read those words and my heart stirs and I cannot help but acknowledge the brilliance of J.R.R. Tolkien. The beauty of such words and the power they convey and how applicable they are to our time. And this first section alone is full of similar lines of prose, heavy with meaning.
I also like what we learn about Gandalf using Aragorn to assist him in his search for Gollum as Gandalf was out hunting for information and confirmation about Bilbo’s “magic ring”. Aragorn is one of my favorite characters and I thrill at this brief message that conjures up all sorts of imaginations about Aragorn’s role in things happening off stage, as it were.
I was surprised at how quickly things became bleak and dark. As I recalled in the beginning of this post, I really thought the first part of this story dragged on when I read it for the first time. I must have just been impatient for something that I had in my head from the films. For this time I feel like it rushes along and yet so much of impact and import is happening with each interaction of the characters.
I like how the early sections bring the Black Riders into the picture time and again as their very presence, even when not on stage, menaces and hounds our Hobbit protagonists.
3. Tom Bombadil! what and who is he??? If you met him in a forest, would you trust him?
Tom Bombadil was a character I despised the first time I read the book and have learned to accept with this second reading. There is enough about him that fascinates me maybe I’ll love him on a third reading, LOL! I don’t know that I would trust anyone I met in this world, at least not initially, especially as darkness begins to creep over the land.
This will sound ridiculous, but when I read the Tom Bombadil parts I could not stop my mind from imagining the giant Muppet in A Muppet Christmas Carol who is the ghost of things present. His jolly demeanor and booming, “Come in and know me better man!” is what I saw in my mind’s eye whenever Tom would start signing or talking.
I like that Tom Bombadil and his wife are enigmas. It is obvious that Tom has vast knowledge and has lived perhaps forever. It is equally obvious that he is little troubled with the affairs as they will arise in Middle-earth. He isn’t at all affected by the ring and yet he has no desire whatsoever to be drawn into the plot to destroy it, despite the fact that he could probably walk right into Mt. Doom and take care of it. He is certainly one with the spirit of the Old Forest. I don’t know quite what to make of ol’ Tom Bombadil, but I did like him much, much better this time around.
4. What did you think when Pippin, Merry and Sam told Frodo about their “conspiracy”, and that they pretty much knew what he was planning from the beginning?
That surprised me. There was much I didn’t remember from my first time slogging through this part of The Fellowship of the Ring. This time I was so pleased when I came to that part. Gandalf mentions to Frodo how amazing and surprising Hobbits are not long before Frodo leaves. I was shocked by the revelation, especially about Sam’s role in it, and yet was thrilled to see how brave and loyal this band of Hobbits was to one another. It was heart warming. I like the deliberateness of it. They intend to go with him, they are not dragged along simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. This bravery on the front end is a perfect reflection of what readers will see on the back end of the story in regards to the Hobbits. Stay tuned, you’ll enjoy that part.
5. What’s your favorite part of the book so far?
There are so many great parts of this first section of the book, but by a wide margin the Prologue is actually my favorite. It tastes and smells like The Silmarillion, my favorite of Tolkien’s works (yes, I’m a freak). I was particularly enthralled with the parts talking about Bilbo’s book and the copies of it and how Master Samwise Gamgee was involved in their preservation on some level. There is just a lot of great information in that Prologue.
Other favorite parts not previously mentioned above include the conversation in the bar between the Gaffer and some of the other local male Hobbits. There are some very witty and clever barbs and thinly-veiled sarcasm in there that cracks me up.
Third is the scene when the Hobbits first get to Tom Bombadil’s home and warm baths are waiting for them. I can just imagine how good that would feel after days of rough traveling and sometimes terror-filled existence to go have a hot bath, sing and carry on with friends, and then sit down to a hot meal. Such lovely, comforting images.
Other thoughts:
I am impressed by how early in the story Tolkien weaves in that sense of melancholy and that glimmer of hope that permeate the rest of this book. The world is changing and it is a sad time, especially with the idea of the elves leaving Middle-earth and that eventually they too will pass out of all memory. It is a profound and sad idea.
