Posted on 02/15/2002 7:01:31 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Our story begins:
Fellowship of the Ring
PROLOGUE – Concerning Hobbits and other matters
We begin our story in the year 1401, according to the Shire reckoning, 59 years after Bilbo returns home from the adventure recounted in The Hobbit. Some history and events concerning hobbits and their habits are told in the Prologue. I think many would agree with my humble opinion that to fully adore our hobbits and their character, you cannot skip The Hobbit.
BOOK 1
Chapter I – A Long-Expected Party
When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved; but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently) perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth.
“It will have to be paid for,” they said. “It isn’t natural, and trouble will come of it!”…
I see the first chapter as providing background into the character of hobbits. They may be "tough as dragons in a pinch" but they don't like being put in pinches. They like getting proper meals and smoking pipeweed without Big Folk bothering them.
So when our heroes have to go on their adventure, we know that this is not the way things usually are for hobbits, and it makes what they do all the more impressive.
Also, this chapter is mostly light-hearted, but there are a few moments where the new, darker tone of the book creeps through, like when Bilbo doesn't want to give away the Ring. This is also to clue us in that there's something odd here, as readers of The Hobbit will find Bilbo's behavior very odd.
OK, I'll stick in my two cents...one thing I've always loved about the first chapter is how it is, to pretty great extent, written from the hobbits' perspective. We really get a feel for how they like their comfort, their familiar country, and how by nature they dislike change and "adventure". It sets up the next part of the story, so that in a way, we are, like Gandalf, surprised at how quickly they can make up their minds and act when they really need to.
Most excellent idea! Who do I beg/badger/cajole to be put on a ping list, if one exists????
Me too, sneakers! I'm about half way through 'The Hobbit' having already read the trilogy and seen the movie twice. I'm going with my daughter again on Sunday; she's a Legolas fan and I'm partial to Boromir! We love all the stills from the movie; proof that the DVD is going to be AWESOME!
Nice idea. Count me in as a frequent visitor to the tavern.
I have always thought that this chapter served as the (necessary) transition from The Hobbit to LOTR. It has some of the feel of The Hobbit and of course traffics in familiar characters and places. It's very "hobbity."
The prose is a little deeper, however, and hints creep in quickly that despite all the fun, that this will be a darker tale.
But I suppose my Gaffer would say that's what comes of mixing in the affairs of your betters.
"reports and complaints of strange persons and creatures prowling about the borders. . .the first sign that all was not quite as it should be." (Tolkien, Prologue FOTR)
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