The Fellowship of the Ring // Book 1, Chapter 6 // The Old Forest

Annnnnd..... *drumroll* we now officially set out on the great adventure! (With, granted, several detour-ish chapters here of Hobbit like adventures & misadventures.) There's all sorts of debate out there on whether these and the next two chapters are necessary, but I think we should trust to Tolkien's meticulous editing process and purely from a plot standpoint (at least in the books) they do transition us smoothly from the carefree life of the Shire to the big dark scary world outside.

And remember that help-found-at-unexpected-times theme I mentioned recently? Well, here it is again. Right when things are at their worst, an un-looked for stranger appears and proves himself a friend.

Ok, so. I know not everyone feels this way and it's very definitely not everyone's cuppa tea ;), but personally I love this chapter. It's actually one of my favorites. Yes, not much happens, but if I could be sure Tom Bombadil was close at hand, I'd love to spend a day dabbling along the Withywindle, feeling the magic all round me and running out my fingertips.

Yes, the Forest shows us a good creation that's fallen and twisted, but there's still intense beauty there, living remnants of glory. And I know Bombadil isn't a direct allegory (Tolkien explicitly stated he wasn't), but he does have certain godlike qualities -- for one, he speaks with authority and when he commands, it is done.

All the powers of the Ring notwithstanding, I feel like this section approaches the closest to Deep Magic -- the sort of wonder we see all round us in the very fabric of creation, the kind that's mind-boggling when we catch even the edges of it.

They left all of this out of the movies, and I can see why (+there's more room for discussing it in the next chapter), but big picture wise, it does show there's a deeper magic at work -- beyond the fashioned and manipulated kind bound up in the Ring, heavy-handed in its very nature. 

So yeah, we'll talk more about it as we go along. For today I just wanna soak in that mystery.

Quotes:

• "...Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help! ...He felt desperate: lost and witless. Suddenly he stopped. There was an answer, or so he thought; but it seemed to come from behind him... He turned round and listened, and soon there could be no doubt: someone was singing a song; a deep glad voice was singing carelessly and happily, but it was singing nonsense..."
• "Frodo and Sam stood as if enchanted. ...There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, stumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies."
  

 

For thought:

• Can you think of any comparisons/contrasts between this and Bilbo and the dwarves' adventures in Mirkwood?
• Also, make sure to listen to THIS, and let me know what you think! (If y'all like it I've got more up my sleeve as we go along. ;))