Episode 104 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 104

Rivendell, as a Hobbit sequel:

• What are the instances where Tolkien directly quotes from The Hobbit in The Lord of the Rings?
• Some of the characters quote lines from it in other places, but this is the only instance in which the narrator here directly quotes the narrator of The Hobbit.
• There are many allusions throughout the story, but this makes a much more direct connection by quoting the text and is a remnant of the time when this was more of a sequel to The Hobbit.
• Textually, either Frodo or Sam would want to reference Bilbo’s previous adventure.
• The effect of quoting The Hobbit is to recall the chapter, which was called “A Short Rest”, in which the party was refreshed and received help and expert counsel, is to expect the same here.
• There is a sense in The Hobbit that when they leave Rivendell, Thorin and Company have had their quest re-contextualized from what it was when they left Bag End.
• At that point, they have a quest, but after Rivendell, they have a plan, which was lacking before.
• The moon letters are also a turning point thematically, as the coincidence of Elrond being able to read them on the one day that they would be visible is clearly an act of Providence.
• In this sense of meaning, the connection between the two interludes in Rivendell are connected.
• As before, events during Frodo’s stay in Rivendell will intervene to make clear his destiny.

Frodo’s destiny as Ring-bearer:

• Gandalf hinted that the quest might lead to Mount Doom, but it is here that decision is made.
• Part of Gandalf’s interactions before had been to see if Frodo was up to the task of being the Ring-bearer, and if that task was his to complete.
• Note: It’s unclear if it would even be possible, at this point, for another person to be chosen to bear the Ring to Mordor, or if Frodo would be able to give up the Ring when the time came. He would certainly need help, but help is available here, but he would have similar difficulties as Bilbo had when giving it up, though his connection was longer, yet different.
• There is a sense of an impatience in the Ring, shown in the way that it abandoned Gollum, and in Bilbo’s restlessness. Likewise, Frodo’s Ring temptations have been strong and frequent.
• A major difference between these previous periods of ownership and Frodo’s time is that he is not only fully aware of what it is and is doing, but Sauron is also actively seeking for it.
• We know that both Gollum and Bilbo used the Ring, but not frequently, and less so later on.
• Note: There have been many fans who have made a parallel between the connection between the Ring and its possessors and that of a drug addiction, including the makes of the films, and though this may not have been directly intended by Tolkien, it is a compelling parallel. However, there are ways in which this connection is different from an addiction, one of which being that the longer one possesses the Ring, the Ring is used less. It becomes more about possessiveness.
• Note: There is no evidence that the Nine Rings of Men progress in similar ways as the One Ring, and there are only a few examples of how the One Ring progresses in its seduction. Bilbo and Gollum are two, but we get very little about Isildur’s before the revisions in Unfinished Tales. Even Sam’s brief possession is different because the circumstances have changed.

On “The Last Homely House, east of the Sea”:

• In the text of The Hobbit, Rivendell is described only as the Last Homely House, and this meant in the context of heading east from the Shire over the Misty Mountains and toward Wilderland.
• In this sense, it represents a transition from friendly to unfriendly country on the way out, and unfriendly to friendly country on the way back home, in a simpler kind of linear geography.
• By adding “east of the Sea”, the context is significantly changed regarding the word “Last”.
• Before, it was purely geographical, but now it takes on a chronological meaning, in that it is the last one remaining in Middle-earth, outside of the Blessed Realm, west of the Sea.
• That Lothlorien is not considered a Homely House is partly due to it not being created at this point of the writing of the text, but maybe that it is a different kind of place from Rivendell.
• Rivendell is also familiar, and open and welcoming to outsiders in a way that Lothlorien is not.
• It’s important that the idea of “homely” is taken from Bilbo’s perspective in The Hobbit, but here, “homely” is more from the perspective of the Elves, before they depart Middle-earth.
• This would suggest that The Grey Havens are also not considered “homely”, as it is a harbor and a departing place for the Elves. It serves a more transient function for the Elves than Rivendell.
• If there are any Homely Houses in Tol Eressëa, as “east of the Sea” suggests, there is only one example of them welcoming outsiders, which is Eriol/Ælfwine in The Book of Lost Tales.
• This is the only time that he described Tol Eressëa, and the description is very similar to Rivendell. In this way, these Homely Houses are what await Elves when they leave Middle-earth.
• It’s possible that the word “homely” in this context applies specifically to the Noldor. If it’s true that homely means “like Elvenhome”, then the homeliest house of all time would be Gondolin.
• Gil-galad’s center of power in Lindon was also probably “homely” in this Elvish sense.
• Lothlorien is different in this context, in that it is entirely based in Middle-earth and is conceived as separate from the West. That it is populated entirely with Silvan Elves is important.
• Rivendell is looking back to the Elvenhome for a model and is populated with Noldor and Sindar.
• Also, though the Grey Havens are closer to the center of power for Gil-galad’s kingdom, Rivendell is more like a last remnant of that kingdom in spirit, and Elrond as Gil-galad’s heir.
• If this new context is true, why would Frodo use the term if it is an Elvish concept? By recalling the name given in The Hobbit, Frodo then transforms it by using it in this new context.
• In the prologue, we are told that Frodo and Sam were reluctant to change any of the text written by Bilbo himself. However, he may be willing to recontextualize Bilbo’s words.
• Bilbo had named Rivendell the Last Homely House when he was new to adventures and not yet learned in lore. Frodo is looking back on Bilbo’s name and updating it based on new experience.
• However, this doesn’t mean that Bilbo’s personal impression of Rivendell was not true, and Frodo confirms that by quoting Bilbo’s description of his experience, though it means more now.
• Also, though what Frodo needs from Rivendell is similar to what Bilbo needed at this point in his trip, Frodo’s need is greater, and the virtues of the house are more welcome.
• His introspection about Rivendell is prior to leaving his room and seeing it for the first time.
• Note: There is an echo of the passage after the hobbits are released from the barrow, which is described as waking up after a long illness and finding themselves unexpectedly well. Where that had been metaphorical before, here it is literal for Frodo.
• Are we supposed to imagine Rivendell as a single house? Tolkien seems to have imagined it as one large house and this is the way that he illustrated it, but it doesn’t preclude other buildings.

