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Old 07-05-2004, 12:30 PM   #7
Evisse the Blue
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This chapter sets off at an easy-going pace, much like the hobbits themselves, trotting through the still familiar landscape. I don't mind the attention given to (sometimes pointless) details, the rendering of meaningless small talk. The bit about the fox falls in the same category. It sets an atmosphere of cosiness and familiarity that is very hobbit-like.

Speaking of humour: there's a very well-placed irony when, after Frodo speaks against leaving very quickly, so as not to alert his townfolk, like Bilbo did, Gandalf replies in earnest:
Quote:
Of course you mustn't vanish!
That is, in more ways than one!

Bilbo leaving quickly vs Frodo delaying: Yes, but you must remember, that in both instances, it was autumn. And both Frodo and Bilbo have a thing for leaving on journeys in autumn, this is when their 'wanderthirst' awakens. I always found this very strange, and wondered why on earth they didn't think of leaving in the pleasant spring or warm summer. Don't they think of the approaching winter? This is something I really can't relate to.

I want to talk a little about the Black Riders too. The first glimpse the hobbits get of them is meant to arouse curiosity in the reader, rather than satisfy it: they are very sketchily described. Of course, that is because fearsome things must always be hinted at, kept in shadows and not analysed in the open, or else the fear dies. Kuruharan spoke about the fortunate chance of the Rider turning aside exactly when Frodo was about to give in to his desire and put on the Ring: As his hand reaches the chain,
Quote:
at that moment
the Rider departs. More is not said on the matter, so the reader assumes it was just a lucky coincidence. But when one looks at the book as a whole, one realises there are not such things as 'mere coincidences' in Tolkien's world. Every single 'chance' event is a piece of the puzzle in a masterplan.
The second meeting with the Riders verifies the reader's supposition that indeed the desire for the Ring is provoked by the presence of the Black Riders. Frodo finds himself powerless to succumb to it, but again a 'fortunate' turn of events saves him:
Quote:
But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter
Sam's whisper following the Black Rider's retreat ("Elves! Elves, sir!") somehow foreshadows on a much smaller scale Pippin's cry "The Eagles are coming!" - in that they both signify the twist in the tale when the good guys arrive unexpectedly to save the day.

The Elves' feast in the woods seems to me another nod to 'The Hobbit". Only now the Elves are friendly not elusive and feed and protect the three hobbits, though advice is being given along the lines of saying both no and yes. In the discussion with Gildor, the ambiguity of the Black Riders is cunningly mantained as, when Frodo asks details about them, voicing the curiosity of the reader - is answered gloomily:
Quote:
Is it not enough to know that they are servants of the Enemy?...They are deadly.
. But the reader is also told to expect a reward for his patience later on:
Quote:
My heart forehodes that, ere all is ended, you, Frodo, son of Drogo, will know more of these fell things as Gildor Inglorion.
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