Rivendell is the one major journey location that LotR shares with The
Hobbit,. In both stories it serves as a place where the travelers can
rest in safety before moving on to the more dangerous portion of their
journeys.
Tolkien wrote that Rivendell “represents Lore – the preservation in reverent
memory of all tradition concerning the good, wise, and beautiful. It is
not a scene of action but of reflection. Thus it is a place
visited on the way to all deeds, or ‘adventures’. It may prove to be on
the direct road (as in The Hobbit); but it may be necessary to go from
there in a totally unexpected course.” ---Letter 131. So perhaps it is
appropriate that in Rivendell several of the threads of that earlier story are
reintroduced and updated.
Next to Frodo on his right sat a dwarf of important appearance, richly
dressed. His beard, very long and forked, was white, nearly as white as
the snow-white cloth of his garments. He wore a silver belt, and round
his neck hung a chain of silver and diamonds. Frodo stopped eating to
look at him.
'Welcome and well met!' said the dwarf, turning toward him. Then
he actually rose from his seat and bowed. 'Gloin at your service,' he
said, and bowed still lower.
'Frodo Baggins at your service and your family's,' said Frodo correctly,
rising in surprise and scattering his cushions. 'Am I right in guessing
that you are the Gloin, one of the Twelve Companions of Thorin Oakenshield?'
'Quite right,' answered the dwarf, gathering up the cushions and
courteously assisting Frodo back into his seat.
From Gloin we learn the fate of most of the major participants in The
Hobbit: Beorn's son, Grimbeorn, controls much of the land between the
Mountains and Mirkwood; the grandson of Bard the Bowman is king of
Dale and lands far south and east; Dain is still King under the
Mountain and most of the Dwarves we met in The Hobbit still live at the Lonely
Mountain, although poor Bombur is now too fat to move. The Dwarves are
doing very well and have built wonderful things both on and in the mountain and
in Dale itself. But there is a hint of shadow in Gloin's
news. Balin, Ori and Oin have gone missing in some mysterious
fashion and, even though the dwarves have achieved much, they cannot
match the metal-work done before the coming of the dragon.
At the last Gloin and Frodo speak of Bilbo:
'I will come and see them, if ever I can,' said Frodo. 'How surprised
Bilbo would have been to see all the changes in the Desolation of Smaug!'
Gloin looked at Frodo and smiled. 'You were very fond of Bilbo
were you not?' he asked.
'Yes,' answered Frodo. 'I would rather see him than all the towers and palaces
in the world.'
Of course, Frodo will shortly get his wish and the fate of the last member of
Thorin's company will be revealed.
1) Rivendell serves a similar purpose in both The Hobbit and LotR.
Do you see any parallels between Frodo’s and Bilbo’s journeys to
Rivendell?
2) Did you think it strange that Frodo (a convalescent considered a few hours
before this almost too delicate to hear what had happened to him at the Ford)
was left to fend for himself in an unfamiliar social situation?
3) The “fading” of the Elves from Middle-earth is emphasized in LOTR. The
fate of the Dwarves is not discussed as much. Are we seeing a hint here
that the Dwarves are also
fading?
******************************************
Books, good books, are ambivalent, pulling you away from your life, pushing you into it, often at one and the same time. ----Diary of a Left-handed Birdwatcher --Leonard Nathan
