RÓMENNA MEETING REPORT
March 24, 1985
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Present: | Randolph Fritz
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| Per Hollander
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| Richard Nelson
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| Joanne Oliva-Purdy
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| David Purdy
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| Margaret Purdy
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| Michael Rubin
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| Wendell Wagner
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We began one of the largest Rómenna meetings in some time (with one person
all the way from Maryland and another who just heard about us the Thursday
before the meeting!) with a comment to the effect that Frodo wakes up at the
beginning of Book Two of
The Fellowship of the Ring saying, more or less,
"Where am I?"--whereupon Gandalf gives him a recap of the past three chapters
or so. We wondered whether Tolkien intended a break between volumes at this
point. It was noted that the six "Books" were in fact the divisions Tolkien
intended (each originally had its own title, for instance); he would presumably
have liked either for the entire
Lord of the Rings to be published in one
volume (as it has been since), or as six, but neither proved feasible for his
publishers at the time. We also noted that Frodo has the typical hobbit predilection
for asking questions (that Gandalf comments upon much later, talking
about Pippin).
The two "Rivendell" chapters are full of double-takes: "You mean you're
really. . .?" "So
that's what happened to . . . !" "Say
what?!" An example
is Frodo's sudden realization of just how old Elrond is (he dates back to
the First Age). This led to a discussion of the relative agespans of Elrond,
Glorfindel, Arwen and Aragorn (she's his senior by at least a couple of
millennia--talk about robbing the cradle!), as well as the diminishing lifespans
of the Dúnedain. Hobbits, we noted, in general live longer than Men.
Clean living, perhaps? Although they do smoke--which led to a note on the
presence of such anomalies as tobacco and potatoes in what seems to be more or
less the Old World. The term "anatopism" was coined for this phenomenon. Or
perhaps the plants came originally from Númenor?
Gandalf notices a hint of "transparency" about Frodo, and speculates that
"he may become like a glass filled with a clear light." The imagery brings to
mind the phial of Galadriel that will be given to Frodo later. Light can sometimes
be equated with the spirit; we noted that in Tolkien's works the Holy
Spirit is called the "Secret Fire" or the "Flame Imperishable". We further
noted that throughout
The Lord of the Rings, light usually symbolizes good;
whereas fire is ambiguous. Melkor was associated with fire, and the Balrogs
are fire-spirits, but Arien, the Maia of the Sun, was also a fire-spirit (an
"unfallen Balrog"), and Gandalf wields the "Flame of Anor" and carries the Ring
of Fire.
Frodo finally gets up, to the great delight of his friends. He gets a
thumbnail description of Rivendell from Sam, who mentions (a bit surprisingly
perhaps) elves "as merry as children." Somebody commented, "Well, you can't
always go around being high and stuffy!" Pippin puts his foot in his mouth
calling Frodo "Lord of the Ring" and is promptly squelched by Gandalf, who
presumably knows the power of names ("Evil things do not come into this valley,
but all the same we should not name them").
We passed on to the feast and the descriptions given of Elrond, Arwen,
Gandalf and Glorfindel. Gandalf is described as kind of an "earthy Merlin
type" here. We noted that he isn't a "little" old man; though not as tall as
the others, he is broad-shouldered and rather majestic. We also commented on
the fire imagery in his description, and the corresponding sky imagery in
Elrond's, appropriate for the keepers of Narya and Vilya respectively.
At the feast, Frodo meets an important dwarf; as someone remarked, "You
know he's important because Frodo stops eating to look at him." We looked in
the back of the book to refresh our memories on Glóin and Gimli's genealogy,
then got sidetracked on the question of how to pronounce "Beorn." Per said
that it was essentially the same word as the Scandinavian name "Bjorn" (which
means "bear") and would be pronounced the same way. Glóin also reports that
Bombur is now spherical.
We now proceeded from the feast to the Hall of Fire, with a passing nod,
in view of the previous discussion of fire symbolism, to the eternal flame
that burns there. Interestingly enough, though we just came in from a feast,
the only specific food mentioned is the bread that was set out for Bilbo, who
didn't even come to the feast. We noted that Bilbo is rather like an Oxford
don in his decline, pottering about writing histories and poetry. Rivendell
certainly makes a terrific retirement home. . . People come there for R & R
as well as information.
Frodo and Bilbo have a joyous reunion, marred only by the momentary
appearance of the Ring. There was a bit of discussion on what the Ring actually
made Frodo see Bilbo as. Gollum was mentioned; or it might be that Frodo
saw what Bilbo might have become had he kept the Ring; or what Frodo saw might
simply be Bilbo viewed with a completely unsympathetic eye.
Aragorn comes over to help Bilbo with his poem, and Frodo finds that
"Strider" has a lot of names (oh, you noticed that!), which we proceeded to
list, all the way from Estel to Elessar Telcontar and Envinyatar the Renewer.
Elladan and Elrohir are mentioned here (Aragorn has just been meeting with them
after their unexpected return, which is why he wasn't at the feast), though
they don't appear till later (where they are described as "clones"--well, they
are identical twins). We speculated that they might have been messengers from
Galadriel in Lórien. Bilbo and Aragorn go off in a corner together and Frodo
is left to listen to the music. We wondered if fire here might not be a symbol
of creativity, and someone suggested a fire at a Bardic Circle as a nice thing
to have at a con. (Well, if you had it outdoors. . . or possibly in a room
with a fireplace?) Elvish music seems to send mortals to sleep--or rather,
into a kind of waking dream--which, for Frodo, eventually segues into Bilbo's
poem of Eärendil.
