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Curufinwe

WFG Retired
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Posts posted by Curufinwe

  1. (:P

    Matteo, if I follow your logic, here is what I come up with ... Tom = Eru ...

    - "he was there before everything" ... Eru was the One, therefore, he was there before everything and everyone. He is the Creator of Arda, but the real creator of Arda is obviously Tolkien himself.

    - "he had set some limits of action" ... same as above ... the limits of Arda were set by Eru, but who created Arda? Tolkien ... so, maybe Tolkien and Eru are not exactly the same, but at least, Eru is the personification of Tolkien in Arda.

    Therefore, if you think Tom is Tolkien in Arda, we may be led to think that Tom is Eru ... which is not impossible in my opinion :)

  2. (:D

    Dom Di Dom, Derry Dol, ring a ding dillo ...

    At last, Chapter 7 comes!

    After great emotions, our four Hobbits take a rest at Tom Bombadil's. That's basically the summary of the whole chapter! Actually, the whole chapter could be literally removed and nobody would even notice it (plot-wise of course !!!!) ... Yet, it is one of the most intriguing chapters, due to its main character, Tom Bombadil himself.

    the four Hobbits, like the reader, will never know what or who Tom Bombadil is. As Goldberry (Tom's wife) tells us, "He is" ... Besides, we know that he is as old as the world, "he had now wandered into strange regions beyond their memory and beyond ther waking thought, into times when the world was wider, and the seas flowed straight to the Western Shore;" and Tom tells the Hobbits directly that he is the Eldest, "Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. [...] When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent.

    Around Tom lies a cloud of mystery. And of course, the most mysterious passage of the whole chapter deals with the relationship between Tom Bombadil and the Ring, " Then Tom put the Rinf round the end of his little finger [...]. For a moment the hobbits notice nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no sign of Tom disappearing!

    Tom laughed again, and then he spun the Ring in the air [...] and Tom leaned forward and handed it back to him [Frodo] with a smile"

    This raises a great number of questions. Even Gandalf - supposedly "pure-hearted" - or Aragorn are somehow attracted and corrupted by the Ring. Tom is unsensitive to it. Another mystery not to be solved!

    Now, apart from Tom Bombadil, another character (the other character in the chapter) is rather mysterious, i.e. Goldberry. We know she is Tom's wife - or companion - and she is the River Daughter. She has elven features, "a fair young elf-queen", but the hobbits can see she is no elf at all, "but the spell now laid upon him was different". She seems to be the spirit of water. The vocabulary of "Water" is always present when dealing with her, "rippled", "flag-lilies", "floating", "pool", etc ... Tolkien deliberately uses words refering to water to describe her, or simply when refering to her actions. But once again, nothing is said about her true nature (Maia? Spirit? something else? ...)

    Finally, on a merrier tone, Tolkien confirms the rumour. Farmer Maggot is a friend of Tom's.

    This chapter is rather linear and uneventful. The hobbits take a rest there, and although they are frightened on one night, their stay flows like a quiet stream ...

    Before leaving, Tom warns them of the Barrow Wights. He teaches them a song that may be very very useful in the near future.

  3. (:)

    My source is Medieval Military Costume, by Gerry Embleton. It is obviously a secondary source, although the illustrator is John Howe, if you know who he is wink.gif. I am trying to track it to a more primary source, but unfortunately the bibliography is not exactly *ah* scholarly. I have talked to a number of my SCA friends, however, and they think it is fairly accurate.

    okay okay ... I think there is a major problem here. The LotR films have turned the books into a Medieval story ... remember, Arda is our world before the world as we know it. Meaning, the peoples of Arda were prior to the Egyptians, and the rest ... hence, you can't compare Medieval Europe and Tolkien's mythology (although similar in some aspects) ... Arda is not Medieval ... I would call it "pre-Medieval" ...

    Finally, have you ever seen an Elf on a battlefield? I don't think so. Tolkien's world is not our world. It is a meta-world. We shouldn't bother about wives being with their husbands on the battlefield. It may be relevant in our world, but it may not be in Tolkien's world. Same applies to Elves and Orcs. They are relevant and necessary in Tolkien's world, but not in ours.

  4. ((y)

    I agree with Drashkurz, but at the same time, I am certain that this crown also has a symbolic value ... Tom Bombadil is the most mysterious character in LotR ... nobody knows who he is, nobody knows where he comes from ... even the Ring has no effect on him!!!!! :|

    Having this crown also means that he is more than what the Hobbits can see, i.e. a Merry Fellow :)

    Incredible character he is ... "And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)." The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No 144

    And who's the River-Woman? MYSTERY ... :P

  5. (:P

    Well, I really wonder what Frodo's dream at the end of the chapter can be. Tirion and the white tower? then, those creatures, are they orcs in Cirith Ungol? was Tolkien really aware of where Frodo would go ...?

    However, those "creatures crawling and snuffing" could be the Barrow Wights ... now that I think of it (y)

    And why such a dream? Do Hobbits have the gift of foresight? :)

  6. (:torch:

    Well well my fellow Hobbits, let's carry onn our trip on the Quest ...

    Chapter 5 is a weird part of the book. On the one hand, it seems nothing is happening. On the other hand, we learn a lot of things regarding Hobbits.

    The Chapter is a very short one on a time basis. Everything is done within one night.

    Hobbits are at the Brandywine river at the beginning, and are preparing to leave for the Old Forest on the following morning.

    It really is a transition chapter since it marks the end of the Shire. Indeed, Buckland is not the Shire entirely as is stated at the beginning of the chapter,

    That was the origin of Buckland, [...] a sort of colony from the Shire.

    And Frodo will then enter a whole new territory of mistery and unknown as is said at the end of the chapter with Frodo's odd dream,

    [...] he fell into a vague dream. [...] there was the sound of creatures crawling and snuffing.

    I let you meditate on the last few lines of the chapter, including the "tall white tower stading alone on a high ridge" in Frodo's dream. And what are those "creatures" Frodo dreamt of?

    There is a lot of discussion and explanation in this chapter. Merry's involvement is explained, as well as Sam's "treachery",

    ' [...] But if you want to be introduced to our chief investigator, I can produce him.'

    'Where is he?' said Frodo, looking round [...].

    'Step forward Sam!" said Merry; [...] 'Here's our collector of information! And he collected a lot, I can tell you, before he was finally caught.'

    We understand here that Sam was not "trimming the grass-border under the window". He even lied to Gandalf!

    Tolkien also gives a comprehensive description of Buckland and of its customs. We learn about the Oldbuck's ancestor, Gorhendad (I haven't figured out where this name can come from), about the width of the Brandywine (a hundred yards), which I thought was rather wide ... and a whole lot more of things!

    Eventually, we learn that Farmer Maggot may have been into the Old Forest, and knows "a good many strange things". Although this is just a rumour, that might explain his knowledge of Frodo having to leave ...

    Finally, this chapter is a good way to introduce Merry and Pippin within the story, and within the Quest ... They set up a conspiracy in order to force Frodo to have more company on his trip.

    Not my favorite chapter, but necessary, not to have a cut that would be too clear in the story, from a lively happy area (the Shire), to a dark and threatening one (the Old Forest and the rest).

    :axeman:

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