Untangling Tolkien
by Michael W. Perry
Here's a detailed description of the contents of Untangling Tolkien with some short quotations to illustrate its flavor. This dating is in Shire Reckoning, so you will need to add 1600 years for Third Age dating. The book's hundreds of sidebar references to Tolkien sources are not included here.
Table of Contents with Selected Quotes
Preface--This book was written to create a detailed chronology of Tolkien's tale based primarily on the narrative itself.
No one, however, should see this book as a substitute for
The Lord of the Rings. It most emphatically is
not. If you are reading this and haven't yet read
Tolkien's great epic, stop and read no further. Read
his book at least once from cover to cover before
you even look at this book. Enjoy one of the best
written and most widely popular books of modern times and
leave details such as the chronology for later. The first
rule in reading is always "Enjoy!"
1. Dating and Chronology--Understanding Tolkien's calendar, including a Shire Calendar good in all years.
At first glance, the dates you see in this book will seem
familiar. There are the usual twelve months of our
calendar along with seven days in each week. But if you
look more closely, you'll find something surprising. All
the months have exactly thirty days, no more and no less.
Even February has 30 days. No Hobbit child needed to
learn the rhyme about "Thirty days hath September . . ."
2. A Brief Background--Covers from before the Creation to the Watchful Peace or over 6472 Years.
C. S. Lewis said it best. The Hobbit was "a
fragment torn from the author's huge myth and adapted for
children," but with The Fellowship of the Ring,
Tolkien gave us all that vastness, "in their true
dimensions like themselves." "You can hardly put your
foot down," he noted, "without stirring the dust of
history."
3. Growing Conflict--Covers 860 to 1340 or from when the Watchful Peace ends to the treachery of Sauron--481 Years.
Tolkien needed a rationale for the great trust Gandalf
later places in Hobbit resourcefulness. (Their
easy-going, day-to-day lives are not impressive.) He
found it in the Long Winter. After the War of the Ring,
Tolkien has Gandalf describe how impressed he was with
the courage and compassion Hobbits displayed during this
long, cold winter, as so many of them were dying of cold
and starvation. At that time he reached the conclusion
that their one great lack was a forgetfulness about the
past which kept them from understanding the world outside
their little home and the possibility that they might
play a major role in it.
4. A Chance Encounter--Covers 1341 to 1355 or from when Gandalf meets Thorin to the Fourth White Council--15 Years.
According to the Unfinished Tales reference, before
leaving Bag End on April 5, Bilbo hinted to a neighbor
that he was traveling in the hope of meeting Elves. For
Elves, April 6 in the Shire calendar is either New Year's
Day or the day before or after it (depending on the point
in the 12-year leap-year cycle of the Elves), so it is
likely Bilbo had gone hiking in the hope of encountering
Elves celebrating in some meadow. That would lead Gandalf
to assume (wrongly) that Bilbo longed for adventure.
5. A Time of Preparation--Covers 1356 to 1416 or from when Aragorn meets Gandalf to the search for Gollum--61 Years.
Tolkien was a bit taken with one member of the
illustrious Took family--Gerontius Took, better known as
"Old Took" for the advanced age to which he lived. No
less than four of the five most important Hobbits in this
story are his direct descendants.
6. Searching for the Shire--Covers 1417 to Late August 1418 or from Gollum's capture by Sauron to the Black Riders searching the Anduin Valley--20 Months.
To create a sense of drama, Tolkien must turn Sauron's
attention to the Hobbit who possesses the Ring and yet
not permit him to discover where the Ring is too quickly.
He does that by having Gollum tell a critical lie--that
the Shire from which the Baggins who stole the Ring came
was near Gollum's own home on the banks of the Anduin
River (that is, east of the Misty Mountains rather than
west).
7. Hiking to Crickhollow--Early September to September 25, 1418 or from Aragorn's return to the Hobbits reaching Crickhollow--About 25 Days, Includes Day 1 to 3 of Frodo's travels.
