Episode 14 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 14

Comment on Frodo’s travel soreness and his previous expeditions:

• Frodo’s reaction reveals that he has taken many expeditions within the Shire before, and his desire to have driven seems to be his usual reaction.
• He has also never left the Shire, outside of some trips into the Old Forest.
• The map that hung in Bag End of Bilbo’s favorite walks were certainly multi-day trips. A trip to Buckland to Tuckborough would take many days round-trip.
• Though normal for Frodo, these trips are unusual for hobbits generally.
• How unusual these kinds of trips are is highlighted by the Gaffer and Farmer Maggot’s parochialism and belief in the queerness of other hobbits more than a day’s walk away.
• Sam does refer to people going off on hunting trips, but these seem to be private trips, and not to visit other communities.
• Note: Hobbits are known hunters, probably using bows, and we know that they are very good and throwing and shooting for sport.

Comment on the logistics of the Elves’ feast near Woodhall:

• Where did the elves get the wood, food, drink and the other necessaries for the feast?
• This is clearly a magical place and there is magic at work in the preparations.
• This also plays into tropes regarding interacting with Faerie in fairy tales.
• Often, in fairy tales, if one encounters elves in a wood, they may abduct you.
• Also, it is usually unwise to eat food given by elves you encounter, as that food may be magical and have unusual effects.
• This seems to be magical food here as well, though they are the elves’ gifts and therefore have positive effects.
• The elves are probably not carrying this food, and they have conjured it.
• They are also not carrying lembas, which is in the gift of the queen, so they would not have received it from Elrond.
• In the Elvish tradition, Melian and Galadriel are shown as giving lembas.
• The sense of this being a magical place may be lost on the Elves, as this is normal for them.
• The Elves are clearly trying to protect the hobbits by bringing them to the glade.
• Tolkien struggled with the use of the word “magic”, as that word is alien to the way the Elves use their powers, but the Hobbits would consider it magic in their understanding.
• Tolkien often preferred the word “enchantment”, but in this case it is not just enchantment, as the food and drink are physical, and they have leftovers the next day.
• The magic here also defies this being just sleight-of-hand or simple skill, as that doesn’t seem possible.

On Gildor’s talk with Frodo:

• Is Sam faking being asleep? Almost certainly.
• Is Gildor reading Frodo’s thoughts? Probably.
• We’ve seen a connection between the Elves and the thoughts of the hobbits.
• Gildor is using his knowledge of the situation, his vast experience, and sensitivity to Frodo’s expressions to understand what is really happening. This is not magical.
• The Elves seem to have ways of communicating outside of the mundane, which are magical.
• The only part of Frodo’s story that he doesn’t deduce is the actual One Ring.
• Are Elves telepathic? It seems as though they are, though it’s unclear Gildor is using that here.

Tolkien and magic:

• Tolkien leaves it very vague as to what is magical and mundane on purpose.
• There is a desire among fans to classify things concretely, but Tolkien makes that difficult.
• The mysterious nature of the Elves’ power makes them more compelling and believable.

Gildor vs. The Black Riders

• Gildor perceives that the Enemy is pursuing Frodo, which is strange to him, as he doesn’t know about the Ring.
• It seems clear that the Elves did not know that the Rider was there, but also clear that the Rider was aware and afraid of the Elves and their song.
• Do the Elves know who the Black Riders are? Yes, and they know that they are abroad, but they are surprised to find them in the Shire and pursuing Frodo and the other hobbits.
• The Black Riders would have been abroad for months, and rumors were spreading about them. It was this that Gandalf and the Rangers were investigating.

Frodo and the Shire’s isolation:

• The Hobbits of the Shire have created an illusion of isolation and safety that is not exactly true.
• They also have a mindset that the Shire belongs to them exclusively and cannot be taken.
• Gildor understands the interconnectedness of the world and the Hobbits’ place in it.
• Even taking the view that the Shire was gifted by the king of Arnor, this connects them to the larger world in itself.
• Gildor also has a longer historical view, understanding the Shire’s passage of ownership.
• Frodo is voicing the common hobbit understanding of their isolation and safety, when he realizes that has been violated.
• Even though Frodo is the one hobbit who understands the true danger, he is still subject to their assumptions about their place in the world and among the other peoples.

Meddling in the affairs of wizards:

• Frodo is being cheeky when he throws Gildor’s assertion about the danger of advice back at him.
• Gildor gets the humor, but also shows respect for Frodo in affirming his choice to leave.
• Frodo really wants an advisor who can tell him what to do, but it’s his choice that is important.
• Gildor pushes Frodo to make his own choice and expresses faith in Frodo’s ability to choose.
• When Gildor gives his advice, it may seem obvious in the face of the circumstances.
• Why is advice so dangerous? When giving advice, it assumes responsibility for the outcome.
• Since there is always uncertainty, this means that giving advice, even when it seems very wise, can lead people down a path that can lead them to harm.
• Gildor also fears to say too much because he doesn’t know enough yet.

Chance and purpose:

• Gildor is fully aware that chance is at play in his meeting with Frodo, and he also understands what chance really is, and he’s not sure what his role in this chance is yet.
• Gildor was probably at Nargothrond and remembers how all of Turin’s paths went wrong.
• He also fears to say too much, not too little. He even doesn’t explain the Black Riders.
• Gildor’s fear is that he might turn Frodo aside from his purpose by revealing too much.
• Note: By having the Riders something that Gildor will not speak of, it makes them even scarier.

Gildor’s intervention:

• Gildor may fear to speak too much, but not to take actions, such as sending out messages.
• The “wandering companies” to which Gildor refers are probably other elves, based on references in Tolkien’s early poetry, such as “Kortirion Among The Trees”.
• How will Gildor send out these messages? It’s unclear, but probably in a non-mundane way.
• This also reveals that Gildor’s is not the only group of wandering elves.

Frodo becomes an elf-friend:

• This is an important moment in the novel and for Frodo personally.
• The giving of names is a powerful thing in Tolkien’s writing, and it has an effect on Frodo.
• This effect is something that others can see, especially those with their own power.
• Frodo doesn’t seem to fully understand the importance, as Bilbo had not.
• Note: Tolkien was drawing the concept of “elf-friend” from many real-world languages, especially Anglo-Saxon, and this pre-existed his writing.
• It seems as though the importance of becoming an elf-friend was not established in The Hobbit.

END OF SESSION