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Ataahua
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Oct 22 2007, 4:48am
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LOTR chapter discussion: A Long-Expected Party # 1: Opening words
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Welcome to the start of the discussion for A Long-Expected Party! (I admit that if the novels I had to study in high school were as interesting or as much fun as LOTR, I'd have got higher marks in the exams!)
When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
The first three paragraphs hold so much information, both explicit (Bilbo had been on a journey some years ago and was rumoured to have tunnels full of treasure at his home) and subtle (the shadow of dark influences through this slightly chilling phrase, "At 99 they called him 'well preserved'; but 'unchanged' would have been nearer the mark.")
1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
2. What does the reader gather about Hobbits from the first three paragraphs, and why does Tolkien think this is important?
3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
4. What terrible opening lines can you remember that should go down in infamy?
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Kdgard
Nevrast
Oct 22 2007, 6:57am
Post #2 of 34
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Hi Ataahua! I'm looking forward to this week's discussion! So, let's see:
1) "What does Tolkien want us to glean...?" I think the thing Tolkien wants to impress most on those who haven't read The Hobbit, and remind those of us who have, is the fact that there is something not quite normal about Mr. Bilbo Baggins. As far as the tone of the book to come, the opening paragraphs are actually a bit misleading. If you had never read LOTR and had only The Hobbit to go by, the opening words seem to foretell that the book will be along the same light-hearted vein as The Hobbit. The line, "It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it!", hints at the possible plot to come, but doesn't hint at how serious and sometimes dark the story will become in later chapters.
2)"What does the reader gather about Hobbits...?" Well, I think the first thing the reader gathers is that Hobbits have a different life-span than we do. They come of age at 33 instead of the 18th year like we do (or are suppose to anyway). Bilbo's age is mentioned at 90, 99 and 111 and the Hobbits don't seem to find his LENGTH of years to be strange, but rather it's the fact that he still maintains the appearance of a youthful 50 that everyone finds so vexing.
We also see that there is some kind of class distinction among Hobbits. While Bilbo is rich, we also discover that there are "hobbits of poor and unimportant families". This means there must be some that are considered to be "important families". Are the important families important because they are rich or because they have done something to warrant that kind of distinction? The opening paragraphs do not provide an answer.
Also, it seems that Hobbits are as star-struck by wealth and celebrity as we are. "...as Mr. Baggins was generous with his money, most people were willing to forgive him his oddities and his good fortune."
Basically, Tolkien presents Hobbits in general as, for lack of better words, "normal" and "ordinary". I think that is important to the story because it makes the later deeds of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippen that much more remarkable.
3)"What great opening lines from books have stayed with you...?" "Call me Ishmael." (Moby Dick) and "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." (The Hobbit) "How does this opening paragraph compare...?" The opening for LOTR is good, but it doesn't have the simplicity of the two others I quoted. Maybe a short opening line has more punch because it is easier to remember.
4)"What terrible opening lines...?" Sorry. I can't think of any. I can think of entire books that I wish I had not wasted a portion of my life reading, but I can't think of any opening lines that were real stinkers.
Kdgard
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Curious
Gondolin
Oct 22 2007, 10:30am
Post #3 of 34
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1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
2. What does the reader gather about Hobbits from the first three paragraphs, and why does Tolkien think this is important?
Remember that this is supposed to be a sequel to The Hobbit. The chapter title "A Long Expected Party") plays off our expectations, setting up a comparison and contrast with the opening chapter of The Hobbit (An Unexpected Party"). The opening lines similarly play off of the expectations of those who had read The Hobbit.
In some ways the opening sounds like The Hobbit, with funny names ("Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End"), cute phrases ("eleventy-first birthday"), and pleasant activities ("a party of special magnificence"). But the contrast between Bilbo Baggins the peculiar adventurer and the respectable, boring Bilbo Baggins we met in the opening lines of The Hobbit could not be greater.
Furthermore Tolkien almost immediately strikes an ominous note, and sets up a mystery. Why, in the six decades since his adventure, hadn't Bilbo aged? Will trouble come of it? We suspect the answer is yes, or else why would the author pose the question? Thus in three paragraphs Tolkien immediately sets up the plot of the book.
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Penthe
Mithlond
Oct 22 2007, 10:31am
Post #4 of 34
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It is a truth universally acknowledged
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That geeky fans like bringing together their geeky fandoms. But looking at the first sentence in isolation really reminded me of Pride and Prejudice. Except Bilbo is a bachelor, he's old and unmarried despite his fortune, and he's going to try to get away from his neighbourhood instead of moving into one. It's the arch and knowing tone of the narrator, I guess.