Two Tolkien manuscripts say that the Black Riders arrived
at Isengard two days after Gandalf escaped while only one
says they came on the same day as the escape. But the
earlier dating adopted here allows much needed time for
the Black Riders to get to the Shire (roughly 600 miles
away) at sunset on September 22, after only four days of
riding. In comparison, in July Gandalf, also on horseback
and in a hurry, took eleven days to make that same
journey. Following after the Black Riders, Gandalf will
take six days to reach Sarn Ford on Shadowfax, though he
may have had to cover a greater distance.
8. Flight to Bree--September 26 to 29, 1418 or from the Hobbits entering the Old Forest to their arrival at Bree--4 Days, Day 4 to 7.
The Black Riders reached the Sarn Ford on the evening of
September 22, so Gandalf was some six days behind them at
that point. At first glance, that seems to make it
impossible for him to catch up. However, Gandalf gets a
chance to close the gap when the Black Riders fail to
capture the Hobbits in the Shire and do not pursue them
into the Old Forest. Gandalf began a week behind the
Hobbits, but by the time he reaches Bree, he is only a
few hours behind them.
9. Journey to Rivendell--September 30 to October 20, 1418 or from the Hobbits and Strider leaving Bree to their arrival at Rivendell--21 Days, Day 8 to 28.
We can determine the approximate time of the Black Rider
attack from the fact that the moon is described as just
rising above the mountain as it begins. On this day, the
moon was two days past first quarter and rose about 4:30
p.m. in the east-southeast. But the Hobbits are in a
sheltered dell on west side, so it was much later before
it rose above Weathertop. It will set in the
west-southwest about 2:30 a.m. Those rising and setting
times mean that the moon is at its highest point about
9:30 p.m., a little south of directly overhead, so the
attack may have come an hour or two before that, perhaps
at 8:30.
10. Rivendell to Lorien--October 21, 1418 to February 14, 1419 or from treating Frodo to through their rest at Lorien--116 Days, Day 29 to 144.
Earlier, Tolkien mentioned in passing that when parties
went out to search for the dehorsed Black Riders, Elladan
and Elrohir (Elrond's twin sons) visited a mysterious
place on the Silverlode River. We do not need to be
brilliant literary scholars to realize that Tolkien was
hinting they visited Lorien. This means they carried news
of nine travelers that Celeborn and Galadriel reveal when
eight travelers arrive. The fact that the sons carried
news of nine travelers also meant that Elrond had decided
on that number back in the fall, although who would make
up their ranks was not settled until the December 18
conference.
11. Lorien to Parting--February 15 to February 26, 1419 or from the Mirror of Galadriel until the Company separates--12 Days, Day 145 to 156.
How did Tolkien intend for the travelers to transition
from day to night travel? They could have taken the easy
approach and rested all day on the 20th (after sleeping
the night before) and begun their night travel on the
evening of the 20th. But given Aragorn's haste to outrun
Gollum, that seems unlikely. They probably paddled all
day on the 20th and most of the following night. Tolkien
seems to hint at this when, after being told by Frodo
that Gollum is following, Aragorn says they will "try
going faster tomorrow," and the next paragraph speaks of
beginning night travel.
12. Captivity and Pursuit--February 27 to March 1, 1419 or from two Hobbits being taken captive by Orcs to the Entmoot--5 Days, Day 157 to 161.
Notice that in Tolkien's narrative, Merry and Pippin's
escape on Day 4 is described in Chapter 3, after
readers--reading about the pursuit of Aragorn, Gimli and
Legolas--were told in Chapter 2 (describing Day 5) that
Hobbits were not found among the Orcs and could be
presumed dead. Tolkien was a gifted writer. That delay
heightens our delight when we discover the Hobbits alive
and free.
13. War with Saruman--March 2 to 5, 1419 or from Gandalf motivating Thoden to the defeat of Saruman--4 Days, Day 162 to 165.
