Blad The Inspirer
New Member
Hello, first-time poster here.
I have a question that I don't think was covered in the course, stemming from Chapter 2 of Book 1.
Early on in the conversation between Gandalf and Frodo, after Gandalf describes Bilbo's account of the strange behavior of the ring, Frodo says,
"'Yes, he warned me of that in his last letter,' said Frodo, 'so I have always kept it on its chain.'"
I have always wondered if this suggests that Frodo received letters from Bilbo after he left the Shire.
Of course, the "last letter" could easily have been among the "other documents" left by Bilbo in the envelope with the ring at the end of chapter one. Indeed, I have always considered that to be the most likely explanation. However, it is the word "last" that has made me start questioning this.
"Last" could mean "final" or "most recent", but in either case it seems unlikely that it would refer to a letter left to Frodo at the end of chapter one. This is because, in either case, it implies that Bilbo has sent Frodo multiple letters. Otherwise, we would expect Frodo to simply refer to it as "Bilbo's letter".
Would Bilbo have sent Frodo any letters before leaving the Shire? It seems unlikely, given that Frodo was living with him in Bag End. Frodo was only 12 years old when his parents passed away, and while I don't know how long after that Bilbo took him in, I think it is safe to say that the two had been living together for many years.
This leads me to believe that the "last letter" must have been sent by Bilbo after he left the Shire. According to Bilbo in Many Meetings, Bilbo wandered around before making his way to Rivendell without much adventure, went to the Lonely Mountain, then finally came back to Rivendell for good. Since Frodo seemed to have no idea that Bilbo would be in Rivendell, maybe the letter was sent before Bilbo finally settled down there.
I would be interested to see if anyone can shed some light on this for me. This feels like a really important point to me, but I am not entirely convinced by any of the readings I have given here.
I have a question that I don't think was covered in the course, stemming from Chapter 2 of Book 1.
Early on in the conversation between Gandalf and Frodo, after Gandalf describes Bilbo's account of the strange behavior of the ring, Frodo says,
"'Yes, he warned me of that in his last letter,' said Frodo, 'so I have always kept it on its chain.'"
I have always wondered if this suggests that Frodo received letters from Bilbo after he left the Shire.
Of course, the "last letter" could easily have been among the "other documents" left by Bilbo in the envelope with the ring at the end of chapter one. Indeed, I have always considered that to be the most likely explanation. However, it is the word "last" that has made me start questioning this.
"Last" could mean "final" or "most recent", but in either case it seems unlikely that it would refer to a letter left to Frodo at the end of chapter one. This is because, in either case, it implies that Bilbo has sent Frodo multiple letters. Otherwise, we would expect Frodo to simply refer to it as "Bilbo's letter".
Would Bilbo have sent Frodo any letters before leaving the Shire? It seems unlikely, given that Frodo was living with him in Bag End. Frodo was only 12 years old when his parents passed away, and while I don't know how long after that Bilbo took him in, I think it is safe to say that the two had been living together for many years.
This leads me to believe that the "last letter" must have been sent by Bilbo after he left the Shire. According to Bilbo in Many Meetings, Bilbo wandered around before making his way to Rivendell without much adventure, went to the Lonely Mountain, then finally came back to Rivendell for good. Since Frodo seemed to have no idea that Bilbo would be in Rivendell, maybe the letter was sent before Bilbo finally settled down there.
I would be interested to see if anyone can shed some light on this for me. This feels like a really important point to me, but I am not entirely convinced by any of the readings I have given here.