Jonathan Cassels
Member
We spent a lot of time during the last class talking about who might be making the paths in the forest. The characters in the book suggest it's the trees, while others in the class asked about Bombadil, wild animals and other visitors. But we never really reached a conclusion.
I think that's the wrong question. I think the question we should be asking is "Who created this path" each time we come across one.
I think that there's two main phenotypes for paths.
First, tree paths. Trees move, and can create paths quickly. These paths are designed to confuse travelers, so they wind a great deal, leading towards the Withywindle, feel oppressive, and will resort to making travel in one direction impossible if a traveler tries to escape the way the trees want to bring them.
Second, there's the paths of Tom Bombadil. We haven't reached these sections yet, so I won't go into detail, but Tom definitely creates paths. His paths seem more permanent, are straighter, lead to and from his home, and lack the menace of the tree paths.
But there's already one path which we've already come across which doesn't seem to fit either of these phenotypes. It's the one which leads to the hill where they look out at the forest. Here's the description:
"A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo’s heart, and he regretted now with every step forward that he had ever thought of challenging the menace of the trees. He was, indeed, just about to stop and propose going back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn. The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before them, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it."
I don't believe that this can one of Tom's paths. The description definitely makes it seem like it appeared in response to Frodo's impulse to turn back. Tom doesn't know they're in the forest yet, and doesn't seem able to just make paths appear like that anyway.
But it doesn't seem like a tree path either. This is a straight, level path which leads the hobbits to a hill where they are literally out of the clutches of the trees, for a time, and able to re-establish their bearings. That sounds nothing like the tree paths we see later.
I suppose it's plausible that the trees give this path to stop the hobbits turning back and escaping. But we see later that the trees' M.O. when it comes to preventing escape is to make it impossible to travel in the direction of escape. And, barring that, the hobbits were perfectly content travelling on the trees' path until the trees started menacing them and dropping boughs near them. They could just, you know, not do that. A broad straight path to a cleared hill is complete overkill.
Even if we can find ways around those problems, we also need to answer how the trees know Frodo is about to make them turn back. The path appears when the statement is on the tip of his tongue, but he hasn't yet said it. Are the trees telepathic? I see no other signs of that, and the ways they wait until someone is spoken aloud (and not merely thought) to do other things makes it seem unlikely.
No. The trees don't fit either of these phenotypes. So, the question is, who might know what Frodo is thinking, be able to create a path, and not want Frodo to turn back and face the Ringwraiths? Obviously the Valar. My money's on Oromë, but it could be another one.
Anyway, that's my reading of this. I don't think all the paths have a single source, and I think this passage shows that there's some sources which aren't even specifically mentioned in this chapter. Does this strike you as convincing? Should we stop asking "who created the paths?" and start asking "who created this path?"
Thoughts are welcome
I think that's the wrong question. I think the question we should be asking is "Who created this path" each time we come across one.
I think that there's two main phenotypes for paths.
First, tree paths. Trees move, and can create paths quickly. These paths are designed to confuse travelers, so they wind a great deal, leading towards the Withywindle, feel oppressive, and will resort to making travel in one direction impossible if a traveler tries to escape the way the trees want to bring them.
Second, there's the paths of Tom Bombadil. We haven't reached these sections yet, so I won't go into detail, but Tom definitely creates paths. His paths seem more permanent, are straighter, lead to and from his home, and lack the menace of the tree paths.
But there's already one path which we've already come across which doesn't seem to fit either of these phenotypes. It's the one which leads to the hill where they look out at the forest. Here's the description:
"A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo’s heart, and he regretted now with every step forward that he had ever thought of challenging the menace of the trees. He was, indeed, just about to stop and propose going back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn. The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before them, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it."
I don't believe that this can one of Tom's paths. The description definitely makes it seem like it appeared in response to Frodo's impulse to turn back. Tom doesn't know they're in the forest yet, and doesn't seem able to just make paths appear like that anyway.
But it doesn't seem like a tree path either. This is a straight, level path which leads the hobbits to a hill where they are literally out of the clutches of the trees, for a time, and able to re-establish their bearings. That sounds nothing like the tree paths we see later.
I suppose it's plausible that the trees give this path to stop the hobbits turning back and escaping. But we see later that the trees' M.O. when it comes to preventing escape is to make it impossible to travel in the direction of escape. And, barring that, the hobbits were perfectly content travelling on the trees' path until the trees started menacing them and dropping boughs near them. They could just, you know, not do that. A broad straight path to a cleared hill is complete overkill.
Even if we can find ways around those problems, we also need to answer how the trees know Frodo is about to make them turn back. The path appears when the statement is on the tip of his tongue, but he hasn't yet said it. Are the trees telepathic? I see no other signs of that, and the ways they wait until someone is spoken aloud (and not merely thought) to do other things makes it seem unlikely.
No. The trees don't fit either of these phenotypes. So, the question is, who might know what Frodo is thinking, be able to create a path, and not want Frodo to turn back and face the Ringwraiths? Obviously the Valar. My money's on Oromë, but it could be another one.
Anyway, that's my reading of this. I don't think all the paths have a single source, and I think this passage shows that there's some sources which aren't even specifically mentioned in this chapter. Does this strike you as convincing? Should we stop asking "who created the paths?" and start asking "who created this path?"
Thoughts are welcome