1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
I think we, the reader, are supposed to glean quite a lot of things about Bilbo, the Shire and the world we are entering. Of course, most of these turn out to be completely wrong by the end of the story. Hobbits are not jokes, they are not only concerned with the lighter things and the world is out there waiting. Unlike Mr Bingley, who really is in need of a nice wife, although not as much as Mr Darcy. And if Bilbo had been married he never would have found the ring, so what does that tell us?
3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
Hmm, I'll give you three guesses. I'm not very good at remembering first lines, actually. Many books with great first lines (e.g. Anna Karenina, The Go-Between, A Tale of Two Cities, Moby Dick) are books that I've never managed to finish. I can't remember the opening line from FEED, but I do remember thinking, well now, this is a bit different and interesting.
Come and visit me at lifeorbooks.blogspot.com
Sometimes it's about books, and sometimes it isn't.
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drogo
Menegroth
Oct 22 2007, 11:13am
Post #5 of 34
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1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
2. What does the reader gather about Hobbits from the first three paragraphs, and why does Tolkien think this is important?
The first few paragraphs establish the hobbit world, both how they are unlike humans and how they are, in many ways, like figures from a comedy of manners a la Jane Austen. It's hard to convey the Englishness of these otherworldly beings--especially for those not immediately familiar with The Hobbit--so Tolkien has to bridge the universes between that world and the more epic world to come. Here, we still are in a Hobbit-like universe, but things will change.
3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
The Hobbit's "hole in the ground" is a good one. And since I referenced Jane Austen already, I'll throw out some of the openings to her novels (Pride and Prejudice with its "truth universally acknowledged" for example). This opening evokes that same sense of a known world which is familiar (despite the well-preserved 99 year-old hobbits!).
4. What terrible opening lines can you remember that should go down in infamy?
There are too many! 
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Ataahua
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Oct 22 2007, 6:27pm
Post #6 of 34
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"And if Bilbo had been married
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he never would have found the ring, so what does that tell us?"
That married heroes rarely make for good reading?
One of the few only books I can remember reading that had its main protagonists married, or part of a family, was Orson Scott Card's Homecoming quadrilogy - and the story was as much about the family dynamic as the situation they found themselves in. Some books have their heroes become married during the series, but they often drop out of being the centre of the stories (F'lar and Lessa in the Pern books) or they are pulled apart again by circumstance (Kahlen and Richard in the Sword of Truth series).
I wonder if writers have their heroes single more often than not because that is an inherent part of the fantasy structure, or because it's more difficult to make married heroes interesting?
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
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weaver
Gondolin
Oct 22 2007, 6:45pm
Post #7 of 34
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Didn't Tolkien consider marrying off Bilbo?
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I loaned out my copy of HOME, so I can't check this out, but I thought that Tolkien did experiment with having Bilbo marry to get him out of the story, and open the way for "Bingo" (I think that was the first name for Frodo?) to come into his own. I don't recall if Bingo/Frodo was supposed to be a son, or a nephew, in these early attempts.
Other HOME-owners out there might be able to clarify this.
Bilbo, of course, would be marrying "after" his adventures, which is a suitable thing for heroes to do, so that would not be totally out of the question. Would he have been a less interesting character in LOTR if we found him living in Rivendell with a wife? Since he's not the main character, it may not have mattered as much. On the other hand, it could make him more "settled" and less tied to the Ring. I guess it was better not to trade the Ring for a ring, if you follow me...
Weaver
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Oct 22 2007, 6:52pm
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Yes, as recently noted by dernwyn.
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See her comments on The Return of the Shadow.
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We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
Join us Oct. 22-28 for "A Long-expected Party".
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weaver
Gondolin
Oct 22 2007, 7:16pm
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Haven't made it all the way through that interesting thread!
Thanks for linking it here, too, for others who may have missed it as well...
Weaver
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Ltlberr
Lindon
Oct 22 2007, 7:52pm
Post #10 of 34
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3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
I'm not too savy with this fancy new board, but this seemed like the perfect thread in which to immerse myself, so.....
One that I found particularly captivating is the opening paragraphs of Clive Barker's The Theif of Always:
"The great grey beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive. Here he was, buried in the belly of that smothering month, wondering if he would ever find his way out through the cold coils that lay between here and Easter."
Also, I've always loved the opening monologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:
"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."
And Twelvth Night:
"If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more: 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before. O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou, That, notwithstanding thy capacity Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, Of what validity and pitch soe'er, But falls into abatement and low price, Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy That it alone is high fantastical."
