The Standing Stone

[Priya]

… continued from my previous post

A matter unrecognized among general readers, and perhaps some scholars, is that at outset Tolkien envisaged The Lord of the Rings to be of roughly similar length* to The Hobbit. At a point some fourteen months after first putting pen to paper, he felt he was over halfway through as:

“… The Lord of the Rings – had reached** Chapter 12 (and had been re-written several times), running to over 300 MS. pages …”,

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #35 – 2 February 1939, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981

requiring an additional:

“… 200 at least to finish the story that has developed.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #35 – 2 February 1939, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981

Aiming for around 20 chapters (assuming ~60 percent had already been written), the entire tale would have run to about where Farewell to Lórien ends up being in the finished item. Anticipated was a relatively short production, and knowing so we ought not to be surprised if Tolkien input intense effort into the early chapters. And indeed he did – of a scholastic nature. For far more academic material was inserted than will ever come across no matter how many re-readings are undertaken. That is unless the reader is well-acquainted with botany, fairy tales, European mythologies, medieval works, Christianity, philological matters – and can connect the ingenious infusion of all six within the text.

The Easton Press Editions of Tolkien’s most famous Works 
(Side-by-side thickness comparisons are deceptive)

For these initial twelve chapters Tolkien complained:

“The writing of The Lord of the Rings is laborious, because I have been doing it as well as I know how, and considering every word.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #35 – 2 February 1939, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981

Not that the rest was less diligently crafted:

“It is written in my life-blood, …”.

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #109 – 31 July 1947, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981

“…*I am a pedant devoted to accuracy, even in what may appear to others unimportant matters.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #294 – 8 February 1967, Edited by H. Carpenter, 1981

The Professor had poured his heart and soul into the exercise. Using immense skill he left an underlying structure which few have fully comprehended; and that is especially true of the Fog on the Barrow-downs chapter.

Perhaps even more exasperating than In the House of Tom Bombadil, Fog on the Barrow-downs has more weird unexplained stuff happening than any other single chapter. One thing we all want is understanding. I have felt after reading Tolkien’s great work, more times than I would care to count, a sense of frustration. A residual and underlying disappointment that I’ve missed out on something that is very basic and intrinsic to the tale.

Have any of you felt the same?

After many rereadings, I still felt I hadn’t understood the entire storyline. I hadn’t understood a couple of the oddball characters either. And despite delving into many scholarly publishings I found virtually no enlightenment. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that all of you have had similar feelings.

Then one thing, I can safely conclude is that there are no experts; only the Professor himself. There is too much ‘hidden’ from a cursory or even detailed reading and thus much to uncover. But the good news is that maybe we can make some headway on this particular chapter. Anyhow let’s see if you agree with my proposal by returning to the standing stone.

……

In pagan worship standing stones were objects central to druid rites, and of course in prehistory there were no churches. Getting into faërie in ancient times was more believable if menhirs were involved, and just like the Childe Rowland depiction, the number of circuits made was that ubiquitous fairy-tale number ‘three’:

“ ‘Go on a little further, … till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, widershins, and each time say: Open, door! open, door! And let me come in. and the third time the door will open, and you may go in.’ ”

– English Fairy Tales, Childe Rowland – pgs. 120-121, J. Jacobs, 1890 (my emphasis)

Another case of ‘third time pays for all’. Then perhaps in fairy tale lies the ancient proverb’s source!

’Plucked from the Fairy Circle’ by Thomas Henry Thomas, Illustration from Wirt Sikes’ British Goblins, 1880 – Note direction of travel is counterclockwise

With that it’s now time to turn to The Lord of the Rings and understand how cleverly Tolkien manipulated the text when it came to the green-rimmed hill and standing stone sitting atop. By including some most mysterious events, he left us a puzzle to solve. Oh no – he wasn’t about to explain each and every point as fairy tales so often do for children. This was a riddle – a riddle meant for adults – in an adult fairy tale. It was up to us to arrive at a solution. And if we look carefully and address matters logically – I think that indeed we can crack his ‘riddle in the dark’!


… to be continued



* In terms of chapter quantity, but not total number of equivalent pages. Tolkien’s cited manuscript page size/quantities are not equatable to the published books.

** The statement is not specific enough to determine whether Tolkien had just started on Chapter 12 or finished it.