LotR - Prologue

[Carnimírië]

I've been reading the discussions that took place prior to the initiation of this read-through, and after seeing again and again (and again and again and again) that it's ok for newbies to join in the discussion, here I go...

This book is largely concerned with hobbits, and from it's pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.

How's that for a succinct summary of The Lord of the Rings?

The first time I read LotR the paragraph describing Hobbits, how they like good tilled earth, don't practice magic, etc. made me feel as if I had known about them all my life, and made me tremendously curious to read the entire book. I haven't skipped the Prologue (or the Forword, or even the Note on the Text ) in any of my subsequent re-readings, because I think it puts you in the right frame of mind to enter Middle-earth in Chapter 1. It really sets up LotR as a "history" rather than just a made up story. Hobbit life seems so ideal, living off the land, being in tune with nature, keeping the laws of free will, just peacefully going about their lives and minding their own business.

There's also quite a bit of humor in the prologue, I missed most of it the first time around, but picked up on it later on. I'm not exactly sure why, but the phrase "Hobbitry-in-arms" cracks me up! Maybe it's the mental image... Also this:

The Bree-hobbits claim to have been the first actual smokers of the pipe-weed. They claim, of course, to have done everything before the people of the Shire, whom they refer to as "colonists"; but in this case their claim is, I think, likely to be true.

I was really glad that an abbreviated version of the finding of the Ring was included, because I hadn't read The Hobbit when I first read LotR. Reading The Hobbit for the first time was a real eye-opener...

~Carnie~