"Three is company" is another of Tolkien's quirky changes of sayings - the actual proverbial saying goes "two's company, three's a crowd". But I also thought of it as a foreshadowing of the ending of the book at the Grey Havens; Gandalf says, "It will be better to ride back three together than one alone." Additionally, it reminds me of a passage in the Bible, Ecclesiates 4, that begins, "Two are better than one", goes on to elaborate about the situations in which it is good to have another person to help and ends "and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
Right at the beginning is another of those lines that takes on a sinister meaning when I think of it in connection with the Ring; Gandalf says, "Of course you mustn't vanish!" Then there's the "there and back again" comparison, with Frodo being hesitant to leave the Shire because he thinks he won't be returning. Of course, we know that his journey will be a "there and back" trip, just going farther in both a literal and a spiritual sense than Bilbo did.
This is the chapter that raised a question for me that could only be solved by beginning to write a story (which, alas, I have sadly neglected) - my fan fiction that answers the question, "Whatever happened to Folco Boffin?" He's never again mentioned, though he is here said to be one of the four closest friends. I must continue it soon...
This chapter also repeats the poem that is most important to me, "The Road goes ever on". It has accompanied me on many journeys, and as I know it by heart, I have frequently written it in guest books of friends. I do, however, use Bilbo's version with "eager feet", not Frodo's "weary feet" - I love to travel! In Hammond and Scull's
Reader's Companion, they suggest that the difference between the two hobbits and the reason for their alternate poem version is primarily caused by the burden of the Ring, which responsibility Frodo already feels. Bilbo left home all the lighter for having given that burden away.
I also noticed the early version of the poem that Bilbo recites on the way to the Grey Havens at the end of the book - "Still round the corner". This version sounds curious, the later one poignant. The first part of the third stanza is sung by Pippin in the RotK movie - in Denethor's court.
The closing part of the chapter, with Frodo's talk with Gildor, is full of quotable sentences! "The wide world is all about you..."; "
Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards..." (always good for parody versions like the one with ketchup!); "
Go not to the Elves..."; "Advice is a dangerous gift..."; and "Courage is found in unlikely places...", to name the most important lines.
Oh, by the way, Hammond and Scull suggest that the line Frodo uses to call Sam away from the beer barrel at the beginning of this chapter could purposely be similar to that heard in an English pub at closing time!
They also point out that information given by Tolkien in the song cycle
The Road Goes Ever On tells us why Elves could be regularly travelling though this area of the Shire; they could be returning (since they are going eastwards, not westwards to the Havens) from the Towers, where the
palantír was.
Quote:
|
On such visits they were sometimes rewarded by a vision, clear but remote, of Elbereth, as a majestic figure, shining white, standing upon the mountain Oiolosse.
|