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17 July 2021

Eleventy-one: Re-reading The Lord of the Rings 50 years on -- part three

Book One, Chapter One: A Long-expected Party




Perhaps the most charming and moving aspect of the culture of The Shire is the practice of giving gifts to others on one's own birthday. The world would be a better place if we all did this, I thought. There was a time some years back when I decided that I was going to try it. I gathered more than a few strange looks from friends and co-workers -- as if I was only confirming their impression of me as a bit strange --  but I could see that it pleased them to receive the gift, however small and odd, and that felt good to all of us. As with Bilbo, the generosity made up for the weirdness. For a while I felt like a 'child of the kindly West', with more of good in me than I knew.

I resisted the urge to include snarky notes. 



2 comments:

  1. In true hobbit fashion, some friends and I have been passing mathoms (mainly kitschy little knick-knacks) back and forth for years.

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  2. Ah, your snarky footnotes are wonderful. Please don't hold back! My first reading was in 1972-73, in my early teens. Hadn't read The Hobbit beforehand, either, believing myself much too old for a 'children's book'. Since then, many readings and, in the past decade, Mythgard courses and papers.

    I loved reading 'Tolkien Virgin' chapter blogs two decades ago [http://recycledknowledge.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-tolkien-virgin.html]. This endeavor will be something different, fascinating in its own way. Thanks, Tom.

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