I am enjoying once again hearing the voices of the actors from the films as I read Tolkien’s words. It is great to be seeing the “real” story as Tolkien imagined it.
Oh goody! I love Lord of the Rings re-reads 🙂 Always something new to discover. I also loved the “Shadow of the past” section, and the fact that the first section gives us so much more insight into Hobbit lives and customs. And the Old Forest is also one of my favourite characters 🙂
I love trees/forests anyway, be they delightful or menacing and the whole Old Forest concept is an interesting one. I would of course want to be a person to whom the forest listened and respected rather than a potential victim. That would take the charm and mystery right out of the experience, lol!
I managed to join in! It took some last minute speed-reading last night, but I have my questions answered and everything. Not exactly in as much detail as you, but I participated! I posted late yesterday, so the post won’t be up until later on today…
Cool, I’m glad you joined in Kailana and look forward to your answers. Once I start nattering on about LOTR it is hard for me to stop, it really is. I was so tired last night when I was typing this that it is what eventually got me to stop and go to bed. In other words, this could have been even longer, Ha!
Mine could have been longer, too, but I only finished reading the chapters last night… I will do better for the next reading because I plan to start tonight or tomorrow.
Okay, I am back with a bit of time, so I can actually have a conversation of types! (BTW, finished The Night Circus today. I LOVED it!) Right, back to LOTR.
I enjoy singing and such in movies and tv, but I hate reading it. I am not crazy about poetry either. I tend to skim or skip it entirely. That being said, when Pippen sang the song you mentioned in the beginning of your post, I loved it… It’s obviously not the lyrics themselves.
I really enjoy how Tolkien can evoke a mood. The scene where Gandalf and Frodo are discussing Gollum was a perfect early example of that. You feel a range of emotions as everything is being revealed.
Back when I read LOTR for the first time I tried to read Silmarillion and, well, I never did finish it. At the time I just thought it was because I was a bit burned out on Tolkien, but all these years later I still haven’t picked it up again. I have a nice older, hardcover edition, too. I need to read it! I have been enjoying Christopher Tolkien’s History of Middle-Earth books, though. I read the first one for the Once Upon a Time challenge and hope to read the next one by the end of the year.
I also LOVE trees and anything to do with trees in this book. 🙂
Yes, the emotion that Billy Boyd put in that song is amazing, but the words are pretty powerful too, especially put in the context they used them in the film. But I like the way the song is used in the book as well.
Glad to hear you enjoyed The Night Circus. I’m looking forward to reading it and discussing it with everyone who reads it/has read it once all our reviews start popping up.
Tolkien was good at evoking moods, you are correct.
If you enjoyed the Prologue of Fellowship (and I don’t know if you did) you would probably enjoy The Silmarillion, at least the part following the original creation myth. I like that part as well, but I can see why people have difficulty slogging through that part of the book.
I bought the boxed set of the Histories that cover these three films and I look forward to cracking in to them, hopefully this fall. Your enjoyment of them encourages me.
Well, I love history and writing… Even though the history is of an imaginary world, it was still perfect for nerdish me! It’s actually fun rereading Fellowship because I have a bit of insight into how the book progressed from reading the history book.
I actually just rewatched the movies because I only owned the regular editions and they had the extended versions for a good price at the store. I had seen them before, but only once. Anyway, Billy Boyd’s singing was fresh in my mind as a result.
uh, see… I am this terrible person who never reads Prologues… I find they contain spoilers. I know, I’m weird. I also very rarely read backs of books and only skim reviews. I hate things being ruined… My favourite books are the ones that I have no idea what is going to happen when I set out to read it.
