The Road Goes Ever Ever On

A few minutes ago, I finished reading a book I first read in school, very close to 13 years ago. Since then I had read it at least once or twice, but I have enjoyed it every time. That book is THE HOBBIT, by the brilliant J. R. R. Tolkien. For probably close to a year now I have been wanting to re-read both that and THE LORD OF THE RINGS, namely because I had not read them since becoming a medievalist, only before then, and my wife pointed out when she was reading them this past year (the first time since becoming a medievalist, herself) that there was a lot more to be gleaned from the story.

The first thing that struck me upon picking up THE HOBBIT again was the style of prose. I had forgotten how much it really is written for a younger reader. The language, while still beautiful and well composed, is simpler. The chapters, at least until near the end, are also very episodic with the author several times directly engaging with the reader concerning the adventures of Bilbo, Thorin, et al. One nice effect of this is it really frames the story as an epic, with strange situations and people that they must engage with in each episode.

More specifically medieval, I noticed this time two points where the book matched something I knew from Narnia. One is seen early on when the company is climbing into the Misty Mountains, just before they find the front doorstep of the goblins, and they see giants throwing stones down into the valley as a sort of game. This also appears in C. S. Lewis's THE SILVER CHAIR when Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum are travelling to the North and they see giants standing on either side of a valley throwing stones at each other (or what other targets they may see) for sport. After talking with some friends, I am going to look into Geoffrey of Monmouth to see if the trope appears there, but regardless it is almost certain they each got their inspiration from the same place (be it medieval or a chat at the pub).

The other is the effect of dragon-gold on those who are near it. This is seen in Thorin when he refuses gold to aid the Men of the Lake, and it is seen in the Master when he takes off with the gold due to the curse of dragon greed. Again, it shows up in Lewis, this time in VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, again with Eustace. On Dragon Island he sees a dragon die and then falls asleep on its hoard. When he awakes, he has become a dragon, which, as the author tells us, comes of sleeping on a dragon's hoard with thinking dragonish thoughts. Again, likely a medieval trope.

I definitely enjoyed reading it through again. I found myself remembering the pictures we had to draw for each chapter and how mine were far better at the start than by the end as I felt pressed for time. (I do wonder where they are; probably in a box somewhere, like so much of my life.) And with each title I could remember very well what happened in each chapter. Still, that was part of the fun, rediscovering a well told tale.

And now I embark upon the larger journey, THE LORD OF THE RINGS.