"'By Elbereth and Lúthien the Fair,' said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, 'you shall have neither the Ring nor me!'"
Posted on 06/16/2003 3:58:29 AM PDT by JameRetief
A Tolkien Virgin: The Fellowship of the Ring - Book 1 - Chapter 12 and Overview
by Mark-Edmond
The Journey Continues
| "'By Elbereth and Lúthien the Fair,' said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, 'you shall have neither the Ring nor me!'" |
Chapter 12
Flight to the Ford
I am exhausted! The constant pursuit and extremity of plot complications is tiring--not tiresome so that I don't want to keep reading (like The Silmarillion at times). Naturally, it's not as miserable as The Silmarillion which is okay by me. When our protagonists start getting killed off one by one, then it would start to resemble The Silmarillion more (but then again, some of our dwarf friends in the Hobbit got wasted in the Battle of the Five Armies, huh?). Who needs realism? ;)
Revisiting locations from the Hobbit was kinda fun. It was a little jarring, though, because the feel of these two novels is different (not that different, but still). Then, Sam Gamgee turns out to be a heck of a lyricist. Mark my words, there's something special about that hobbit...maybe he won't turn out to be a magician or a warrior like Frodo suggests, but there is something about him.
I've heard that Tolkien originally wanted to publish each of the different "books" separately--a sextology (or hexology?) instead of a trilogy, I guess. Is that true? Cause I couldn't imagine reading a book that ends where Book One of the Fellowship of the Ring does!
As for the Black Riders-- I think I was right about them being the 9 mortal men enthralled with the rings of power. And although I doubt they actually perished, the flash flood with its foam white riders is a spectacular image. The cover art (by Ted Nesmith) on my copy of Fellowship of the Ring is the flash flood scene, but he doesn't quite pull it off in my opinion. It makes me think that the movie-makers are going to have a tough go of realizing some of Tolkien's more fantastic imagery.
Author: Mark-Edmond
Published on: October 25, 2000
The Fellowship of the Ring
Book I Overview
Reflecting on the entire story up to this point, I'll say that the book is compelling. It's a very real story in that there is clearly a history to our characters and to the world at large. Perhaps there is one grand story that Illúvatar is working out from beginning to end, but each character big or small has his or her own story too.
Perhaps they arrive safely to Rivendell, and assumably Frodo will return to full health, but their adventure is very much at the beginning, still. If the Ring must be destroyed, then Frodo (or someone else--maybe Sam) will have to throw it into the Cracks of Mount Doom. Does it take all 3 books to do that? Or does it take place somewhere in the middle and then more stuff happens till finally Sauron joins his master beyond the Door of Night in the Timeless Void.
Although the story could go many places, it feels like it will only go one way. Fate or providence or whatever seems to be working things out in a very specific way inspite of all the twists and turns. Like Neo in The Matrix, I don't like to think that I'm not in control of my own life, so despite enjoying the story in general, I'm not a big fan of the deterministic slant of Tolkien's books (those that I've read).
I'm sure on a second and third read, Tolkien's attention to geographic detail will be appreciated. But, sometimes, I get tripped up on some of his descriptions and never really understand some of it without stopping and going over it a few times.
So, a third time, I'll say the story is compelling (exciting, nerve-wracking, adventurous, annoying, and colorful), but it's not the easiest to read. Now I'm not the biggest reader in the world either (I've only read the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and this first book in the Fellowship of the Ring over the last 14 months), so maybe that has more to do with me than Tolkien.
As for the movies... since I'm finally in the know enough to have a feel for the Lord of the Rings (or do I?) and risking lots more criticism, I think David Fincher (Seven, the Game, Fight Club) or even Tim Burton would have done a good job with the material I've read thus far; it's all been so dark and even sinister at times, if you know what I mean.
Author: Mark-Edmond
Published on: October 31, 2000
The next Tolkien Virgin article continues with The Fellowship of the Ring - Book II - Chapter 1
|
The Daily Tolkien articles |
The Tolkien Virgin articles |
| ARTICLES 01-10 | ARTICLES 01-10 |
| ARTICLES 11-20 | ARTICLES 11-20 |
| ARTICLES 21-30 | ARTICLES 21-30 |
| ARTICLES 31-40 | ARTICLES 31-40 |
| ARTICLES 41-50 | 41) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 6 |
| ARTICLES 51-60 | 42) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 7 & 8 |
| ARTICLES 61-70 | 43) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 9 |
| ARTICLES 71-80 | 44) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 10 |
| 81) J.R.R.Tolkien, Catholicism and the Use of Allegory | 45) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 11 |
| 82) Where Have All the Dragons Gone? | 46) FOTR - Book 1 - Chapter 12 and Overview |
| 83) Magic by Melkor, No Returns Accepted | |
| 84) Butterbeer & Hobbits | |
| 85) Mother-less Heroes |
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