LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 9 - The Grey Havens - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Formendacil · 03-22-2019, 11:03 AM

The end of the book! Even after a laboured read, even having reread so many times as to be able to quote passages, even with five chapters of endings behind us, it still seems to end too soon!

"The Grey Havens" is hauntingly beautiful and I think it only really works in its final scene if you've been through the Happily Ever After coming alive in 1420 first. Well, it *works,* but having the Happily Ever first--and Frodo being unable to join it--is the what makes the great parting both the correct solution and so bittersweet.

(On the subject of bittersweet: Frodo, did you REALLY intend Sam to ride home from the Havens alone? Once Gandalf puts the idea into my head, I can't shake how sad that would be! Thank goodness for Gandalf tipping off Merry and Pippin!)

As much as Tolkien wrote in the early 50s that The Lord of the Rings is really the conclusion to the Silmarillion, I've never really felt it--this work is too complete in itself, and the Silm (even in its fullest fragments, such as "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin,") lacks the versatility of the LotR (i.e. it lacks a Hobbit dimension). But here, in this chapter, I *do* feel it. The departure of Elrond and Galadriel is the symbolic return of the Exiled Noldor, the end of the story of their exile, and the Age of Man begins.

03-22-2019, 11:03 AM	#12
Formendacil Dead Serious Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perched on Thangorodrim's towers. Posts: 3,328	The end of the book! Even after a laboured read, even having reread so many times as to be able to quote passages, even with five chapters of endings behind us, it still seems to end too soon! "The Grey Havens" is hauntingly beautiful and I think it only really works in its final scene if you've been through the Happily Ever After coming alive in 1420 first. Well, it works, but having the Happily Ever first--and Frodo being unable to join it--is the what makes the great parting both the correct solution and so bittersweet. (On the subject of bittersweet: Frodo, did you REALLY intend Sam to ride home from the Havens alone? Once Gandalf puts the idea into my head, I can't shake how sad that would be! Thank goodness for Gandalf tipping off Merry and Pippin!) As much as Tolkien wrote in the early 50s that The Lord of the Rings is really the conclusion to the Silmarillion, I've never really felt it--this work is too complete in itself, and the Silm (even in its fullest fragments, such as "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin,") lacks the versatility of the LotR (i.e. it lacks a Hobbit dimension). But here, in this chapter, I do feel it. The departure of Elrond and Galadriel is the symbolic return of the Exiled Noldor, the end of the story of their exile, and the Age of Man begins. __________________ I prefer history, true or feigned.