We often get clues about when Tolkien was writing a
particular chapter from remarks in letters. On April 13,
1944, he wrote his son Christopher, who was with the
Royal Air Force in South Africa, that the day before he
had "brought Frodo nearly to the gate of Mordor." Though
it is probably exaggerating the parallel, at the very
time the Allies were preparing to invade Hitler's
"Fortress Europe" with huge armies, two small Hobbits
were searching for a way into Sauron's "Fortress Mordor."
14. Preparing for War--March 6 to 9, 1419 or from fleeing the Nazgul to Rohan receives the Red Arrow--4 Days, Day 166 to 169.
Both Tolkien and his friend, C. S. Lewis, served in the
trenches of World War I. Some forty years after that war,
Lewis remarked that the war with Sauron, "has the very
quality of the war my generation knew. It is all here,
the endless, unintelligible movement, the sinister quiet
of the front when 'everything is now ready,' the flying
civilians, the lively, vivid friendships, the background
of something like despair and the merry foreground, and
such heaven-sent windfalls as a cache of tobacco
'salvaged from a ruin.'"
15. Darkness and War--March 10 to 15, 1419 or from the Dawnless Day to victory at Minas Tirith--6 Days, Day 170 to 175.
Talented military leaders are careful not to exhaust
their men's 'fighting reserve' of strength unless
absolutely necessary. Here Tolkien has Aragorn recklessly
expend that reserve, having his men fight all day and
ride through the night. The risk he takes is great. With
their very last reserves of strength, his men will still
be able to fight on the 13th, but they absolutely must
win that day or suffer near-certain defeat. Sauron's
forces will give them no time to rest and recover. In
heroic literature, this situation is called "victory or
death." With Minas Tirith about to fall, Aragorn has no
other choice.
16. Marching Against Sauron--March 16 to April 6, 1419 or from the March on Mordor to the defeat of Sauron--21 Days, Day 176 to 196.
There is no indication in Tolkien's writings that Sauron
was told that Gollum was following the Hobbits. If he had
been told, he might have realized that Gollum was
following the Ring and reacted accordingly. A more
aggressive search and even a small guard at Mount Doom
would have made Frodo and Sam's task impossible.
17. Peace Returns--April 7 to August 22, 1419 or from the War's aftermath to dividing the Fellowship--139 Days, Day 197 to 335.
"Anguish," C. S. Lewis tells us, is "almost the
prevailing note of The Lord of the Rings." But it is not
the anguish "typical of our age, the anguish of abnormal
or contorted souls." No, it is that of healthy-minded
Hobbits who love nothing better than "a snug fireside and
many an hour of good cheer." It is that of "those who
were happy before a certain darkness came up and will be
happy if they live to see it gone."
18. Returning Home--August 23, 1419 to late 1419 or from departing for Bree to freeing the Shire--Over 71 Days, Day 378 to 407f.
A little geography will help us understand how Tolkien
calculated Saruman's journey and their own. Saruman will
reach the Shire, roughly 350 miles away, on September 22,
after 24 days on foot, traveling just under 15 miles a
day. Going through Rivendell and traveling about twice as
far in twice as long (47 days on the road), as well as
staying 12 days in Rivendell, the Hobbits will take two
months to reach the Shire on ponies, not arriving until
October 30.
19. Rebuilding and Departing--1420 to 1541 or from the wounds of war to the last departure over the Sea--122 Years.
Tolkien gave Sam, the most down-to-earth of the Hobbits,
the largest family. They fill Frodo's large Bag End home
with 13 children, among them a Bilbo, Frodo, Merry and
Pippin. His long and happy life included a political
career in which he is elected mayor of the Shire seven
times. He was, nevertheless, one of the Ringbearers and
joins Bilbo and Sam over the sea when he is 99 years old.
20. Tolkien's Great Puzzle--Understanding Tolkien's writing techniques.
If Tolkien was so careful to get the dates right, why did
he go to so much trouble to conceal them? The answer lies
in literature. Those who call The Lord of the
Rings the greatest literary work of the Middle Ages
are not far from the mark. The key lies in a single word,
"interlace." Understand what that means, and you have
taken a giant step toward understanding what makes The
Lord of the Rings so special, as well as why the
story seems so real to many of its readers.
