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Nerdanel
Ossiriand
Nov 20 2007, 11:59pm
Post #1 of 27
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Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked III
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It's bathtime! In earlier drafts the bath gets even more attention: the hobbits (Odo and Bingo) begin arguing (and singing) about whether they will get a bath, and who will go first if they do, before they encounter Merry (Marmaduke) on the west side of the Brandywine. Merry Marmaduke makes fun of them: 'What?' said Marmaduke. 'A bath? That would put you right out of training again. A bath! I am surprised at such a question.' Of course, he has the three tubs waiting for them, just as our Merry has for Frodo, Sam and Pippin. They bathe, they splash, they sing "competing songs," including this one:
Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
That washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is a noble thing!
O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain.
and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
but better than rain or rippling streams
is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is Beer, if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high
in a fountain white beneath the sky;
but never did fountain sound so sweet
as splashing Hot Water with my feet!
Pippin splashes so much water out of his bath and onto the stone floor that Frodo has to come into the kitchen to finish drying his hair and Merry makes Pippin mop up before he can eat his (second) supper.
Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
In my paperback edition it has been a full six pages since the last meal, so of course it is time for the hobbits to eat again. Frodo demonstrates his passion for mushrooms by rather rudely shooing Fatty away from the mushrooms given him by Mrs Maggot:'They're mine!' said Frodo. 'Given to me by Mrs Maggot, a queen among farmers' wives. Take your greedy hands away, and I'll serve them.'
OK, we get it. Hobbits love mushrooms. But doesn't JRRT know of any other food? The supper with the Maggots was mushrooms and bacon and "much other solid farmhouse fare." This meal is mushrooms "and many other things."
Why doesn't JRRT's splendid vocabulary and imagery extend to food?
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Curious
Gondolin
Nov 21 2007, 12:56am
Post #2 of 27
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
Yes, yes it does, and for many other reasons as well. The destriction of the One Ring is an excuse for a road trip through Middle-earth. Scenes like this are what LotR is really about. But of course we do see here that the hobbits still don't take the trip as seriously as they should, considering their narrow escapes from the Black Rider. If Strider were present there might be less frivolity, as in Bree.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
It is one of my favorites, to be sure.
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
Sure, why not? They're taking baths in the same room, after all. Maybe he has an extra towel, though. He could even have a bathrobe.
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
Merry is different from Pippin!
Why doesn't JRRT's splendid vocabulary and imagery extend to food?
Tolkien rarely describes fancy food. Even with the elves the food is simple but wonderful. Tolkien is English, not French.
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Entwife Wandlimb
Menegroth
Nov 21 2007, 1:15am
Post #3 of 27
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This is not the men's locker room.
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
I agree this pacing is unconventional. I was always rushing through this part as a kid. I wonder if this scene is intentionally childlike or if it was remind people of Tolkien's time of boarding school or something?
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
Ever since I saw the Peter Jackson trilogy, I read it to the tune of Billy Boyd's drinking song.
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
It does seem to be a different role for Sam. I guess it's warming us up for the reveal of Sam as the Cheif Conspirator.
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Beren IV
Mithlond
Nov 21 2007, 2:17am
Post #4 of 27
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The pacing of FotR follows the pattern of alternation between adventure and rest. Being chased through the Shire was our first adventure. This is our first rest. Next chapter, we will have another adventure, and following that, we will have a short rest at Tom's house, followed by another adventure on the Barrow Downs, then a rest at the Prancing Pony, etc.
Once a paleontologist, now a botanist, will be a paleobotanist
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Nov 21 2007, 3:30am
Post #5 of 27
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Tolkien didn't board at King Edward's. //
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Entwife Wandlimb
Menegroth
Nov 21 2007, 3:31am
Post #6 of 27
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The pacing of FotR follows the pattern of alternation between adventure and rest. Being chased through the Shire was our first adventure. Oh, I won't argue with you about that! I just think that when you first read this book, you are still in suspense during this chapter. It's hard to relax with the hobbits when you recall all too well the Black Riders that have been chasing them all day and night. After the first read, you know nothing is going to happen to you can just enjoy the moment, but during the first read, I think it feels more like a Psycho shower scene than "I'm Going to Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair." It's a little anti-climatic. A matter of opinion, to be sure.
