Book Review: The Return of the Shadow

As a writer, I take great heart in the fact that Tolkien appeared unsure about what he was doing when it set about writing The Lord of the Rings. All he knew was that he was writing a sequel to The Hobbit, but what the story would be remained a sketchy mystery.
In The Return of the Shadow (Volume VI of The History of Middle-Earth and Part One of The History of the Lord of the Rings), Christopher Tolkien gathers together various drafts, notes, maps, and head-scratchings of his father in the early stages of composition. He assembles in as comprehensible fashion as possible the five or six stages of Frodo’s journey from the Shire to the Mines of Moria.
I’m not sure who this book is intended for. Is it for the die-hard LOTR fan who craves more details about Middle-Earth? If so, you get fascinating glimpses into the genesis of the story. Tolkien ponders the significance of the One Ring, not even initially sure what that would entail. Is it merely one of many magical rings or does it have more nefarious powers? Does Bilbo give it up willingly or does the Ring orchestrate its own transfer from uncle to nephew?
Or is Shadow for the Tolkien scholar who wants to understand how a sequel to The Hobbit blends with The Silmarillion? As a linguist, Tolkien spent particular time crafting various Elvish languages with their own vocabulary and syntax. There is also Tolkien’s naming convention for the Hobbits – which range from Adelard, Caramella, Everard, Isumbras, Paladin, Uffo, Vigo, and Yolanda – that touches on the Eldar Edda of Norse legends.
Or perhaps Shadow is reassurance for the aspiring writer who doubts the meandering path of creating a story. Personally, I was grateful to see how Tolkien was struck with inspiration in the very act of writing. For example, when the uber-Frodo and his Hobbit companions are fleeing the Shire, they encounter a hooded figure on a horse. In LOTR, this menacing figure is a Black Rider. However, in Tolkien’s initial draft, it is Gandalf come looking for the Hobbits. But it appears that as soon as he wrote it, Tolkien struck out Gandalf’s name and introduced the initial villains of the piece.
But it’s not only the moments of inspiration that are reassuring. I also was relieved to see Tolkien struggle and write and rewrite and go back and move forward in a stumbling manner, all toward figuring out what the heck he was writing. If I were to only take the finished LOTR as a model for storytelling, I would feel intimidated and frustrated that I cannot instantly fashion a complex and cohesive story. Yet, in reading Shadow, I witnessed that there are many uncertain steps along the way, and the end product may still be marvelous.

Bingo Bolger
Bingo Bolger-Baggins ...
Screw it, I'm calling him Frodo
Christopher Tolkien tries to make sense of his father’s writing process, but there is a fair amount of guesswork. J.R.R. Tolkien’s handwriting is often difficult to decipher. Add to this the fact that he initially composed in very light pencil then wrote over the text in black ink then again in red ink, along with making numerous insertions and deletions. Christopher Tolkien’s wrangling together a cohesive story thread is a testament to his patience and perseverance.
That isn’t to say that The Return of the Shadow doesn’t drag in places. The Hobbits’ original journey from the Shire to Rivendell goes through at least six drafts. Tolkien placed particular emphasis on the chronology of events, down to the phases of the moon. Add to that the constant changing of character names from Odo to Frodo to Folco to whatever, and the minutiae takes such precedence, but to very little significance. I suppose Tolkien scholars would eagerly devour these sections.
Overall, Shadow is fascinating. Christopher Tolkien pays wonderful homage to his father’s creativity:
“But as often in the history of The Lord of the Rings much of the earliest writing remained, for example in the detail of conversation, and yet such conversation appears later shifted into new contexts, given to different speakers, and acquiring new resonance as the ‘world’ and its history grew and expanded.”Tolkien was on the journey of the Ring, as much as Frodo and Gandalf were. He was encountering new landscapes and unusual characters that hinted at the history that was to be discovered. If he hadn’t taken such care in constructing LOTR, then the sequel to The Hobbit would have been another There-and-Back-Again adventure that, no doubt, would have been entertaining. But the reason that The Lord of the Ringscontinues to captivate readers is that the history of Middle-Earth runs deep, and Tolkien needed time to discover it.
The History of the Lord of the Rings continues in The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated.
Published on September 26, 2017 06:13
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