We have in our midst many who have long-studied the deeper histories of Middle earth that are hinted at in the Shadow of the Past, and their Tolkien Encyclopedia brains contain all of the background that Gandalf skims over his typical habit of not explaining anything a hobbit might not understand… I look forward to JenB presenting us with her summary of the “second age” that led up to all this, information contained in the history Silmarillian which I have never had the patience to read in full. My heart has always drawn me to the simpler things.
I think I have my notes in order, and I certainly hope I have not forgotten to add someone to the ping list… Ask me again if you were missed and showed up anyway!
Fellowship of the Ring
CHAPTER II
The Shadow of the Past
Excerpts from our second chapter to get us going….
The talk did not die down in nine or even ninety days….…“If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he’ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,” they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo’s reputation for oddity…
…He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendents of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End…. His closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping all over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by himself, and to the amazement of sensible folk he was sometimes seen far from home walking in the hills and woods under the starlight. Merry and Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done…
…As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good ‘preservation’: outwardly he retained the appearance of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. “Some folk have all the luck,” they said; but it was not until Frodo approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer.
Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and the Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams. He began to say to himself: “Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.” To which the other half of his mind always replied: “Not yet”…
OK – Good Morning!!!
I will try to avoid "spoiling" for those (Are there any? Apparently) who did not while away their adolesence wrapped between the covers of these books. I must have read them thirty times, put them down for twenty years, just saw the movie, and read it through again. I even love the appendixes (sp? appendi?)Oh, Just wait 'til you get to the part where....No! Never mind!
I imagine Middle Earth in the time of Aragorn's son's reign, Eregion florishing, and trees walking north of Bywater. The story continues on.
"You have not seen him," Gandalf broke in. [referring to Gollum]At first, I was disappointed that this section was transposed to the Mines of Moria. But after subsequent viewings, it has that kind of gut-wrenching impact, so close to Gandalf's fall and hearing Gollum's footsteps."No, and I don't want to," said Frodo. "I can't understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? No at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death."
"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement....snip....And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many--yours not least..."
That's not a criticism of the movie, really, just an observation of the difference a small change in format can make to the tone.
Yours in Truth,
In this chapter, Sam let's Sandyman walk all over him at the Green Dragon and has such little understanding of Gandalf as to believe Gandalf would turn him into "something unnatural." And, last but not least, his feelings about embarking on this important journey can be summed up as "Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!"
"I cannot read the fiery letters," said Frodo in a quavering voice."No," said Gandalf, "but I can. The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here."
Merely speaking of evil will empower it, and conversely, speaking of good will drive evil away. For example, there is Frodo's use of "O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!" on Weathertop.
Prompted by the popularity of the LOTR movie in the US (I'm in Japan), I just recently picked up the series for the first time in twenty years, and I'm slightly past the halfway point of The Two Towers now. The movie hasn't arrived here yet; it's scheduled to open in theaters on 2 March, though there will be a late night/early morning preview showing this coming Saturday. Since the movie will not end until after train and subway service stop, it'll be an all-night affair...I guess we'll know then who the real Tolkien fans are.
Despite Tolkien's fame in the English-speaking world, none of my Japanese friends had even heard of LOTR prior to seeing the TV ads for the movie, though the Lord of the Rings series, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion have been available in Japanese for some years now, and such texts as The Atlas of Middle Earth can be found alongside them in bookstores. Most bookstores of any decent size have the entire LOTR series displayed prominently (right next to the Harry Potter books), and Tolkien is likely to gain a considerable number of new fans on this side of the Pacific once the movie arrives.
I actually went out and bought the Japanese-language versions of The Hobbit and the first two volumes of the paperback LOTR today -- hey, if you think three volumes of Tolkien in English is daunting, try nine volumes (albeit not very thick ones) in translation! -- and, if this discussion group doesn't tear through chapters like Ents through stone, I might try to keep up. For those most unquenchably curious hobbits out there, the first volume of LOTR is entitled Tabi no Nakama in Japanese, which translates as "Traveling Companions."