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Finding Frodo
Dor-Lomin
Nov 21 2007, 3:49am
Post #7 of 27
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
Well, I know I sure need a break after that business with the Black Rider.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it? This is definitely my favorite LotR song. It is the first one I came up with a tune for. It's not a very good tune, but it's mine, and I hear a splashing water accompaniment in the background when I hum it.
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
Um...I don't think so. Surely he has another towel besides the one he's drying his hair with. This conversation reminds me of that one episode of Gilligan's Island when Ginger is in the shower and asks Gilligan to hand her a towel and the only towel around is a little hand towel, so Gilligan hands it to her with his eyes closed and acts all embarrassed and panicky when she says she's coming out and then she comes out and she's wearing....a big towel around her body and the little towel around her head. Anybody else see that one?
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
I never gave much thought to what everyone's opinion of Sam's "place" is here (as in "knowing your place" versus "mixing with your betters"). I imagine Sam staying kind of quiet -- not doing a whole lot of splashing and singing or lingering too long, but enjoying being part of the party. There's no question of Sam being made to wait for his bath or wait upon the others because, as Curious said, Merry isn't Pippin. But where did he get all three bathtubs? Did he have to borrow from the neighbors?
Where's Frodo?
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Entwife Wandlimb
Menegroth
Nov 21 2007, 4:26am
Post #8 of 27
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And I haven't been in the men's locker room
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... but I hear enough to have some idea of the culture. I'm pretty sure there's not a lot of singing going on in there these days. I was just wondering if this whole scene was borrowed from Tolkein's English culture or another part of his fantasy world.
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Beren IV
Mithlond
Nov 21 2007, 5:51am
Post #9 of 27
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What you describe is the same as for the next several breaks - the Hobbits are safe in the House of Tom Bombadil, of course, but we know that they're not staying there forever, and we know also that the there is danger ahead on the Barrow Downs, not to mention the Riders again. How many of you were reading through the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs the first time and wondering if, should the Hobbits make it through these perils, will they just find the Riders waiting for them when they reach the open road?
The structure structure of alternating rest and adventure serves to build the suspense, not let it wind down, I think. We all know that Sauron isn't going away just because it seems like the Hobbits will not escape this lowly barrow-wight!
Once a paleontologist, now a botanist, will be a paleobotanist
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Cactus Wren
Lindon
Nov 21 2007, 11:43am
Post #10 of 27
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath? Well, at this point in the story's development it's not quite "the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring", is it? Not yet, at least. It's still in large part an adventure across the Shire. And the pretense -- on both Frodo's part and the conspirators' -- is still that he's home now, and can settle down for a hot bath and a(nother) large supper and bed.
Also, the details of these small homely comforts of lights and baths and food and a door to shut against the darkness serve to point up just how much the hobbits are about to leave behind.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it? I've always loved this one, and have found myself murmuring or even reciting it aloud in a hot shower on a cold night.
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked? With a towel around his waist as well as the one he's rubbing his hair with, but probably nothing more than that. For some reason I like the image of cheerful bachelor nudity among the hobbits.
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey? Frodo's "Eldest first, or quickest first?" established that Pippin was going to be "last either way", but if he hadn't said that I think Sam would probably have matter-of-factly assumed last place. Also Sam's wide awake now, not still mostly asleep as he was that morning.
OK, we get it. Hobbits love mushrooms. But doesn't JRRT know of any other food? The supper with the Maggots was mushrooms and bacon and "much other solid farmhouse fare." This meal is mushrooms "and many other things."
Why doesn't JRRT's splendid vocabulary and imagery extend to food?
That's an interesting question. Tolkien's notorious Francophobia seems to have expressed itself in large part as a disdain for "fancy" French cooking. His own taste in food seems to have been simple and very English. But even his descriptions of Elves' food are limited: the bread and fruit Frodo and Pippin and Sam ate with Gildor's party don't get detailed description (again, there's a suggestion -- or at least that's how I interpret it -- that they're too good to be expressed in words); and a few chapters from now, at Rivendell, all we hear about the feast itself is that the food is "all that {Frodo's} hunger could desire".
And in other places, we're told that hobbits cook well, and Sam better than many, but except in "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" we don't get many details of what he cooks. It's an interesting omission on Tolkien's part.
