The hobbits are finally on the Road! It only took them five chapters to do so. (They remind me of some people I have traveled with *cough* Matt *cough* who start prepping a week or two in advance of any trip, no matter the length.) The seriousness of the task has not quite sunk in yet, though they are beginning to understand it will not be easy. It is clear that something is starting to stir, something that is causing change to spread towards the Shire. Even with the reality of the terribleness that is coming, that they will experience, help is never too far. Tom Bombadil and Strider enter the hobbits' lives just when hope is waning, just when they are over their heads.
As always, we would love to hear your thoughts, even if it is just a text message or a tweet.
1. Is the enmity of the trees towards the hobbits surprising or understandable?
2. What do you make of Tom Bombadil? Of Goldberry?
3. Frodo thinks of how "he had at times stood enchanted by fair evlen-voices; but the spell that was now laid upon him was different: less keen and lofty was the delight, but deeper and nearer to mortal heart; marvellous and yet not strange". Think about the different types of joy Tolkien is describing here. Do you agree or disagree about there being different types? Or, it not joy, what do you think he is talking about? (This passage comes from the very beginning of Chapter 7 - In the House of Tom Bombadil)
4. The hobbits are almost frustratingly obtuse in this first part of the book. Which would you say is the keenest? Which is the most clueless of how the world works? Which one would you be?
This week we are reading Book 2, Chapters 1-5. Hope y'all have a great week :)
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