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The Shadow of the Past
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The Shadow of the Past
"The Shadow of the Past" is the second chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's bestselling fantasy work, The Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954–1955. Tolkien called it "the crucial chapter"; the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey labelled it "the vital chapter". This is because it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realise that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. A sketch of it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938; later that year, it was one of three chapters of the book that he drafted. In 1944, he returned to the chapter, adding descriptions of Gollum, the Ring, and the hunt for Gollum.
The chapter changes the book's tone from the first chapter's light-hearted hobbit partying, and introduces major themes of the book. These include a sense of the depth of time behind unfolding events, the power of the Ring, and the inter-related questions of providence, free will, and predestination.
Peter Jackson, in his Lord of the Rings film trilogy, splits up Gandalf's description of the Ring's history to Frodo and compresses other parts of his talk.
The philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien had been working on his legendarium, the complex narratives that became The Silmarillion, for some 20 years, and had in 1937 published the well-received children's book The Hobbit. His publishers, George Allen & Unwin, asked him for a follow-up book. Over the Christmas of 1937, Tolkien began to write, without a clear idea where the story would lead, or indeed whether the audience would be children or adults. The first chapter set out in a style much like that of The Hobbit, with a story of Bilbo Baggins's speech at his birthday party. As he stated, the tale "grew in the telling", becoming the epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954–55.
Tolkien's biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, writes that at the end of 1937, Tolkien wrote the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings, "A Long-Expected Party", but "had as yet no clear idea of what the new story was going to be about". A sketch of "The Shadow of the Past" soon followed; it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938.
The scholar Christina Scull notes that Tolkien's words, "I wrote and tore up and rewrote most of it a good many times", applies as much to the start of The Lord of the Rings as to the section of book 4 to which he applied it. By beginning the work with a "long-expected" party, he was consciously echoing the "unexpected party" that began The Hobbit. She suggests that he was clearly planning that the hero – whether Bilbo, or in draft variants his son or his adopted young cousin Bingo – would throw the party and then set off on The Hobbit-style adventures. In February 1938 he wrote to his publisher that as he had not intended to write a sequel, he feared "I squandered all my favourite 'motifs' and characters on the original 'Hobbit'."
Tolkien told his publisher that "stories tend to get out of hand, and this has taken an unpremeditated turn"; a Black Rider, of unknown provenance, had appeared, searching intently for the Hobbits. But progress on the story stalled until the summer of 1938. Tolkien then had the Elf Gildor explain that the Ring had been made by the Necromancer, who wanted to find it; and the Black Riders were the Ringwraiths. He was then able to draft a dialogue between the Hobbit and Gandalf about how the Ring must be destroyed. Suddenly the ideas began to flow. It was a critical section, as it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the whole book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realize that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. The manuscripts illustrating the slow development of Tolkien's ideas are documented by Tolkien's son Christopher in The Return of the Shadow. Tolkien later described "The Shadow of the Past" as "the crucial chapter". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey concurred, labelling it "the vital chapter", as it established the central plot of the book. In particular, it demonstrated that the Ring was immeasurably powerful and unalterably evil, so that its destruction was the only viable choice, however dangerous that might be.
Tolkien sent drafts of three chapters to his publisher for comment. They were read by the 12-year-old Rayner Unwin, who had given a favourable opinion of The Hobbit to his father some years earlier; this time he reported that he had enjoyed the material, but that there was "too much Hobbit talk".
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The Shadow of the Past
"The Shadow of the Past" is the second chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's bestselling fantasy work, The Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954–1955. Tolkien called it "the crucial chapter"; the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey labelled it "the vital chapter". This is because it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realise that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. A sketch of it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938; later that year, it was one of three chapters of the book that he drafted. In 1944, he returned to the chapter, adding descriptions of Gollum, the Ring, and the hunt for Gollum.
The chapter changes the book's tone from the first chapter's light-hearted hobbit partying, and introduces major themes of the book. These include a sense of the depth of time behind unfolding events, the power of the Ring, and the inter-related questions of providence, free will, and predestination.
Peter Jackson, in his Lord of the Rings film trilogy, splits up Gandalf's description of the Ring's history to Frodo and compresses other parts of his talk.
The philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien had been working on his legendarium, the complex narratives that became The Silmarillion, for some 20 years, and had in 1937 published the well-received children's book The Hobbit. His publishers, George Allen & Unwin, asked him for a follow-up book. Over the Christmas of 1937, Tolkien began to write, without a clear idea where the story would lead, or indeed whether the audience would be children or adults. The first chapter set out in a style much like that of The Hobbit, with a story of Bilbo Baggins's speech at his birthday party. As he stated, the tale "grew in the telling", becoming the epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954–55.
Tolkien's biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, writes that at the end of 1937, Tolkien wrote the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings, "A Long-Expected Party", but "had as yet no clear idea of what the new story was going to be about". A sketch of "The Shadow of the Past" soon followed; it was among the first parts of the book to be written, early in 1938.
The scholar Christina Scull notes that Tolkien's words, "I wrote and tore up and rewrote most of it a good many times", applies as much to the start of The Lord of the Rings as to the section of book 4 to which he applied it. By beginning the work with a "long-expected" party, he was consciously echoing the "unexpected party" that began The Hobbit. She suggests that he was clearly planning that the hero – whether Bilbo, or in draft variants his son or his adopted young cousin Bingo – would throw the party and then set off on The Hobbit-style adventures. In February 1938 he wrote to his publisher that as he had not intended to write a sequel, he feared "I squandered all my favourite 'motifs' and characters on the original 'Hobbit'."
Tolkien told his publisher that "stories tend to get out of hand, and this has taken an unpremeditated turn"; a Black Rider, of unknown provenance, had appeared, searching intently for the Hobbits. But progress on the story stalled until the summer of 1938. Tolkien then had the Elf Gildor explain that the Ring had been made by the Necromancer, who wanted to find it; and the Black Riders were the Ringwraiths. He was then able to draft a dialogue between the Hobbit and Gandalf about how the Ring must be destroyed. Suddenly the ideas began to flow. It was a critical section, as it represents both the moment that Tolkien devised the central plot of the whole book, and the point in the story where the protagonist, Frodo Baggins, and the reader realize that there will be a quest to destroy the Ring. The manuscripts illustrating the slow development of Tolkien's ideas are documented by Tolkien's son Christopher in The Return of the Shadow. Tolkien later described "The Shadow of the Past" as "the crucial chapter". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey concurred, labelling it "the vital chapter", as it established the central plot of the book. In particular, it demonstrated that the Ring was immeasurably powerful and unalterably evil, so that its destruction was the only viable choice, however dangerous that might be.
Tolkien sent drafts of three chapters to his publisher for comment. They were read by the 12-year-old Rayner Unwin, who had given a favourable opinion of The Hobbit to his father some years earlier; this time he reported that he had enjoyed the material, but that there was "too much Hobbit talk".