The bathing interlude

T

TThurston

Member
In all the close reading of the bath song, I wonder if perhaps we missed what seems to me the major point of the bathing interlude, it's frivolity and lightheartedness. There were competing songs, splashing, and wallowing. The "splashing Hot Water with my feet" of Pippin's song is accompanied by a terrific splash, and a shout from Frodo. In my mind, I see the fountain of water created by that splash. When they come out of the bath room, "the stone floor was swimming."

This is a light, pleasant, peaceful interlude between times of tension. I think it is important to watch for the ebb and flow of tension and it's absence as we read the book. To me it seems to be an important aspect of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit -- at least in the books and LOTRO.
 
One other note on the baths. It is one of the instances in the Book where we see Hobbits acting like kids. There are other similarities to kids when we count those from The Hobbit. Their range in height from 2 to 4 feet encompasses the range of size of pre-adolescent humans. They do not have beards. The pitch of Bilbo's voice in the hobbit is clearly high, at least as I recall when it is described. And the pitch of Pippin's voice does not give him away as an adult when he encounters Bergil in Minas Tirith. Are there other similarities I've missed?
 
I would also add that it is a chance for Tolkien to show Hobbit bath culture. After all, if there are enough bath songs to have an identifiable genre, we should expect to see bathing taking place.
 
I see it as a peek into the happier, lighter side of hobbit culture. In the early chapters, despite the fact the story is not nearly as dark as it becomes as it unfolds, you do see hobbits being greedy, close minded and avaricious (albeit in somewhat small, inconsequential doses.) This is a moment of free joy and abandon, where the baths serve not only to wash away the dirt and grime of the road, but also, if only momentarily, the cares and worries of the journey. It is quite the nice interlude.
 
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