Fellowship of the Ring discussion, chapters 7-9

Goodness, no thread yet? Here it is, for chapters 7-9:

7: In the House of Tom Bombadil
8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs
9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil

1. Tom's house seems like a great resting place, and they only spent one short night at Frodo's "new" house, but haven't they only been on the road for one day? I may have missed a night in the forrest somewhere, but even with that it seems kind of soon to have this respite.

2. After reading some of these songs and poems I feel like Susan in the movie of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. "That doesn't really rhyme, you know."

3. Was Goldberry singing the rain song to make it rain on purpose to give them a rest?

4. I enjoyed this chapter and would love to go to Tom's house someday, but I am not as upset as some that it was left out of the movie.

>#2 oh i don't know, whenever i'm on the run from Ringwraiths and have just been eaten by a malevolent willow, I generally feel like taking a bit of a break.

yes I agree mr A, personally I wouldn't have left Tom Bombadils!

Does this sort of occurrence happen often to the two of you?

My lone comment for chapter 7 was:

1. Existence is hungry work for a Hobbit.

I have many notes (5) for the next chapter though.

Chapter 7 notes:

1) There's a lot of singing in this chapter, too.

2) They need Ents in the Old Forest to keep those trees in line!

3) As one might expect, Tom Bombadil gets to be King of Exposition for this chapter.

Ch. 7- I apparently was a little ahead of myself when commenting on the parallels with the dreams in the last thread. I think that this chapter was a good break for the hobbits. Like a little dose of comfort when you realize that your reality wasn't realistic and now you are in great danger.

Ch. 8- 'You've found yourselves again, out of the deep water. Clothes are but little loss, if you escape from drowning.' Good ol' Tom putting things so wisely in perspective. I think I was disappointed that Frodo kept his head straight during the whole fiasco. I would have been flippin'. Course it also makes you think a little bit, "you know...he could get through this whole thing; he could really do it."

Ch. 9- Grrrr! This chapter always makes me think...stupid hobbitses. What trouble they could have missed if they just used their brains a little. Oh, well, we needed some kind of catalyst to get them to start hurrying along on their adventure.

As we noted in the last thread, the Barrows are a key plot point later on.

I always wonder why there weren't Ents in the Old forest.

Does Tom set his own boundries? Or is there something else that limits his range? I want to know much more about Goldberry. Would it have rained if she hadn't been singing?

Does ch.9 have Frodo's unfortunate song? It's the best song in the whole book. A wonderul adapation of the nursery rhyme.

If it's the song I'm thinking, r_f, then yes it is in chapter 9.

Ch 7
1. Tom's beds sound so very lovely. Maybe it's because I'm sleepy.

2. "Nought wakes hobbit-folk in the early morning." ;)

3. Tom often laughs at the end of a dark proclamation. I suppose it serves well to lighten the mood.

or he's just crazy as a loon.

That is certainly another good interpretation.

I am going with MrA on this one: Tom is a loon!

Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs

1. You think after falling asleep at Old Man Willow the Hobbits would be a little more careful. Also, they just had a day of rest and two nights of good sleep. When everyone in The Horse and His Boy fell asleep at least it was after crossing a desert all night and day.

2. I realize it makes the story better this way, but maybe Tom should have taken them to the border right from his house.

ETA: I can't see the title of this chapter without thinking "Foggi on the Barrow-Downs" :)

Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow Downs

1. Will there be a king of exposition in this chapter? (There was; see Foggi's post when she does it.)

2. (Frodo hearing singing in his sleep) That's just the beginning of madness.

3. This section searching for his friends reminds me of Mirkwood. I'm reminded of Bilbo running after the dwarves as they are captured by the Forest Elves. He hears them yelling at first and then he can't hear them anymore. I might be thinking about the dwarves being captured by the spiders.

4. The Barrow Downs would have been a great scenes in the movie. The part where they are talking about being enclosed in a dome of fog was particularly visual and I think great things could have been done with it. The sad thing about reading these books now is it reminds me of all the subtlety the movie had to forgo for the sake of time. These are the sorts of books that would do well as BBC Masterpiece Theatre shows with a few chapters in an episode (three might just about do it, though there could be more or less as the time permitted). The problem with this is that the production values wouldn't be as high. It'd be great from a storytelling standpoint, but he effects and visuals might suffer a bit.

5. Your escape plan is The Ring talking, Frodo. It's interesting to see The Ring trying to influence Frodo even at this early stage. I bet Isildur would have slipped The Ring on and run only to have been killed by the Ring Wraiths who, like Tom Bombadil, are not fooled by such trinkets. Maybe not though, The Ring didn't want to spend it's time hiding in a barrow waiting (weighting) around for another likely soul.

Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow Downs

1) "There is a seed of courage hidden in the heart of the fattest and most timid Hobbit . . ." This is a bit of foreshadowing, I think: of course, we see Frodo, Pippin, Merry, and Sam do courageous things throughout the series, but even the Hobbits of the Shire get a chance to be courageous before the story is done.

2) Tom should have just gone with them all the way to the road in the first place . . . but then they wouldn't have those great swords the Barrow Wights conveniently left for them!

3) Bombadil is first to mention Rangers, though he doesn't call them by name.

4. Tom Bombadil repeats as the chapter's King of Exposition™.

Foggi, I love the trademark symbol! I'm very impressed with your HTML skills.

Ch 8
1. A stone that holds no heat from the sun would probably creep me out a bit, but the hobbits think it a fine spot to eat and rest!

2. The description of Frodo coming to his courage is just wonderful. I love the hobbits bold side.

3. Bilbo and Gandalf think Frodo is the best hobbit. :)

4. I wonder whether the ring had enough hold on Frodo to make him consider leaving his friends or if that was really his own thought. I think it was the ring's influence.

5. Why did Tom only now break the Wrights' spell? I suppose it made a better story. And the smart thing would probably have been for Tom to take the hobbits to the road. But again, better story.

SMALL POSSIBLE SPOILER
6. I liked the way Rangers are just barely mentioned, and then we learn so much more about them (especially one) later.
END SMALL POSSIBLE SPOILER

#16 -- Hah! Be impressed with Espy's skills -- he gave me the symbol, all I have to do with it is cut and paste. Thanks, though!

I only have two notes for Chapter 9:

1) Ah, the appearance of Strider! (Possible slight spoiler here?) I think that Viggo made a good Aragorn, but they should have aged him more. Strider is described as having grey in his hair.

2) The King of Exposition™ was the narrator in this chapter.

17: Not Pippen? He isn't directly quoted, but apparently he does a lot of talking.

#18 -- Apparently so, but the narrator is the one giving the entire history and demographics of Bree.

I think I know who it will be in the next chapter, though . . .