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Nerdanel
Ossiriand
Nov 23 2007, 11:40pm
Post #1 of 6
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Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked VII
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To celebrate the success of the conspiracy, "Merry and Pippin began a song which they had apparently got ready for the occasion."
It was made on the model of the dwarf-song that started Bilbo on his adventure long ago, and went to the same tune:
Farewell we call to hearth and hall!
Though wind may blow and rain may fall,
We must away ere break of day
Far over wood and mountain tall.
To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell
In glades beneath the misty fell,
Through moor and waste we ride in haste,
And whither then we cannot tell.
With foes ahead, behind us dread,
Beneath the sky shall be our bed,
Until at last our toil be passed,
Our journey done, our errand sped.
We must away! We must away!
We ride before the break of day!
This song points in several directions. First, as the narrator reminds us, it harks back to the dwarf song from The Hobbit Chapter I, which begins:
Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To seek our pale enchanted gold.
This song then tells the long history of the dwarves and Smaug before temporarily concluding:
Far over the Misty Mountains grim,
To dungeons deep and caverns dim,
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
The song is taken up again by the dwarves as clouds gather in Chapter XV of The Hobbit and the dwarves prepare to defend "their" gold from the elves and men who helped them win it:
Under the Mountain dark and tall,
The King has come unto his hall!
His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread,
And ever so his foes shall fall!
In contrast to the dwarves song, which takes 10 verses just to get them out the door of Bag End, Merry and Pippin's song has the expedition concluded, "Our journey done, our errand sped" in 3. Yet the hobbits face a far grimmer and more hopeless task, "no there-and-back" journey. What does the difference in the two songs reflect?
Merry and Pippin's song also echoes Bilbo's walking song, sung by Frodo, Pippin and Sam in Three Is Company and adapted for Pippin's song in the RotK movie. "With foes ahead, behind us dread/Beneath the sky shall be our bed" is quite similar to Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead.
We'll wander back to home and bed. What do you think about the behind/ahead imagery in the two songs? Does it reflect the same idea as Bilbo's Road-as-great-river image, or something different?
If Merry and Pippin had already prepared this song for the occasion, how did they know there would already be dread behind him when Frodo got to Crickhollow?
Merry and Pippin's song also makes reference to various iterations of "The Road goes ever on and on" when it says "And whither then we cannot tell." This line stands in stark contrast to the song of the dwarves, who knew precisely where they were going and what they meant to do. Bilbo sings it "softly, as if to himself," as he leaves Bag End in FotR Chapter I: "And whither then? I cannot say." Frodo is not there to hear the song from Bilbo, but 17 years later he recites the same verse "aloud but as if to himself" at noon on the second day of the hobbits' trek through the Shire in Three Is Company. Now Merry and Pippin incorporate much the same thought into their song.
Why does this line recur, why does it seem to just come to Bilbo and, later, Frodo, and where do Merry and Pippin pick it up?
Finally, the fact that this song is made on the model of the song sung by the dwarves in Bag End at the start of Bilbo's adventure reminds highlights the fact that there was no singing when Frodo left Bag End at the start of his journey.
Why not?
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Curious
Gondolin
Nov 24 2007, 11:18am
Post #2 of 6
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In contrast to the dwarves song, which takes 10 verses just to get them out the door of Bag End, Merry and Pippin's song has the expedition concluded, "Our journey done, our errand sped" in 3. Yet the hobbits face a far grimmer and more hopeless task, "no there-and-back" journey. What does the difference in the two songs reflect?
Remember that Merry and Pippin did not get the full story about the trip. Sam must have felt free to tell them they were going to Rivendell, but should not have told them about Mordor and the Cracks of Doom. And at the moment even Frodo is in denial about where they are going after they get to Rivendell. Technically, they don't have to go over any mountains to reach Rivendell, but they might just keep that language from the dwarves' song. So at this point Merry and Pippin do not sing about a grim and hopeless task, but about a trip to Rivendell, a pleasant destination. The dwarves knew much more about their task, which, by the way, seemed pretty grim and hopeless at the time.
What do you think about the behind/ahead imagery in the two songs? Does it reflect the same idea as Bilbo's Road-as-great-river image, or something different?
Bilbo does not sing about dread behind, but about home and bed behind. That's a big difference.
If Merry and Pippin had already prepared this song for the occasion, how did they know there would already be dread behind him when Frodo got to Crickhollow?
Foresight? Last minute improvisation? Dumb luck? Note that they didn't really expect to leave at break of day, either, but found out that the song was more accurate than they could have predicted.
Why does this line [ "And whither then? I cannot say." "And whither then we cannot tell."] recur, why does it seem to just come to Bilbo and, later, Frodo, and where do Merry and Pippin pick it up?
Frodo and Sam really don't know where they are going after they get to Rivendell, and Merry and Pippin may have picked that up from Sam. Bilbo didn't either, but I'm not sure there is any mysterious psychic relationship between Bilbo's song and Frodo's. It's no accident that Frodo is following in Bilbo's footsteps, though. The very thought of following Bilbo is about the only appealing part of his adventure, and Gandalf recognized that when he encouraged Frodo to go to Rivendell and put off what to do after that.