(Am I the only person who still wants to scoop up Sean Bean's voice and lick it off a spoon like chocolate sauce?)
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SilentLion
Ossiriand
Nov 21 2007, 2:37pm
Post #11 of 27
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I think the bath furthers the story in several ways
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As you point out, it is a simple, homey and hobbitlike comfort, that serves as a bit of a break in the story. Part of the beauty of LOTR is that in-between moments of peril where the fate of the world is at stake, there are sprinkled many moments where the simple humanity of the characters comes through. In some ways, the hobbits (who can be silly and overly concerned with comfort or supper) are more human in a sense we can relate to than the actual humans that we encounter later.
It also reveals the level of planning that Merry (and Pippen and Sam) have put into their efforts to help their friend Frodo. It isn't a sentimental movie scene where one friend reveals he is going off into danger, and gee-whiz all of his friends make life-altering decisions on the spur of the moment to go off with him. Merry is mature enough to have thought this through, and he's planned out the details down to how many bathtubs they will need.
Finally, it reveals the level of familiarity that the characters share. I'm pretty sure that Frodo wouldn't be taking a bath in the same room with the Sackville-Bagginses or Ted Sandyman. The fact that they cheerfully and unhestitatingly accept the hospitality of this communal bath tells the reader in very few words that Merry, Pippen, and Frodo are really good friends who know each other well, and Sam has also known them all for quite a while as well.
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Curious
Gondolin
Nov 21 2007, 2:41pm
Post #12 of 27
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It also shows, though, that the hobbits don't realize
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just how much danger they are in.
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a.s.
Doriath
Nov 21 2007, 2:55pm
Post #13 of 27
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The JRRT Audio Collection version
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Ever since I saw the Peter Jackson trilogy, I read it to the tune of Billy Boyd's drinking song
I have the 4 CD set with JRR and Christopher's narration, etc, of various parts of LOTR and the Sil on it. The first CD has JRRT reciting this poem (not singing it, unfortunately!) in a very humorous way. I especially LOVE the way he chuckles at the end. It sounds like his natural chuckle, like he's amused with the song, the hobbit singing it, the hobbits enjoying it, AND with himself as the author of it, all wrapped up in one!
But I also find myself singing along to the tune of "better than rain or rippling brook is a mug of beer inside this Took!" from the movie. I'm not sure that version is ever going to leave me now...but it does make an enjoyable song out of this poem, so that's all right!
a.s.
"an seileachan"
Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past.
~~~Landrum Bolling
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Morwen
Nargothrond
Nov 21 2007, 6:28pm
Post #14 of 27
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Nekkid hobbits and second supper
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
Love of simple pleasures is part of what makes the Shire worth saving. We care about these characters in part because they appreciate a hot bath after a difficult day, like some of us.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
I love it. Simple and hobbity, anyone can learn it, and now the movie has given us a tune to sing it to.
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
I don't know why not. He was comfortable naked in front of Pippin and Sam in the bath so I don't think he'd have a problem baring it all in front of Merry and Fatty. We'll just hope he stayed a respectable distance from the food, for hygiene reasons, ant that the curtains were closed.
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
I think Merry knows Sam's had a hard day and is giving him a break. Merry may have had most of the supper already done, it was actually Merry who was riding the pony, and Pippin should certainly have to mop up his own mess.
Why doesn't JRRT's splendid vocabulary and imagery extend to food?
Maybe he likes leaving this to the reader's imagination. We can visualize the hobbits eating whatever tasty, homemade goodies we like best. I have no problem with the hobbits eating mushrooms twice in one day because tomorrow I am going to eat a large plate of turkey and dressing, and then sometime late in the evening I am going to go back into the kitchen and make a turkey sandwich. Special treats such as mushrooms need a second helping.
Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you; you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.
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Eowyn of Penns Woods
Doriath
Nov 21 2007, 8:05pm
Post #15 of 27
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Maybe it's his own private little joke?
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I'm thinking of the quote about the Ring Verse in Daniel Grotta's book:
The poem, incidentally, was composed while Tolkien was taking a bath. "I still recall kicking the sponge out of the bath when I got to the last line, and I knew it all and jumped out."
