BBC Audio Adaptation of Lord of the Rings: The Breaking of the Fellowship Pt4

[Jazmine]

We find Merry & Pippin wandering in the Forest of Fangorn. Did you get a good idea of the atmosphere in Fangorn from their description? Was the darkness and closeness of the forest apparant? Again, this is something that is more difficult to make clear without visuals.

Treebeard’s introduction made me jump out of my skin as I had my stereo turned up a little loud!! What do you think of his rolling voice? I quite like it. It sounds about earthy and deep enough for an Ent.

I love the obvious fear in Pippin's voice. You can tell he is thinking, "Argh, a talking tree!"

Treebeard's song. Did you like it? I must admit, I found the tempo of it too fast for an Ent. But then, I don't think the slow, plodding speech of the Ents as shown in PJs movies would have gone down well on the radio. You have to keep your audience interested, and without anything to look at, listening to an Ent ramble in an unbearably slow voice wouldn't have endeared the listener!

Merry and Pippin share their tale with Treebeard. He becomes angry when he learns of Saruman's treachery. Again, what do you think of Treebeard here? Was his anger convincing?

We leave them heading off to the Entmoot. The narrator adds “As they left it seemed to Merry and Pippin that they alone were left of the Fellowship of the Ring." I must admit, I'd never thought of that before. The last time either of them saw their companions, they were being assailed by a massive company of Uruk Hai. They could be forgiven for assuming they were the only ones left!

 

[grammaboodawg]

but, uh oh... more singing. I'd have loved to hear the list spoken instead. As I heard more of Treebeard's delivery, however, I'm becoming distracted by it. A little more theatrical than it needs to be; but, then again, he is an Ent I do like how the segment ended with him singing Tolkien's poem. That singing was perfect and appropriate.

 

[Patty]

it would probably sound like this. Wonderfully done.

At first I didn't care for the song here, but after many times listening to it, it grew on me[laugh], excuse the pun.

Is this new version with Ian Holm's narration in addition to all the narration previously in the story? I'm thinking it probably adds quite a great deal to the story, and if it had been done BEFORE the movies I would be rebuying it to include this extra narration.

 

[Jazmine]

The new narration is in addition to the existing narration by Gerard Murphy.

It doesn't really interfere with the actual story, as you just get a brief prologue and epilogue, three to four minutes at a time, at the start of each "book". If I were listening to the whole story as a continuous flow, I think I'd find them a bit distracting though, so I'd probably skip ahead.

It was recorded by Ian Holm in 2001. From my understanding, the BBC were preparing to rerelease the play, and thought it would be neat if Mr Holm added a few bits to it. The reason for the rerelease, according to Brian Sibley's notes on the CD inlay states that "it has been rearranged, as far as possible, in line with Tolkien's original three volumes; The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King."

 

[Patty]

Tales of the Perilous Realm on Monday. I had meant to do it today, but I couldn't get away from laughing at the funny male-female jokes in Fiesta. I think that when you get it, you'll particularly appreciate Farmer Giles. Brians Sibley and Blessed do such a great job!

 

[Idril Celebrindal]

Treebeard's entrance does tend to make you jump! I like how Treebeard is portrayed and think that Steven Thorne's sonorous voice and theatrical delivery are very right and proper for an Ent of his stature.

Very good point about the speed of Treebeard's speech being too fast for an Ent! I hadn't thought of that! I agree that it's due to the demands of the radio medium. Thorne's Treebeard is very emphatic and definite about what he's doing, although he sometimes seems forgetful. John Rhys-Davies voicing of Treebeard in the Jackson movie is softer and slower, an altogether lower key take on the Ent. But the movie has the advantage of visuals -- especially Treebeard's deep, expressive eyes -- where the radio play's Treebeard must hold the listener's attention solely through his voice. The two Ents both come across as wise, but the radio play Treebeard is an altogether, hmmm, hastier Ent than the movie Treebeard!

As I''ve stated before, I'm a fan of including Tolkien's poems and songs, so I almost always enjoy it when any of the characters break into song. In this part, I really like how Treebeard loses his place in the middle of the list, and starts singing nonsense as he tries to remember the rest of it! I also like how Pippin sings the new line he proposes to add to the list of creatures -- very much in keeping with Treebeard's song.

We also hear Treebeard singing snatches from the song of the Ent and Entwife. Interestingly enough, this song is one of the few that are included in the Jackson movie. (One of Tom Bombadil's songs is also included in the Extended Edition of the movie, when Merry and Pippin are attacked by a hostile tree.) I like how Treebeard's singing is presented casually, as if it's something he just does what he's walking around Fangorn Forest.

 

[ArathornJax]

Even knowing that Treebeard's Hoom! is coming, it still gets me more often than not. I will always remember playing that in the car with my two kids and my wife and they all about jumped out of their seat belts when they heard it. I enjoyed Stephen Thorne's adaptation of Treebeard. He sounded ancient and wise to me, but I agree hasty but that is because of the medium. I love his singing of the free people or reciting of it and I loved when he said a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burúme, something I am still trying to say correctly.

I have often wondered in listening to this adaptation how Treebeard felt when the Numenoreans cut down all the trees in the 2nd Age for their ships after he says tht Saruman is plotting to become a power and sending his Orcs to cut down trees to feed the fires of Isengard?

 

[Idril Celebrindal]

First, I doubt that Treebeard and the other Ents anticipated the extent of Numenorean logging. The Elves and the earlier societies of Men in Middle-earth had never cut down trees at the rate of the Numenoreans. The Elves in particular would never have gone in for the extensive clear-cutting that the Numenoreans did.

Also, the Ents are kind of passive, perhaps because it takes them so long to make up their minds. I can see Treebeard and the Ents not paying a great deal of attention to the deforestation until it was pretty far advanced, taking an inordinately long time to decide what to do about it, and then realizing that there wasn't much they could do given the numbers and power of the Numenoreans. So the Ents and Huorns slowly retreated to their fastness in remote Fangorn Forest, where logging was difficult. The collapse of Numenorean civilization in the Downfall must have taken some of the pressure off, too, since Gondor did not do the kind of large-scale shipbuilding that the Numenoreans did.

It's Treebeard's realization that he has nowhere else to retreat that makes him decide to finally do something about Saruman's threat to his forest -- but that's the next episode!

 

[Jazmine]

I'm currently re-reading Unfinished Tales, about Aldarion and his voyages to Middle Earth, and the ship building, and old Treebeard did cross my mind!