LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 7 - Homeward Bound

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This brief chapter is transitory in nature, taking the remaining five members of the Fellowship from Rivendell almost to the Shire. They and we readers have come full circle – they were at the same places at the same time one year ago. (We have taken longer than that in our Chapter-by-Chapter quest!)

Painful memories of those events mark the journey for Frodo, yet how different this journey is! They are riding on the roads, not walking through the wilderness; taking their time at a leisurely pace instead of being chased; and Gandalf is with them, though Strider is not.

Bree again marks the point of transition between the wide world and their home. There are disturbing signs of changes there, foreboding the events to come in the Shire. Even the outwardly unchanged ‘Prancing Pony’ is different.

Barliman Butterbur has an important function in this part of the story; his accounts of local events serve as narration – and his forgetfulness keeps up the suspense, not revealing too much of what is to come. We see the limited sight here that becomes obvious in the Shire later, with far-away events seeming too storylike to be really interesting to the local people.

There are clues that foreshadow the following chapter – the lack of pipeweed, for example. Now that is something that has always had me wondering – why on earth did Saruman need so much of it?! Not even a chain-smoking wizard could have consumed all of the Shire’s production, could he? With whom did he share it? Then the deaths – how unusual an event it was to have people killed is obvious from Butterbur’s way of saying “killed, killed dead!”

Tolkien’s love of detail and of closure is shown by the fact that even the fate of Bill the pony is shown. That’s another one of the positive things that happens for Sam. Another detail I noticed this time – the White Wizard is wearing a blue cloak, later described as seeming like clouds covering his radiance. Any ideas on the reason for that colour discrepancy?

Butterbur’s words echo a theme that we have seen in the Druadan Forest and will later see in the King’s laws concerning visitors to the Shire: “We want to be let alone.” Tolkien’s love for a form of healthy anarchy comes up here! However, it is seen that evil persons misuse the self-rule of the people and a King is needed to restore peace and order to the lands.

One of the passages I greatly enjoy in this chapter is Butterbur’s slow realization of Strider’s true identity! It puts a smile on my face every time I read it.

The changes in the Shire at which the innkeeper hints are paralleled by the changes in the hobbits themselves. Butterbur recognizes their ability to deal with the upcoming trouble, and Gandalf’s statements not only agree with that, but tell them (and us) that their matters are no longer his concern. The quest was important not only for its own sake, but as training for them. This is indeed a coming of age story, and the hobbits have grown up.

Gandalf now has leisure time to spend in a way he enjoys – chatting with Bombadil. Wouldn’t we love to have an account of that conversation?! What do you think they talked about? Unlike other characters from the beginning of the tale, Tom Bombadil does not show up at the end. Apparently he does not need to, for he has not changed.

The contrast between Frodo and the other hobbits is sharply delineated by the remarks concerning dreaming at the end of the chapter. What makes the difference? Is Frodo already living on another plane of existence in some way?

How do you feel when you read this chapter? Do you hurry through, eager to reach the next one, or are there parts of it that make you pause to think or feel more deeply?


[This discussion thread opens on Sunday, November 6]