LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 04 - A Journey in the Dark - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 10-07-2004, 08:01 AM

Certainly, when Tolkien 'halted by Balin's tomb' the story was very different in terms of mood & characters - Aragorn hadn't appeared - he was still the hobbit, Trotter - the Company consisted of him, Gandalf, Boromir & four hobbits, & Tolkien simply had no idea where he was going with it.

You almost get the impression from reading the early drafts that the story was dependent on getting the setting right - once he'd achieved an understanding of the world of Middle earth, what it looked like, felt like, he could then proceed with the story, because at that point it all came together - an example would be the Trotter character - CT speculates that his father 'realised' the Ranger was not a hobbit in the Caradhras section, where he had to be carried down from the mountain with the other hobbits. So, the wise, resourceful ranger hobbit had to be changed to a man if he was not to suddenly be reduced by a snowstorm to a rather pathetic figure.

One thing that does come across in reading this chapter is Tolkien's incredible skill at creating 'realms', indeed, whole societies. Its easy to underestimate his ability because he is so good at it - but when you think about it, all he had was a few vague legends & odd references to 'elves' & 'dwarves'. Yet the societies he creates are absolutely believable - Moria convinces us on every level; not just on the level of its physical nature & structure, but its history, its 'mood' - it even seems to have a 'personality' of its own - & in this chapter Tolkien truly does justice to the Dwarves, who have been up to this point a villainous, selfish, ugly little race, or a resource for supplying 'comic relief' - putting on one side for a moment the last chapters of The Hobbit - here, though, we see them as a race of wise, thoughtful, emotional & creativebeings, with a potential for greatness equal to any of the other races.

I can't help wondering if to some extent Tolkien was 'making amends' to the beings he'd created, after the bad press he'd given them up to that point

10-07-2004, 08:01 AM	#15
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Certainly, when Tolkien 'halted by Balin's tomb' the story was very different in terms of mood & characters - Aragorn hadn't appeared - he was still the hobbit, Trotter - the Company consisted of him, Gandalf, Boromir & four hobbits, & Tolkien simply had no idea where he was going with it. You almost get the impression from reading the early drafts that the story was dependent on getting the setting right - once he'd achieved an understanding of the world of Middle earth, what it looked like, felt like, he could then proceed with the story, because at that point it all came together - an example would be the Trotter character - CT speculates that his father 'realised' the Ranger was not a hobbit in the Caradhras section, where he had to be carried down from the mountain with the other hobbits. So, the wise, resourceful ranger hobbit had to be changed to a man if he was not to suddenly be reduced by a snowstorm to a rather pathetic figure. One thing that does come across in reading this chapter is Tolkien's incredible skill at creating 'realms', indeed, whole societies. Its easy to underestimate his ability because he is so good at it - but when you think about it, all he had was a few vague legends & odd references to 'elves' & 'dwarves'. Yet the societies he creates are absolutely believable - Moria convinces us on every level; not just on the level of its physical nature & structure, but its history, its 'mood' - it even seems to have a 'personality' of its own - & in this chapter Tolkien truly does justice to the Dwarves, who have been up to this point a villainous, selfish, ugly little race, or a resource for supplying 'comic relief' - putting on one side for a moment the last chapters of The Hobbit - here, though, we see them as a race of wise, thoughtful, emotional & creativebeings, with a potential for greatness equal to any of the other races. I can't help wondering if to some extent Tolkien was 'making amends' to the beings he'd created, after the bad press he'd given them up to that point __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."