The Lord of the Rings and the Fall-Winter Seasons

[MatthewM]

When this time of year comes around (winter as well), I always find myself being more involved in Middle-earth...always find myself thinking more about it (as if I don't think about it enough )

I believe it's the whole setting where I live. I love in Long Island, where we get full changes of each season. I also think it's definitely because that's when the whole journey of The Lord of the Rings takes place.

Does anybody else get a bigger sense of Middle-earth in the Autumn and Winter seasons?

[Aiwendil]

I experience exactly the same thing! I am inevitably drawn to the Legendarium in the Fall months. It may have something to do with the fact that my "discovery" of UT and HoMe occurred in the early fall, so that I associate the season with that memory. But I do wonder if it's more than that, particularly since you have the same experience.

Is there something autumnal about Tolkien's work? Interesting question.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Is there something autumnal about Tolkien's work? Interesting question.

Glad you feel the same! That definitely is a good question. I believe there is. It may be one of those unexplainable magical qualities of Tolkien.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Is there something autumnal about Tolkien's work? Interesting question.

Maybe Frodo's autumnal restlessness and the desire of travel that woke in him in autumn echoes in our desire to travel to Middle-Earth in the same season...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

To use the language of children, the winter months have always been a more magical, adventurous time. The weather gets wilder and perhaps even the Christmas spirit (the old non-commercial spirit, of course!) gets involved.

Spring and Summer are nice and all, but they make you think of Hobbits relaxing in the Shire, rather than journeying through Hollin.

Interesting topic.

[Melilot Brandybuck]

Matthew it is funny you bring up this topic as I was thinking something similar the other day.

What is it about the autumn? I live in a very rural area where the changing of the seasons play a significant part in my life, as I spend a good deal of time outdoors. There is something about a crisp autumn day with the leaves crunching underfoot and the smell of wood smoke in the air that is so evocative of.... what?

If I were a hobbit, about to embark upon a long journey, I would feel most like starting in the autumn. Of course that's not logical, because soon you would be encountering all the nasties of deep dark winter. But I want to be outside in the autumn. It's invigorating and exciting. My horses get a little silly in the autumn, our rides often start with a few snorts and bucks of pure exhilaration. So it seems they feel it too.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I don't know quite how to say this, but the one thing to me that is different about autumn is that I have a vivid sense of something beginning (in that we're heading for colder weather and winter) but also something ending. There is so much beauty with the trees turning, yet I am also constantly reminded that this is a time of endings and death. I feel that this dichotomy, life and death and the impermanence of things, stands at the heart of the story. It is both beautiful and sad, the kind of bittersweet feeling I have when I turn the last page of the book.

It is logically true that each season is a time of beginnings and endings, but to me autumn is the one that best symbolizes those two things. Autumn seems like a perfect match for a story that is talking about the passing of Elves and other magical things and the new dominence of men. So much is gained and so much lost.

Great topic!

[MatthewM]

Thanks, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to this topic. All the posts contain something interesting. There is definitely something autumanal about Tolkien's work. Child of the 7th...I've never thought about that, the whole life/death idea relating to Tolkien. It makes a lot of sense. Autumn is represented as a "new beginning" in a lot of different things- I will cite the example that comes to mind as I have experienced it. A dream of Autumn if you believe in silly things like "Dream Dictionaries" (which I really don't, but this is interesting) usually means a re-birth, or a new beginning. When I dreamt of Autumn once, and I won't get into the details because it is very close to me, a change away from the norm was about to occur in my life. It wasn't a preminition, because I knew this was coming. But once it happened I felt revived, like a new life was about to open up to me. At the same time, I was forced to let go of something I held dear. But in the end it was best.

That can be compared to many characters in LotR, and it would take all day---but most notably I would say it pertains to Frodo, sacrificing what he had in the Shire for the ultimate fate of the world. And although he never recovered, it was for the best as he sailed away at the Grey Havens. As a unit, like Child mentioned the passing of the Elves and the dominion of Men.

Some of my conclusions (with the ideas of others) that I believe contribute to the feeling of The Lord of the Rings in the air of autumn/winter-

-The story itself and the journey of The Fellowship (and the whole story really) takes place in autumn/winter, and we get such amazing descriptions of the crisp fall landscape from Tolkien as the Company travels.

-The clothing of all the characters is that of colder weather.

-Child's idea of life/death present in the seasons (in specific, autumn).

-Spirit of adventure

-The magic of Tolkien

Any more input?

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Summer = hot days, warm evenings, lingering sunsets = outdoor activities

Winter = cold days, little light, time spent indoors = reading

That, plus Frodo's journey begins on 22 Sept and ends on 25 March...it's a winter's tale.

[Bêthberry]

Actually, it is the autumn season that appears to have the fewest hours of sunshine, of all the seasons in the northern hemisphere (unless we count the far north, where midnight sun and noon moon come into play). From the September Equinox to the December Equinox, daylight diminishes, creating the sensation of increasing gloom and darkness. Winter, despite the cold and storms, actually sees increasing hours of sunlight, as the days lengthen progressively from December 21, the shortest day, on. Ironically, as the temperatures reach their coldest, sunlight increases.

I believe that the last night of the year in pagan cultures was October 31, which was appropriated for our Hallowe'en, in North America.