Commentary in Untangling Tolkien
In addition to comments in the chronology itself, the book also includes more lengthy commentary at the end of chapters. Sample quotes from each are included below.
"Tolkien's Heroes"
Although Tolkien expressed distaste when people drew
detailed parallels between his story and events taking
place at the time he was writing, it is easy to spot
historical similarities. From about 1933, when Hitler
took power in Germany, until World War II began in
September of 1939, the political leaders of Britain and
France procrastinated. They preferred to see Adolf Hitler
as a Necromancer-like leader who could be appeased by
letting him take over German-speaking territories such as
the Rhineland, Austria and the Sudetenland. Until he
attacked Poland, they failed to realize that he had a
Sauron-like thirst for power and intended to dominate all
Europe. Only a few spoke out with Gandalf-like warnings
of danger. Chief among those was Winston Churchill, whose
warnings came almost too late.
"More about the Inklings"
In 1937, hoping to help Tolkien publicize The
Hobbit, C. S. Lewis wrote the the Times Literary
Supplement, claiming expertise in children's stories
and offering to review The Hobbit. The result
illustrates the old adage that, "no good deed goes
unpunished." He unhappily found himself being asked to
review children's stories that did not interest him.
"Blending the Northern with the Mediterranean"
Tolkien hinted at how "Nordic" tales became linked with
racism in a 1968 letter in which he associated his
dislike for the word "Nordic," with "racialist theories"
of "French origin." He is referring to Count Arthur de
Gobineau's 1853, Essai sur l'Inegalite des Races
Humaines. As Hannah Arendt noted, Gobineau's basic
idea was "that the fall of civilizations is due to the
degeneration of races and the decay of races is due to a
mixture of blood" with inferior races.
"Phases of the Moon"
The lunar cycle repeats every 29.5 days. If you think of
the sun and moon racing one another across the sky, then
the moon is the slower one, falling behind about 13
degrees or roughly an hour a night. When the moon is new,
it rises (almost invisible) with the sun at dawn and sets
at sunset. At first quarter it has fallen back, rising at
noon and setting at midnight. At full moon it rises at
sunset and sets at dawn. Finally, the last quarter moon
rises at midnight and sets at noon.
"Tolkien's Natural World"
Tolkien's natural world is intrinsically people-centered.
It needs people to guide its growth, much like a garden
needs a gardener or sheep need a shepherd. The Shire is a
marvelous place because pastures, forests, Hobbits and
wild animals live in harmony, with none an enemy of the
others.
"The Significance of the Ring"
In today's context, you might say that Tolkien believed
that the strength of a nation rests in the character and
wisdom of its people, rather than in its Ring-like wealth
and technological prowess. That is why the Council of
Elrond chose to send nine lightly armed volunteers,
including four small Hobbits, against the great might and
vast armies of Sauron. In the end, Tolkien is telling us,
the struggle between good and evil will not settled by
which side has the most power or by which regiments its
people the most ruthlessly. It will be won by those who
place the greatest reliance on ordinary virtues such as
friendship, kindness, courage and honesty.
"Tolkien and Lewis"
Along with that came an idea about what the art of
writing meant. Tolkien's term for the process was
"sub-creation." With his tales he was imitating, ever so
feebly in literature, what God did on a much larger scale
in history. God created true myth. Tolkien was creating
myth that, while not strictly true, was intended to have
the ring of truth, hence his obsession with detail and
accuracy.
"No Generation Gap"
Finally, the happiness most Hobbits find in their lives
means they have no need to blame the Shire's few social
ills on others, be that the "old fogies" in charge or
"rebellious" youth. Displaying a common sense that really
was common, Hobbits knew where society should set its
limits and where it shouldn't. They took troublemakers to
their borders and tossed them out without a twinge of
guilt. But they were also tolerant of things that didn't
matter. Sam may have met with more murmurs of approval
when he married Rose than the partying Merry and Pippin.
But the two were left to ride about, dressed in
outlandish military outfits, with no more than a few
smiles of amusement. Perhaps this stability over time and
the lack of a generation gap are among the reasons why
today's readers, whatever their age, are attracted to
Hobbits and their peaceful little Shire.
