Category: Tolkien

LotRFI Pt.14–Wargs

On By Luke SheltonIn First Impressions, Tolkien3 Comments

The beginning of the next episode which features wild animals is remarkably contrary to the crebain incident. Without warning, Aragorn names the enemy: “Aragorn leapt to his feet. ‘How the wind howls! He cried. ‘It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have come west of the Mountains!’” (FR, II, iv, 297) The story then becomes a rapid exchange of dialogue as the Fellowship makes decisions and outlines plans for their journey. Then there is a lull in the activity as the Fellowship makes camp and sets a watch against the wolves. Then, the fight begins as Wargs encircle the camp and the Fellowship is forced to fend them off.

dances-with-wolves
Image copyright Katarzyna Chmiel-Gugulska

This encounter always reminded me of the fight where Strider, Frodo, and the other hobbits struggled against the Ringwraiths near Weathertop. In each case the protagonists are encircled by enemies near a campfire and must use fire itself to drive away the enemy. It is probably this desired parallel that makes Gandalf’s role so significant to me. Unlike the somewhat successful attack by the Ringwraiths earlier, Gandalf, with some assistance from Legolas, drives away the Wargs before they can hurt anyone. Gandalf puts forth some of his power, seeming to grow in stature and power, as he grabs a branch and with it causes “fire to leap from tree-top to tree-top” until “the whole hill was crowned with dazzling light” (FR, II, iv, 299). At this sight, and the death of their leader, the Wargs flee. Gandalf’s might and skill saves the group and keeps the wolves at bay until they can reach Moria. While the crebain serve to deepen the ominous atmosphere in Hollin, the Fellowship confronts the wolves and staves them off. While there is still fear of their return, there is every indication that this is a manageable threat.

As a note of full disclosure: I read The Call of the Wild by Jack London a few years before LotR. It quickly became one of my favorite books when I was around ten years old. I enjoyed the escapism I found in the Alaskan wild and the grittiness of the writing; however, I mostly enjoyed the book because I loved Buck, the canine protagonist who relates the story. I undoubtedly channeled some of the horrific images from that book into the threat presented by the Wargs here.

Where do We Go From Here?

I want to take a step back, chronologically, and take some time to ruminate on Caradhras. This was a particularly important insight for me, and I hope I can do it justice!

What Do You Think?

I have depicted my first interpretation of the Crebain the Warg encounters as very different in nature. Do you agree with this perspective? Do I miss some important similarities?

Jeremiah B’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (12)

On By Luke SheltonIn Tolkien, Tolkien Experience Project2 Comments

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Jeremiah and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Jeremiah B’s responses:

How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

My dad introduced me to Tolkien by sitting me down at about the age of 4 to watch the Rankin-Bass animated version of The Hobbit, and I’ve gone ever-deeper into the legendarium from there. But I often return to that animated classic, and I’ll always defend it as being brilliantly executed from those who like to call it silly or weird. While it is never flawless, it manages to capture in 1hr18m what the big-budget Hollywood adaptation managed to miss almost entirely in the course of nine hours.

What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

This depends on what you mean by ‘part’. My favourite book remains The Lord of the Rings. But my favourite “quality” or “thing” about Tolkien and his work is how rich, deep, and real it feels. When I read it, it “feels” like it could all really have happened. Tolkien achieves this quality through many mechanisms which aren’t appropriate for this short-reply format. But I’ve not felt that quality with my (admittedly limited) experiences with other fantasy novels.

What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

I often wish I could ‘forget’ Tolkien and ‘re-discover’ him for the first time. The closest I can get is reading to my daughter (who is 10 as of writing this) and watching her reactions. It is wonderful. I’m letting her dictate the speed of her introduction because I hope it will make her more naturally take to the material. I don’t want it forced. But so far we’ve managed to go through The Hobbit (twice), Smith of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, and Roverandom, and we’ve recently begun The Fellowship of the Ring.

However, equally important to me is my wife, who I met through an online book forum discussing Tolkien. This was back in 2004 when meeting people from the Internet was much more taboo than it even is now. It’s safe to say that without Tolkien, my life would be completely different: I wouldn’t be married to this woman, I wouldn’t have my daughter, and I wouldn’t have moved 3500 miles from my hometown across the Atlantic.

Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes! Like many, I used to skip the poetry. And I didn’t really start to go in for “Tolkien studies” until I was in my 20s. Instead, I merely read cover-to-cover (skipping the appendices), and moved on. Now I read more carefully and I often read for different reasons (studying a particular concept, and of course, for pleasure). I’ve broadened my Tolkien bookshelf and “to be read” pile significantly, which now includes essays, papers, and books by many other authors who have, in turn, offered a unique perspective on Tolkien.

Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

I would (and have several times) recommend Tolkien to anyone who likes mythology/ high fantasy/ romance novels and isn’t afraid of large sections of the narrative being devoted to the description of a landscape or local flora. But I accept that Tolkien is not for everyone!

To see more of Jeremiah B’s thoughts on Tolkien, head over to his fantastic blog: https://mathomhouse.wordpress.com/

LotRFI Pt.13–Crebain

On By Luke SheltonIn First Impressions, TolkienLeave a comment

After leaving Rivendell, the narrative makes many asides into the description of geography and scenery, and there is much interaction among the Fellowship which helps to establish each character as well as their roles within the group; however, there are two major encounters with groups of wild animals that I want to look at in a bit more detail: the crebain and the wolves.

daniel-govar-crebain
Image copyright Daniel Govar

The Fellowship encounters the crebain in the land of Hollin, little more than a fortnight out from Rivendell. Unlike the movie interpretation of these events, the significance of the crebain is not in their appearance, but in the silence which their approach instills in the land. Aragorn observes how “No folk dwell here now, but many other creatures live here at times…Yet now all things are silent. I can feel it” (FotR, II, iii, 284). This passage is so ominous that I underlined it several times. As a reader, I was very afraid of anything that could cause an entire region to change its character! I imagined some sort of invisible blight that had somehow scared all of the animals of the area, but left the land untouched. What kind of monstrosity would be capable of such a thing?

It is because of this anticipatory passage that the appearance of the crebain is so impactful: What starts as a shadow in the distance takes on an ominous import as the source of such devastation and fear. This led to an interesting fluctuation of emotions for me. At first the cloud terrified me. Then, as I discovered, along with Sam, that it was simply a large flock of birds, I felt a sense of relief. Aragorn’s reaction to the birds, and his subsequent explanation of their significance renewed my sense of looming fear. The trick that Tolkien pulls here he does several times (including earlier with the black riders), and I do not know that I had ever before experienced this unique skill by any other author. He started with a kind of anxiety about the unknown cause of the stillness in Hollin, and somehow Tolkien identifies the immediate cause of the anxiety for the reader, but still leaves an ominous foreboding and completely unanswered questions. In my previous readings, whenever the source of the anxiousness was identified, there was something to be done. The enemy could be faced, fled, or reasoned with. The enemy became a known quantity. In this instance, the reader understands that the crebain are simply an implement. Whether they spotted the Fellowship or not is left uncertain, as is their ultimate master, although there are some pointed speculations. Furthermore, simply because they are under a malevolent influence does not entirely answer the question of why all of Hollin has gone quiet. What do the beasts and other birds have to fear from the master of the crebain?

While it was such a small occurrence when compared to the quest of the Ring, this episode really had an effect on my reading as a child. Largely because a part of the natural world is here used as an implement of evil, the event underscored my cautiousness and unwillingness to trust in characters with an unknown past (including Boromir).

Julie Valdez’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (11)

On By Luke SheltonIn Tolkien, Tolkien Experience Project2 Comments

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Julie and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Julie Valdez’s responses:

How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

I first heard of J.R.R. Tolkien when I was about ten. A classroom that I was in for the after school program was reading The Hobbit, and I used to stare at the cover wondering how the author’s last name was pronounced. I read a Tolkien work for the first time the following year because my teacher had a copy of The Two Towers lying around. Unfortunately, I only read three pages before I gave up, as I had no idea who the characters were or what in the world an orc was. Fortunately, three years later, I read the entire series for the first time.

What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

To me, the best part of Tolkien’s work is how very inspiring his writing is. The small have the strongest will. Men are frail, but resilient. The love of friends can help you conquer. Hope is a light in the darkness. Tolkien gave me hope in a time where I had none, and so the inspiration his writing blessed me with has been the best part for me.

What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

My fondest experience of Tolkien’s work was reading The Hobbit with my little sister. I was thirteen and she was eight at the time, and so in a way, I felt like I was passing something on to her, this love for Middle-earth and admiration for this author. We had so much fun reading that together, and when her class read The Hobbit the following year, she knew even more about the book than the teacher did! In a way, this love that we share for Middle-earth is a special connection, because we don’t know many Tolkien fans our age, so Middle-earth became our special little niche. We had each other to share it with, and it all began with the day she asked me to read her The Hobbit.

Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

My approach has changed only a bit. I’ve become so familiar with several of Tolkien’s works that my time rereading has become more of re-analyzation and searching for things that I missed since the last time I read.

Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

I recommend Tolkien to everyone. First of all, I am an avid advocate for the classics, and I think that everyone should read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings before they go to college. Second, Tolkien has a very unique approach to fantasy where he borrows from several different mythologies that is very enriching to readers. Third, Tolkien writes unlike any author that I have ever read before. He dedicated his life to fantasy, and his works have a profound resonance that you rarely see anymore as a result. Fourth, whether or not you are a huge fan of the fantasy genre, you can always find something from Tolkien that will suit your fancy. For the fantasy reader, there’s his Middle-earth saga. For those who prefer non-fiction, he has written several engaging essays. For the poetic soul, there are enough songs and poems of several themes to make an anthology. For the little ones, there’s The Hobbit and other light-hearted works like Letters from Father Christmas and Farmer Giles of Ham. Sixth, Tolkien wrote from the human soul, and as a result, his works are felt in the soul. His characters are so complex and human-like that you will most certainly find a plight or characteristic that strikes a chord with you. I just feel that J.R.R. Tolkien was a gift to the world, and that the gifts he left behind ought to be shared, especially in a time where the fantasy genre and writing in general is taking a somewhat unsavory turn.

 

LotRFI Pt.12–Boromir the Bad

On By Luke SheltonIn First Impressions, Tolkien5 Comments

When I first read FR, I remember that I distrusted Boromir entirely. Perhaps it is because in the first two mentions of Boromir the reader is told that he is “from the South” (FR, II, II, 240) and a “stranger” (FR, II, II, 243). I already knew that the real bad guys were in the south, and that the shadowy men from Bree were “strangers.”  Perhaps, too, it was because his first action is to interrupt Elrond in order to boast about his country and ask about the Ring; at least that is how I interpreted his statements at the time.

john-howe-good-sense-revolts
Image copyright John Howe

Boromir is one of the largest detractors from the plan to destroy the ring while at the Council of Elrond. Throughout his journey with the Fellowship, Boromir is constantly preoccupied with the Ring and how it should be used, not destroyed. I think that my childhood instinct to view people, and characters, I loved as infallible played a role in the way I perceived Boromir. To me, he was ‘the enemy’ who was against the wisdom of Gandalf (whom I loved dearly, which I will cover in detail later). As such, I did not see him as a real man, as a character who was valiant yet flawed. I saw him, honestly, in the same way that many conservative American Christians see the devil: as a crafty and deceitful enemy who has his goal in front of him the whole time and picks his spots to exploit weakness. My reading was not to see Boromir as occasionally tempted, but as wholly corrupt and hiding his nature until he can sate his desires.

This interpretation of Boromir stayed with me for approximately three years. When I was sixteen, I audited a course on J.R.R. Tolkien which Dr. Amy H. Sturgis taught at a university near me. It was through her class that I first realized that Boromir was not an entirely unredeemable figure. Since then, my views on Boromir have changed drastically, but that evolution is a story for another time!

Where do we go from here?

Next, I want to talk about some of the obstacles the Fellowship encounter on the journey to Moria.

What Do You Think?

What was your first impression of Boromir?
Has your reading of Boromir changed over time?
​Let me know in the comments!

Andrew Higgins’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (10)

On By Luke SheltonIn Tolkien, Tolkien Experience ProjectLeave a comment

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Andrew and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Andrew Higgins’s responses:

How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

My father Robert Higgins was a lover of Tolkien and member of the New York Tolkien Society.  He read my brother Tom and I The Hobbit when I was about 7 and The Lord of the Rings when I was 8.  This was usually after dinner and I can still hear my father doing all the voices – he was a great Gandalf! 

What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

No surprise it is Tolkien’s invention of languages and how they are intertwined with his myth-making.  From the earliest time I can remember I was fascinated with the Appendix on languages and the writing systems.  

What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

My dad reading the final “Grey Heavens” chapter [from The Lord of the Rings] and meeting him years later at the Medieval gate of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York when he presented my brother and I with our own copies of the newly published The Silmarillion (which I went home and tried to read in one night).

Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes, I have become much more interested in the art of both myth-making and language invention that make up the world-building of Tolkien’s legendarium.  I have also become more interested in how Tolkien’s love and passion for primary world myth and language – through philology – informed his creative building of his legendarium.  

Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

OF COURSE!!!!  Tolkien’s creativity has given us a world with a depth of reality we can enter into (from various points) and explore – through which Tolkien tells some really brilliant stories which reflect in the secondary world the hopes, fears, and dreams of our own world.   

You can find more from Andrew at his Facebook page!

LotRFI Pt.11–Rivendell

On By Luke SheltonIn First Impressions, TolkienLeave a comment

I will readily admit that I was not an avid fan of the events in Rivendell when I first read LotR. As a young reader, it was very difficult to find the patience to work through the Council of Elrond, although the passages where the events of H were briefly rehashed and expanded upon were helpful. I think that I succumbed to the fault of many contemporary readers because I believed that chapters that did not have conflict, by which I mean battles or evading hunters, were boring. It was not until I completed the book and revisited Rivendell that I really understood its importance.

sda-alan-lee-the-council-of-elrond_orig
Image copyright Alan Lee

Aside from the Council, I always enjoyed the privilege of seeing Bilbo in Rivendell. His poetry was difficult to follow because I was unclear about the meter in my first reading and Aragorn’s joke about Earendil was over my head; however, my curiosity about Bilbo was piqued by the second chapter and I wondered what would happen to him on his latest adventure. I also enjoyed the bits of comedy that peek through in the Rivendell chapters. Pippin especially stood out to me as a cut-up who wanted to offer his opinions and was not afraid to talk back to his betters.

For me, the most notable event in Rivendell through the first several reads was the establishment of the Fellowship. I enjoyed learning who would join in the quest, and even looked back over the chapter to make sure I had all of the information about Gimli, Legolas, and Boromir. This is a pretty good spot for me to transition into talking about the characters of the Fellowship, so I will do so for the next several posts, and then come back to Rivendell before moving on into the quest.

Where do We Go From Here?

A brief pause in the chronological approach will let us reflect more on the characters of the Fellowship before we return to Rivendell and continue on the quest itself.

What Do You Think?

How did you approach the Council of Elrond in your first reading?
Were you forewarned about the length or content of the Council?
What about the other events at Rivendell?

PL’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (9)

On By Luke SheltonIn Tolkien, Tolkien Experience ProjectLeave a comment

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to PL and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to PL’s responses:

How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

A friend of my parents (English professor) gave it to me for my 10th birthday.

What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

I used to say it was the Lord of the Rings but as I have grown older I have come to appreciate The Silmarillion far more. It is epic in scope, rich in description and full of complex, nuanced characters. Each time I read it I seem to find something new to explore–a character I may have overlooked, a turn of phrase that did not catch my attention on an earlier reading, details about a favorite character that I had not fully appreciated.

What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

Sharing my love of Tolkien with my children and having them share this love of Middle-earth with me.

Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes. I used to reread it purely for enjoyment of the story and reunion with beloved characters. But now I have delved further into the scholarship and Christopher Tolkien’s later publications: HoME, Unfinished Tales, Letters, Hammond and Scull’s work, the Tolkien Professor and more. On first encountering Tolkien I was a child–the story and characters of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings appealed to me. I had a hard time with The Silmarillion initially–I was so excited to buy it when it first came out. I was 11 and I found it a difficult read at that time.

Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

I recommend it constantly. To children, young adults, adult friends. These stories are epic in scope but the characters are timeless. Flawed, funny, brave, grim, faithless, loyal–all characteristics humans share. The friendships in these tales are so uplifting.

 

LotRFI Pt. 10–Glorfindel, Gildor, and the Elves Pre-Rivendell

On By Luke SheltonIn First Impressions, Tolkien4 Comments

In my discussions of Aragorn, Bombadil, and Maggot I have established that my general approach to new characters during my first reading of LotR was skepticism and mistrust. The only new characters that this mistrust did not touch were the elves. This is a little ironic, given that I read H shortly before starting LotR. It would make sense, given the background of the Elf King of Mirkwood, that I would mistrust the elves, especially those wandering in the woods. It seems, however, that the impression left by Elrond had more of an influence on me as a reader of LotR.

alan-lee-feasting-with-the-elves_1
Image copyright Alan Lee

I was very quick to trust the elves. Once the Black Rider fled from Gildor Inglorion and his company, I essentially trusted elves from then on. I do not remember a single instance when I questioned this trust throughout LotR. Even when the Fellowship confronted elves in Lothlórien, I felt the tension between two factions on the same side but did not assume that the Galadhrim were evil. To rewrite the Frodo line from the meeting with Strider, I deemed that elves seemed fair and felt fairer. Even if this perspective is unique to me or is not entirely based on the published text, it has proved very significant in my understanding of Middle-earth. From the beginning of my experience, the elves were truly Good People. The evil loose in Middle-earth could not tarnish their spirits. They were the bright light in dark places, even among the trees of the Shire.

