Quote:
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Originally Posted by Bethberry
Bilbo seems to prefer to write poetry now rather than story, we are told. I rather fancy this is a very much an unfair representation of poetry as somehow shorter and simpler!
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At first I thought maybe Tolkien was trying to show how Bilbo, as he aged, had become less concerned with long tales of adventure and more interested in the concentrated language of poetry as an expressive, contemplative type of writing. But then there are many opinions on what poetry
is. So it is possible that Tolkien's opinion is that poetry
does take up less time to write, even though this is not always the case; poetry can be just as complex and time-consuming to write as prose. Although Tolkien of all people must have been fully aware of the work involved in writing poetic epics.
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Kinsman, farewell! May your doom be other than mine, and your treasure remain with you to the end!
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This quote fascinated me, too. The 'doom' I think refers to the different fates of Men and Elves, but it could equally refer to the new flowering of Gondor versus the decline or 'doom' of Lothlorien. What is the 'treasure' he speaks of? I would say Aragorn's greatest treasure is Arwen, Celeborn's grandaughter; this then begs the question of what Celeborn's treasure is? And will
his treasure remain with him to the end?