Happy Friday everyone!
It’s April 10th, do you know where your hobbits are?
I mention the date because in years past I’ve celebrated #TolkienReadingDay (March 25th) by posting something J.R.R. Tolkien — or Middle-Earth — related on this blog as a kind of tribute (and reflection upon) one of the great examples of Fantasy literature.
This year (and apparently last year as well), that date came and went, unremarked upon and unnoticed. I’d love to give some epic (or even reasonable) excuse such as the wizard Saruman held me captive atop the formidable tower Orthanc in Isengard, or that my posts are “never late, nor early. But arrive precisely when (they) mean to”, but the truth is . . .
I just completely whiffed this deadline.
By the Ides of March I was only about halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring, and ten days later I’d progressed little further. Instead I posted about a dinosaur novella (Boy, With Accidental Dinosaur) and then about the Greek hero Daedalus (Daedalus Is Dead) (another novella). And time marched on.
But finally, I’ve finished!
And I’m here to say . . . it was a lot of walking?
I first read The Lord of the Rings, as I’m sure many did, in the lead up to the release of Peter Jackson’s iconic films back in December of 2001. Like right up to the release. I KNOW I’ve mentioned the story of that first theater trip — 11 years old and sitting in the car in the parking lot of the theater during previews, sans shoes like a good hobbit, trying to finish the last pages of Fellowship before going in to see the film — on this blog before though I can’t find the exact posts at the moment.
I LOVED those movies as a kid. My thoughts on the books were more mixed and at least as far as the Fellowship is concerned, are mostly the same as a 35 year old hobbit, as they were when I was just an 11 year old hobbit.
In the long years since I first read The Fellowship of the Ring, I’ve often joked that Tolkien will stop the action of the plot to describe the shape and texture of the petals of each flower in a field of daisies. I forgot to mention he will also name the ancestry of each flower going back three generations, and sing a few songs about the more prominent members of the lineage.
It’s telling that the author’s note in my edition is a whopping 35 pages!
Jokes aside, it isn’t hard to tell that Tolkien has a great love of stories, and he spent an incredible, and perhaps painstaking amount of time inventing them. And so when it comes time to tell one of the stories, it’s a bit of a fire hose with all the other stories rushing out at once.
I know I struggled with this as kid reading LotR but as an adult I found it a bit more endearing and dare I say, magical. I had completely forgotten whole sections of Fellowship, like the entire character of Tom Bombadil, which I found myself marveling at upon this second read through.
And I found myself laughing at just how often the hobbits would stop to eat during the beginning of their quest to leave The Shire. But then again in awe at how little it seemed there was to laugh about by the time they left Weathertop.
And then of course there is Rivendell, and MORIA. Lothlorien feels like a whole other book, sad and kinda depressing, and then BOROMIR!! Yeesh. I couldn’t believe the book ended like that even though it doesn’t really have the shape of a cliff hanger we would read in other books, it totally is a cliffhanger and a kinda a crazy one at that.
I’m not usually one for songs or poetry in Fantasy, as even in a world with dragons and wizards (or whatever other nonsense), it’s always felt a bit unlikely that a character would just begin singing randomly and as a musician I usually get hung up trying to figure out the tune. Most authors are not musicians (or even poets), and with little in the way of reference to the actual pitches they were considering as they wrote, it just sort of comes out sounding bad in my head.
However, I did enjoy the songs within this book more than I expected and can see why they have spawned absolute legions of pale imitators in other fantasies. Some were lofty and refined (Legolas singing of Lorien), others lowly but sincere (Frodo mourning Gandalf). The song Sam sings when they make camp by the stone trolls was positively crude. I mentioned in my review of The Hobbit, that Tolkien can be quite whimsical at times, and while I think the reader sees less of that in LOTR than in The Hobbit, it still sneaks its way in at times.
Finally, the following quote from a little spat between Boromir and Aragorn during The Council of Elrond in Rivendell struck me:
“But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from the sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?
And yet less thanks have we than you. Travelers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. ‘Strider’ I am to one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin . . . That has been the task of my kindred while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.” – pg 279
This feels like it could have come directly from the mouth of Geralt of Rivia. Strider is a Witcher! A lot has already been written on the influence of LOTR on Andrezej Sapkowski’s elves, and how they subvert the tropes and cliches of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but I hadn’t made this connection between the Dunedain and Witchers before, and it’s one I’m eager to explore as I delve further into the worlds of both authors.
So, Give The Fellow Ship of The Ring Another Read?
Definitely. Whether it’s because you haven’t peeked into a Hobbit hole in some 25 years (wow), or it’s your first time in Middle-Earth, give this one a read.
Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to keep momentum when page after page has gone into the description of what amounts to a pretty view, or a sprawling backstory, but for any who can push through, the reward is a rich and immersive settings, perhaps one of the foundational 2ndry worlds in all of fantasy. I was in awe not only of the incredible world building, but also in the contrast of the stakes of the adventure between the beginning of the book and the end. When the hobbits first set out, it almost seems like they’re taking a slightly harried holiday, but by the end, we can really feel the (middle) earth shattering potential of Sauron retrieving the ring, and truly just how desperate the Fellowship’s quest is for all people.
Despite all the doom in gloom, there is still some humor and levity within these pages, and really quite a bit of hope throughout. And though I’m not usually much of a fan of lots of songs or poetry breaking up the story, they just seem to make sense in this context.
Finally, it is perhaps not very insightful to say that LoTR has had a huge influence on the Fantasy genre; of course it has, but it was fun to pick out specific examples as I read. The most striking on this read through was between J. R. R. Tolkien’s Dunedain (Rangers) and Andrezej Sapkowski’s Witchers. Obvious in retrospect, but still not something I’d clocked until now.
That’s all I have for this week! It almost feels silly to ask, but has anybody read this one? Recently or as kid? What parts do you love best? What’s your favorite Fantasy that Tolkien helped inspire with LotR? What nostalgic memories does this book bring up for you?
As always I’d love to read your thoughts and stories, so please leave them in the comments! I’m looking forward to talking about this one!
alligators and aneurysms! 