… continued from my previous post
But what about on their way back to the stone? For surely they must have returned to gather belongings? This is then the second ‘riddle in the dark’ needing a solution!
Again we can employ a dose of logic. The ponies and their positioning are key here. We must recall the text states, after initially reaching the standing stone, the hobbits had dismounted and removed all packs so that:
“Their ponies unburdened strayed upon the grass.”
–
The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs
Once at the western rim, as the Sun set and the fog closed in, clearly conveyed is a hurry to leave that forbidding place. It seems logical the hobbits would next have directly headed towards the ponies, then led them back towards the standing stone to hastily re-lade their gear which must have been earlier offloaded nearby it.
But in which quadrant were the ponies?
Tolkien left us a telling clue in that Bombadil later related the ponies:
“… sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they run to save themselves, then they run the right way.”
–
The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs
And in this late hour an air of glumness had ominously descended. A ‘sixth-sense’ gloom seems to have hung over the beasts in being portrayed in the hollow:
“… standing crowded together with their heads down.”
–
The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs
If I were to hazard a guess – I would say they were located in one of the two southern quadrants closest to Bombadil and furthest from the impending danger beyond the hill’s northern slope. Thus in gathering the ponies and then heading back towards the standing stone to collect their belongings – one complete circuit must have been made ‘widershins’ by each hobbit! Four cumulative laps, but most significantly - at least three in total!
Counterclockwise – Widershins* (Widdershins)
Finally – Tolkien’s masterful ploy, so adeptly inserted that it’s hardly noticeable, is revealed for all to marvel at. This is why Tom didn’t want the hobbits:
“ ‘… a-meddling with old stone …’ ”.
–
The Fellowship of the Ring, In the House of Tom Bombadil
Because this was the way for a mortal to open a door leading to fairyland. No church** as in the
Childe Rowland fairy tale – but an ancient standing stone. Not three taps on a menhir but collectively three times around one widershins! For indeed after leaving the hill, the sudden magical appearance of two new standing stones functioning:
“… like the pillars of a headless door, …”
–
The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs
where there had been none before – provided the entrance into what I term: Middle-earth Faërie!
So for the first time ever and after more than seventy years, we can connect all the pieces of the puzzle and truly comprehend the essence of this portion of the story. But more so, we can appreciate Tolkien’s genius in the way English fairy tale was once again woven into the story along with ‘riddles in the dark’ for adults to solve!
* A Dorothy Sayers novel of 1934 starring Lord Peter Wimsey employs the term ‘widdershins’ in the same sense as
Childe Rowland:
“… it is unlucky to walk about a church widdershins, …”.
–
The Nine Tailors, D.L. Sayers, 1934
From
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981 – according to
Letter #71 of 1944 Tolkien “… followed P. Wimsey from his attractive beginnings so far, …”. Thus, it’s deducible Tolkien had more than likely run across a rather interesting Germanic rooted term before
The Lord of the Rings.
** The presence of a church nearby to the ‘Stone of Destiny’ at Tara is remarkable in itself. Had fairy tale matters got mixed-up in the ‘Cauldron of Story’? Perhaps Tolkien felt the true circuits in
Childe Rowland had been misrecorded; widershins not around a church, but rather around an enchanted standing stone.
The Hill of Tara – Stone of Destiny (center) and Church (upper right)