I am catching up on Exploring the Lord of the Rings, and am currently on Episode 150, so I still have a ways to go - if any of this is discussed later, apologies!
What I am interested in discussing is in the Council of Elrond, when Elrond prevents Bilbo from recounting the story of his party and giving up the ring. The question of "why" arose in Episode 142 (I believe) and several subsequent times without a fulfilling answer. There are two things that I think were missing from this discussion:
First is the question of how Bilbo would tell this tale; I believe he would be an unreliable narrator. I am imagining how Bilbo told this tale to Elrond in the past (i.e., prior to the day before the counsel, when Bilbo finally seemed to reach an understanding of the hold of the Ring during his interaction with Frodo in the Hall of Fire). The bulk of the story would have been his Party and the trick he pulled, and his passing on of the ring may have been a footnote at the end, probably downplaying the role of the Ring in that interaction. He perhaps would have said that he had hoped to keep it since it served him well on past adventures, and it was only at the last minute that Gandalf convinced him to leave it to his nephew. He might have laughed as he recounted that he almost left it in his pocket by accident! (Again, this telling may have changed after the previous night, but until then, he clearly didn't fully get it.) I feel certain he would not have recounted the internal struggle, or the uncloaking of Gandalf as it truly was. He might have given factually correct information, but the "spiritual" tone of that interaction would have been lost (I also find this consistent with his Hobbit revisions - factually correct in the end, but missing the "spiritual" context. The spiritual struggle given in the text would likely have been written by Frodo after discussions with Gandalf).
If Elrond let Bilbo tell the story, he likely would have had to immediately follow that up with a corrected version by Gandalf, and it may have been a difficult time and place for that conversation - or at least, not overly productive at that point in the Council. I would argue that the friendship of Elrond and Gandalf with Bilbo is enough reason not to put him in that situation. (A final note on this is that Elrond is likely aware that Bilbo revised his view of the Ring as of the previous evening, but the level of his understanding is unclear, and it seems unlikely he has internalized this to the extent that he revised his story already. Regardless, he doesn't seem very good at talking about the negative effects of the ring, as shown by the fact that he focused on the retelling all of the Riddles in the Dark to a council that is gathered to hear about the Ring itself.)
The second reason he may not have wanted Bilbo to tell about his reluctance to give up the ring, even if the true story was told, is that it might call into question Frodo's eventual volunteering to take the ring. It might look less altruistic, or even rule him out of the running altogether, if it is understood exactly how difficult it is to give up. I Elrond potentially withholding some information to support the ultimate goal of allowing Frodo to remain the Ringbearer? (Note that I have not got to the discussion of Frodo taking up the ring yet, so I am less certain on this point, and it may not hold up well at all).
I'm interested to hear any opinions on this, or emendations to make this a better reading of the text. And if it is discussed later, please advise me to be patient!
What I am interested in discussing is in the Council of Elrond, when Elrond prevents Bilbo from recounting the story of his party and giving up the ring. The question of "why" arose in Episode 142 (I believe) and several subsequent times without a fulfilling answer. There are two things that I think were missing from this discussion:
First is the question of how Bilbo would tell this tale; I believe he would be an unreliable narrator. I am imagining how Bilbo told this tale to Elrond in the past (i.e., prior to the day before the counsel, when Bilbo finally seemed to reach an understanding of the hold of the Ring during his interaction with Frodo in the Hall of Fire). The bulk of the story would have been his Party and the trick he pulled, and his passing on of the ring may have been a footnote at the end, probably downplaying the role of the Ring in that interaction. He perhaps would have said that he had hoped to keep it since it served him well on past adventures, and it was only at the last minute that Gandalf convinced him to leave it to his nephew. He might have laughed as he recounted that he almost left it in his pocket by accident! (Again, this telling may have changed after the previous night, but until then, he clearly didn't fully get it.) I feel certain he would not have recounted the internal struggle, or the uncloaking of Gandalf as it truly was. He might have given factually correct information, but the "spiritual" tone of that interaction would have been lost (I also find this consistent with his Hobbit revisions - factually correct in the end, but missing the "spiritual" context. The spiritual struggle given in the text would likely have been written by Frodo after discussions with Gandalf).
If Elrond let Bilbo tell the story, he likely would have had to immediately follow that up with a corrected version by Gandalf, and it may have been a difficult time and place for that conversation - or at least, not overly productive at that point in the Council. I would argue that the friendship of Elrond and Gandalf with Bilbo is enough reason not to put him in that situation. (A final note on this is that Elrond is likely aware that Bilbo revised his view of the Ring as of the previous evening, but the level of his understanding is unclear, and it seems unlikely he has internalized this to the extent that he revised his story already. Regardless, he doesn't seem very good at talking about the negative effects of the ring, as shown by the fact that he focused on the retelling all of the Riddles in the Dark to a council that is gathered to hear about the Ring itself.)
The second reason he may not have wanted Bilbo to tell about his reluctance to give up the ring, even if the true story was told, is that it might call into question Frodo's eventual volunteering to take the ring. It might look less altruistic, or even rule him out of the running altogether, if it is understood exactly how difficult it is to give up. I Elrond potentially withholding some information to support the ultimate goal of allowing Frodo to remain the Ringbearer? (Note that I have not got to the discussion of Frodo taking up the ring yet, so I am less certain on this point, and it may not hold up well at all).
I'm interested to hear any opinions on this, or emendations to make this a better reading of the text. And if it is discussed later, please advise me to be patient!
