LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 06 – The Old Forest

[Firefoot]

Hi, Fimbrethil, welcome to our discussion and the Downs!

In this chapter something struck me that I haven't noticed before. There was a certain 'magic' about it, very akin to that of the Hobbit. I think this is partly because it gets away from the darker aspects of the story (the Ring, the Black Riders) and while the adventure they have in the chapter is certainly dangerous, it is of the "simpler" sort. Even though the mood surrounding the Forest is very dark indeed - it goes from extremely foggy (somehow a very fitting way to begin the adventure) to a dark, queer sojourn through the Forest - the chapter seems almost light, especially compared to the rest of the book. Part of this is perhaps Merry's relative familiarity with the Forest and his way of taking the Forest so lightly (that is how it has always seemed to me anyway).

Something else that hadn't occurred to me in recent readings is the image of the path by the Withywindle that we are given. The scene is much more vivid right now than many images I get from books (being that I am one who does not generally get images when I read).

Coming to the opening they found that they had made their way down through a cleft in a high steep bank, almost a cliff. At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds; and in the distance could be glimpsed another bank almost as steep. A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between. In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows, arched over with willows, blocked with fallen willows, and flecked with thousands of faded willow-leaves. The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the brances; for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing slftly in the valley and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking.

One more reflection for now, and that is on a line I have always greatly enjoyed:

In their shed they found the ponies; sturdy little beasts of the kind loved by hobbits, not speedy, but good for a long day's work.

In many of the threads people have posted on what different quotations, lines, and actions have said about Hobbits, and I am going to chip in my two cents about this. Hobbits love this kind of pony not because they are well-bred, fast, pretty, or anything like that, but because they are sturdy and will last an entire day of work - good hard work being one of the things that Hobbits delighted in, according to the Prologue.