My interpretation of the elves owes a lot to the fact that Gildor’s people are aware of Bilbo’s farewell from the Shire, they call Bilbo a “good master” and they laugh in their dealings with the hobbits (FR, I, III, 80-1). The familiarity and kindness of the elves, along with their opposition to the Rider make them likable. I found myself, like the hobbits, cheered by their presence.

This feeling of wholesomeness extends to Glorfindel, although he meets the company under more dire conditions. While the group is struggling to get to Rivendell when they meet the elf, Glorfindel acts as a catalyst for action. He spurs Frodo on across the Ford and he helps the others confront the Riders. More significantly than this, however, is that Frodo glimpses Glorfindel “as he is upon the other side” (FR, II, I, 223). This cements the association between the elves and the ethereal, making explicit the goodness of the Good People.

The other-worldly view of Glorfindel not only reasserted the allegiance of the elves, but it prepared me to experience Rivendell as a place removed from the world. We will talk about Rivendell more in the next post, but for now I just wanted to link Glorfindel’s ability to be both in the world and yet detached from it as foreshadowing one of the essential qualities of Rivendell and Lothlórien.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The next post will be on Rivendell, then I should probably take a break from the plot-based approach to cover some of the characters who will be in the Fellowship.

What Do You Think?

What was your impression of the elves before you arrived at Rivendell (in LotR)?

Richard Rowland’s Experience–Tolkien Experience Project (8)

On By Luke SheltonIn Tolkien, Tolkien Experience Project1 Comment

This is one in a series of posts where the content is provided by a guest who has graciously answered five questions about their experience as a Tolkien reader. I am very humbled that anyone volunteers to spend time in this busy world to answer questions for my blog, and so I give my sincerest thanks to Richard Rowland and the other participants for this.

To see the idea behind this project, check out this page

I want to thank Donato Giancola for allowing me to use his stunning portrait of J.R.R Tolkien as the featured image for this project. If you would like to purchase print of this painting, they are available on his website!

If you would like to contribute your own experience, you can do so by using the form on the contact page, or by emailing me directly.

Now, on to Richard Rowland’s responses:

How were you introduced to Tolkien’s work?

An English teacher (Mr Coot) I had for one term in 1965 read to my class for one period a week from The Fellowship of The Ring, by the end of that term he had finished reading the book to us. Sadly we got a new teacher the next term so this was not continued, however two of us got hooked.

What is your favorite part of Tolkien’s work?

This is a difficult one to answer. My favourite story from the First Age is “Of Tuor and his coming to Gondolin” – its a great pity this was never finished. Re: his non legendarium books my favourite is “The Fall of Arthur” and of course a favourite is Lord of the Rings.

What is your fondest experience of Tolkien’s work?

I guess this must be the first time I read Lord of the Rings in 1965.

Has the way you approach Tolkien’s work changed over time?

Yes definitely my approach has changed. As I have got older I have wanted to read more of Tolkien’s work – I only have Sir Garwain still to read, however my main interest is the Legendarium and not so much his other books.

Would you ever recommend Tolkien’s work? Why/Why not?

I always recommend Professor Tolkien’s work and have compiled a suggested order for reading his books. In my opinion no one else has ever compiled a fictional world that has so much depth – this is hinted at in the Lord of the Rings – however this only scratches the surface and any serious study of the legendarium must include the Silmarillion (although admittedly I still battle with the creation section). Also I strongly recommend people should see his paintings and sketches as Professor Tolkien was a very fine artist as well as being a good author. I recently showed my copy of J R R Tolkien Artist and Illustrator to a friend who only has a passing interest in Tolkien’s work and he commented that he was impressed with the variety of styles Professor Tolkien used depending on the context of the painting or sketch – something that I had not thought about before.

For more Middle-earth fun with Richard Rowland, check out the Middle-earth themed Facebook group that he moderates!