Took or Baggins? Part 3

Prologue

  Tolkien uses the prologue to give the reader background he feels is necessary. We are told not only about the physical, cultural, and racial traits of the Hobbits, but also quite a bit about their history. He tells that they descended from three different breeds: the Harfoots, the Stoors, and the Fallowhides. He implies that the histories he talks about may have spanned many thousands of years.

Tolkien then goes into an extended narration of the history of Bilbo’s finding of The Ring and ends up touching on the subject of Shire records. It’s clear that Tolkien assumed that the person delving into LOTR may have never read The Hobbit, and he endeavored to provide information that would be useful to such a reader. 


Chapter 1: A Long-Expected Party. (Tolkien titled each chapter.)

   -Preparations begin for Bilbo’s 111^th birthday and Frodo’s 33^rd, as

    they both share the same birthday, September 22^nd. A party like no other

    is planned. Rich Bilbo spares no expense.

   -Gandalf arrives with fireworks. He and Bilbo discuss the Hobbit’s plan

    to leave the Shire and bequeath all he owns to his nephew Frodo, including The

    Ring.

   -The party goes off as planned. At the end, Bilbo makes a farewell speech

    and secretly dons the ring. He disappears in a poof, to the consternation of

    all his guests.

   -At the last minute, Bilbo experiences an inner struggle; he yearns to keep The Ring. 

    The Ring clearly owns a piece of his soul and works its evil, but with Gandalf’s help, 

    he is able to walk away from it and leave it to Frodo. 

   -Before leaving, Gandalf warns Frodo that The Ring may be dangerous and not to

    use it.

Wonderful Quote:

    I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

My Thoughts: 

Chapter 1 serves primarily to paint the image of the Hobbit and the Shire in the eye of the reader. It’s one thing to be told that Hobbits love to eat and have hairy feet. It’s another to see them as a people interacting, gossiping, drinking, blowing smoke rings, living with round doors painted in bright greens and yellows, time marked only by the gentle passing of the seasons. Their idyllic simplicity and lack of concern with the outside world makes them both admirable and vulnerable. I want to both join them and shake them up. But more than anything, I want to protect their world and keep them safe and innocent.

Chapter 2: The Shadow of the Past.

   -Frodo becomes his own master. The years pass and he grows more like Bilbo.

    Rumors of evil and darkness seep into the Shire, but no one pays any mind.

    Strangers are seen crossing through the Shire.

   -After a long absence, Gandalf reappears. He tells Frodo all he has learned of The

    Ring, and tests the ring in fire. He tells Frodo of the making and losing of The

    Ring, of how Gollum found it and was changed by it, and how Bilbo truly got

    The Ring. He tells that the Dark Lord seeks it because it is the one master ring

    that rules all the other rings.

   -Gandalf warns Frodo that the enemy finally is aware of the Shire and the name

    Baggins. 

   -Frodo accepts that to save all he loves, he must leave and take The Ring away

    from the Shire. Gandalf tells him he need not go alone. Caught eavesdropping

    on the conversation, Samwise Gangee is chosen to go with him.

My Thoughts:

This chapter is all about The Ring. Most of it is narrative in Gandalf's words. Here we finally get the true picture of The Ring's nature and its ability to influence and possess its bearer. 

Here Frodo struggles with the decision of being the one who has to take The Ring away and his fear of  being insufficient to the task. 

The temptation of Gandalf is quite interesting too. As powerful and central a character as he is, he's always steady and unchanging at his core. He is not  the dynamic character in this tale.

We also get a compelling  image of Smeagol/Gollum. He has always, in my opinion, been the most moving and disturbing character in the series. 

  

Chapter 3: Three is Company.

   -Gandalf presses Frodo to leave soon. Frodo promises to leave on his 50^th birthday.

   -Frodo sells Bag End to Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and buys a small house at

    Crickhollow, Buckleberry. He tells everyone that he is retiring there.

   -Gandalf warns Frodo never to use The Ring and leaves for the southern borders to

    search for news. He promises to be back before Frodo’s departure.

   -On the evening of Frodo’s departure, a stranger shows up at the village asking

    about Frodo. 

   -Gandalf fails to return. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin leave quietly. Merry left

     earlier in the morning with the moving cart.

   -The traveling party walks, talks, sings, eats, rests. The first encounter with the Dark

    Rider happens. Frodo feels a strong urge to wear the rings.

   -The second appearance of a sniffing, tracking Dark Rider is interrupted by the

    appearance of a band of traveling elves. Upon hearing about the Black Riders,

    their leader, Gildor Inglorion, invites the Hobbits to go along with the elves.

    Sam is delighted with the elves!

   -They reach a grassy clearing surrounded by woods under the starlit night. The elves 

    play the gracious hosts to the Hobbits. Later, Frodo and Gildor hold a long conversation.

    The elf advices Frodo to go quickly toward Rivendell, to take companions, and to

    evade the Black Riders, for they serve the enemy.

Wonderful quotes:

 -The wide world is all about you; you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for

   ever fence it out.

-Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

-…advice is a dangerous gift.

-Courage is found in unlikely places.

My Thoughts:

If Chapter 1 was about Hobbits, this one is about elves! I cannot but share Sam's delight and awe of the beautiful, wise, glowing, merry but mysterious creatures. 


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Zeecé  Lugo is a blogger and author of the Angel's Guardian Series. 

Angel's Guardian is Zeecé Lugo's  fast-paced, romantic paranormal suspense. 


The vampire Maxim makes his home in New York City. Self-exiled from the vampire nation, he spends his days in quiet solitude and his nights prowling the heights and hunting evil, his prey of choice. On a cold November night, he chances upon a gang rape in a desolate back alley. He leaps at the chance to feed on predators of the worst kind, his favorite prey. But the situation takes a turn he never expected, and soon he finds himself wishing he'd made a different choice on that fateful night.

Angelica has been on the run for years. Kidnapped by a sex-trafficking ring at the age of fourteen, she escaped only to be relentlessly pursued by her enemies ever since. Tonight, they found her. As she lies dying on a cold, dark alley, her only fear is for the secret she desperately hid moments before they caught her. A secret she must protect with her life from her enemies and from the monster that destroyed them and now turns red, fiery eyes upon her.

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