Parts we read without reading the whole book

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

These chapters are also my favourites! When I first read Lord of the Rings, I was particularly drawn to hobbits. During my first read I was anxious to get the story rolling, so I rushed through the beginning, but since then those have become my most loved chapters. When I first read FotR, Bilbo's Bath Song caught my fancy. I always thought it so funny. I have always liked the banter between Frodo, Sam, and Pippin. When Merry was added to it, that made it even better!

Those three chapters go right to the heart of what Tolkien means to me and they're really evocative of ancient Britain - the wildwood, the rain, the barrows, the megaliths...When I first read about Old Man Willow I knew exactly why he was frightening and dangerous, it was like getting some atavistic thrill.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Those three chapters go right to the heart of what Tolkien means to me and they're really evocative of ancient Britain - the wildwood, the rain, the barrows, the megaliths...When I first read about Old Man Willow I knew exactly why he was frightening and dangerous, it was like getting some atavistic thrill.

Was there a reason other than his hobbit eating tendencies?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Was there a reason other than his hobbit eating tendencies?

It reminded me of being a child and how my parents and grandparents used to warn me about going near the willows that still grew along the brooks and ditches (which were also full of 'Jinny Greenteeth') where we lived. And of the vast, old weeping one that grew in our garden, that I used to hide under. My mum would say she was scared the tree would eat me up.

Willow is very odd. My dad had to chop some down once because they were stopping his apples from fruiting, and he re-used the wood to make a fence. It sprouted again! It's hard enough to make a cricket bat from but soft enough to make a basket.

[cellurdur]

I love the rich history of Middle Earth so two of my favourite chapters are the Council of Elrond and the Shadow of the Past. Another favourite though for different reasons is the Scouring of the Shire.

[Ardent]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

...willows that still grew along the brooks and ditches ...the vast, old weeping one that grew in our garden...

Willow is very odd. ..and he re-used the wood to make a fence. It sprouted again! It's hard enough to make a cricket bat from but soft enough to make a basket.

I grew up in the Severn Valley and willows don't just line the banks, they preserve them. Their roots get everywhere binding ground that the river would otherwise erode. Many rivers still have willows that were deliberately planted and kept either coppiced or else pollarded (their heads cut off above browsing height) to provide a constant source of basket canes. One of my favourite paintings, The_Lady_Of_Shallot by John William Waterhouse, is set against such a managed riverbank.

Of course, left to himself Old Man Willow will grow taller and taller until he falls over and then send up new shoots. I used to enjoy playing in a marshy area where this had happened and the fallen trunks had become bridges over pools.

Whenever I read LotR I love to arrive at the next woodland. They each have their own character (and we meet characters in them) and we get to pass through every wood on the map east of Hobbiton:

Woody End
The Old Forest
Trollshaws
Lorien
Fangorn
Firion Wood
Druadan Forest
Ithilien

and of course, in The Hobbit, we get to visit Greenwood the Great/Mirkwood.

I wonder what kind of character the woodlands to the north and south of the Gulf of Lhun would have. Given that they lie in the realm of Cirdan the shipwright perhaps they'd be, in part, managed for his purposes like the New Forest in Hampshire?