Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 4
On the use of the term “outlandish folk”:
On the use of the term “outlandish folk”:
- The meaning is two-fold. The literal meaning is anything foreign, but also comes with the connotation of being weird, or “queer”. The Hobbits mean it in both senses at once.
- This is a window into the parochial outlook of traditional Hobbit culture.
- The prejudice towards outsiders seems to increase to the eastwards, due to the river and the Old Forest, but this is also because it is more of the focus of the story.
- This prejudice is also reversed in the person of Farmer Maggot, who thinks Hobbiton folk are queer.
- This might explain the shift in tone between the early and later chapters.
- It’s not clear that we can attribute those chapters to Bilbo, though the possibility is open.
- Sam, Tom Bombadil, and Gandalf held the Ring at some point, but never claimed ownership.
- This does not take away from Sam’s strength and virtue in giving the Ring back to Frodo.
- Sam’s great deed was to bear the Ring without asserting possession of it.
- Yes, it is a foreshadowing of what he would’ve become.
- It is also an outward expression of Bilbo’s internal struggle, of which he is aware.
- The use of the word “precious” is something that he and Gandalf both draw attention to.
- This is a big question, which is developed over the course of the novel.
- The Ring certainly has a will and does things.
- It does not seem to be active; rather it is reactive.
- Also, the Ring interacts with people about subjects and conflicts already present inside them.
- Bilbo needed Gandalf’s help to leave it. Left to himself, the Ring would have overcome him.
- The Ring is also subtle, in that Bilbo knew that he was being affected, but not the source.
- This is actually not the first mention of Mordor. It is mentioned in the first Ring poem.
- The Ring verse changes the meter to emphasize the difference sources.
- Sauron’s words are iambic, while the Elves’ words are trochaic.
- Mordor is the ultimate destiny of all who fall under the power of the One Ring.
- Sauron’s lordship and throne are emphasized.
- The name of Mordor is in the memories of the Hobbits, but they are unclear, while always containing the Shadow. There are legends of the dark past concerning Mordor.
- They have heard rumors about current doings in Mordor, which conjure up these legends.
- There are two references to The Hobbit; that the dark power in Mirkwood was driven out and went to Mordor, and to the trolls and the change in their appearance and behavior.
- The new rumors seem to show that the future of peace and better times promised at the end of The Hobbit did not last.
- This is not clear or common knowledge in the Shire. The news is more amorphous and far away.
- The initial conversation is about whether the stories the Hobbits are hearing about the outside world are real news or fairytales.
- This is different from the Gaffer’s conversation in Bywater. That was about his personal memories and family gossip.
- The Gaffer was considered a local authority on local history, due to his proximity to Bag End. He was also considered an honorable person due to his profession as a gardener.
- Frodo seems to actively seek out news from Dwarves, but there is idle passing of news to the Hobbits in general from the Dwarves as well.
- Ted has obviously heard stories about dragons, though he thinks that they are not true now.
- Bilbo had heard stories from Bungo and the like about dragons, as if they were true, and he receives proverbs about them.
- Note: Ted’s attitude is much like the Victorian attitude to fairy-stories, something that Tolkien disagreed with and argued against in “On Fairy-Stories”.
- Ted rejects the news as untrue or unreliable, but he reveals that he has both heard stories of fantastic things as a child, and that he himself has heard these recent stories, too.
- Ted seems to assert that even if dragons and such were real, which he doesn’t believe, then it doesn’t matter to the Shire, because they are not nearby nor relevant to their lives.
- Sam seems to be eager to talk about these rumors, but Ted tries to quash that conversation.
- Sam asks the important question about the source of the stories about dragons, but once again, Ted rejects that line of conversation, though he acknowledges that people tell these stories.
- Sam now tries to bring in eyewitness stories from within the Shire, but now Ted simply asserts that the witnesses are either lying or mistaken.
- Ted seizes on Sam’s figures of speech to shoot down his eyewitness testimony.
- Ted’s outlook on life is clearly shown as willful ignorance anything that he hasn’t seen himself and doesn’t affect him directly. He doesn’t care about logic or evidence.
- The audience clearly seems to side with Ted. They don’t care about logic or evidence either.
- Sam now mentions things that no one can deny, such as the crossing of the Shire of strange folks, and the work of the bounders to keep people out.
- We’re not really told, but it would be people who look like they might cause trouble.
- It’s unclear how they turn people away, especially Men.
- Sam now mentions the Elves leaving Middle-earth, and how that is related to the strange folks.
- Sam seems to wax poetic in talking about the passing of the Elves. Is this Bilbo-esque?
- This is also related to old Hobbit tales, as they have some memory of Elves leaving.
- Ted again asserts that the stories might not be true, and don’t matter to the Shire if they are, as this is not a new thing.
- Probably an Ent, as it seems to be. An Ent looking for the Entwives?
- It couldn’t be an Entwife, because it is an elm tree, while Entwives were fruit-bearing trees.
- This is made clearer later, after meeting Treebeard.
- Sam’s thoughts reveal his infatuation with Elves and stories about them.
- Sam does not share his memory of seeing an Elf in the woods once, but he treasures it.
- Sam leans on the Baggins’ stories from his childhood and their knowledge of elves.
- Ted falls into an ad hominem attack on Bilbo and Frodo, as he did before with Sam’s cousin Hal.
- Sam believes that the old stories are true and relevant; Ted says that they are neither.
- The homemade liquor meaning of “moonshine” originates in North America. Tolkien is not referring to this meaning.
- When the term “moonshine” is used here, he means it as the source of craziness, because the moon is supposed to cause madness.
- Ted implies that Sam has gone as cracked as the Bagginses, another personal attack.
- This also brings up images of the Elves’ association with moonlight and starlight.
- The Hobbits have written their own end to Bilbo’s story, and then blame Gandalf for it.
- The assumption that Bilbo might leave the Shire is the evidence that he is mad.
- The Hobbits’ fear of water is revealed in their assumption that Bilbo died of drowning.
- Frodo is assumed to be odd because he won’t go along with the Hobbits’ made-up story about Bilbo’s death.
- Frodo’s reputation is reinforced by his traveling around the Shire, rather than staying at home.
- Frodo’s behavior is fairly tame oddness by Hobbit standards, and yet the Hobbits are amazed by it, because the walking under starlight is associated with Elvish behavior.
- Note: The Gaffer’s proper name is Hamfast, which means someone who stays at home.
- Frodo finds himself happy, though he misses his beloved uncle.
- His curiosity about the outside world is understandable, given Bilbo’s influence.
- There is something odd about Frodo’s dreams and visions of mountains. He has heard stories of them, but not seen them.
- This is the first indication that Frodo’s dreams are significant and revelatory.
- It’s not clear where these dreams come from. Is this the Ring? Gandalf (as Olórin)? The Valar?
- Frodo reveals that his mind might be becoming divided, like Gollum’s and Bilbo’s.