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Saelind
Menegroth
Nov 17 2007, 9:46pm
Post #1 of 7
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Chapter 4 A Short Cut to Mushrooms VI
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“Frodo said nothing: the shrewd guess of the farmer were rather disconcerting. ‘Well, Mr. Frodo,’ Maggot went on, ‘I’m glad that you’ve had the sense to come back to Buckland. My advice is: stay there! And don’t get mixed up with these outlandish folk. You’ll have friends in these parts. If any of these black fellows come after you again, I’ll deal with them. I’ll say you’re dead or have left the Shire, or anything you like. And that might be true enough; for as like as not it is old Mr. Bilbo they want news of.’” Maggot seems to be very sure of himself and his opinions doesn’t he? How does he know so much about the “whole business”?
“’Maybe you’re right,‘said Frodo, avoiding the farmer’s eye and staring at the fire. Maggot looked him thoughtfully. ‘Well, I see you have ideas of your own,’ he said. ‘It is plain as my nose that no accident brought you and that rider here on the same afternoon; and maybe my news was no great news to you, after all. I am not asking you to tell me anything you have a mind to keep to yourself; but I see you are in some kind of trouble. Perhaps you are thinking it won’t be too easy to get to the Ferry without being caught?’ I’m quite impressed by Maggot’s ability to think through the situation so clearly. And the fact that he doesn’t press Frodo for details tells me he respects other’s privacy.
Frodo expresses his regret at not making up with farmer Maggot sooner. “’It’s a pity; for I’ve missed a good friend.’” Do you think Frodo ever went back to visit Farmer Maggot? And how much of this “meeting of friends” is because Frodo is a hobbit who appears to be in trouble with the outside world? This pattern of Frodo meeting up with unexpected help/friendship repeats itself several more times over the course of the story.
Maggot invites the trio to eat supper with the family. Frodo is reluctant to accept because of his need to get to the Ferry. Maggot offers to drive the group to the ferry in his wagon after supper. Frodo accepts much to the relief of Pippin and Sam. Did you notice when Maggot speaks about the sun it’s capitalized in the text? (Refer to the earlier comment in Chapter 2 about the sun being female and the moon male). Do you think Pippin and Sam were relieved because they were going to get a good meal or because they were getting a ride to the Ferry or both?
“Two of Maggot’s sons and his three daughters came in, and a generous supper was laid on the large table. The kitchen was lit with candles and the fire was mended. Mrs. Maggot bustled in and out. One or two other hobbits belonging to the farm-household came in. In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare.” Yum! Anyone else get hungry reading that?
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Curious
Gondolin
Nov 18 2007, 6:24am
Post #2 of 7
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Maggot seems to be very sure of himself and his opinions doesn’t he?
Yes.
How does he know so much about the “whole business”?
Maggot may be parochial, but he's quite shrewd.
Do you think Frodo ever went back to visit Farmer Maggot?
Frodo might have visited to thank Farmer Maggot for his help, and perhaps to tell him more about the Nazgul, if he felt up to it. On the other hand perhaps Frodo was not up to that, and left it to Merry and Pippin and Sam.
And how much of this “meeting of friends” is because Frodo is a hobbit who appears to be in trouble with the outside world? This pattern of Frodo meeting up with unexpected help/friendship repeats itself several more times over the course of the story.
I judge that many of Frodo's encounters are not by chance but by arrangement, and this may be one of them. After all, it isn't that unusual to spot a farm house in the Shire, and when they do so Pippin urges that they go visiting. Perhaps there is a bit of chance involved in them losing their way, but if they had come out elsewhere wouldn't another hobbit farmer have been as friendly?
Did you notice when Maggot speaks about the sun it’s capitalized in the text?
No, I didn't notice that. Were "sun" and "moon" capitalized in The Hobbit? Perhaps it has to do with Tolkien's personification of the sun and the moon, or perhaps it has to do with the reverence in which they are held.
Do you think Pippin and Sam were relieved because they were going to get a good meal or because they were getting a ride to the Ferry or both?
