The Road Goes Ever On and On...

Comparing the beginnings of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

After reading both beginnings of our two year-long adventures — The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit — I could not help but notice how similar, and yet how starkly different they were at the same time.

Both adventures begin in April, which we have already observed is probably not coincidental given spring’s associations with new beginnings, transformation, and renewal. While The Lord of the Rings begins in early April, The Hobbit takes a slower start at the end, with April almost bleeding into May. While this was perhaps unintentional, it is not surprising, given Bilbo and Frodo’s characters, the former being altogether alienated from adventures and more stuck in his ways, while Frodo was already showing signs of restlessness and wanting to follow in Bilbo’s footsteps. Moreover, the urgency and danger in Frodo’s situation forces him to take action more quickly, while Bilbo’s adventure is more blatantly thrust upon him.

On that note, I was most struck by how dark and dangerous the tone of The Lord of the Rings is outright in the beginning, as opposed to The Hobbit, which begins with and maintains the light, playful air of a children’s book. Even though I was not necessarily surprised by it given the adult nature of The Lord of the Rings as well as the gravity of the situation from the start, I still found the difference meaningful. Not all journeys in life begin as Bilbo’s did, with hope for gold and merry songs and long walks in meadows and fields. Many of our journeys will begin more like Frodo’s, where the daunting journey ahead stretches long and hard before our feet, and we must pluck up the courage to leave the comfort of our homes and adventure into the unknown.

In rereading, we often find certain lines that we later forget, but this time around makes you pause. At some point in the night, Gandalf, Thorin, and the rest of their company discuss the battle against the goblins in the mines of Moria and Gandalf’s discovery of Thorin’s father being held prisoner by the Necromancer (we will skip over the fact that both events are already being alluded to in The Hobbit, showing just how much history of Middle-earth Tolkien knew at this point and kept at the fringes of the story). When Thorin learns that Gandalf found his father “witless and wandering,” Thorin replies, “We have long ago paid the goblins of Moria, […] we must give a thought to the Necromancer.”

Gandalf replies: “Don’t be absurd! He is an enemy far beyond the powers of all the dwarves put together, if they could all be collected again from the four corners of the world. The one thing your father wished was for his son to read the map and use the key. The dragon and the Mountain are more than big enough tasks for you!”

I found Gandalf’s reply amusing. Sometimes when we start on an “adventure” we have dreams of accomplishing more than we can or should, and even in life we might have in mind lofty goals to achieve or we get sidetracked by chasing adventures and successes that are not meant to be ours. Everyone has their “journey” in life, so it does not do to compare our journeys to others or get lost wandering on paths that do not lead us to our true destiny, lest we get in over our heads. After all, our own lives will present enough adventure and challenge to us as it is—or as Gandalf so pointedly reminds Thorin, “The dragon and the Mountain are more than big enough tasks for you!”

But sometimes, like Frodo, the path is all too clear, and we may even dread stepping foot upon it though we know it will lead us to our desired end. In other words, sometimes life feels more like running from Ringwraiths in the rain than trotting on a pony under the soft sunshine of late April. Frodo knows his path, and it has a very gloomy end. As Gandalf tells him, “There is only one way; to find the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, and cast the Ring in there, if you really wish to destroy it, to put it beyond the grasp of the Enemy for ever.”

“I do really wish to destroy it!” cried Frodo. “Or, well, to have it destroyed. I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?”

“Such questions cannot be answered,” said Gandalf. “You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

Our journeys in life choose us more often than not, and the reason is not always something we can fully understand, but nevertheless, we must face them with the strength, heart, and wits that we have, just as Gandalf tells Frodo. We all bear our own Rings, if you will, and we all must embark on our own adventures, and we will not always have wise Wizards and dear friends to help us in the task. Some paths must be walked alone, as we shall see when Frodo walks into Mount Doom and faces the fire, and even when he returns, he shall be forever changed from his journey in a way that Sam never would be. But follow the path to our destiny we must, even if it brings us through fire and ruin, for there is always light to be found in the darkness, and there are always fairer days ahead once the rain has cleared.

Now that our journeys have begun, we must prepare ourselves for the year ahead as best we can, but also accept that we might not always be “comfortable” or have our favorite handkerchiefs or walk in the sunshine instead of the rain as the days, weeks, and months ahead of us come and go. Like Bilbo and Frodo, we will have to face whatever perils and pitfalls that riddle the roads far from home, without knowing whether we’ll come back or not, and if we do, whether we will remain the same. That’s what makes it an adventure after all.

To accompany the start of our journey, here is the song that Bilbo sings when the time has come for him, just like it has for us, to be swept off his feet and into adventure:

The Road goes ever on and on
   Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
   And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
   Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
   And whither then? I cannot say.

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As usual, leave your reflections in the comments on either or both beginnings and if you noticed any other similarities or differences that intrigued you. Feel free to respond to each other and discuss the chapters below. Looking forward to reading your comments!

Until next time,

Zoë