6. Bilbo's Song

[Oops, missed a few days there...  Gonna be playing catch-up the rest of the week.]

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.

                                          (FotR 44)

This is the song that Bilbo "sang softly in the dark" upon his final departure from Bag End.  It's an echo of the song he sings upon his return home in The Hobbit ("Roads go ever, ever on, / Over rock and under tree...") which itself reminiscences on his journey with the dwarves, and which causes Gandalf to remark how Bilbo has changed.  So here, at the beginning of Fellowship, we have an older Bilbo's new song--one can imagine him revising or adding to his first one over the years since journeying "there and back again."

This Bilbo is a veteran of the Quest, and as such, he knows well what my students would be able to tell you (they've been studying the quest story in depth, with The Hobbit, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, and now a crack at writing an original quest story): the journey undertaken by the quest hero never takes him where or how he expects it to, whether literally, figuratively, or symbolically.  This song shows Bilbo's knowledge with its tone of obligation ("I must follow"), humility ("if I can"), optimism ("eager feet"), uncertainty ("And whither then?") and openness to that uncertainty ("I cannot say").

An appropriate song for the New Year, or any beginning at all!


"Tolkien 365" is a (hopefully) daily reflection on a quote from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, beginning with The Lord of the Rings and branching into his other writings as opportunity and inspiration allow.  Comments are especially welcome.  Page references are from the hardcover American Second Edition, published by Houghton Mifflin.