Three is Company: A Last Look at The Shire
It's finally September! I read of the two carts leaving Buckland on the 20th, and Frodo's birthday on the 22nd, but now this readthrough begins properly with Frodo's departure from Bag End!
For my re-read of the remainder of Three Is Company, I thought the most appropriate edition was Volume One of the Six Volume movie tie-in edition published by HarperCollins in 2001.
The Ring Sets Out
Fittingly, its foreword by Douglas A. Anderson begins: 'The Lord of the Rings is often erroneously called a trilogy..'
Famously, it was written as a single, continuous, volume by Tolkien, but it was the cost of printing such a huge book which made the publishers suggest splitting the work. Unlike the three volumes we're familiar with today, Tolkien suggested six volumes, and provided a title for each. The first volume, covering everything up to Flight to the Ford, was named 'The Ring Sets Out', which seems apposite for reading the beginning of Frodo's journey away from Hobbiton.
As the pale golden sun shines on spiderwebs in the garden, and the geese fly away for the winter in formation overhead, it's clearly no accident that the beginning of Frodo's journey - 23rd September - coincides with the Autumn equinox, when the sun's power begins to wane and we move towards the darkness.
The tone of this chapter - complete with a talking Fox - is still very reminiscent of The Hobbit, although all is beginning to change. It's interesting that Bilbo began his journey - from which we were assured he would come 'back again' in April, when life was returning and the hedgerows bursting with activity. Frodo, however, wonders if he 'shall ever see that valley again', as he looks back towards Hobbiton in the Autumnal dark.
Yet, 'hope remains' as Galadriel will remind us in Volume Two. Another interesting thing to note about this time of year is that the Morning Star reappears in the sky, rising about an hour before the sun. Although we'll have to wait until we get to Rivendell to learn more about the 'Flammifer of Westernesse'.
One thing about re-reading a book in (at this point) smaller chunks is that you pick up on details it's often easy to forget of overlook, and I'm reminded of one of my favourite Sam moments in the whole book (and it's not even his emotional farewell to the beer barrel in the cellar!)
'Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf.'
What happened to Sam's 'hat'?? I like to think he carried on wearing it all the way to the Cracks of Doom...
For my re-read of the remainder of Three Is Company, I thought the most appropriate edition was Volume One of the Six Volume movie tie-in edition published by HarperCollins in 2001.
The Ring Sets Out
Fittingly, its foreword by Douglas A. Anderson begins: 'The Lord of the Rings is often erroneously called a trilogy..'
Famously, it was written as a single, continuous, volume by Tolkien, but it was the cost of printing such a huge book which made the publishers suggest splitting the work. Unlike the three volumes we're familiar with today, Tolkien suggested six volumes, and provided a title for each. The first volume, covering everything up to Flight to the Ford, was named 'The Ring Sets Out', which seems apposite for reading the beginning of Frodo's journey away from Hobbiton.
As the pale golden sun shines on spiderwebs in the garden, and the geese fly away for the winter in formation overhead, it's clearly no accident that the beginning of Frodo's journey - 23rd September - coincides with the Autumn equinox, when the sun's power begins to wane and we move towards the darkness.
The tone of this chapter - complete with a talking Fox - is still very reminiscent of The Hobbit, although all is beginning to change. It's interesting that Bilbo began his journey - from which we were assured he would come 'back again' in April, when life was returning and the hedgerows bursting with activity. Frodo, however, wonders if he 'shall ever see that valley again', as he looks back towards Hobbiton in the Autumnal dark.
Yet, 'hope remains' as Galadriel will remind us in Volume Two. Another interesting thing to note about this time of year is that the Morning Star reappears in the sky, rising about an hour before the sun. Although we'll have to wait until we get to Rivendell to learn more about the 'Flammifer of Westernesse'.
One thing about re-reading a book in (at this point) smaller chunks is that you pick up on details it's often easy to forget of overlook, and I'm reminded of one of my favourite Sam moments in the whole book (and it's not even his emotional farewell to the beer barrel in the cellar!)
'Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf.'
What happened to Sam's 'hat'?? I like to think he carried on wearing it all the way to the Cracks of Doom...
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