Rachel Port
Well-Known Member
'Of course, my dear Bilbo,' said Gandalf. 'If you had really started this affair, you might be expected to finish it. But you know well enough now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero. You need not bow! Though the word was meant, and we do not doubt that under jest you are making a valiant offer. But one beyond your strength, Bilbo. You cannot take this thing back. It has passed on. If you need my advice any longer, I should say that your part is ended, unless as a recorder. Finish your book, and leave the ending unaltered! There is still hope for it. But get ready to write a sequel, when they come back.'
I found myself bristling in class at the interpretation given Gandalf's response to Bilbo's offer to take the Ring to the Fire. So I want to look at the speech and why I reacted that way, and perhaps to reach another interpretation.
First of all, I don't see Gandalf's tone as careful so much as gentle and affectionate. Much was said in class about Gandalf's concern for how Bilbo will react to being near the Ring again. No doubt both he and Elrond had been concerned about it especially after Frodo was brought in near death. Yet Bilbo has been allowed to sit with Frodo during his illness, though not alone - I would imagine Gandalf or Elrond was there much of the time, and perhaps Aragorn or Glorfindel took a turn being a healer who could also be a guard. Sam was pretty much always there. It would have been cruel to keep him away. I think they relied on his love for Frodo in a "trust but verify" kind of way. And in the Council, everyone's respect for Bilbo matters.
This was not only to protect Frodo and the Ring, but to protect Bilbo. I think they both see Bilbo as being in their care, and have been watching his recovery for 17 years. When Gandalf told Frodo Rivendell should be his destination, he knew that Bilbo was there, after all. And the night before the Council, with Frodo newly recovered, the reunion takes place in the Hall of Fire. And in the Hall of Fire, Bilbo is tempted - he asks to see the Ring again, and Frodo's response is horror and revulsion, which Bilbo sees. He responds:
"I understand now," he said. "I am sorry, sorry you have come in for this burden, sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. ..."
This is similar to Gandalf's words in the Council, and Bilbo found it out for himself. And I think there is some understanding between Bilbo and Gandalf about what happened the night before. Gandalf may have witnessed the exchange between Bilbo and Frodo, and if he could not hear the words, he saw the change in Bilbo's expression, and his telling Frodo to put it away, and the sadness that followed - and saw Bilbo defuse the situation. Or Bilbo may have said something about it that morning before Frodo joined them. Probably both - after all, nobody tried to stop Bilbo and Frodo from going off together where the two of them and the Ring spent several hours alone together, and Gandalf doesn't even come to check up on them, but sends Sam to take Frodo to bed. This seems to indicate that he no longer is worried about their safety alone together, which would mean, he already knew something about Bilbo's new insight.
So Gandalf is not afraid of a reaction like the one Bilbo had at Bag End as Gandalf helped him give up the Ring. He knows that Bilbo understands what he is saying in a way others cannot. So this answer is also intimate. Gandalf is helping Bilbo remember what he has learned, and he helps Bilbo take it a step further so he can recognize that "It has grown, and I have not." These are two friends with great affection for each other, and this exchange is at once personal and public in a way that shows the Council Gandalf's respect for Bilbo. This respect is also preserved by not telling the story of that scene in Bag End. Both Gandalf and Elrond have decided this beforehand, I think.
Does the Ring still have some pull for Bilbo? Of course. We see it even after the Ring has been destroyed, when he asks Frodo about his Ring as the hobbits visit him on their way home. But that is not the dominant concern in Gandalf's answer to his offer.
I found myself bristling in class at the interpretation given Gandalf's response to Bilbo's offer to take the Ring to the Fire. So I want to look at the speech and why I reacted that way, and perhaps to reach another interpretation.
First of all, I don't see Gandalf's tone as careful so much as gentle and affectionate. Much was said in class about Gandalf's concern for how Bilbo will react to being near the Ring again. No doubt both he and Elrond had been concerned about it especially after Frodo was brought in near death. Yet Bilbo has been allowed to sit with Frodo during his illness, though not alone - I would imagine Gandalf or Elrond was there much of the time, and perhaps Aragorn or Glorfindel took a turn being a healer who could also be a guard. Sam was pretty much always there. It would have been cruel to keep him away. I think they relied on his love for Frodo in a "trust but verify" kind of way. And in the Council, everyone's respect for Bilbo matters.
This was not only to protect Frodo and the Ring, but to protect Bilbo. I think they both see Bilbo as being in their care, and have been watching his recovery for 17 years. When Gandalf told Frodo Rivendell should be his destination, he knew that Bilbo was there, after all. And the night before the Council, with Frodo newly recovered, the reunion takes place in the Hall of Fire. And in the Hall of Fire, Bilbo is tempted - he asks to see the Ring again, and Frodo's response is horror and revulsion, which Bilbo sees. He responds:
"I understand now," he said. "I am sorry, sorry you have come in for this burden, sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. ..."
This is similar to Gandalf's words in the Council, and Bilbo found it out for himself. And I think there is some understanding between Bilbo and Gandalf about what happened the night before. Gandalf may have witnessed the exchange between Bilbo and Frodo, and if he could not hear the words, he saw the change in Bilbo's expression, and his telling Frodo to put it away, and the sadness that followed - and saw Bilbo defuse the situation. Or Bilbo may have said something about it that morning before Frodo joined them. Probably both - after all, nobody tried to stop Bilbo and Frodo from going off together where the two of them and the Ring spent several hours alone together, and Gandalf doesn't even come to check up on them, but sends Sam to take Frodo to bed. This seems to indicate that he no longer is worried about their safety alone together, which would mean, he already knew something about Bilbo's new insight.
So Gandalf is not afraid of a reaction like the one Bilbo had at Bag End as Gandalf helped him give up the Ring. He knows that Bilbo understands what he is saying in a way others cannot. So this answer is also intimate. Gandalf is helping Bilbo remember what he has learned, and he helps Bilbo take it a step further so he can recognize that "It has grown, and I have not." These are two friends with great affection for each other, and this exchange is at once personal and public in a way that shows the Council Gandalf's respect for Bilbo. This respect is also preserved by not telling the story of that scene in Bag End. Both Gandalf and Elrond have decided this beforehand, I think.
Does the Ring still have some pull for Bilbo? Of course. We see it even after the Ring has been destroyed, when he asks Frodo about his Ring as the hobbits visit him on their way home. But that is not the dominant concern in Gandalf's answer to his offer.
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