[shadowfax]

I agree wholly.

I heard Heidi's talk at the Jena Tolkien Confeence in 2008 (?). I believe the article was developed from this talk. It provided me with a whole new insight on an episode about which I hadn't really thought much until then.

The average Tolkien reader will probably start with The Hobbit, moving on to The Lord of The Rings and then the Silmarillion . In this respect, of the many songs and ballads that the reader will encounter on his journey through Tolkien's universe, the Dwarf concert at Bag End is the first and hence it is an introduction to what is to come. I don't have the text to hand right now but I think the text of the The Hobbit says that Bilbo particularly liked one of the lines. I can't remember which one it was now but I think it was an element that was repeated chorus-like throughout the song. The song also made him dream about distant treasures and adventures. So in a way we actually see some primitive analysis/appreciation of the ballad going on in Bilbo's head which is a sort of didactical device inserted by the author to introduce the reader (it's a children's book, remember) to poetry. So in a way the entire scene is a type of gateway or introduction leading us as readers into Tolkien's poetry (and music).