LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 04 – A Short Cut to Mushrooms

[Boromir88]

Osse,

I believe the Farmer, if he knew the full peril, probably still would have helped. Maggot said something like "I'll send off those riders, I'll tell them you're dead...I'll protect you." So, for me I believe he would have helped out, but he wouldn't have been much help. If the riders found out Maggot was "harbouring" them Maggot would have been no match for ONE RIDER!!! Farmer Maggot did his job and helped out the hobbits in whatever way he could, I can ask no more for him.

[The Saucepan Man]

While Maggot could have no way of knowing the true nature of the Black Rider, he nevertheless does show great bravery in light of the facts that he does know.

He is faced with an imposing black-cloaked fellow on horseback. His normally fearsome dogs have just sloped off in terror. It must have been clear to him that this fellow could do him great harm if he chose to. And yet he gives him short shrift, telling him to clear off. And when the Rider asks him to tell him if he sees "Baggins", tempting him with the promise of gold, Maggot makes clear that he will not do so.

It is to Farmer Maggot's great credit that, at great risk to himself, he offers the Hobbits shelter and drives them to the Buckleberry Ferry. Combined with Gaffer Gamgee's similar steadfastness in the previous chapter and Sam's resolve to stick with Frodo whatever the danger, this is real evidence of what we were told in the Prologue about Hobbits being "tough" and "difficult to daunt". We are beginning to get a good idea of the great courage that these small folk are capable of, and which will come to characterise them later on, Sam in particular.

On another subject, has anyone else noticed the recurring theme of nurturing and protective trees? In the previous chapter, they make camp on the first night in a patch of fir wood, within the "deep resin-scented darkness of the trees". The next day, they take a meal inside "the huge hulk" of a hollow but living tree. And they spend the second night with the Elves in a "wide space like a hall, roofed by the boughs of trees". Then, this chapter opens with Frodo having slept in a bower:

... made by a living tree with branches laced and drooping to the ground; his bed was of fern and grass, deep and soft and strangely fragrant. The sun was shining through the fluttering leaves, which were still green upon the tree.

And later, when they take lunch, they shelter from the rain beneath an elm tree. Indeed, the belt of trees provides cover for them from the Black Riders and they feel afraid at first when they leave its shelter.

Not surprising I suppose, given Tolkien's love of trees, but the extent to which they are used as a device to provide the Hobbits with rest, shelter and safety in these two chapters rather struck me (and is a precursor to the safe haven provided by the forest of Lothlorien).

Of course, some of them will find themselves inside another tree in two chapter's time, although one of an altogether different nature ...

Finally, two words that struck me as interesting:

The kitchen was lit with candles and the fire was mended.

and

Mrs. Maggot will be worriting with the night getting thick.

I like the idea of a fire being mended, since it suggests that its natural state is alight and that it is somehow "broken" when extinguished. And "worriting" is just a great word: one which I now intend to make great use of.

[Bêthberry]

Why, SpM, it is a pleasure to see you taking up my point in the the third post here about the value of the Maggots.

Well, I for one would be very happy to have neighbours such as Farmer and Mrs. Maggot. Their hospitality, nay, even more, their courage and active support, says much positive to me about The Shire.

Is it immodest to quote oneself? I think not, given some of the hesitations we have seen here about the Farmer and his missus.

It would probably be well to point out, if the image is not too earthy for some, that maggots, the creatures, eat dead flesh.

[The Saucepan Man]

Why, SpM, it is a pleasure to see you taking up my point in the the third post here about the value of the Maggots.

Hehe. When bereft of original thought, simply pass someone else's off as your own. (It was wholly unintentional, I can assure you. )

Well, I for one would be very happy to have neighbours such as Farmer and Mrs. Maggot. Their hospitality, nay, even more, their courage and active support, says much positive to me about The Shire.

Funnily enough, it is Maggot's Hobbitish parochial nature (a quality that has been commented on negatively in earlier discussions) which, at least in part, leads him to distrust this "outlandish" outlander. As I think has been mentioned before, though, it seems somehow incongruous that someone so insular (as evidenced in his comments on the folk of Hobbiton) should have dealings with a strange fellow like Tom Bombadil.

It would probably be well to point out, if the image is not too earthy for some, that maggots, the creatures, eat dead flesh.

For this reason, maggots were (and indeed still are) used to clean wounds. Would it be going too far to suggest that this might be symbolic of the safe haven the Maggots offer after the Hobbits' harrowing journey? (Answer = probably. )

[Bêthberry]

When bereft of original thought, simply pass someone else's off as your own.

Rather, share and share alike, I'd say.

Yes, I knew that about the use of maggots in cleaning wounds, having heard a story of one poor chap whose friend snuck a bottle of spirits up to his room. The spirits might have improved the patient's spirits for a time but they unfortunately also killed the maggots. The patient died of his gangrene.

My thoughts about the symbolic portent of 'maggot' were slightly different than yours, Sauce. I thought of Farmer Maggot's courage and refusal to be cowed by the Black Rider. Maggot eradicates the stench of fear. I guess technically, though, we don't know yet that the Black Riders are artificially preserved flesh, do we? Gah, can't even remember chapters I read a week ago.

[davem]

Originally Posted by SpM

I like the idea of a fire being mended, since it suggests that its natural state is alight and that it is somehow "broken" when extinguished. And "worriting" is just a great word: one which I now intend to make great use of.

Have to say these words didn't register on me in the same way, as both of them were in my childhood, & to an extent still are, quite common usages here. I think 'mending' in this sense derives from 'amending', putting right.

Incidentally, Chambers dictionary includes in the definition of maggot: magg'oty: full of maggots; crotchety(ie short-tempered); very drunk. Going by the original character of Farmer Maggot, violent, short tempered, & apparenetly a bit of a drinker, I wonder if Tolkien is playing word games with us!

[The Saucepan Man]

My thoughts about the symbolic portent of 'maggot' were slightly different than yours, Sauce. I thought of Farmer Maggot's courage and refusal to be cowed by the Black Rider. Maggot eradicates the stench of fear.

Yes, I did get your drift Bb, and I think that you may have a point. I was just taking the idea one step further (probably too far). Looks like davem has come up with the original basis for Tolkien's use of the name, although I wonder if there is a reason (such as that which Bb suggests) why he didn't change it with the change in the character's nature.

Have to say these words didn't register on me in the same way, as both of them were in my childhood, & to an extent still are

Yes, I wondered whether they might still be in use in some parts of the UK. However, they are not words that I have come across before (other than on previous reads of this chapter). The definition of "mending" that you suggest make sense as the Maggots' farmhouse seems the type of place where the fire would be kept going all day and stoked up when necessary.

[Boromir88]

It's clear hobbits don't like to be told what to do (especially if it's some outsider/foreigner). For awhile this act of "getting rid" of the black riders works, but Hobbits were no strength for the evil that was to become. Then again, it only took a few Hobbits to challenge the ruffians, until the whole Shire went into revolt. That is one example of Hobbits not liking to be bossed around. The other two have been discussed, with the Gaffer and Farmer Maggot. I believe the reason the Hobbits are like this, would be because as discussed in earlier chapters Hobbits didn't really have any rules, and they hated rules. They hate rules, they hate being told what to do, especially if it is some stranger foreigner.