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FarFromHome
Doriath
Oct 22 2007, 9:05pm
Post #11 of 34
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were recited to me by the friend who first told me about LotR. We'd never heard the name Bilbo Baggins (we'd never read The Hobbit), and 'eleventy-first' really got our attention too. The opening words seemed to promise something rich, strange and perhaps just a little odd! I've always liked that 'eleventy-first', one of Tolkien's many little oddities that seems on the surface to be no more than a whimsical device but it actually a remnant of the ancient form of our language.
Here's an opening line reminds me a bit of the opening line of LotR:
“It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
It uses a similar odd idea to tell us that we're in a world almost, but not quite, like our own. And it's the start of a book that is almost a contemporary of LotR, a fantasy of a dystopian future rather than an idealized past.
...and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew,
and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth;
and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore
glimmered and was lost.
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visualweasel
Nargothrond
Oct 22 2007, 9:06pm
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The greatest opening to a novel ever (YMMV)
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What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice — not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meaney. — A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
Note that I'm not a Christian myself (no, not even because of Owen Meaney, hahae); but this opening just floors me, speaking as a writer. And here's another great opening:
One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous vermonious bug. — The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
By comparison to these, Tolkien's opening is rather boring, isn't it? But it's largely expository in nature, so I dont think it's indended to knock our socks off.
Jason Fisher
Lingwë - Musings of a Fish
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Oct 22 2007, 10:20pm
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I haven't seen in a while. It's great to see you joining in Ltlberr!
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
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a.s.
Doriath
Oct 22 2007, 10:33pm
Post #14 of 34
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"It was a dark and stormy night."
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Opening sentence of "A Wrinkle in Time".
1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
Well, he wants us to realize this is a story that started with Bilbo (or, this PART of the larger story started with Bilbo); he wants us to notice that for a hobbit, Bilbo is quite strange; that his remarkable long life has been noted and discussed...and we get our first hint that this is trouble. It will have to be paid for, somehow.
The first two paragraphs are quite light in tone, rather humorously depicting the old hobbit who is now a legend; the last paragraph, though, brings us to an abruptly short stop.
2. What does the reader gather about Hobbits from the first three paragraphs, and why does Tolkien think this is important?
Travel to foreign parts is unusual; they gossip; they don't like things out of the ordinary and feel instinctively that not only is something wrong about Bilbo's extended vigor, but something bad is going to come of it. So, they are smarter than they appear on the surface, for one thing!
3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years? How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
I don't tend to remember opening lines, much. I know two from Dickens (three, if you count the well-known beginning to Tale of Two Cities), who is great with opening lines: "Marley was dead, to begin with" from Christmas Carol, and "'Now, what I want is, Facts'", from Hard Times.
The one above from A Wrinkle in Time sticks with me because even as a youngster I recognized it as tongue-in-cheek, a little "in-joke".
And then there's this one from a few years ago, which stuck with me as a middle-aged woman--not that I agreed with it personally, but it did cause me to pause a moment in some kind of recognition I don't care to examine closely all the time:
Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. —Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups
a.s.
"an seileachan"
"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."
~~~Reinhold Niebuhr
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SilentLion
Ossiriand
Oct 23 2007, 2:25am
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The phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" is older
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Wikipedia says it was first used by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in the 1830 novel Paul Clifford. I think A Wrinkle in Time used it tongue-in-cheek, and then Snoopy wasn't far behind in using it as the opening line for all his writing in Peanuts.
I agree completely that the point of the first few paragraphs is to tie the story back to Bilbo. After all, most of the intended audience is being drawn in by The Hobbit, so Tolkien wants to start off with a similar light tone. Then, towards the end of that section, he puts in just a hint of the darker tone that will predominate in this book.
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a.s.
Doriath
Oct 23 2007, 3:21am
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Not sure if you are pointing out to me that Wrinkle's first line is tongue-in-cheek, or just agreeing with me! LOL
I like how LeGuin assumed her young readers were sophisticated enough to recognize the line was a little playful, on her part. I mean, it was literally a dark and stormy night...but it was also a little word-play!
Wrinkle was published in 1962, and a quick perusal of snoopy.com reveals that Snoopy's first line as an author was on July 12, 1965:
But I didn't read Wrinkle until around the same time. I was about ten or eleven, probably. So I believe I noticed on subsequent readings that the first line was the same as the one Snoopy always used, and eventually I caught on that it was a parody of something.
Look, Snoopy is using my portable typewriter!!
a.s.
"an seileachan"
"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."
~~~Reinhold Niebuhr
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Penthe
Mithlond
Oct 23 2007, 5:40am
Post #17 of 34
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Snoopy has given me alot of cultural currency over the years.
