Frodo's initial delay in leaving the Shire: What does it mean?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Maril --

You cetainly know a lot more about cross-country hiking than I do, although I have done a fair bit of backpacking around England and Wales in my younger days. I agree with you that the hobbits needed that much time to recuperate physically. But I still think that there's more going on here than just R&R.

Small hobbit digs in toes.......

Many authors would gloss over such episodes of needed rest and relaxation. But I think Tolkien uses these stays in homely houses to reinforce his basic premise. All of these houses show things that will be lost to the members of the fellowship if they continue onward. At the same time, there is indication that a complete commitment has not yet been made, at least by Frodo. For example, in the barrow-downs, Frodo thinks of how he could put on the Ring, and run away, apologizing to Gandalf that he just couldn't help his friends. In Rivendell, particularly, Frodo felt "a dead darkness in his heart" and an "overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side." And when he took on the quest it was "as if some other will was using his small voice." I think if we looked more closely we could find more instances of this reluctance in the early part of the book.

What makes this reluctance even more poignant is that it is contrasted with some very positive things that are going on in these homely houses. At Tom's for example, Frodo is very much taken in and attacted by the lovely Goldberry. He acts a bit silly about her and then feels embarassed by it. Why is Tolkien including this? I'm sure there are many reasons, but here's one thing we shouldn't overlook. We sense that if Frodo really commits to the trek to Mount Doom, he will be forever barred from the love of woman. In Rivendell,similarly, he found Arwen very attractive, and described her like this:

Such loveliness in living thing Frodo hd never seen before nor imagined in his mind.

Again, there is a contrast between the comfort and beauty of the homely house and the reality of the deed he must commit to.

In the Shire itself and Buckland, and even a bit in Bree, we are treated to some of the joys of hobbit living--funny songs, dancing on tables, silly bath games, lovely lanes where hobbits like to walk, etc. Again, as readers, we begin to understand the bittersweet nature of these delights. By going ahead and making a commitment, Frodo will eventually lose all of these. And this is sadly confirmed at the end of the book when it is clear that he can not go on living in the Shire.

In Rivendell, there are the attractions of the Elves themselves and the natural world at Tom's house.

So I do agree that Tolkien recognized the realistic demands of cross-country travel, but he uses these rest stops to set up this poignant contrast between the joys of home and the necessities of pushing on. In this sense, I feel these stops are significant. Perhaps, I am wrong to use the term "delays" since they did need physical recuperation. But the Shire at the beginning and these various houses along the way reinforce to Frodo those things that he is reluctantly sacrificing. And just as he took a long time to get on the road initially, he still has reluctance in his soul when he sees and visits these homely houses. It's only after the council, when Frodo makes his final commitment, that he accepts the Ring as his doom. The homely houses and their everyday pleasures are behind him, and his reluctance is gone. In its place is the growing feeling that he will not return from the Quest alive. I just don't think this is coicidence or simple R&R.

Respectfully, a small and determined hobbit

[ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]