I love books about circuses so The Night Circus was right up my alley. I am sad that it is over and disappointed that I can’t go visit…
This one actually was all set up for this story, no real spoilers there. You should read it. And after all, you know the story already anyway. 🙂
Since you like history and writing I do think you’d enjoy The Silmarillion once you got into it. That is all it is, history of the time leading up to the end of the Third Age, when The Hobbit and LOTR takes place. And at the end it has some great LOTR stuff in it.
Speaking of Circuses, have you ever read The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry? It has an interesting circus in it, and is a great book.
hm, I will go back and read it, then. I skimmed it and actually I knew a bunch of what was said from the other book I read earlier this year because parts of it were in the book in the beginning and not in the prologue.
I will have to see. If I join in for all the read-alongs this year, I will probably be a bit burned out. We will see about next year. Maybe I can let you talk me into it for Once Upon a Time… 🙂
Oh, no, but I am going to go look it up! 🙂
Yes, there are a lot of read alongs going on, but I sure am having fun with it.
Maybe! 🙂
I am having fun, too. I am a bit ahead with Fragile Things, read the 9 chapters in Dresden, and am reading about two chapters of Fellowship a day.
I’m going to be sending out Jeff’s Dresden questions soon as there are no spoilers and that will give people a little more time to get posts ready.
I too am a little ahead on Fragile Things, just need to get the next post finished. I’ve started at least.
One of these days I’ve got to try The Lord of the Rings again. Your enthusiasm convinces me that I’m missing something. I’m waiting for the books to come to Audible.com to try again. Maybe if I listen to them they will work their magic on me.
I always wonder why things “work their magic” (great phrase) for some and not for others. I’m sure part of it is about timing and I have no doubt there is also that part of where one’s interests already lie. I could leave a post-long comment about all the ways that LOTR inspires and excites me and barely scratch the surface of the reasons why. I came to the novels in my 30’s, so there is no childhood affection for them that keeps them precious to me. Instead there are very mature and adult things that reach out to me and lay hold of my imagination and my interests.
Friendships is certainly one part of it. The tragedy mixed with hope is another big part. Then there is the fact that Tolkien devoted his whole life to this and that much of it is based on the foundation of real things (languages, cultures, his own war experience, etc) that give these works something more than other fantasy works that came before or after.
I do hope they grab hold of your imagination that way sometime as well, Jim.
I dont know if it’s on audible, but there is a fantastic unabridged recording of the Lord of the Rings read by Rob Inglis.
Thanks Masha!
I read the Hobbit when I was a kid and I loved it so much that I picked up Fellowship right after I finished the Hobbit. But I couldn’t get into it. And because of this, I didn’t like Tolkien that much anymore. It wasn’t until years later that I gave Fellowship another chance and I loved the book. I also appreciated Tolkien much more.
Such a classic!
I understand. This has been such an odd experience for me. I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the first part of Fellowship was a complete meandering mess. And this time I either don’t see that mess or I am just in the right frame of mind that I am reading beyond just what is written on the page and pulling deeper meaning from it. I don’t know, but I literally could not put the book down. I read about 150 pages straight through without getting distracted by anything else. It was a wonderful experience.
This time I enjoyed every aspect of Bilbo’s party. I found great moments of humor in his feelings about his fellow Hobbits and some of their feelings about him.
I had forgotten that Frodo and Bilbo had the same birthday (share by my father-in-law, btw) and that Frodo was turning 33 and that this was considered the “coming of age” for Hobbits. I find that significant given J.R.R. Tolkien’s devout Catholicism and that it is believed that Jesus was 33 years old when he was crucified. The deeper meaning of Frodo beginning his own journey in which he is ultimately giving that greatest gift, himself, beginning at that same age would not be something that was a mere coincidence for Tolkien.
While I know Tolkien hated allegory with a passion and would not do anything pointedly allegorical in his works, you do see his belief system woven into the fabric of his work, especially The Silmarillion.
I didn’t know the connection between the coming of age and Jesus. Has Tolkien ever confirmed this connection? Even if he hasn’t, the coincidence seems too coincidental. It sounds like from your comments that he didn’t confirm it, but I have to agree with you that I don’t think it was an accident.
