Why does Bilbo tell the story of Earendil?

Arnthro

Active Member
Before we reach the end of the poem (still a few weeks away) I propose we all begin thinking about why Bilbo decided to write and tell the story of Earendil in the Hall of Fire.

I also propose to NOT post said thoughts below, rather save them and let them ripen for the discord/twitter/etc. discussion when we do get to the end of Bilbo's poem.

(I am not presuming that "why" is a question Prof. Corey is intending to ask but I would certainly like to see the thoughts on "why" from the fine minds in the discussions boards)

**P.S. If the question of why was already proposed and I am being forgetful and redundant, I apologize**
 
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I started thinking about this during the feast sessions, and I think the recent discussion was getting close to touching on what I call “Why Must This Poem Take Place.” The shift to passive voice is, as Corey notes, remarkable, for it marks Earendil’s change from active mariner/messenger to an instrument of a higher power: the speaker of the words unheard. Earendil thinks he’s come to deliver a message, but he ends by becoming a visible message of hope for Middle-earth. I used to think his fate was a bit unfair, but I’ve come to see it as a sort of Marian parallel — saying yes to a role he was born to play, but one which still required his full cooperation. Frodo is going to do something similar. His journey to Rivendell has been a quest that could have had a ‘back again’ aspect, until he says yes at the Council. Tolkien always knew Frodo would not be able to destroy the Ring, but he is the instrument through which eucatastrophe is able to triumph. (And of course, there’s the point that Tolkien just could not resist bringing his rejected Silmarillion tales into the “New Hobbit.”)
 
Thinking more about this after the recent session (I am rarely available Tuesday night), and I think we're still missing something, which is the fact that the audience for this poem, within the story, is Frodo: he falls into a sort of dream state while Bilbo is off with the Dunadan, and is brought to full consciousness by the poem. The latest class seemed to be focussed on what Bilbo was about with the poem, but within the story, I think it is more important to look at its effect on Frodo. Even before Bilbo began, "the firelit hall became like a golden mist above seas of foam" and "he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him" and "he wandered long in a dream of music that turned into running water..." Here is a Frodo already on a voyage, but one without a goal. And into that comes Bilbo's version of the Eärendil story that stresses the effect of journey on Eärendil over its purpose. I haven't yet taken another look at the earlier versions of the poem, but I'm wondering whether, like the dream in the house of Tom Bombadil, Frodo was absorbing an understanding of his place in The Story.
 
Hi Kate,

I like your take on this (it is very similar to mine, so, of course I like it).

To build on this theme, I think we must also consider that Bilbo's poem must relate to Frodo in some way. It would be very strange if Bilbo composed a poem for the occasion of a feast in Frodo's honor, that did not relate strongly to Frodo. So, at least one purpose of Bilbo's poem is to laud Frodo, by comparing his determination and perseverance in his quest to that of Earendil.

So, the 'Earendil was a Mariner' poem is 'about' Frodo. It is also presumably 'for' Frodo in many ways (at least he is probably the most important audience in Bilbo's mind).

The impact of this poem on Frodo is, therefore, important. However, we will see that the impact is neither obvious nor discussed. I think there is an impact, however, and it is deep, but, I agree with you, that it may be more subliminal, than conscious to Frodo.
 
I find this subject particularly interesting because I am trying VERY hard during EtLotR to remember how I reacted when I first read the story. This is so very hard not only because it was Long Ago in a Century Far, Far Away, but because the first time I didn't so much read the book as devour it. I wasn't stopping to appreciate the poetry as poetry (although I do remember being intrigued by what I now know is 'internal rhyme' and 'enjambment'), but rather encountering them as a form of 'asides' -- working almost as a soliloquy does in Shakespeare (which I was reading at age 12!): to add something to our understanding of where the character is at a particular moment within the plot. 'Light as Leaf' definitely belonged to Strider, but this poem in my mind belonged to Frodo, even though it is written and performed by Bilbo. I think originally I related it not to the Beren and Lúthien tale, but to the snippet about Gil-galad that Sam sang. Maybe because both are by hobbits, about elves? And as I write this I am thinking that part of the effect of the poem for me was to integrate the hobbits (most particularly Frodo) more fully into the larger history. So when we learn that the word 'halfling' was spoken in the dream of Faramir and Boromir, it seems right and proper.
 
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