"That is the Way for Us" - But Which Way?

[Marlowe221]

Hi all,

I do a lot more lurking/reading around these forums than I do posting (I almost never post, sadly) but I thought I would put this small problem before the best Tolkien community on the internet as it has been bothering me for some time.

My favorite part of the whole trilogy is the first 5-6 (the party to Bree) chapters of Fellowship. I have read these chapters more times than any other part of the books and as I tend to be prone to over-analyzing things...

In Chapter 3, Three is Company, the Hobbits have their first encounter with a Black Rider. After the unsettling event, Frodo and Co. decide to proceed as quickly as possible, but not on the road for obvious reasons. As evening is coming on, the trio go back to the road. I will now quote from the text:

"The sun had gone down behind the hills at their backs, and evening was coming on before they came back to the road as the end of the long level over which it had run straight for some miles. At that point it bent left and went down in to the lowlands of the Yale making for Stock; but a lane branched right, winding through a wood of ancient oak-trees on its way to Woodhall. 'That is the way for us,' said Frodo."

But which way was the way for them? The road towards Stock? Or the smaller lane towards Woodhall? To me, the text at that moment makes it sound like they took the lane towards Woodhall. Just a few lines later, the narrator mentions "the lane" again, which I originally interpreted as meaning that they had taken the smaller lane to the right towards Woodhall.

But there are several clues that indicate that they, in fact, took the road to Stock.

Here is the map of a portion of The Shire included in almost every edition of the books I have ever seen:



I believe the map was not drawn by J.R.R., but later by Christopher (please correct me if I am wrong). It is entirely possible that this is not quite the way that J.R.R. would have drawn the map had he done so himself...

Personally, I believe that Frodo, Sam, and Pippin began to take the road to Stock before their second encounter with a Black Rider and their meeting with Gildor and subsequent change of course. Why have I come to that conclusion?

Well, after spending the night with Gildor and the Elves, Frodo proposes a shortcut to which Pippin famously objects, "short cuts make long delays." But Pippin also adds that he had "counted on passing the Golden Perch at Stock before sundown." Additionally, when proposing his short cut Frodo says:

"The Ferry is east from Woodhall; but the hard road curves away to the left - you can see a bend of it away north over there. It goes round the Marish so as to strike the causeway from the Bridge above Stock. But that is miles out of the way."

One more point. Later in Chapter 4, when Farmer Maggot has graciously given a ride to Frodo and Co. to the Ferry they are surprised (and relieved) to meet Merry just at the entry to the Ferry road. Merry says, "I was beginning to wonder if you would turn up at all today, and I was just going back to supper. When it grew foggy I came across and rode up towards Stock to see if you had fallen in any ditches. But I'm blessed if I know which way you have come."

Now why would Pippin hope to have a pint at the Golden Perch at Stock if they were never planning to go that way? Why would Merry ride north towards Stock from the Ferry if they had planned to go through Woodhall?

The only explanation I can come up with is this: Either they had planned and started out towards Stock when the Black Rider and Gildor diverted them...

Or the map of The Shire printed in the book kind of sucks.

When I look at that map I see a few things that don't really make much sense. For instance, why is there no road from Hobbiton to Tuckborough? Or from Tuckborough to Waymoot? We know that Tuckborough was one of the most important Hobbit towns and yet it would appear to be extremely isolated if the map with which the reader is provided is to be believed.

One can only assume that there must be such roads and that, for some reason, they do not appear on the map. Similarly, looking at the map, it seems difficult to believe that there would not be a road of some kind from Stock to Woodhall.

If such a road did exist, it might provide a more rational explanation for why the party would take the smaller lane to the right towards Woodhall. If this imaginary road took a traveler directly to Stock, then it would make sense for Pippin to have his beer at the Perch and for Merry to expect them to come from that direction.

Any way, this has bothered me for years. It's small. It's probably stupid. But it bugs the crap out of me. What do you all think? Am I right? Am I missing something obvious? Am I worrying about nothing?

Thanks for reading!