He probably had lots of company while taking baths...all in his head, of course. =)
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Entwife Wandlimb
Menegroth
Nov 22 2007, 6:03am
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Thanks for this tidbit (and yours, Eowyn PW)!
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How fun to think of Tolkien making up the song in the tub! And how fun that it still gave him a laugh. I will have to try the audio version some time, maybe for my kids. I started to try to read The Hobbit to them this week but found that even though I hear the voices with an English accent in my head, I can't read them that way. Very annoying to hear myself read it "wrong."
The funny thing about the Green Dragon song from the movie is that the tune works with a lot of the hobbit song lyrics. (Some poetry expert could explain why, I'm sure. Something to do with the pattern, I suppose.)
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Entwife Wandlimb
Menegroth
Nov 22 2007, 7:13am
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Verlyn Flieger on the Bath Song
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This discussion (and particulary Silent Lion's analysis) has got me thinking so much about The Bath Song and The Big Picture that I thought I'd see what Flieger had to say about it in Drout's Tolkien Encyclopedia. Here's her thoughts on that song and hobbit songs in general in LotR:
The homely quality of the earliest hobbit songs lends Book I much of its character and does a great deal to make it the least doom-laden part of the story. The songs exemplify what Tolkein liked best about his hobbts, their curiosity and eagerness for adventure coupled with their contrary yearning for home and hearth at the end of the day. "Upon the hearth the fire is red," sung by Frodo, Sam, and Pippin on their first night out from Hobbiton, replicates the Road verse in meter and end-rhyme (adding a four-line coda at the end of every verse).
[more about the imagery of that song, then the mood broken by the Black Rider, then the Elven song -- sorry, too much typing]
The story returns to hobbit jollity with "Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go," a more specific celebration of creature comforts than "Upon the hearth" but like it cut short by a Black Rider. "Sing hey! for the bath" is perhaps the most sensuous of the hobbit poems, with its celebration of hot water, drink poured down the throat, and the joys of splashing in the bath. It is also the last commemoration of freedom from care and danger on the hobbits' one night at Crickhollow. (p. 523)
So, she formally describes what I'd only noticed after hearing the drinking song from the movie -- that Tolkien uses a similar pattern for several of the songs/poems. I wonder why? If he had a tune mind, you'd think he might have used it in his recorded reading. Maybe it just seemed like a "common" or popular sound to him? Then again, the Road poem is a pretty significant poem -- the bridge to The Hobbit, reprised in RotK, Frodo repeats it on his way to Crickhollow, we hear it later in Rivendell. I suppose it's not just the road that goes ever on, but an underlying rhythm to hobbit life?
A page earlier, she writes: "Of all [the poems in LotR], a little over half... appear in Volume I...The pattern is clear: a volume-to-volume decrease in number, with most poems occurring west of the Anduin and before the story line breaks into crosscutting time-parallel sequences." She points out that all but four of the Hobbit-originated poems are in FotR. It's interesting to think about how much the hobbit songs contribute to the light-hearted atmosphere I so enjoy in FotR.
Incidentally, I only realized when typing out the word myself that it is "Crickhollow" and not "CrickEThollow." Odd how I can reread something incorrectly so many times.
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elostirion74
Nargothrond
Nov 22 2007, 8:55am
Post #18 of 27
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
I think these simple pleasures are a major part of LoTR and as others have said we've already had a couple of adventures, so now it's time for some rest and fun.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
I love it. It's uncomplicated, joyful and funny.
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
Why shouldn't he? They have just been having a bath at the same time in the same room. It hasn't struck me as odd when reading it.
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SilentLion
Ossiriand
Nov 22 2007, 1:52pm
Post #19 of 27
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True, if the hobbits knew how much danger they were in
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they would still find time for dinner, but they would probably would skip the baths.
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FarFromHome
Doriath
Nov 22 2007, 3:09pm
Post #20 of 27
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
The power of LotR, for me, is that it really does go from the ridiculous to the sublime.
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
I like the cheerful hobbitiness of it. But there are at least two I can think of that I like better. One is Bilbo's song (I sit beside the fire and think...), and the other is Sam's song in the Tower ("In western lands beneath the Sun"). I like hobbit-songs, but the ones with hints of longing for home and loved ones affect me most.
