The Fellowship of the Ring // Book 2, Chapter 1 // Many Meetings

Book 2 here we come! I'm actually really excited about this.

And here we are in Rivendell. After all the terror and hunger and fatigue, to come into a place of such sweet refreshment -- an oasis, a fortress. Warm and peaceful, where cares can slide off bowed shoulders and be forgotten for a while. After rocky hills, waterfalls and gardens; after the barren wasteland, tables laden with sumptuous fare; after the dark soul shriveling speech of the Riders, poignant living words in a Hall of Fire. 

And clean raiment and Frodo's deliverance at the hands of a skilled healer.

We have seen Elrond, a lord among elves and men. And we have glimpsed his daughter from afar, Arwen Undómiel, Evenstar of her people.

And GANDALF IS BACK. Such wonderfulness!! I love Frodo's catch up session when he awakens.

We also meet Bilbo again. I must admit, it's actually not my favorite Bilbo moment, but I do very much relish the little back and forth as he and Frodo quiz each other on how they reference Aragorn. That is one of my favorite bits. And of course Aragorn himself coming in and all that.

As I was reading the chapter, I noticed how (the writing style doesn't change from what's gone before, of course), but the very phrases and turns of expression glide smoothly along, mirroring the content, creating a refreshing read through and through. There's peace and contentment, and at the end of it I literally heaved a happy sigh.

Quotes:

• "Yes,' he said, 'I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.' Frodo lay down again. He felt too comfortable and peaceful to argue, and in any case he did not think he would get the better of an argument."
• "Yes, I, Gandalf the Grey,' said the wizard solemnly. 'There are many powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured."
  
• "...to the wizard's eye there was a faint change, just a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet. 'Still that must be expected,' said Gandalf to himself. 'He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can."
• "Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, 'a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness." 
• Frodo halted for a moment, looking back. Elrond was in his chair and the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the trees. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw that Aragorn stood beside her; his dark cloak was thrown back, and he seemed to be clad in elven-mail, and a star shone on his breast. They spoke together, and then suddenly it seemed to Frodo that Arwen turned towards him, and the light of her eyes fell on him from afar and pierced his heart. He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody."
  

 

For thought:

• If you wanted to do some thinking and musing in the house of Elrond, would you prefer to scramble up to the pine woods or stay near the gardens and waterfall under the shaded portico or find a quiet corner in the Hall of Fire? 
  
• When Bilbo says, "Don't adventures ever have an end?" in the context (to me) he sounds a bit tired and maybe, just maybe, a tad regretful, but it made me think of what C.S. Lewis wrote in The Last Battle, “...the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. ...now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” Do you think adventures have an end? Or do you think they just keep growing and growing and leading into new ones?