Read-along: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien

I've decided to join in on the Little Red Reviewer and Geeky Daddy's read-along of The Lord of the Rings.  I read The Lord of the Rings quite a long time ago and really enjoyed it.  I felt pretty good about how much I had retained when the movies came out, but when I started trying to answer questions from those who had not read the books, I realized I hadn't retained as much as I thought.

I'm excited to finally reread The Lord of the Rings and revisit Tolkien's world.  I'm jumping into the discussions at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring so I'm posting all three discussion parts at once.

There are surely spoilers to be found here if you haven't read The Fellowship of the Ring and intend to.  If you have read Fellowship or you've seen the movie and want to discuss either, please join in in the comments with your thoughts (or join the read-along!).  Discussion is very welcome.

Part I

1. Hobbits seem to have songs for everything!  I didn't realize this was a musical. . . . how are you liking all the songs?

I have a tendency to skip quotes, songs, poems, dreams,etc. when I'm reading if it feels like filler.  The first time I read LOTR, I skimmed or skipped most of the songs, especially in the Tom Bombadil chapter.  This time around I appreciated the songs for being part of the story, and I actually enjoyed reading them.

2. I love that we learn about Gollum and his past so early on. It gives a dark and foreboding (dare I say, perilous?) feeling to the whole thing. Were you surprised that the story took a dive towards the dark and scary so quickly?

I didn't know what to expect the first time I read LOTR.  I read it based on a recommendation from a friend.  I was pleasantly surprised by all of the darkness in the book.  I was hooked after meeting Smeagal.  It's been so long since I first read Fellowship, I didn't remember just how fast Gollum appeared, so it was a little surprising all over again.

3. Tom Bombadil!  what and who is he???  If you met him in a forest, would you trust him?

I still don't have a clue what Tom Bombadil is!  He's obviously something ancient, but nothing like what I would expect an ancient forest dweller to be.  If I met him in a forest without knowing anything about him, I would trust him because he was so helpful.

4. What did you think when Pippin, Merry and Sam told Frodo about their "conspiracy", and that they pretty much knew what he was planning from the beginning?

I thought it showed a deeper side to the hobbits.  They aren't as simple as they seem.

5. What's your favorite part of the book so far?

At this point the Smeagal/Gollum stories are my favorite part of the book.

Part II

1. What was your initial thoughts of Strider/Aragorn when Hobbits met up with him in The Prancing Pony? Did you think that he was linked with the Riders?

This is a tough re-read question, but I do think the first time I read this I thought he was a bad guy and yes, probably linked with the Riders.

2.What was the biggest surprised to you during this section of the Fellowship of the Ring?

Frodo using the ring at The Prancing Pony.  He set out to stop his friends from revealing too much and revealed far more than they ever would!

3.Do you like that Tolkien goes in depth and tells the readers of the history events of the war that is upon the Fellowship?

It may be a product of already loving LOTR, but yes, I'm enjoying all of the history.

4. How far do you think you would have lasted if you were Frodo and nearly becoming a Rider?

I have a pretty strong will so hopefully I would have lasted!

5. As dangerous quest unfold to become, the other hobbits want to stick by Frodo til the end. Would you sacrifice yourself and stick with Frodo til the end?

If I were willing to endure the journey to Rivendell, I think I would be willing to see the quest through to the end.

Part III

Gandalf and the Balrog, just Wow.  Just a short scene, but oh so intense!  With their mentor gone, how will the group go on?  Even when they do reach Lothlorien, no one seems to know how to get where they are going.  They had been dependent on Gandalf making the decisions, and now he is gone.

Gandalf's fall was very quick!  I wonder if Gandalf had remained with the group, if Frodo would have ever been compelled to go alone at the end of Fellowship.

Galadriel and her Ring. She knows the Ring of power must be destroyed, but with it's destruction comes the de-powering (is that a word?) of her Ring as well. The Elves must leave Middle Earth or forget who and what they are. For her, this is a no win situation. Frodo's success effectively means the banishment of the Elves in Middle Earth. I wonder if that makes him more likely to do everything in his power to succeed, or less? 

I think Galadriel's acceptance of Frodo's quest helps solidify how important it is for him to succeed.

Boromir - I didn't trust from way back at the Council at Rivendell. His conversation with Frodo at the end of Fellowship made him look like a know-it-all with a world view of colonialism and imperialism. Is this Tolkien taking a shot at the old fashioned British world view, or am I reading way, way too much into it? 

I think Boromir has in his heart already to find a powerful weapon against the enemy.  The Ring offers that power to him. 

After spending some time in Lothlorien, Sam realizes the Elves aren’t quite as scary or as strange as he first thought. I wonder if when he gets back to the Shire if he’ll realize the Hobbits in the next town aren’t quite as strange as he once thought.  I really don’t think this is an overt “message” story, but I do wonder if Tolkien didn't mind throwing in a little message of “those folks in the next valley aren’t as different as you think”.

It does seem every place they have traveled a misconception about hobbits, men, dwarfs, or elves is getting cleared up!  It is reasonable Tolkien had a message there.

I only stared reading fantasy a few years ago, and I keep running into this undercurrent of choice.  Bilbo has to choose to give up the Ring.  Frodo has to choose to take on the quest and be the Ring bearer. Even Boromir is choosing how he feels about the Ring and what it could bring him.  In the end, this is all coming down to how we choose to live our lives from moment to moment. 

Things may happen that are out of our control, but we always have the choice on how we will respond.

And the obligatory: what was your favorite part of this section?

This is a pretty dark answer, but I like where Boromir turns on Frodo.  I don't like that he did, but I love seeing how the ring is affecting those in its presence, and I love that it pushes Frodo to take this quest alone.

Another thing I love is how many quotes in the movie are taken straight from the book.  That's a beautiful thing.

Thank you LOTR read-alongers for having and participating in this read-along!  I can't express how much I'm enjoying the revisit to middle-earth.