LOTR Read-Along: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Old Forest

Abd once a again we have another nature centric chapter. Tolkien's narrative of a...well, very old forest. Dark, grisly, covered with flies and trudging through mud. The forest soon starts to come alive and the the hobbits are having a hard time distinguishing fantasy from reality. It's now understandable why the hobbit race in general fear the forest because it is in a sense alive. Hobbits fear the unknown and nothing can be such a representation of darkness and mystery like that of a forest. 

Whether it's the Ents that have frightened the hobbits for so long or not, the trees begin to come alive and essentially try to eat the hobbits. However, something or more like someone intervenes. A man, an elf, another hobbit? Whoever and whatever he is, he prevents the trees from eating the hobbits whole and before the the end of the chapter, his home rises up from the marshy treeland to reveal the home of Tom Bombadil.

The English and their love of forests. Yet they know how to write about the magic of forests so well. Forests have always been a primary setting for fantasy stories. The Western Woods in Narnia (Lantern Waste and Mr. Tumnus' home), the Dark Forest in Harry Potter (home of centaurs, unicorns, giants and monstrous spiders), the District 11 hunting forests in The Hunger Games, Covington Woods in Signs, and even Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas, and of course the plethora of forests found in Middle-Earth. Forests have always represented shelter and protection, but also vulnerability and hostility. They are alive with trees and plants, but can be brought down with a single flame. 

The magic behind forests is their unpredictability. One could be walking in their own world one moment, cross a tree root and suddenly their in whole other dimension. Forests have always been essential to the fantasy genre. They're real, but anyone with an imagination can create what they want from them.

Heidi's Questions: 

• Can you think of any comparisons/contrasts between this and Bilbo and the dwarves' adventures in Mirkwood?

Comparison in the fact that something was trying to eat them. Contrast is that Bilbo and the dwarves were reluctantly rescued by Thranduil's guard and Frodo and his companions were saved by a marshman of sorts. 

• Also, make sure to listen to THIS, and let me know what you think! (If y'all like it I've got more up my sleeve as we go along. ;))

What a fun song! Unfortunately it would have seem out of place in the films as they had a darker portrayal. However, the violin solo would have fit beautifully and would have been a perfect homage to the characters.