Bilbo's Earendil poem, calling Frodo back from Nirvana to the world

[Flammifer]

I read Frodo's experience in the house of Elrond, as a pre-figuring of all that is yet to come to Frodo.

He arrives in Rivendell, almost defeated and wraithified by external forces in the form of the Ringwraiths. (He will be almost defeated and petrified by Gollum and Shelob later on.)

He then is almost defeated by internal forces (perhaps influenced by the Ring, though I am not sure how directly), when a shadow fell between him and Bilbo, and he 'felt a desire to strike him'. (He is, of course, actually defeated by the same internal Ring lust at the brink of the fires of Doom, and only saved by Gollum.)

He is rescued from wraithification by Elrond (and partly by his own resistance). He is 'rescued' from his internal Ring lust partly by Bilbo, and partly by his enchantment through Elvish music in the Hall of Fire.

In the Hall of Fire, he loses himself, and merges his consciousness with the universe, in a state resembling 'Nirvana'.

'Nirvana' is "the end of greed, hatred, and delusion". Frodo has just exhibited greed, hatred, and delusion, with Bilbo. He loses all of these, and his sense of self in the enchantment in the Hall of Fire.

What calls him back from 'a long dream of music that turned into running water'?

Bilbo's poem about Earendil.

Earendil's story pre-figures Frodo's. Earendil is a mariner, who tarries in Avernien. Frodo is a wanderer, who tarries in the Shire. Earendil gets all dressed up with fancy armor and weapons. So will Frodo, before he leaves Rivendell. Earendil tries to complete his quest, but gets lost and loses the way. So does Frodo, when he cannot see how to enter Mordor through the Morannon, and heads south to the Morgul Vale. Earendil is put back on the right path by Elwing and the Silmaril. Frodo is put on the right path by Sam and the Silmaril (now a star, the Flammifer of Westernesse). Earendil and Frodo both complete their quest and save Middle Earth. Both make it to Elvenhome. Both pass beyond the circles of the world.

In a way (both literally and symbolically) Frodo is 'called' back to the world by the tale of Earendil, as he is 'summoned' to his mission. He may not have known previously that he would take the Ring any further than Rivendell. But, he 'knows' it now, even if he has not yet articulated it to himself or anyone else.

 

[Evil Dr. Cannon]

Personally, I don’t think Bilbo’s poem projects like an active force on listeners as the elves’ does. I see the symmetry with the Earendil comment and I can see the perspective (as discussed in class) about Bilbo’s poem acting as a lifeline to pull Frodo back from the enchanted state. However, I think Bilbo’s poem just simply doesn’t have the same effect as elvish poetry. Presumably, Frodo would eventually come out of his enchantment once the elves stopped singing, which I assume they had done in order to listen to Bilbo. Bilbo’s recitation was simply what was going on when Frodo was ‘coming to’ and so that’s what he heard as he regained consciousness.

 

[Flammifer]

Hi Dr. Cannon,

I agree with you that Bilbo's poem does not have the same magical effect as the elvish singing. Indeed, I think it has an 'anti-magical' effect, in that the familiar voice of Bilbo, and the accents of Shire speech pull Frodo out of the enchantment, and back into the real world.

I think that being in the enchantment has washed away (for a while at least) the internal Ring lust. (It does not really return to Frodo for months.)

As Frodo gradually returns to the world from his 'long dream of music that turned into running water', the voice of Bilbo, and the intonations of the Shire might be what pulls him back, but what sinks into his mind (hypothesis) is the content of the poem and the example of Earendil's quest, which both has familiar echoes of his recent trip to Rivendell, and perhaps foreshadows what is to come. I think that it is this poem, amplified by the experience of coming out of deep enchantment into the poem and back to the world, that 'decides' Frodo to continue as the Ring-bearer, though he does not know it yet.

Another thought is; regardless of the impact of the poem on Frodo, the impact of the poem on the careful first time reader (one of those readers who reads the poems, instead of skimming over them), should be to convince the reader that Frodo is going to continue the quest, and cause the reader to speculate that Frodo's quest might turn out to resemble Earendil's. The reader should think, "What is going on here?" "Why is this poem in the story in this place?"

Now, of course, the poem conveys some background on Elrond, and it illustrates some of Bilbo's love of lore and elvish translation, but, these are minor purposes. So, why is the poem here? What is it contributing to the work of art of TLOTR? I think the careful reader, considering that question upon reading the poem must consider that Earendil's quest will parallel or foreshadow Frodo's in some way. That Frodo will continue the quest (though the reader has probably already guessed that, seeing as there are still 2 and 1/2 volumes to go), and that Frodo, coming from enchantment to this poem, has just had a revelation similar to the one Bilbo had a few minutes before, except far less consciously and more subliminally (we don't know this when we have just finished reading the poem. How things go immediately after the poem, tells us that Frodo has probably not really processed the impact yet).