The last time I read this was when I was on vacation in New Orleans. I would start each day at a restaurant down the street and I would read and eat wonderful southern cooking. I would read for an hour and then head out for my day activities. Then at night I would read before I went to bed. Now I always associate this novel with New Orleans. And both are happy memories which is way I really think I enjoyed the novel to a higher degree than the other times I read it. A happy reader makes for a happy reading experience.
I still need to read The Silmarillion.
No, he hasn’t that I am aware of. I’ve just listened to some of the Tolkien experts, like Tom Shippey, talk about how much Tolkien’s deep commitment to Catholicism comes out in his work. Based on biographies I’ve read of his and some of his letters I believe that he did not purposefully set out to include tennants of faith in his work but with someone like Tolkien, who poured his life into his work, I can’t imagine that the things he found important, his Christianity being one of them, wouldn’t influence the work in some way. You see that in Aragorn (the King) and the prophecies about the returning King being a healer, for example. But again, we aren’t talking allegory here. Neither Frodo nor Aragorn are representations of Jesus, no matter how some Christians would like to proclaim that.
Instead Christian beliefs are woven in with the other older mythologies and folklore that Tolkien was so interested in and by that he created a “realistic” fantasy mythology for England, which was one of his stated goals. Tolkien talked about true myth which touched on his belief in central truths in mythology and in the ancient stories passed on from generation to generation.
I don’t believe that the whole 33 thing with Frodo is a mere coincidence, but I also don’t believe Tolkien was trying to overtly tie this book in with his beliefs. Again, his hatred of allegory would have made this an impossibility. However, I believe he wove details like this in because of the depth it gave the story, the same as he did with basing his created languages and story structure on older dead and dying languages that he was passionate about since his boyhood.
I found the same thing when I reread Fellowship last winter. I remembered it being kind of a slog through the early parts of the book, especially where Tom Bombadil showed up, but on a reread it went so much faster and seemed to get into the meat of the story more quickly. I wonder if this is nothing more than the fact that I’ve been through the story once before?…not unlike the seemingly endless length of a street you’re walking down for the first time vs. that same (suddenly shorter) street on the next walk.
I’m sure that is a big part of it Ellen. Even books where I love every word seem much shorter the second, and subsequent, times I’ve read them. I am very happy that, without conscious thought, I am finding myself loving every word of Fellowship and am now enjoying the Tom Bombadil parts a bit more. I’m able to find that character and that part of the story fascinating while not being wholly committed to it yet.
This is my favorite Q&A so far 😀
Oh how I love this exchange <3 </3 <3
(Frodo: “I wish it need not have happened in my time”.
Gandalf: “So do I…and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”)
And as far as Grease goes…My cousins and I wore that record out, (and acted out every scene…lol) These days my children and I do Sing Star and Karoke 😉 We're also a major marching band family, I couldn't imagine our lives without music 😀
I still sing aloud to music in the car and in the house but I have always envied it when I’ve seen older movies where people got together and gathered around the piano to sing songs together, dance etc. I remember how fun it was to do similar stuff as a kid and teenager, free of the weight that we take up as adults.
That whole little section where Frodo and Gandalf talk about the ring is wonderful. Gandalf’s feelings about Gollum, his pity and his empathy with understanding what the ring did to Gollum, what it was doing to Bilbo, is so profound, and to get that kind of revelation so quickly at the beginning of a story is amazing. Tolkien did not waste opportunities to do special things in his story, and because of that there are special and thought-provoking moments scattered throughout.
We also do Sing and Dance Star…it’s a good time…what a release..and a good laugh 😉 I’m not exactly coordinated…that thing Still can’t Teach Me How To Dougie…lol
I did play that dancing game on Wii the other day with my friend’s children. I know a ton of people who wish there was video footage of that!
There is a picture that my daughter sweetly put up on my Facebook page of me and her potential future father-in-law slapping our asses to “Ring my Bell”.
