A Pun from the Professor

Matt DeForrest

Active Member
It struck me as I was watching Corey discussing the scene where Gandalf takes his leave from Frodo that there may be a pun in the line where he says farewell:

"I am not certain, so I will say no more. I may be able to tell you something when I come back. I am going off at once: so this is good-bye for the present." [Emphasis added.]

Of course, this follows the discussion of the "birthday present" that came to Golum and that Bilbo gave to Frodo.

I would be inclined to dismiss my observation except that this is the only formulation in The Lord of the Rings where good-bye is spoken and not followed by a reference to the person addressed or an exclamation point. (There are some other appearances of good-bye that are within a narrative.)

I suspect it would be too much to think that Gandalf is addressing the One Ring at this point but I do think that it is in keeping with the closing of the topic (and, perhaps he hopes, for Frodo's thinking about/upon) the One Ring.
 
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Incidentally, Tolkien seems to prefer farewell -- which appears far more often. Perhaps the etymology (God be with you v. fare thee well) seemed more appropriate.
 
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