The poem itself was discussed: we noted its relationship to the poem
"Errantry" in
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, its internal rhyme, its alliteration,
and the differences between its version of the tale of Eärendil and
the one that appears in
The Silmarillion (for instance, the poem has Eärendil
being met and welcomed by the elves of Tol Eressëa or Eldamar, whereas the
prose version has him coming alone to the empty city of Tirion and wandering
through the deserted streets until he is hailed by Eönwë). We also discussed
why Aragorn considered it "cheeky" of Bilbo to be making verses about Eärendil
in the house of Elrond (Elrond is Eärendil's son), and the significance of the
"green stone" that Aragorn insisted Bilbo include (see the section on the Elessar in the Galadriel and Celeborn chapter of the
Unfinished Tales).
From there we passed on to "The Council of Elrond." As the Council begins,
Boromir walks in and we get another description. We noticed both that he
has long hair and that he is not wearing armor, two facts that many artists
seem to pass over (like Elrond and Arwen being dark-haired). He wears his horn
on a baldric, and we paused for a moment to explain what a baldric was (diagonal
shoulder strap). Boromir is the "unknown" at the council, who holds a
little apart from everybody else. He is the only one without any relations in
the circle, the one who doesn't know anyone. There is a large mix of people
present: elves of all realms save Lórien, dwarves, hobbits, Rangers, and the
men of Gondor represented by Boromir.
Elrond begins with the tale of the Last Alliance. It was mentioned that
his experience in a certain way paralleled Tolkien's own in World War I: the
"Great War" that was supposed to put an end to evil forever, and did not succeed.
Not, we clarified, that any specific topical reference was intended by
Tolkien, but that his own experience formed a basis for his being able to write
with conviction about a similar situation.
Boromir comes to the fore at this point with a "vaunt" on the subject of
Gondor; we noticed that he has a kind of "Gondor über alles" attitude. He
then explains his coming and quotes "our favorite nursery rhyme," as it was
tagged, which came to his brother and himself in a dream. We noted that the
call came to Faramir first and most often, and speculated that it was Faramir
who was really supposed to come, but Boromir put himself forward instead (as
Faramir later mentions). In response, Aragorn reveals the Sword that was
Broken and has his lineage confirmed by Elrond. An argument ensued as to
whether Aragorn was being pompous or not; a lot hinges on the tone of his "I
forgive your doubt."
Bilbo's tale comes next. Elrond seems a bit sarcastic in introducing it,
warning the old hobbit that it will have to be told before he gets anything to
eat, and going on to say "if you haven't yet cast it into verse. . ." We
wondered if this was a subtle "dig" about the Eärendil poem the previous night.
Gandalf then speaks on the subject of the Rings of Power. We noticed how noncommittally
he says "The Three we know of," when two of said Three are actually
in the room at the time! (They're invisible.) He quotes Isildur's scroll; we
noted Isildur's use of the word "precious" to describe the Ring, and also that
Sauron's hand was "black and yet burned like fire"--more fire imagery. Sauron
is a fallen Maia, a sorcerer and of great temporal power. Gandalf concludes
his history and clinches the proof that the halfling's ring is indeed the One
by quoting the Ring-inscription in Black Speech, which shocks everyone. David
tried it and was roundly shushed.
The escape of Gollum is reported, and then comes Gandalf's tale of his
capture by Saruman (of which he says that some account must be given of why he
missed his appointment with Frodo, something which has never happened before).
Saruman, we decided, talks like a politician--so skillful a politician, in
fact, that it never becomes quite clear exactly what he wants. His attitude
seems to be the "end justifies the means" doctrine so common in modern statecraft,
where the Ultimate Goal, be it democracy, communism, capitalism, or
whatever, is held to be of such importance that the means used to arrive at it
are immaterial. He is no longer white, but "all colors." We also learn a bit
about Radagast: absolutely honest, easily fooled, and hangs around with animals
a lot. He is the "environmentalist wizard." Boromir sticks up for the
Rohirrim in the face of the rumors reported by Gandalf; Gandalf relates his
coming to Bree and his meeting with Butterbur. His mentioning that he was so
happy at the innkeeper's news that he "embraced the old fellow" elicited the
comment, "I never thought of Gandalf as cuddly." This sparked a digression on
whether or not wizards can reproduce (of course they can--look at Melian!).
Gandalf finishes his tale, and discussion ensues. Bombadil is written in
at this point and several other names for him are given (he has almost as
impressive a list as Aragorn). We speculated that "Ben-adar" might be a multilingual
pun: it means "fatherless" in Sindarin and may mean the same in Hebrew
("Ben" is certainly "Father"), but with the meanings of the two elements
reversed, since "adar" is the "father" part in Sindarin. Tolkien does use
multilingual puns elsewhere (e.g. "Orthanc"), so it's quite likely the double
meaning is intentional. Tolkien did know Hebrew since he worked on translating
the Jerusalem Bible.
The discussion finally comes down to the vital question, "What shall we
do with the Ring?" Elrond and Gandalf provide the same answer that Elrond
suggested to Isildur all the way back at the end of the Second Age--destroy
it. (That's "I told you so" with a vengeance!) We've seen this coming, of
course; the method at least was mentioned all the way back in Chapter Two. At
last Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to the fire, and the Council and chapter
both come to an end. We ended our discussion as well, after deciding on
time and place for the next meeting, and that we would read and discuss the
next three chapters, which will bring us through Moria.
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Next: April 27, 1985
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