Re-reading the Lord of the Rings, Chapter 3
The third chapter is probably the most sorely missed chapter in the film by fans of the book. It does nothing to advance the action, but it does alot for Tolkien.
Its overall function is to provide a stepping stone from peace to peril by foreshadowing all that is to come on a smaller scale within the bounds of the Shire, both geographical and habitual. Frodo prepares to sneak away by moving to Buckland, hoping to avoid attention, but not quite succeeding. He does so right after the autumn equinox, drenched in melancholy, leaving the empty Bag End to the Sackville-Bagginses, taking a route through the clearing forests.
The Ringwraiths are already in the Shire. Actually, one of them almost knocks on Frodo's door in Bag End, only turning around because Sam's father erroneously thinks the party already left, while its just about to. But they learn the destination of the journey and even before having started it, Frodo is already being hunted.
Jackson's only interest in all this is a Ringwraith crawling, Tolkien on the other hand wants to make the point that the doors have opened to a new time, a time of sorrow and grief, and Frodo has waited for its arrival to make his first step into it, he's not saving any momentum from a happier hour, he's sinking into this new reality, tasting it, learning his way around it.
And the danger is there, instantaneously, not a bit smaller than ever. But it makes you think. The Shire, after all, is also still there. Frodo could have gone to any friend and let him say that he's not with him. He doesn't try that either. The times are changing. Neither did he go, when it was still easy, nor does he try to rely on accumulated stocks to drag it out some more.
He would have been caught, but the Elves safe him. But they are there for the same reason, because it is the hour, the night after the autumn equinox, time to say good-bye to the woods, singing songs to Orion. Frodo has succesfully made his first step into a wider web and has done so by being perceptive, recognising the constants of life, finding like-minded support.
That, by the way, Tolkien lays on a bit thick, having the Elves taunt Frodo as dull, as might happen in any real-life attempt to join a socially established club.
But this is what Tolkien tries to accomplish here, to have the need and the relief rising synchronously, allowing nature to steer the course, not trying to outwit it nor fleeing from it. And that is very much necessary in any free society, any outwitting has to be paid for by others and any fleeing hampers its self-healing. Only from this perspective Frodo's instinct makes sense.
Its overall function is to provide a stepping stone from peace to peril by foreshadowing all that is to come on a smaller scale within the bounds of the Shire, both geographical and habitual. Frodo prepares to sneak away by moving to Buckland, hoping to avoid attention, but not quite succeeding. He does so right after the autumn equinox, drenched in melancholy, leaving the empty Bag End to the Sackville-Bagginses, taking a route through the clearing forests.
The Ringwraiths are already in the Shire. Actually, one of them almost knocks on Frodo's door in Bag End, only turning around because Sam's father erroneously thinks the party already left, while its just about to. But they learn the destination of the journey and even before having started it, Frodo is already being hunted.
Jackson's only interest in all this is a Ringwraith crawling, Tolkien on the other hand wants to make the point that the doors have opened to a new time, a time of sorrow and grief, and Frodo has waited for its arrival to make his first step into it, he's not saving any momentum from a happier hour, he's sinking into this new reality, tasting it, learning his way around it.
And the danger is there, instantaneously, not a bit smaller than ever. But it makes you think. The Shire, after all, is also still there. Frodo could have gone to any friend and let him say that he's not with him. He doesn't try that either. The times are changing. Neither did he go, when it was still easy, nor does he try to rely on accumulated stocks to drag it out some more.
He would have been caught, but the Elves safe him. But they are there for the same reason, because it is the hour, the night after the autumn equinox, time to say good-bye to the woods, singing songs to Orion. Frodo has succesfully made his first step into a wider web and has done so by being perceptive, recognising the constants of life, finding like-minded support.
That, by the way, Tolkien lays on a bit thick, having the Elves taunt Frodo as dull, as might happen in any real-life attempt to join a socially established club.
But this is what Tolkien tries to accomplish here, to have the need and the relief rising synchronously, allowing nature to steer the course, not trying to outwit it nor fleeing from it. And that is very much necessary in any free society, any outwitting has to be paid for by others and any fleeing hampers its self-healing. Only from this perspective Frodo's instinct makes sense.
Eingetragen Am/um
11:11
