Last week I started The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, beginning with the foreword, the beautiful maps of Middle-Earth and then the prologue. The foreword is a personal message from Tolkien himself after a needed new edition. He writes warmly and candidly (rather similar to Bilbo) of the Genesis of The Lord of the Rings, its popularity and the time it took to create the whole series.
After the foreword is the prologue which is written in four small sections.
1. Concerning the Hobbits -- Tolkien outlines a history of the Hobbits and the three different breeds, the Harefoots from the highlands and hillsides, the Stoors from the flat lands and riversides and the Fallohides from the woodlands. For a small people the Hobbits have a strong history and Tolkien went to great lengths to give the reader a full knowledge on his completely original race.
2. Concerning Pipeweed -- Pipeweed is the Hobbits choice of tobaccos and Tolkien thought it important to give brief understanding of this famous weed and its popularity the extends far from Hobbiton and into the countries of Men.
3. Of the Ordering of the Shire -- A general overview of the Shire's history and how its geographical layout.
4. Of the Finding of The Ring -- A very basic title. A review of The Hobbit.
- Do you consider forewords and prologues to be indispensable or do you hurry over them as fast as possible to get into the story proper?
Personally, I enjoy prologues and forewords. A foreword in its most basic terminology is a brief message usually by the author. Personal messages to the readers, I find to be very important. When an author takes the time to pen a message to their readers it clearly shows their devotion and love to their craft.
A prologue is an introduction to what is about to take place. And in a story as extensive as Lord of the Rings, an introduction is most needed, especially when it comes to understanding the Hobbits. Elves and Dwarves are basic mythological creatures, but Hobbits are entirely Tolkien's creation. And even though The Hobbit had been published almost 20 years before, he didn't really have a history as to who the Hobbits were. Just some funny little creature he thought would be fun to write about.
Then of course, we have the history of The Ring, lest someone hasn't hasn't read the whole story before.
So yes. I find forewords to be a personal indication of love and prologues (especially for such an exhaustive story like The Lord of the Rings) to be absolutely indispensable. Tolkien went to great lengths to be sure that the readers could understand Middle-Earth as if it were their own history they were reading about. And through the prologues he offered, the reader could go into the story with the knowledge and the history of the world they were about to enter.
I'm glad you enjoyed! It is all fascinating, isn't it? I do like seeing more of how the Shire is organized and the pipe-weed bit is charming.
ReplyDeletePersonally I can't believe the structured timelines and date systems he created for each history (i.e. hobbits, men, dwarves, etc), especially how they each date from a different event -- like if you look at historical civilizations like the Greeks, Romans and Babylonians. It just makes it so real.
It's mind-blowing the amount of detail that Tolkien put into his world. He always made sure that every race had its own sperate and diverse culture and yet wrote them all in such a way that you can reference real life cultures in history.
DeleteGreat post! I first read LotR before I had read The Hobbit so the prologue was very helpful.
DeleteThank you!
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