Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 111
Comment on Tolkien’s use of foreshadowing:
Comment on Tolkien’s use of foreshadowing:
- Tolkien often uses foreshadowing of major events in order to build up anticipation, as opposed to narrative surprises. This opens the reader’s mind to the possibilities of what is coming.
- In this case, we are invited to imagine what else is going on in the world beyond Frodo’s quest.
- We will be shown that all the of people who come to the Council have momentous news for their lands and interests that each of them believes is of paramount importance.
- We are also teased with subjects in this chapter that will be revealed fully in the next.
- Note: When Tolkien arrived at this place in the composition, he wasn’t fully aware of the next steps the story would take. He would work that out through the writing of the Council.
- Glóin’s talk about secrets that were lost was primarily due to them dying from Smaug’s attack, their exile, and in the war with the orcs, without passing on their knowledge.
- Note: This is another example of Tolkien’s overall theme of decline, which was a widely accepted medieval idea who saw themselves as lesser than their classical ancestors. We see this idea expressed in both Rohan and Gondor. To a certain degree, Tolkien believed this himself, as he didn’t see increasing technology an inherently good thing, but he was not as adamant about the superiority of earlier peoples as medieval scholars.
- Rare exceptions to this sense of decline are Glóin’s examples of exceeding their ancestors in stonework, and in the rebuilding of the kingdom of Dale, which is better than the old Dale.
- It’s interesting that Glóin points to Dale first, a city of Men, as examples of Dwarven craft. Only after this does he begin talking about the works in Erebor, but without announcing so.
- Bilbo called Erebor a “darksome hole”, but it has been renovated beyond what Thorin described.
- The culture of Erebor seems to have changed, as the architecture seems to be more outward-facing and interested in engaging with the outside world, with the new terraces and towers.
- Glóin hints that there is something like a canal system in Dale, comparable to perhaps Venice. This may be a connection to Esgaroth’s history on the water.
- However, Glóin downplays all these accomplishments compared to the loss of their skill in metalwork, only saying that it is a show that they’ve not been idle.
- When the Dwarves first arrived in Erebor, they were fixated on the treasure. The halls of Erebor would have still held the feeling of big caves, and they seem to want to change that.
- Glóin seems to emphasize their humility in not trying to exceed their fathers in skill.
- There seems to be an invitation to praise the Dwarves, while looking humble at the same time.
- Note: In an historical parallel, medieval people started to feel on par with classical peoples after they started to build on the same scale. Before that, Roman architecture would inspire awe.
- The fact that the current Dwarves still hold metalwork in higher prestige than stonework shows that the culture hasn’t changed, but they have lost things like the original materials and skills.
- It was also clear in The Hobbit that magic was involved in making the more special metal objects in the past, and it may be that the magical knowledge was lost more than material and skills.
- Frodo’s response shows that what he is primarily thinking of while listening to Glóin is Bilbo.
- He remembers Bilbo’s stories, which is everything that he knows about Dale and Erebor.
- Glóin’s smile is clearly in shared affection of Bilbo, but also in the secret that Bilbo is there.
- It’s not clear who’s idea it was to make Bilbo’s presence in Rivendell a secret, though it might have been Gandalf or Bilbo himself. Either way, the idea of leaving it as a surprise is fitting.
- One piece of evidence in favor of Gandalf is that the hobbits wanted to surprise him on the road when the first heard the Black Rider, so this is the kind of thing that goes on between them.
- Also, Bilbo will not make much of the reveal later, although this could be Bilbo being distracted.
- It may be Bilbo’s chair in which Frodo is sitting, as there wouldn’t be many hobbit-sized chairs there, and Bilbo may want to absent himself from the feast in order to allow Frodo his moment.
- Gandalf makes sure that he is there to see Bilbo and Frodo reunited, and it seems as though everyone has deliberately kept silent for the delight of seeing Frodo surprised.
- This is an even more benevolent conspiracy than the one hatched in the Shire by his friends.
- Why did Glóin refer to Bilbo in the past tense, as though he were dead or gone? He may simply be referring to the time when Frodo lived with Bilbo before he left the Shire.
- Bilbo is also a figure of Glóin’s past, and they have that in common and share fond memories.
- Note: Even if Bilbo sent a letter to Frodo from there, there’s no guarantee it would reach him.
- Frodo follows Glóin’s own tone concerning their works in Erebor and uses that to emphasize how much he would like to see Bilbo instead.
- Frodo is currently surrounded by the sights and sounds and people from Bilbo’s stories.