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Hello Jeremy
Delighted to have you join the conversation.
Yes, I understand where you’re coming from with “old stone” possibly being interpretable in the plural. But nevertheless because Tolkien made a distinction between two nouns within the same sentence - makes me think it was purposeful. I’m inclined to go with what I think is the most natural interpretation - that being a singular stone.
One might presume Tom had some familiarity with this particular ‘standing stone’ because he called it ‘cold’, which it certainly was:
“The cold stone is fallen; …”.
An unnatural or perilous cold perhaps?
Anyhow, I don’t believe Tom toppled it or touched it just prior to the rescue. So why would he refer to it as ‘cold’? Prior knowledge appears to be both logical and reasonable.
I’m also very happy that you’ve understood the importance of classic ‘fairy tale’ to this segment of the storyline. Indeed, as you will no doubt grasp from my later posts, the theory I’ve advanced hinges upon it!
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