The Age newspaper used to have a 'It was a dark and stormy night' competition, in which you had to make up a fifty word story using that opening. Hilarity ensued.
Mrs Whatsit certainly took cliche to an extreme. Luckily for us Bilbo and Frodo don't.
Come and visit me at lifeorbooks.blogspot.com
Sometimes it's about books, and sometimes it isn't.
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elostirion74
Nargothrond
Oct 23 2007, 12:37pm
Post #18 of 34
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Jumping straight into the story
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What I like about this opening is how it jumps straight into the story with hardly any introduction and how we are quickly given quite a lot of information about an important (seemingly) character while simultaneously describing his immediate environment. I think I hardly paid attention to the opening during my first reads, but
now I find it so enjoyable that I would gladly read an entire book in much of the same vein. The poet W.H. Auden once claimed light comedy was not Mr Tolkien's forte, but I couldn't agree less. The gossiping of the hobbits, their proverbial and common sense outlook on the world, makes for an enganging and fun read and a very effective way of giving you quite a lot of clues about the backstory, the hobbits and what is to come.
As to opening sentences I'm afraid I never remember those. Apart from those of the Hobbit and the Silmarillion, I only remember the one from L'etranger (Camus), probably because it's so brief and simple. In English it ought to read: "My mother died today".
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Darkstone
Elvenhome
Oct 23 2007, 2:30pm
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"Your first line sells the book. Your last line sells the next book."
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At least that's what Mickey Spillane says, and he should know.
1. What does Tolkien want the reader to glean from the opening three paragraphs? What is he conveying about the tone of the book to come and its possible plot?
Lessee.. .
Opening lines should pull you into a story that’s already in motion.
Check.
They should give you an insight into the character(s) personality.
Check.
They should set the tone and establish place.
Check.
They should define an arc that the story will complete.
Check.
They should ask a question and then delay answering it.
Check. (Several questions in fact.)
In the end they should be a promise between the author and the reader.
Check.
2. What does the reader gather about Hobbits from the first three paragraphs, and why does Tolkien think this is important?
See above. Tolkien is just following writing 101.
3. What great opening lines from books have stayed with you over the years?
"Lot ninety-seven," the auctioneer announced. "A boy."
Call me Ismael.
If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks had just struck 13.
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
Once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
Is there no greater pleasure than to study and, in time, to practice what is studied?
This book is not to be doubted.
(And best of all):
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
How does this opening paragraph compare with them?
Quite well
4. What terrible opening lines can you remember that should go down in infamy?
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
For a corpse, she was surprisingly posable.
At least this time I didn't have a lobster clamped to my testicles.
******************************************
The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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weaver
Gondolin
Oct 23 2007, 2:30pm
Post #20 of 34
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Also an opening chapter line...
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Dumas used it to open one of the chapters either the first or second of his Musketeers books...I can't recall which one, but it was interesting to come across Snoopy's opening line in a totally different context.
Weaver
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Oct 23 2007, 4:53pm
Post #21 of 34
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It was the best of lines, it was
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I think The Hobbit has a better opening line; this one is underwhelming, but sufficient.
When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
It's interesting how the sentence expands from Bilbo, to Bag End, to Hobbiton. And then the Shire turns up for the first time in the next paragraph, for readers who have skipped the Prologue: there was no "Shire" in The Hobbit.
Also, the sentence reintroduces Bilbo almost immediately for Hobbit readers, but just as quickly distances him: I think that in the later chapters of the earlier work, the narrator refers to him almost exclusively as "Bilbo", but here he is "Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End". This leads into comments on how he is perceived by his community, but possibly also suggests that Bilbo will be leaving the reader, who will have to identify with someone else.
On the other hand, it could just be a little set-up for the next chapter, where Frodo is compared to Bilbo by being himself referred to as "the Mr. Baggins of Bag End".
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
Join us Oct. 22-28 for "A Long-expected Party".
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Oct 23 2007, 6:14pm
Post #22 of 34
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And that last opening line is from which book??
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Oct 23 2007, 6:16pm
Post #23 of 34
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about the structure of the first sentence and how it takes the reader from a single Hobbit to the wider settlement of Hobbiton. I hadn't spotted that before.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Curious
Gondolin
Oct 23 2007, 6:32pm
Post #24 of 34
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Happens all the time in the military.
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Although they call it 1300 hours.
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Darkstone
Elvenhome
Oct 23 2007, 7:02pm
Post #25 of 34
(2887 views)
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Cast Adrift, by Peter Guttridge /
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The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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