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Peter Clayborne's avatar

Ahhh where’s the rest? I kept thinking the essay was going to continue and explain why the author thinks Tolkien made the choices he did --- but it looks like we gotta do it ourselves in the comments!

Very well then: I think it’s because Tolkien, as an incredible author, both fully inhabited his imaginary world and stayed true to the real one in which we all live. The dismay of nostalgia ruined, going back to a home that’s not at all like we remember, is something I think most of us understand. We can never enter the same river twice; both us and the river have changed.

Whether he planned this epilogue from the beginning or whether the story demanded it of him, Tolkien described this aspect of reality with aching accuracy. The pathos! The catharsis! No wonder people return to this series time and again 💚

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

I agree, Colbert is under-utilized, and frequently underestimated. He's wicked smart. The fact that he's a Tolkien fan is another point in his favor too. *grin*

Those chapters he talks about are among my favorites too, and likely for the same reasons. They bring a peace to our harried, jangling souls. I live in the woods, and when I have to go to town for supplies or appointments, I feel a physical ache much like Frodo aches for his home, so I get it.

I do what I can to reproduce the spirit of The Shire on my land. Despite sandy soil, a million ants, almost no extra budget - but I have patience, and knowledge, and a powerful yearning for a bit of my own Utopia. So I do what I can.

I constantly work to improve the soil, grow my own food, and flowers for the pollinators. I don't use loud, earth-wrenching tools. I don't smoke pipweed, but like Frodo, my idea of a good time is under a tree with a good book.

I think that each of us can reproduce something of The Shire in our ways. At least I hope we can. I think it's becoming more and more of an urgent need as the rest of the world around us goes to Mordor in a hand cart - if you know what I mean.

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