"The Testing of Hobbits"
Using all these experiences, Tolkien has taken the
Hobbits through four stages. The first was their
childlike innocence about the dangers that surrounded
them, illustrated by the first hours of their hike to
Crickhollow. Pursued by Black Riders, they grew up
quickly, learning that the world can be a dangerous
place, and that danger must be met with courage and good
sense.
"A Different Tale"
Perhaps nothing provides us with a better indication that
Tolkien got his tale just right, than the reaction of
many readers when they are told of characters and plots
that Tolkien considered but rejected. "Change that?" they
react, "You can't change that. That's the way it really
happened!"
"A Duty to Disobey"
It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of
Middle-earth hinged on the willingness of a few to
disobey foolish or wrong orders. Contrary to some in the
England into which he was born, Tolkien did not accept
the idea--which sounds so pretty in poetry--that: "Theirs
not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but
to do and die." Those who fight in The Lord of the Rings
know why they risk death. They fight as free men with
minds and wills of their own and not as the brutalized
slaves of Sauron or the cleverly manipulated machines of
Wells and Webb.
"The Humanity of Ancient People"
Sadly, some of the bile directed against Tolkien for
setting his tale in the ancient past is the fury of a
Whig, angry to see people from an age that is distant
beyond all counting portrayed with talents and virtues
that are rare even in our own and presumably more
enlightened age. If Tolkien has done nothing more than
impress on us the humanity of our distant ancestors, he
has accomplished quite a bit.
"Tolkien, War and Cynicism"
World War I forever altered the lives of millions of men
who fought in its trenches and on its battlefields....
The result is still with us. Many modern cynics, two
generations or more removed from the suffering in those
trenches, now believe that all wars are meaningless and
futile.
Tolkien would not have agreed.... For Tolkien, if the cause was just and the foe evil, even death in battle had meaning. You see that in Rohan's brave ride to aid its southern ally and in the desperate fighting at Helm's Deep.
Tolkien would not have agreed.... For Tolkien, if the cause was just and the foe evil, even death in battle had meaning. You see that in Rohan's brave ride to aid its southern ally and in the desperate fighting at Helm's Deep.
"Tolkien and Technology"
In short, Tolkien did not dislike technology as such. But
he did fear that, if we are not careful, we could become
the servants of our machines rather than their rulers.
Put in literary terms, he feared that a Ring would be
discovered with the power to shape us to its will,
leaving us with the most terrible of choices. We could
rule like the Nazgul, we could become enslaved like the
pitiful Gollum, or we could live in misery, hating this
new age of repression much like the fearful Hobbits. The
alternative to all three is to fight for freedom whatever
the cost.
"Gondor's Pony Express"
Is this possible? Could a message be taken from Minas
Tirith to Dunharrow in such a short time? Gandalf on
Shadowfax takes three full nights of travel to reach
Minas Tirith and the Rohirrim will take just over five
days. Yet the errand-rider bearing the Red Arrow reaches
Theoden in 30 hours at most.
"More than Chance"
From what seems to be a chance meeting between Wizard and
Dwarf in 1341 Bree to the arrival at the last possible
moment of Gondor's calvary at Minas Tirith in 1419 after
the long ride that begins in this chapter, the timing of
events in Tolkien's story point to an often recurring
theme. In them there is a sense that Someone is working
out of sight to achieve much larger ends than any of the
participants realize.
"Tolkien's Writing Interrupted"
There are, however, hints in his May 31 letter, that he
was pushing himself unusually hard. ("By sitting up all
hours, I managed it.") That may explain why a
disproportionate share of the chronological difficulties
in the entire tale come in Book 4, and particularly in
its troublesome last two chapters: "Shelob's Lair" and
"The Choices of Master Samwise." We take up their
chronological difficulties in the next chapter.
