Nine Weeks in Middle Earth - Week 2

Last week we spent a hundred pages trying to leave the Shire at pace. We veered tonally from comedy to Darkness and there was also Tom Bombadil. How does my second week in Middle Earth go? I think we can say it steps up a little.

Chapter 8 -  Fog on the Barrow-Downs aka Hobbit Folk Horror

I mentioned last week the tonal shifts were surprising me and after the extreme light/joy/tweeness of Tom Bombadil’s land this is a very different feeling chapter. Our Hobbits fall asleep at a standing stone find themselves trapped in fog and then subject to a scary Barrow-wright. After the previous chapter it’s a sharp right hand turn and it doesn’t half remind me of MR James and impressively this is a good horror sequence. It feels very atmospheric and weird. Sadly, Tolkien slightly undoes it all though by Deus ex Bombadil conclusion which slightly feels a cheat.

Chapter 9 – At The Sign of the Prancing Pony – aka Of course there would be an Inn

It is quite sobering to realise this may be the first version of the many inns we will find in fantasy. The one heroes enter; bad things happen and set off on course to new adventures. You can recognise the Inn even here. Its m ore of a set-up for the next chapter but a few interesting observations – fascinating to see even Middle-earth has issues with refugees seeking shelter from issues elsewhere and that’s saddening. But it is nice to see the appearance of someone we know will be Aragorn in the form of Strider.

Chapter 10 – Strider aka ah tension

So, we are still in the pub, but we are starting to get the sense things are getting a bit hairy for the Hobbits and I don’t just mean their feet. Knowing Gandalf is AWOL this time feels troubling. We then find the Black Riders are hovering around Bree and that there may be spies for Sauron all around. We may or may not have an ally in Aragorn who I really like a refreshing character with shades of grey to him – that Gandalf says he can be trusted helps… but no evidence yet!

Chapter 11 – A Knife In The Dark aka Nazgul Assemble!

I do actually like we see Fatty Bolger didn’t die but it does slightly say The Black Riders being outdone by a fast hobbit suggests this current form of theirs has a few issues with it! There is though a great delivery of tension in this story as we see them then attack Bree and our Hobbits and Strider soon find themselves trapped at Weathertop. I loved by the way the back-story this place gets, and we feel we’re living in the places that saw so much ancient history which still impacts the current story – smartly delivered. I also really liked the reveal of who the Black Riders were under their cloaks and the theme of the Ring tempting Frodo int danger is clearly shown here. The key theme after the last hundred pages is that now the danger feels closer to Frodo than we may have felt – the comfort of the Hobbit is fading away.

Chapter 12 Flight to the Ford aka ahem speed guys speed!

So Frodo is injured by a Black rider blade; clearly dying and the group is under attack. Speed is of the essence! Well in theory there is a lot of describing people travelling – the idea of a narrative short-cut never seems to appeal to Tolkien. Time for a little Hobbit nostalgia with the appearance of the Stone Trolls and I do feel all that tension is going out like a puncture. BUT the last few scenes are gold – the Black Riders chase to the Ford works as a last desperate chase and there is drama and a sense of danger. I almost don’t mind that Magic River ex Machina saves the team. It’s a lovely image of white horses in a river versus Black Riders and that is the end of Book 1!

Chapter 13 – Many Meetings aka Frodo’s Alive!

So this feels a prelude to the next chapter but it’s a nice way of tying the loose strands from Book 1 - Frodo is alive; Gandalf is back and I like the way its dropped early that Gandalf’s delay was due to capture. That raises the stakes as we don’t think of our know-all wizard as someone who can be stopped. This chapter feels a mix of allowing us a breather from travelling and assembling the cast for the other. It feels right though that Bilbo is back to explain his actions that now impact Frodo to his nephew’s own face and Tolkien introduces the idea of Bilbo finally being slightly corrupted by him turning Gollum like (but the movie did that better!)

Chapter 14 – The Council of Elrond aka The Council of Exposition!

Ok I may be harsh here, but this is actually a seriously important chapter that without it lots of the book to come does not work. In this get

Aragorn’s backstory

Gollum’s escape

Moria and Sauron pulling strings behind it

Denethor and Minas Tirth

Saruman goes rogue and Chekov’s Eagles saving for later

Also explanation for the Two Towers and The return of the King

What slightly drags is how much is exposition just being stated for plot reasons – it is fairly dry in delivery. More like a series of people’s reports – interesting but a little too measured. But Tolkien does deliver this in topic as something truly mythic and after those cosy early chapters this feels true High Fantasy and the tone has now very much moved away from the feel of the Hobbit. The stakes are the fate of the world and the culmination of thousands of years, and it affects everyone. This makes Frodo stepping up to carry the Ring all the more powerful - a simple young hobbit is the key to the rest of what is to come