There are some posts of relevance to this discussion on Estelyn Telcontar's The Symbolic Significance of Weather thread .

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Actually, it is the autumn season that appears to have the fewest hours of sunshine, of all the seasons in the northern hemisphere (unless we count the far north, where midnight sun and noon moon come into play). From the September Equinox to the December Equinox, daylight diminishes, creating the sensation of increasing gloom and darkness. Winter, despite the cold and storms, actually sees increasing hours of sunlight, as the days lengthen progressively from December 21, the shortest day, on. Ironically, as the temperatures reach their coldest, sunlight increases.

Well of course, but just because there's more sunshine in February than in December doesn't mean I want to be lolling beside the pool all day! And in case anyone is wondering, the reason the days are colder after the equinox rather than before is due to snow cover. When there is a blanket of white snow on the ground it is highly reflective of the sun's radiation so much of the strengthening sunlight is reflected back into space, meaning that while the total input of solar radiation is higher, when you subtract from that the radiation lost to space, the net input of radiation into warming the surface of the Earth is much lower than in the months preceding the equinox when there is little or no snow.

I still say the book beckons in the fall because that's the time for hunkering down for the winter, and you need a good LONG book. Summer is for shorter novels which can easily be stuffed into your beach bag.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

I still say the book beckons in the fall because that's the time for hunkering down for the winter, and you need a good LONG book. Summer is for shorter novels which can easily be stuffed into your beach bag.

I disagree, in fact this past summer I re-read (and am still reading) The Lord of the Rings. As I stated before, I do think a lot of it is contributed to the fact that the journey takes place in Autumn-Winter. However, I don't think the time of year you read the book has anything to do with it...at least in my opinion.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

the reason the days are colder after the equinox rather than before is due to snow cover. When there is a blanket of white snow on the ground it is highly reflective of the sun's radiation so much of the strengthening sunlight is reflected back into space, meaning that while the total input of solar radiation is higher, when you subtract from that the radiation lost to space, the net input of radiation into warming the surface of the Earth is much lower than in the months preceding the equinox when there is little or no snow.

How absolutely intriguing, Fordim. This must be one definition of the word 'snow'--thermal insulator--that the Inuit missed.

[Evisse the Blue]

While Fordim does have a point, I don't think it's just that. I do think that during autumn and winter, as those endless rains and snows come falling you feel very snug sitting on your favourite couch sipping hot chocolate/tea while re-reading a long book. But why exactly Lord of the Rings? After all, there are many 'long books' in one's library (one hopes so ) but I don't feel compelled for instance to pick up Moby Dick or Brothers Karamazov and re-read them during the autumn/winter. And still, for me these two books are worth re-reading. But I get the same wish to re-read 'Lord of the Rings' (and no other book) when autumn comes as Matthew and the others do. In fact I'm re-reading it now.

And seeing what you guys wrote, which I also can relate to, I've realized that autumn has always been for me a time for change, sometimes imposed from the outside (ex: school starting) but more recently chosen by me as the time to make a change in my life. And I think this somewhat relates to my wishing to read LOTR during this season, besides the comfort of familiar words and characters and events, I also need to reinforce the belief that change is not something bad and that one must leave some things behind and move on in order to discover new ones. As corny as it may sound, I am inspired by the strong characters in this book to preserve my own strength when starting on a new path.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I always start reading my Tolkien books in the late spring/early summer and depending on my mood I will be done in late summer/fall. Does this mean that is something wrong with me ? (other than the usual stuff)

[Bêthberry]

A white-coated, be-spectacled figure shuffles into the room.

"Verrrry interestink, Mister Rune. You present a most unusual case. If you vere Englishh, I vould say your situation suggests an example of inherited family archetype. Perhaps vone of your Victorian ancestors vas a convict who managed to evade arrest und trial und deportation to Australia. Yet his guilt festered und created a family archetype vhere you have all ze traits of a downunder person, including se sense of spring und fall reversal. No? Zish sounds like ze most plausible explanation."

Where upon persons in institutional garb appear and drag the spectacled figure off, chastising him and pulling out a straight jacket. ....



EDIT:

More seriously, I think MatthewM raised a different point than the time of year when best to read LotR. I think he meant that our Primary World seems most like Middle-earth during our Fall and Winter months. I know that when I look out and see beech trees in winter with their orange leaves still hanging tenuously onto their branches, I am often reminded of Lothlorien, where only Galadriel's magic keeps change at bay and the trees in leaf. I have often wondered if Tolkien had this characteristic of beech leaves in mind when he described mallorn trees--assuming that such beech trees existed in his England. He was not only a gardener but he raised chickens also, at least during the war.

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

More seriously, I think MatthewM raised a different point than the time of year when best to read LotR. I think he meant that our Primary World seems most like Middle-earth during our Fall and Winter months.

Thank you Beth, at least you read all of my posts! I'm not saying that Autumn-Winter is the best time to read LotR (although it may be). I am saying that when these seasons come around I am closer to Middle-earth in a sense I can't fully describe. For some sort of conclusion I pointed out aspects of The Lord of the Rings that contribute to this feeling in one of my earlier posts.

Rune and Evisse, I read the books (and always have desire to read them) in all the seasons as well, I disagree with the feeling being caused by the time you read the book, because everyone probably reads it at a different time.