"Tolkien's Chronology in Shelob's Lair"
Frodo and Sam's movements from March 10 to 14 form
perhaps the most difficult chronological problem in the
entire book. Their weariness and the continual darkness
in the sky, on the stairs, and inside Shelob's Lair
deprive readers of most clues about the passage of
time--an effect Tolkien seems to have deliberately
exaggerated by giving readers so few clues as to the
time.
"Freedom or Slavery"
Perhaps the best illustration of Tolkien's attitude comes
in The Two Towers at the end of "Of Herbs and
Stewed Rabbits." Faramir has attacked the dark-skinned
Southrons who are allied to Sauron. "Ah," Tolkien's
critics might say, "Here is his racism. Dark-skin bad,
light skin good. What a bigot!" Hardly. In the battle,
one Southron escapes the fighting and dies at Sam's feet.
Does Sam gloat over his racial superiority? No. Does he
sneer at an inferior race being slain like a wild beast?
No. He wonders what the man's name is and where his home
might be. Most important of all, he wonders if the man
really wanted to go to war, or if he was forced to fight
and die in a strange land.
"The Ring and Totalitarianism"
For Arendt, the critical factor that prepares modern
societies for totalitarian rule is loneliness or, as she
puts it elsewhere, the "atomization" of society.
Loneliness, she stresses, is different from solitude. In
solitude we talk with ourselves, in loneliness we lose
the ability to talk with anyone about what really
matters. But our ability to talk with ourselves and
remain sensible, she emphasizes, is dependent on our
relationship to others. It is in talking to others, that
we learn to talk wisely with ourselves. When a
totalitarian state destroys genuine communication between
people, individuals are left with no "self" with whom
they can talk.
To see that in concrete terms, think of the dark nights Sam experiences on the plains of Mordor and how, in solitude, he faced the fact that his journey across that blasted landscape would be one way, ending with his death. That alone would be enough to drive some to madness and still more to despair. Only a sense of himself and his place in the world, nurtured over many years by his fellow Hobbits, enabled him to go on, giving his life on a mission that, as far as he knew, would provide him with no benefit.
To see that in concrete terms, think of the dark nights Sam experiences on the plains of Mordor and how, in solitude, he faced the fact that his journey across that blasted landscape would be one way, ending with his death. That alone would be enough to drive some to madness and still more to despair. Only a sense of himself and his place in the world, nurtured over many years by his fellow Hobbits, enabled him to go on, giving his life on a mission that, as far as he knew, would provide him with no benefit.
"Different Reactions to Sauron"
The Hobbits, newcomers to Middle-earth history, are the
great unknown in Tolkien's tale. He will use the War of
the Ring to test their character, and in the end they do
surprisingly well, much as Gandalf had hoped.
"Tolkien and 'Lunatic' Aryan Myths"
From an early age, Tolkien was fascinated by northern
European mythology. As a result of that interest, he
became an Oxford professor and literary scholar. With
that background, it is hardly surprising that there are
numerous parallels between his stories and those myths
(particularly the Finnish epic Kalevala). That has
led some to link Tolkien with those who used those same
mythologies for evil purposes, particularly in Germany
during the 1930s. The link is an unfair one.
"Black and White in Tolkien"
Finally, the Black Riders are used by some to demonstrate
Tolkien's alleged racism. They are, these people tell us,
both black and unspeakably evil. But at the risk of
stating the obvious, those particular servants of Sauron
are called black because of the clothes they wear and the
horses they ride rather than the color of their skin.
When Frodo uses his Ring on Weathertop, he sees them as
they really are--with "white faces."
"Never Absent and Never Named"
Why did the book have such an impact on her? "Soviet
people have been raised as atheists," she explains today.
"Tolkien's books offered me hope for our world, the hope
that Tolkien's Elves call estel. Tolkien does not mention
God in The Lord of the Rings at all, but you feel
something really wonderful when you read it. Later I
recognized it as faith."
"Tolkien's Outline of the Book"--Describes the various names Tolkien considered for his tale's six books and three volumes.
"A Quick Reference to Important Dates"--Find important dates at a glance.
All quotations © Copyright 2003 by Michael W. Perry. All Rights Reserved.