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[Tony Meade]

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On the house of Elrond:

• It’s unclear if there is any hint of “house” being used in a genealogical sense or of nobility.
• Elrond’s heritage is connected to every major royal line of Elves and Men in The Silmarillion, and his function in it, therefore, is to be a last point of convergence and survival of the Elder Days.
• Noble houses are named for the progenitor, not the end. However, in the context of The Lord of the Rings, Elrond and Elros become progenitors of lines that are reunited in Aragorn and Arwen.

Frodo has his first reunion:

• Frodo is first reunited with himself before anyone else, and finds that he’s well, though changed.
• There is degree of humility if Frodo’s description of his arm’s usefulness is self-effacing, and there is a sense that he is being reintroduced to his arm, along with the rest of his body.
• Hobbits are very fond of the color green, so his new clothing matches that hobbit preference.
• The hobbits had already lost their clothes following their time in the barrow, and in a pre-industrial world, any losing, giving, and receiving new clothing was very important.
• Clothing before mass production was expensive, difficult to make, including acquiring the materials, and was expected to fit well and to last a long time.
• Note: The fact that Bilbo had rooms devoted to clothes was a mark of his wealth and status.
• Therefore, the gift of well-fitting clothes would be a generous and thoughtful gift from the Elves.
• Note: Frodo is an Elf-friend, and it is significant that he is now dressed in clothes of the Elves. This will be echoed later in the gifts of the Elven cloaks in Lothlorien.
• There is also a sense of a new life for Frodo, having awakened in Rivendell, and being clad anew.
• As Frodo looks at himself in the mirror, he sees himself as he did as a younger hobbit, which echoes the joke he made about reducing to a wraith in the Midgewater Marshes.
• Frodo is also healthier and fitter than he was in Bag End, while being changed at the same time.
• He is struck at the difference in his eyes, and this makes him feel like a stranger to his old self.
• This also recalls Frodo’s last mirror experience in Bag End when he thinks he looks flabby.
• Note: There is an implicit anxiety in Frodo’s version of the Road poem, which is echoed here.
• Frodo’s eyes show more wisdom from what he has seen and survived, and he speaks to them.
• In a metaphorical sense, there are two Frodos in the room; the physical one and the mirror image. This is parallel to the dual physical world and spiritual world in which he has spent time.
• Note: The idea of a looking glass version of Frodo is a parallel to Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass”, of which both Tolkien and Lewis were enthusiasts. In that story, the looking glass contains a different world of which the person in the mirror is a part.
• Note: These connections between the joke about becoming a wraith, his actual thinning and wounding with a weapon designed to make him a wraith, and his becoming twice the hobbit while having less physical substance all seem to be literally and symbolically intertwined.
• The fact that Frodo speaks to himself in the second person seems to indicate a distance that he feels between his old self and new self. This is unlike the Sméagol /Gollum split, at least so far.
• Both Frodo and Gollum have been broken by their time with the Ring, and both need healing. They have both suffered a sense of division between the physical and spiritual world.
• Therefore, his speaking to himself in the second person is mild foreshadowing of the process that Gollum underwent. Frodo is not in the same place as Gollum, but he is on the same path.
• By showing us this, we are allowed to take a moment to reflect with Frodo on his progress. There are many positive signs, but we also see shadows of what is to come.
• Note: This will be echoed later when Frodo tells Sam that he is meant to be one and whole, and not split in two. He wishes for Sam something different than he has experienced.
• Frodo not only anticipates a merry meeting; he also makes a choice to be merry in the moment.
• His use of light-hearted language is another example of Frodo’s Hobbit resilience from injury.
• Why does Frodo stretch out his arms? Probably a combination of testing the fit of his new clothes and loosening up his body to remove any tension before seeing people.
• There are many candidates as to which song Frodo is whistling, but it is certainly a merry tune.

END OF SESSION