That..I would love to see 😉
Not sure if it will work, but here it is:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=264010753609349&set=t.100001474839532&type=1&theater
No luck 🙁
You should be able to just go to my facebook page (Carl Anderson) and see the photos. I have my account set to “public” so all the photos should be available for anyone to see. I use the same Han and Chewie icon so it should be easy to figure out which Carl Anderson is me.
We’re friends on FB but I can’t view your pics. They have their own privacy settings…maybe it’s that 😉
I realized the photos were on my daughter’s site not mine, so I loaded them onto mine. Try now.
You, were not lying…slap that ass my friend!!! …lol
I’m loving group reading this but also having a hard time exercising any self control. I’m over half way through the section that we are supposed to be reading for this week and won’t be able to talk about until next week! 🙂
I’m really appreciating Sam much more this time in the books. I like him a great deal in the films and it is a pleasure to be connecting with him in the books every bit as much.
Sam drives me nuts. Especially in the movies. That will be interesting to talk about. I will have to mention that in the next weeks questions somewhere…
Yes, I’ll be curious. I love Sam, most especially because of the films.
See Carl? I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the pull of the ring. . . 😉
I wish I liked the songs more. Tolkien was a linguist, how come his songs have all messed up meter? it frustrated me.
I’d gotten warned by you and a few other folks that the beginning of Fellowship was a little slow, so I kept looking out for this slow bit, and it never showed up. 😉
Yes, the precioussss pulled me right in. 🙂
I haven’t read much about Tolkien and the songs. I am wondering if he used older song structures that he studied as examples, or if they were based off of older English folk songs? I imagine there is a lot more about it out there. What I have come to love about the songs is that they sometimes reveal more about other stories that have been passed down and at other times, with “The Road Goes Ever…” and with the song about “Home is behind…” they have such beautiful sentiments in them.
I’m glad the slowness disappeared for me and never manifested for you. That is a win-win.
I never found the beginning of Fellowship slow at all. Carl mentioned to me the other day he did the first time he read it, but I was always a big fan right from the start… I am glad it wasn’t slow because it might have become a DNF for me way back when and that would have been sad!
Kelly, would I lie?!?! 🙂
I can save you all a lot of time. See there’s this guy, and he gets these cute little guys with hairy feet to travel to a town where they meet this other guy and they go across country to this big house by a waterfall and meet some other nice people and they all decide to go on a camping-hiking trip together to try to fins something one of them lost a while ago.
There, saved you tons of hours of book-lifting, page-turning, thinking, all that tiring stuff. You’re welcome. Now your group can move on to something a lot more fun, like maybe reading The Metamorphosis by Kafka. No, I can save you time with that one, too. See this guy wakes up one morning and…
LOL Richard. That ain’t gonna do it for me. I could possibly give you a list of other books that you could save me some time on. They might not be as enjoyable as LOTR, but who knows. Unfortunately they are things I need to read for work, so if you could get started soon?
have you seen the “How Lord of The RIngs Should have ended” on youtube?
Yes, cracked me up.
I really need to reread The LOTR one day. I’ve been wanting to since the movies came out. Since I haven’t read it since I was a teenager.
I need to also try reading The Similarion again one day as well. I tried reading it as a teen after finishing the LOTR and I just couldn’t get into it. I think I may enjoy it as an adult though. I loved reading The Children of Hurin a few years ago so I think I might be inclined to enjoy the Similarion.
I love talking LOTR as well. Great post. 🙂
Thanks Jeff. I’m looking forward to re-reading Children of Hurin in December when this group read gets to that point. I remember some of it but not enough and so I’ll enjoy reading it again despite it being much more of a tragedy than these other books.
Hey Carl,
I just wanted to thank you for spreading the word and fitting this book into your busy schedule.:)
It is my great pleasure. I love these stories so much and I can’t thank you and Andrea enough for hosting this and tempting me to read them again, it was time.