Hobbit Magic - Middle Earth Magic
The Fellowship of the Ring: Forward & Prelude [LOTR 1]
Welcome to Middle Earth Magic, a reading journey through The Lord of the Rings!
Our goal is simple: read for fun. After all, Tolkien wrote and created these worlds for his “own satisfaction” and in celebration of “good things” (LOTR p.xvii, p.6).
“The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them” (p.xviii).
I too am a tale-teller, usually of my own adventures. I am also, like Tolkien, a graduate of Exeter College, Oxford, in English Language and Literature. Admittedly, I chose to apply to this college in particular because it was the one he attended. But I have never studied The Lord of the Rings as literature, nor do I intend to now. During my degree, The Lord of the Rings played an important role of providing ‘pleasure reading’. (So too did The Princess Diaries). While I analysed novels, plays, and poems, LOTR was safe from my scholar’s pen. I may read ‘like an Englishist’, with a keen passion for language, but I also read like a normal human wizard.
The plan for this project:
Every Monday, I will pop in with a lesson relating to the reading for paid subscribers. I’ve allotted six months to this read-through so that it can be leisurely. As with Tolkien’s writing process, you may have “many duties” to “not neglect, and many interests as a learner and teacher that often absorb” you (p.xvii). You are welcome to read ahead, fall behind, join or leave us along the way. Just like the members of the Fellowship of the Ring. Here’s the schedule:
And now, for today’s lesson…
Our heroes, the hobbits, are “curiously tough” because of their firm values in quality and comfort (p.6).
Hobbits do not need to “study magic”; they get enough of it out of the mundane and by having “a close friendship with the earth” (p.2). It is that simple. Let it be that simple.
Through reading, we too can dedicate ourselves to “ease and peace,” and in doing so, become “difficult to daunt” (p.6). Just like hobbits!
Here is a refresher of my signature challenge for The Hobbit.
make HOBBIT MOVES —
A “Hobbit Move” is (1) an extreme act of cosiness OR (2) a small step of courage.
It takes 21 days to form a habit. It takes 19 chapters to read The Hobbit.
Your task is simple: make 19 Hobbit Moves. The balance of cosiness and courage is up to you. Examples lie below.
When you practice receiving comfort, really practice the art of sinking into it. You won’t catch a hobbit numbing out or scrolling. UTTER INDULGENCE ONLY.
When you practice acting courageous, do not let the bigness scare you from starting. Let a small step be enough. Over time, these small steps will compound into a grand adventure.
Chart your progress. Complete 19 Hobbit Moves. You will be forever changed on the other side.
On War, Privilege, Ease, and Peace:
I trust Tolkien with this task of guiding us to peace, because he fought and lived through war. Unlike Tolkien and my ancestors, I have not experienced war firsthand. I witness war from a safe distance. I choose to listen to Tolkien, so that I can be informed instead of in guilt.
Tolkien affirms that aside from war, life’s transitions are also valid disruptions:
“I changed my house, my chair, and my college, and the days though less dark [than war] were no less laborious” (p.xviii).
So whatever is on your plate, I encourage you to fill it even more — with a feast of pleasure.
Use the time you read for fun as a reclamation of what you truly enjoy. Do not read to analyse or try to ‘do it right’. It’s only a novel1. Your only job here is to enjoy it. What you find enjoyable will be unique to you. As Tolkien learned from his fan mail, “the passages or chapters that are to some a blemish are all by others specially approved” (p.xviii). Do not study the text — unless of course, that is fun for you, as refining the linguistics of LOTR was for Tolkien!
Happy reading!
Until the Next Chapter,
“Xandalf” 🧙🏻♂️
For next Monday: Read chapters 1-2 of The Fellowship of the Ring. What do you enjoy? Let one moment, quote, or word stand out to you. Leave a comment letting us know what it is :)
“‘What are you reading, Miss —-?’ ‘Oh! It’s only a novel!’ replies the young lady; while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. ‘It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda’; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed; in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit or humour, are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language.” — Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen