LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 04 – A Short Cut to Mushrooms

[Aiwendil]

Davem wrote:

In short, the early drafts are among the worst things he ever set down on paper

I'm not sure I agree. Certainly they are not quite as good as the final version, and certainly if one inserted them into the finished version of LotR, one would have far inferior product. But in their own way I think they are not so bad. If LotR had turned out to be simply a sequel to The Hobbit, in more or less its style and on its scale, they might not have worked too badly. What I think these early drafts really show is how long it took Tolkien to figure out what sort of a book it was he was writing.

[Firefoot]

"They seem above my likes and dislikes, so to speak," answered Sam slowly. "It don't seem to matter what I think about them. Thye are quite different from what I expected - so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were."
Frodo looked at Sam rather startled, half expecting to see some outward sign of the odd change that seemed to have come over him. It did not sound like the voice of the old Sam Gamgee that he thought he knew. But it looked like the old Sam Gamgee sitting there, except that his face was unusually thoughtful.

I think that this is an interesting insight into Sam's true character - the whole conversation is, really. Like Frodo, this is a side of Sam's personality that we have not really seen. He shows great perception of the Elves, and we see that he is a 'deeper' character than we had been led to believe. (He had been saying farewell to the beer barrel...)

Another thing that struck me was how young and inexperienced Pippin seemed, both in this chapter and the last one, though I did not really notice it until this one. He speaks very lightly of the Black Riders, he goes out singing on the grass while Frodo eats, and is on the whole a very jovial and light-hearted character. Even though he is a part of the 'Conspiracy' as we later find out, he still does not understand the danger of the Black Riders (even less than Frodo) and the seriousness of Frodo's plight.

One final trivial thing: I don't think I ever really understood that it was raining as they cut cross-country from Woodhall to Farmer Maggot's property. It sets a much different tone than if it was, say, sunny.

[mark12_30]

davem wrote:

the early drafts are among the worst things he ever set down on paper

I'm with Aiwendiil on this one. I agree they are in a completely different tone; they are more in the spirit of Tom Bombadil than Sauron vs The West.

Lord of the Rings is an epic at the same time that it is a fairy tale. "It feels different near the Shire, " says littlemanpoet, and I agree with him.

Tolkien later wrote a poem about (Bombadil) called "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," published in Oxford Magazine in 1934, long before the writing of the Lord of the Rings began.

Bombadiil went boating, and Bombadil and Maggot were old friends laughing about practical jokes, long before Bingo came into being.

I think of Bingo and Frodo as two different hobbits, just as I think of Strider and Trotter as two different characters. Would Arwen have been disappointed if she had to settle for Trotter? Probably. But that doesn't make Trotter uninteresting to me.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

I'm not sure I agree. Certainly they are not quite as good as the final version, and certainly if one inserted them into the finished version of LotR, one would have far inferior product. But in their own way I think they are not so bad. If LotR had turned out to be simply a sequel to The Hobbit, in more or less its style and on its scale, they might not have worked too badly. What I think these early drafts really show is how long it took Tolkien to figure out what sort of a book it was he was writing.

Ok then, I'll give some of the hobbit's conversation, & we can vote on the quality, & whether we would have had a bestseller on our hands:

'Fancy climbing upstairs to bed!' said Odo. 'That seems to me most inconvenient. Hobbits aren't birds.'

'I don't know.' said Bingo. 'It isn't as bad as it sounds; though personally I never like looking out of upstairs windows, it makes me a bit giddy. There are some houses that have three stages, bedrooms above bedrooms. I slept in one once long ago on a holiday; the wind kept me awake all night.'

'What a nuisance, if you want a handkerchief or something when you are downstairs, & find it is upstairs,' said Odo.

'You could keep handkerchiefs downstairs, if you wished', said Frodo.

'You could, but I don't believe anybody does.'

'That is not the houses' fault,' said Bingo, 'it is just the silliness of the hobbits that live in them.

(Long paragraph on the Elf Towers)

'If I ever live in a house, I shall keep everything I want downstairs, & only go up when I don't want anything' or perhaps I shall have a cold supper upstairs in the dark on a starry night.'

'And have to carry plates & things downstairs, if you don't fall all the way down,' laughed Odo.

'No!' said Bingo. 'I shall have wooden plates & bowls, & throw them out of the window. There will be thick grass all round my house.'

But you would still have to carry your supper upstairs.' said Odo.

'O well then, perhaps I should not have supper upstairs,' said Bingo. 'It was only just an idea.'

The 'farce' as Christopher calls it, of the events in Maggot's house, have to be read in full to be truly appreciated.

