Day Nine: Pushing Through the Forest

I made the mistake of deciding to read all of Chapter Six, “The Old Forest,” based on a hasty look at the page count. I need to remember that with Tolkien, it’s not always the number of pages but how those pages are written that determine how easily one moves forward!

It’s actually yet another sign of writing artistry when I say that our tired little family had a challenging time making our way through the chapter last night, because Tolkien’s densely packed prose seems to mimic the action. We push through bushels of words: detailed, lengthy descriptions packed tightly around only small bits of dialogue, while the four hobbits whose fortunes we follow are trying to make their way through a dense, quiet forest that doesn’t want them to pass through it. They literally get pushed in a direction they don’t want to take, and end up falling under the spell of an Old Willow tree by the Withywindle River (S. loved that name…and so do I!). As they got sleepier and sleepier, I couldn’t help thinking of the poppy field in The Wizard of Oz, and I couldn’t help noticing that my two listening dear ones were also getting sleepier. Of course, as difficult as their journey through the forest is, "it's nothing compared to Mirkwood!" as S. pointed out knowledgeably. 

The end of the chapter does provide a wake-up call. Just when it looks as though Pippin may be lost forever, and Merry is being dragged underground by the Old Willow’s sentient roots (these will not be the last very living trees we’ll encounter!) Frodo does a wonderfully wise thing. He runs down the path shouting “Help! Help!” as loudly as he can. It seems a little silly at first, until we realize that someone’s listening. In yet another moment that hardly feels like a chance encounter, Tom Bombadil, that intriguing-singing-rhyming-strong-man of the forest, shows up and rescues both Merry and Pippin.

Frodo is generally such a mild and quiet character that I almost overlook him, even though he is the protagonist of much of this epic. Other people jump off the page as greater and more obvious heroes. When I think of Frodo, I tend to think of patience and long-suffering, qualities he shows deeply as the narrative progresses. But this time through Fellowship, I am finding myself drawn to elements of his personality that I’m not sure I’ve consciously pondered before. I love his willingness to ask for and accept help. I love it that he looks for help outside of himself even when it looks as though there’s no help to be found. And lo and behold! It turns out that there is help of a very real kind.