Why [is there no singing when Frodo left Bag End at the start of his journey]?
Because he was just moving to Crickhollow, or so everyone pretended.
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FarFromHome
Doriath
Nov 24 2007, 5:35pm
Post #3 of 6
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In contrast to the dwarves song, which takes 10 verses just to get them out the door of Bag End, Merry and Pippin's song has the expedition concluded, "Our journey done, our errand sped" in 3. Yet the hobbits face a far grimmer and more hopeless task, "no there-and-back" journey. What does the difference in the two songs reflect?
That this is a grown-up story? The Dwarves' song seems designed to be read aloud to (or by) children, and although the hobbits' song could also be read aloud, it's not really serving the same purpose since this is a story for adults.
The Dwarves' song was a good way to introduce some backstory or historical colour to The Hobbit, in a way that children might appreciate. We don't need this so much here - we have had plenty of backstory already.
What do you think about the behind/ahead imagery in the two songs? Does it reflect the same idea as Bilbo's Road-as-great-river image, or something different?
It's almost the opposite of the River sweeping you off, don't you think? The walking song from Three Is Company is comfortingly saying that you can go home again - that you can turn around, so that world is behind and home ahead, and get back to your own bed, rather than being swept off on a one-way journey into the unknown. "Through shadows to the edge of night" is different in this context than it is in the movie, because without those final lines, there is no going back - the edge of night is the edge of the unknown that you must pass into. In this original version of the song, you imagine you can go to the "edge of night" and then turn for home. A nice song for Bilbo, but it's already no more than wishful thinking for Frodo.
Why does this line recur, why does it seem to just come to Bilbo and, later, Frodo, and where do Merry and Pippin pick it up?
Doesn't Pippin recognize it as sounding like a "bit of old Bilbo's rhyming"? I expect Bilbo did manage to drag in bits of what he called "poetry" sometimes when Merry and Pippin were around! It sounds as if they all know it subconsciously, since it must have sunk in when they weren't really paying attention. So Frodo recalls it suddenly, and Pippin recognizes the sound of it as typical of Bilbo. That's sometimes the way with songs, I think - they can find their way into your memory without you being aware of having heard them!
...there was no singing when Frodo left Bag End at the start of his journey. Why not?
The mood the night before was rather subdued - Frodo was expecting Gandalf at any moment, after all, and so when he didn't arrive, the departure must not have seemed like the organized start of an adventure, but more like a tentative, better-than-nothing sort of plan. Plus, Pippin didn't know about the adventure anyway, as far as Frodo knew (only Sam knew the whole story!), so an "adventure" song might not have been appropriate (although if it had fit in with the atmosphere, I'm sure Frodo could have come up with something suitably obscure but adventurous!).
...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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Nerdanel
Ossiriand
Nov 24 2007, 9:13pm
Post #4 of 6
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The Dwarves' song seems designed to be read aloud to (or by) children, and although the hobbits' song could also be read aloud, it's not really serving the same purpose since this is a story for adults.
The Dwarves' song was a good way to introduce some backstory or historical colour to The Hobbit, in a way that children might appreciate. We don't need this so much here - we have had plenty of backstory already.
When I went back to look at the dwarves' song I noticed a rather telling JRRT joke I had missed before (maybe I missed a discussion of it here, too. If so, sorry.) A little while after the dwarves have sung their whole backstory, Bilbo says,
'First I should like to know a bit more about things. . . . I mean about the gold and the dragon, and all that, and how it got there, and who it belongs to, and so on and further."
"Bless me!" said Thorin, "haven't you got a map? and didn't you hear our song?" Why, it's almost as if JRRT knew some people would skip over the poems and songs!
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elostirion74
Nargothrond
Nov 26 2007, 11:40am
Post #5 of 6
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Well, this is a much more hopeful and cheerful song than that of the dwarves, which goes to show the difference in experience and sentiment between the dwarves & the hobbit. The songs of the dwarves tell stories, where the dwarves remember past injuries and lost glory; and the dwarves know what danger and the wilderness means. This particular hobbit song is more like a rallying song to get them started, with little consideration for the difficulties involved. Very light-hearted and hobbit-like as it is it always makes me smile. The song also shows that the hobbits don't know where their final destination is as yet.
If Merry and Pippin had already prepared this song for the occasion, how did they know there would already be dread behind him when Frodo got to Crickhollow?
That's just a phrase they thought fitting, I guess. I don't think they expected to be pursued in the Shire.
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Dec 6 2007, 6:35am
Post #6 of 6
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That walking song from "Three Is Company".
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The walking song from Three Is Company is comfortingly saying that you can go home again - that you can turn around, so that world is behind and home ahead, and get back to your own bed, rather than being swept off on a one-way journey into the unknown.
I think that song has a deeper meaning, and the filmmakers were more faithful than they knew in using it to evoke death in Minas Tirith (because if they knew what Tolkien was doing they wouldn't have changed the lyrics to make it more obvious).
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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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