Why 'Many Meetings'?
how my favorite Tolkien chapter inspired this substack
“Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness.” -The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter: Many Meetings, J.R.R. Tolkien
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When I got the idea to start a Substack publication entirely dedicated to Tolkien, one of the first things to figure out was the name. I usually struggle for days to properly name projects but this one came to me straight from my favorite chapter in Fellowship of the Ring: Many Meetings.
I’m well past this part of the story in my 2024 read-through, but as I do every year in our read-through, I wanted to take a small pocket of time and linger on this chapter itself; to honor the namesake of this publication and invite you to savor it with me. (pssst…there’s a small free gift at the end of this post for you!).
When the chapter opens, Frodo finds himself recovering in an unfamiliar, yet deeply comfortable bed. To his surprise, his old friend Gandalf is sitting nearby and wastes no time in chiding the Hobbit, “Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.” he tells Frodo.
Later, Gandalf walks back the harshness of the statement saying he did not mean it. “I think well of you–and of the others. It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such dangers, still bearing the Ring.”
Frodo soon learns a feast is planned to celebrate the victory at the Fords of Bruinen and he and his friends are invited as guests of honor. What follows is a delightful series of small, endearing events set against the beautiful Elven stronghold deep in the heart of the Misty Mountains.
"And the house of Elrond was a refuge for the weary and the oppressed, and a treasury of good counsel and wise lore." ― The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
Rivendell (or Imladris) is an ancient place of refuge and beauty, not just for Elves, but for the Dúnedian and other free people of Middle-earth as well. Many great lords and wise peoples come to Elrond’s house seeking healing and counsel.
This chapter is full of several meaningful (and sometimes hilarious) interactions. Gandalf’s seriousness juxtaposed against Pippin’s unrelenting cheerfulness. Frodo dining with one of the dwarves who went with Bilbo on the famed quest to The Lonely Mountain. A joint songwriting session between a Dúnedain and a Hobbit.
This chapter gives reprieve in the midst of what is often a grueling tale. Here in Rivendell we are invited to rest, laugh and find refuge from the dark for a while.
Perhaps one of the sweetest scenes is Frodo reuniting with Bilbo. A simple moment that holds great weight because witnessing it informs us of just how important this relationship is to Frodo.
In an earlier chapter (The Shadow of the Past), we see how Frodo’s fear of leaving the Shire with the Ring is overcome by a desire to follow in his beloved Bilbo’s footsteps and maybe find him again. In that moment, he finds the courage to embark on a terrifying and seemingly impossible journey through his love for the Hobbit who became his father figure.
“He did not tell Gandalf, but as he was speaking a great desire to follow Bilbo flamed up in his heart - to follow Bilbo, and even perhaps to find him again. It was so strong that it overcame his fear: he could almost have run out there and then down the road without his hat, as Bilbo had done on a similar morning long ago.” The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter: The Shadow of the Past, J.R.R. Tolkien
Much to Frodo’s delight, he discovers not only is Bilbo in Rivendell, but the old Hobbit has been sitting by his bedside every day while he was recovering from the wound inflicted by the Witch King. And sadly, their reunion is tainted by the Ring’s presence but only temporarily. If anything, it communicates to the reader the ability of the Ring to twist and pervert even the most wholesome relationships.
This scene quickly passes ‘leaving hardly a shred of memory’ and Frodo moves from lofty conversations about the doings of the dwarves and the capture of Gandalf to a small window of time to talk with Bilbo about their shared homeland, the Shire.
Soon afterwards, Frodo witnesses just how much respect Bilbo has earned from everyone in Rivendell. Aragorn “helps” him write a song and Bilbo is permitted to sing it to everyone present (even though the song is about Elrond’s legendary father, Eärendil).
Something you might find interesting:
The song Bilbo writes is about ‘Eärendil the Mariner’. Tolkien first wrote about this character and his voyage on September 24, 1914. This would later come to be recognized as ‘the first identifiable Middle-earth fragment’1 that Tolkien wrote about his fictional world.
After Bilbo debuts his song, he invites his nephew to retire back to his room where they sit alone for a while and, though both greatly changed by their grand adventures, find the same familiar companionship has remained between them.
“He led Frodo back to his own little room. It opened on to the gardens and looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen. There they sat for some while, looking through the window at the bright stars above the steep-climbing woods, and talking softly. They spoke no more of the small news of the Shire far away, nor of the dark shadows and perils that encompassed them, but of the fair things they had seen in the world together, of the Elves, of the stars, of trees, and the gentle fall of the bright year in the woods.”
And so, Frodo meets dear old Bilbo in the safe haven of Imladris, and is once again given the courage to finish the task set before him.
This is what I want my place on substack, Many Meetings, to be: a place to find respite from a heavy world, a place of wholesome escapism that lifts your eyes to Jesus who placed it here to speak to your heart, a place for you to come and gather around these beautiful stories, and then, enter back into your own life with fresh courage to face it.
If you’d like to have me show up in your inbox once a week (and get in all the deep dive conversations to accompany your 2024 Lord of the Rings read-through) consider upgrading today. My next Middle-earth Monday post for paid subscribers is coming October 21st!
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Either way, I hope you enjoyed today’s free post on the namesake for this publication.
The community we have here would not exist without you. Your presence is deeply appreciated.
»»» And in case you’ve missed it, enjoy this tiny bonus gift: a Tolkien-inspired playlist, I’ve curated for you to enjoy. Listen to it by clicking here.
I have been on a deconstructing journey for several years. Not sure where my faith will wind up but often when I read Christian things I feel a kind of “ick” but I don’t get that when reading your texts. I read some other thing you wrote about faith some time ago and I must say that when I see you mention your faith I only feel peace. And I have read a lot of things from different religious leaders in my days but what you write is different. It doesn’t make me feel guilt or shame which most texts do, just peace. And I find that reassuring. I often long for a place like Imladris. I love to escape to Middle earth to find peace and reading texts where you mention your faith really gives that kind of peace.
Thank you for that.
And I just love Pippin and how Gandalf seems to irritated with him at times. I just read the passage where they were going to enter Khazad dûm and I always find it so funny when Gandalf says that he will use Pippins head to try to open the doors so he doesn’t have to hear his dumb questions.
That whole chapter is really good. I really wish that they would have had an extended scene in the movies where the Fellowship fought against the wolves or ghost wolves or whatever they were.
I am in Farewell to Lorien.
I discovered the conflict between Elves and Dwarves this reading. Someone tell me if I misunderstood.
There was peace between the two races. But when the dwarves dug too deep and unleashed evil in the mountains, it ended up driving both many elves and dwarves away after many had been fatally affected. With their realms being so close in proximity what would affect one could easily affect the other. The elves blamed the dwarves thus ending their friendship. It seemed the chapters of entering Moria through entering Lothlorien were explaining the reason for their disconnect. If this is so, I completely missed this before. I knew the about the result of the dwarves digging and unleashing evil. However, I don’t think I understood how it affected their relationship with the Elves. I did not connect to two.
“[The song of Nimrodel] is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlorien, Lórien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.”
“But the Dwarves did not make the evil,” said Gimli.
“I said not so; yet evil came,” answered Legolas sadly.
I can see the elves being angry faulting the ‘greed’ of the dwarves to dig too deep. Bringing harm on them and the beautiful realm the inhabited. However, I also see the dwarves caught unawares losing many of their folk and the beloved Durin. The dwarves lost their home and had to find new dwellings. It can be embittering to receive blame amid your own grief.