Why pass on the west side?

[Birdland]

Or maybe the openings of the Barrows faced the east...

Actually, I think DaughterofVana has hit closest to the mark regarding Bombadil's advice. It is a very old Christian burial custom the dictates that when people are buried, they must be facing East. (I won't go into the details of the Why, but check any cemetery. All graves will face East.)

Perhaps in Tolkien's day there was a superstition about crossing to the West when walking past a grave, and he is making an indirect reference to this in Bombadil's statement.

That's the trouble, (and beauty) of Tolkien's writing; you never know when a reference in the text is coming from his research in mythology, his own Catholic upbringing, or the customs and beliefs of the time and place he was born in. I wouldn't doubt that some details might even have double, or "in-joke" meanings; such as the speech pattern of Treebeard being based on that of C.S. Lewis.

So remember, whenever you are walking through a cemetery, don't forget to walk to the West of the graves. Tolkien said so! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

P. S. - Oh, and make sure you whistle. Frodo forgot to whistle, and look what happened.

[ August 29, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]