Both, I'm sure, but especially the meal.
Yum! Anyone else get hungry reading that?
Yes.
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Morwen
Nargothrond
Nov 19 2007, 1:58am
Post #3 of 7
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Maggot seems to be very sure of himself and his opinions doesn’t he? How does he know so much about the “whole business”?
Maggot's perceptive enough to figure out that Frodo's a decent person, and that the Black Riders are unsavory. That's all he needs to know to decide whose side he's on, and to encourage Frodo not to get mixed up with them.
I’m quite impressed by Maggot’s ability to think through the situation so clearly. And the fact that he doesn’t press Frodo for details tells me he respects other’s privacy.
Yes, Maggot realizes he doesn't know the whole story, and he's wise not to ask.
Do you think Frodo ever went back to visit Farmer Maggot? And how much of this “meeting of friends” is because Frodo is a hobbit who appears to be in trouble with the outside world? This pattern of Frodo meeting up with unexpected help/friendship repeats itself several more times over the course of the story.
I'd like to think so, but Frodo came home such a changed person that it's hard to say. One of the things that makes Frodo's fate so sad was that he lost much of his pleasure in simple things, such as visiting old friends. And yes, Gildor, Farmer Maggot, Bombadil and Faramir are a few of the friends unlooked-for that Frodo meets. There may be others that I have missed.
Did you notice when Maggot speaks about the sun it’s capitalized in the text? (Refer to the earlier comment in Chapter 2 about the sun being female and the moon male). Do you think Pippin and Sam were relieved because they were going to get a good meal or because they were getting a ride to the Ferry or both?
Both, I'm sure. A hot meal indoors must have been very welcome, and surely riding with Farmer Maggot to the Ferry was safer than walking.
Yum! Anyone else get hungry reading that?
I'm contemplating fixing a second supper.
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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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Nov 19 2007, 2:51am
Post #4 of 7
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Notice Frodo's tendency to stare at flickering flames when he's faced with uncomfortable information. I wonder if Maggot's words had caused him to once again think of the only place that Ring could be unmade.
Maggot has, as Bombadil will later say, "wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open". Successfully running a farm requires concentration, patience, observation, and intelligence. He can put two and two together and come up with something very close to four. He's thinking: folks in Hobbiton are strange; Bilbo had a strange adventure; Frodo's moving back - so there must be some trouble from Bilbo's side, how else to explain that stranger on horse; Frodo's here now, so I'll protect him from those outlandish people, and get him to where he can live in peace.
I seem to recall some nice fanfics, about Frodo taking trips to visit Maggot after his return to the Shire.
I like the use of the capital "S" for Sun: it implies a "personal" relationship between it - her - and the farmer, which is only natural for that lifestyle.
Mushrooms and bacon! And "other solid farmhouse fare" - fresh bread with churned butter, home-made cheese, jams and relishes, vegetables raw and steaming - hey, when's dinner?
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Nov 21 2007, 11:41pm
Post #5 of 7
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And in the next chapter, also.
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'We have all been scared,' said Pippin after a pause, in which Frodo stared at the fire and did not speak. 'You would have been, too, if you had been chased for two days by Black Riders.'
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Join us Nov. 19-25 for "A Conspiracy Unmasked".
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Nov 21 2007, 11:56pm
Post #6 of 7
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In addition to Frodo, Pippin, and Sam, there are Farmer Maggot, Mrs. Maggot, "(t)wo of Maggot's sons and his three daughters", and "(o)ne or two other hobbits belonging to the farm-household", and yet "fourteen sat down to eat". I am reminded of Gandalf's story told to Beorn.
"The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones."
Doesn't Saruman describe the dogs on the floor of Meduseld?
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We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
Join us Nov. 19-25 for "A Conspiracy Unmasked".
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Nov 22 2007, 3:47am
Post #7 of 7
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that 1 + 1 = 4, for large values of 1.
I suspect the "one or two" became "four" by the time all sat down.
Saruman's reference to dogs is rather brief: "Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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