This line struck me: "A loon is he that will not sing". "Loon" = someone touched by the Moon (and made silly). So do the hobbits have this tradition/superstition just like us? Now I come to think of it, Frodo's song at the Prancing Pony maybe suggests they do have the same Moon-related traditions as us!
Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
I'd always thought, since he came into the kitchen "to finish", that drying his hair was all he had left to do, and that he was already dressed. But I could be wrong. Naked could work too!
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
Well, I've always maintained that Pippin was just kidding. He's like a teasing schoolboy, scaring his classmate awake by telling him there's something impossible he should have done. Of course Sam couldn't provide baths at the campsite, so it has to be a joke. And Sam's not the clearest thinker when he's woken with a start - another time it happens, on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, the consequences are much more serious.
As for the way Sam's treated here, I think it makes it quite clear that he is an equal member of the party. Everyone has jobs to do, and no-one expects to be waited on.
Why doesn't JRRT's splendid vocabulary and imagery extend to food?
We do get more detail at other times. At the Prancing Pony, for example, there's "hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese." Good plain English food, but it sounds pretty appealing to me! The blackberry tart especially - I love blackberries, and they would be in season at just that time of year.
...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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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Nov 22 2007, 4:22pm
Post #21 of 27
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We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Nov 22 2007, 4:25pm
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Nice Cirith Ungol connection! //
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Cactus Wren
Lindon
Nov 24 2007, 4:38am
Post #23 of 27
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There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey? I just thought of something: the "Have you got the bath-water hot?" scene was from before they met with Gildor and his party. Maybe after actually "seeing Elves" -- "a bit above my likes and dislikes," didn't he call them? -- Sam no longer perceives the other hobbits as his intrinsic "betters", at least not to the extent that he did before.
(Am I the only person who still wants to scoop up Sean Bean's voice and lick it off a spoon like chocolate sauce?)
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Kethry
Menegroth
Nov 25 2007, 6:56am
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Certainly after their trek across the Shire, the hobbits could use a wash, but does the epic tale of the destruction of the One Ring and the return of the King really need to stop for a bath?
I say that if there’s a chance to wash, you better take it. And I’m sure that they were used to bathing after a nice long walk, it would be odd if they didn’t. Still safe in the Shire, why not bathe?
That might be my favorite LotR song. What do you think of it?
I can’t read this song without hearing Merry & Pippin singing it in the movie. The same thing from the verse from the walking song that was used. Those lyrics are now inextricably linked to the tune from the movie. I found myself singing it when I came across it.
I have a book that my Grandmother let me have that’s titled “The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle” with music by Donald Swann and some of JRRT’s poems. So he actually did approve some tunes to go with his poems. This particular song isn’t included, but it’s got 6 songs from LotR and “Errantry” from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. It’s pretty interesting.
There hasn't been much mention of Sam since he spotted the Rider across the river, but he is here bathing and, presumably, singing. But not mopping, or putting the pony away, or cooking. What does that tell us about how the other hobbits view Sam, or how he views himself? Can you reconcile this scene with the one in "Three's Company" when Pippin demands a bath and Sam jumps up to obey?
Sam and his status are a bit of an oddity. He’s Frodo’s servant (or employee I think would be a better term), not Merry or Pippin’s. I think that the two of them are used to doing for themselves, they seem rather independent. They wouldn’t expect Sam to wait on them. I don’t think even Frodo expects it of him, he just takes things upon himself.
As for the request for a bath, I think it was rather a reflex on Sam’s part and laziness on Pippin’s. But I’ll bet that as Sam thinks of Merry and Pippin and Frodo as his “betters”, he’d be willing to somewhat wait on them, so do things that he’s asked to do.
"Any kind of plan where you lose your hat... is a bad plan."
'But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,' said Frodo.
Sam looked at him unhappily. 'It all depends on what you want,' put in Merry. 'You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.'
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Dec 6 2007, 1:25am
Post #25 of 27
(2618 views)
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Does Frodo come into the kitchen naked?
I don't know why not... We'll just hope he stayed a respectable distance from the food, for hygiene reasons, and that the curtains were closed. They were, or at least the windows were shuttered: the house had appeared dark as the three hikers approached, before Fatty opened the door.
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We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
Join us Dec. 3-9 for "In the House of Tom Bombadil".
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