Sorry, but to me this rubbish is infinitely inferior to even the most twee stuff in the Hobbit.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Where does one find these early drafts?

Books V-IX of HoME series

Some of us who have these books are reading the corresponding chapters and discussing them here, on the Chapter-by-Chapter Companion thread. It's quite interesting to compare the early drafts and the finished product!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

It also explains why one can come away with one 'take' on a character (I'm thinking Gollum here) and find when rereading that there are small passages that don't completely support the overall picture one has formed.

Thanks H-I and Estelyn!

[Boromir88]

Bethberry said:

Their hospitality, nay, even more, their courage and active support, says much positive to me about The Shire.

No doubt, it is good to see friendly hobbits such as Farmer Cotton, Gaffer Gamgee, and the Cotton family. They all help out Frodo in some way, by standing up to the Black Riders, by just bringing him in and giving him some food and rest, or other reasons. This would no doubt be the good of the shire, but where there's a good there's always a bad.

The Sackville-Bagginses and Ted Sandyman quickly come to mind as the "bad" of the Shire. Also, you have the people of Hobbiton and Michel Delving thinking the Bucklanders/Marish hobbits are queer. Then the Hobbits of Buckland and The Marish thinking the Hobbiton hobbits are queer. All around you have most hobbits thinking Bilbo as queer. Bilbo is one of the few hobbits I respect since he actually got off his butt and did something. You sense a lot of dislike amongst the people in the Shire, if you think of other races there isn't so much dislike. The men of Dale and the dwarves of Erebor had a strong relationship. All the elves helped eachother out, Elrond and Galadriel bot in their own ways helped the fellowship, Celeborn helped Thranduil. Most of the Men of Gondor were united. There were some people who didn't like eachother I know some of the men were jealous of the dwarves riches, and of course the dislike between the dwarves and elves. The Hobbits seem to me as more disconnected, these people don't like these from another area, all the hobbits think down upon the ones that actually go away and help the world (Frodo, Sam, Bilbo..etc). Hobbits are just a race I can't like too much besides Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pip, the Took household, Bilbo, Farmer Cotton and Maggot.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

I admit that this is a pretty slight chapter – one of the least momentous in the book, and yet it has always been one of my favourites. The stouthearted Maggot is a wonderful character, and a ‘type’ of folk the likes of which it has been my very good fortune to know in real life (having grown up around farmers).

There are three points in this chapter that I would like to point out, in addition to those already mentioned.

A long-drawn wail came down the wind, like the cry of some evil and lonely creature.

This particular sentence has never really leaped out at me before, but after the discussions in the Monster thread I could not help but notice the part about the Wraith as being “evil and lonely.” It’s an odd sentiment I think; there is here at one and the same time fear of the Rider and a kind of sympathy for him/it. The “cry” of the “creature” is a “wail”: very sad. And then to respond to the cry with a recognition of loneliness, just as the hobbits are about to go into Maggot’s house to enjoy his hospitality. . .well, it almost makes me feel sorry for the Nazgûl!

Frodo’s memory of having been chased by Maggot’s dogs “all the way to the Ferry” introduces an interesting contrast between the everyday ‘dangers’ of the Shire and the new dangers that have invaded it (and that are now chasing Frodo right to the Ferry!). I don’t think that there’s any kind of Maggot-Nazgûl comparison (although maggots do eat carrion… ) but it is interesting that Frodo here is reflecting on the greatest fear of his innocent youth as he is simultaneously confronting the terror that will be his future.

That last point is about Mrs Maggot:

His wife stood in the light of the open door.

The association between women, light and the safety of home is a big and recurring theme in the book, and here we see it for the first time. Mrs Maggot has welcomed the hobbits and given them shelter, and like Galadriel later on, she sees them off upon the next dangerous leg of their journey after having given them marvellous food, and some good advice (“‘Don’t go arguing with any foreigners and come straight back!’” ). Again, I don’t think that I can make much of a Mrs. Maggot/Galadriel argument, but the foreshadowing is there, I think.

It’s significant that it comes here, too, as this is the hobbits’ departure from the Shire-proper. Yes, they are still in hobbit-lands, but as soon as they cross the River they are out of their homeland and on the (settled) edge of the Wild. I find it compelling that it is a woman who sees them off and provides them with the supplies they need for the journey…

EDIT

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Hobbits are just a race I can't like too much besides Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pip, the Took household, Bilbo, Farmer Cotton and Maggot.

You do of course realise, B88, that those are pretty much the only hobbits you get to really know in the course of the book: perhaps if we know more about the other hobbits we would like them just as much! (Well, maybe not Lobelia and Otho. . . )