Has anyone else out there read LOTR in translation? I think it might be interesting to discuss some of the differences between the original English version and translated versions -- including variations in literary style, approaches taken to convey dialects, the care taken to maintain the rhyme and rhythm of the poetry/songs, etc. Having skimmed through the Japanese books I bought today, it struck me just how much of Tolkien's appeal lies in his use of language and not simply in the ripping good yarns he tells.
At the end of the First Age in Middle-Earth, the host of the Valar (demigods, basically) overthrew Morgoth, who was a very powerful evil spirit. Morgoth had been ruling Middle-Earth and warring with the Elves and some Men for a very long time. Morgoth basically equals Satan.
Anyway, Morgoth was defeated, and as a reward, the Men who had fought with the Elves were given an island out between Middle-Earth and the Blessed Realms. The island was called Numenor, and sometimes Westernesse, which is how it is referred to in the chapter we are disussing. The men of Numenor were taught many things by the Elves.
Now, Morgoth's chief servant was Sauron. When Morgoth was defeated, he surrendered, but later he fled and hid himself. Slowly he began to gather power to himself, but nobody knew about it. Then he came to the Elves of Eregion (also called Hollin) and the Rings of Power were made. He had a hand in making most of them, but not the Elven-Rings. Celebrimbor the Elf-Smith did not trust Sauron. (This probably goes way back to the problems Feanor had with Morgoth over the Silmarils; Celebrimbor was Feanor's grandson. I can give you more details on this if you need it.) Anyway, the Elf-rings were hidden from Sauron, and so the One Ring, which Sauron soon forged, had less power over them.
Sauron, as we all know, forged the Ring in Orodruin - Mt. Doom. Part of the reason he settled in Mordor was because of Mt Doom, but he also increased its powers. It's not your average volcano.
While all this is going on in Middle-Earth, over in Numenor the kings are becoming more proud and forgetting their roots. Although the kings are descended from Elros Half-Elven, brother of Elrond and the child of Earendil and Elwing, the laws of Numenor are becoming increasingly hard on elf-friends. Then Ar-Pharazon the Golden comes to the throne. He is the proudest king of all, and he takes his army to Middle-Earth and forces Sauron to swear fealty. Sauron is taken back to Numenor as a captive - but he has the Ring. Ar-Pharazon falls under Sauron's power, and the Numenoreans turn to darkness.
Finally, the Valar destroy Numenor because Ar-Pharazon tries to make war on Aman. Numenor is swallowed by the sea. However, one family, descendants of Elros and still loyal to the Elves, escapes. Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion flee, with nine ships full of people and treasures- seven stars and seven stones and one white tree.
Elendil founds the North-Kingdom of Arnor, and his sons rule together in Gondor. They build the great city of Osgiliath, the watch-city of Minas Isil, and the white city, Minas Anor.
Then comes the Last Alliance. Sauron had escaped the destruction of Numenor, though he was weakened, and now seeing his evil, Men and Elves banded together. The great Elf-King, Gil-Galad, lead his people, and Elendil led the armies of Men, and they fought. Elendil and Gil-Galad defeated Sauron, but they perished doing so. Then Isildur took the Ring from Sauron's hand, as wergild for his dead father and brother.
One thing that you may not realize from the movie is how few people knew that Isildur took the Ring. Although it's not made clear until the Council of Elrod, I think I can talk about it here. In the last duel between Sauron and Elendil and Gil-Galad, there weren't many spectators; just Isildur, Elrond, and Cirdan. (Incidentally Gil-Galad originally had one of the Rings; when he died, it went to Elrond.) So only those three knew the truth of what had happened; and Isildur died two years later, ambushed by Orcs. He did write the famous parchment in Minas Tirith but apparently nobody knew about it.
Is there anything else anyone would like to know about this period?