What Did You Miss in Your Readings?

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

A comment in another thread spurred me to think about this. What I mean is, is there something, whether a small but significant detail, or a large structural element, which you didn't pick up on until later readings?

I mentioned one of mine in an old thread somewhere, but I'll give it again here -- something I missed for decades: the almost exact parallels -- though of course in greatly expanded form -- between the assault on the Gates of Minas Tirith, near the end of the quest, and the assault on Crickhollow, near the beginning; the setting just before dawn, the approach of the Nazgul, the fear of the defenders, the silence, the pale sword, the initial blow,, the "words of power", the breaking of the barrier,, and then the sound of horns,, followed by the retreat of the Nazgul.

All are present in both scenes, down to the cockcrow. "Foreshadowing" seems too weak a term for this; perhaps "template" would be more appropriate. I have no idea if Tolkien did this intentionally or consciously; I've never seen a comment from him about it. But it's certainly there. And as I said, it completely escaped me, through repeated readings over the years, enough so that when I finally recognized it, I kicked myself-- mentally 😄 -- for being so oblivious for so long.

So, what, if anything, did you miss, large or small, in your first -- or tenth -- reading? You might awaken the rest of us. 😀

 

[Áramandë Amaniel]

I am sure there were some things that I would have missed in The Silmarillion, but they have fled into the Fading Bounds of Time, and thus I cannot remember them.

How unfortunate...one day I shall read it again, but it is not this day!

Or maybe it is.

 

[Eljorahir]

I'm not sure I ever discovered the Crickhollow - Minas Tirith parallel. That's a nice one. Here's a parallel I discovered at some point through the years.

After Boromir's great failure Aragorn tells him, "Boromir! I do not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help now! Go after those two young hobbits, and guard them..."

Later, Aragorn is leading the armies of Gondor and Rohan north toward the Black Gate when some of the soldiers are becoming so fearful that they cannot continue. Aragorn tells them, "Go! But keep what honour you may, and do not run! And there is a task which you may attempt and so be not wholly shamed." He then sends them to retake Cair Andros.

Aragorn assigned tasks to both Boromir and the soldiers which were better-suited to their natures ("within their measure" as JRRT writes of the soldiers) and which led to their redemptions.

 

[ZehnWaters]

Apparently I missed the "king who has a crown again" having a beard despite reading the very quote multiple times in another thread.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Can we assume then, that you also missed it in reading the book?

 

[ZehnWaters]

Can we assume then, that you also missed it in reading the book?

I certainly didn't catalog it. I've only read LotR two or three times and it's been many years. I've always preferred The Silmarillion.

 

[Radaghast]

There are a lot of little details I missed that I can't really identify from memory. One thing I didn't get until after a long while is the importance of the "Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" in the Appendices. Per Tolkien:

...I regard the tale of Arwen and Aragorn as the most important of the Appendices; it is part of the essential story, and is only placed so, because it could not be worked into the main narrative without destroying its structure: which is planned to be 'hobbito-centric', that is, primarily a study of the ennoblement (or sanctification) of the humble.

• Letters, #181

I never could quite grasp why it was so important until it dawned on me that this story essentially explains why Aragorn shows no temptation towards the Ring whatsoever.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

Completely missed who the Dunedain were in the first read.... Read a second time and it all made sense.

 

[Starbrow]

It took a few readings before I understood who was in the ships that Aragorn lead to the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Although I knew it wasn't the Dead from Dunharrow, so I least I did better than PJ.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

Yes, you did! I have to wonder-- did he just not understand it?

 

[Ent]

I completely missed the many 'differences' and 'questionables' in my early readings, through pure enjoyment of the stories.

It wasn't until I at last started digging in for some close examination that I discovered the Caves of Controversy, Fields of Fury, and Halls of Haze that surround it all. (Including in some few places, Oceans of Ostracism.)

Fortunately there are refuges from the first two and Oceans are easily identified and avoided.

But the Halls of Haze inspire my peculiar predilection for research, and the applications for entry into those Halls are numerous.

So I continue to uncover "missed things" of every kind regularly I'm afraid.

 

[Eljorahir]

is there something, whether a small but significant detail, or a large structural element, which you didn't pick up on until later readings?

After reading LOTR many times and The Silmarillion the first few times, I remember spending time holding Tolkien's maps of Beleriand and Eriador side by side, trying to figure out how the features of Beleriand were remade into the features of Eriador during the geographic catastrophe, "The War of Wrath". I thought the River Sirion probably became the River Anduin. (They both had a big waterfall and many "mouths".) It wasn't until later that I realized the extent of the flooding of the continent.

I think this counts as a "large structural element" which I missed.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

I love studying the geological changes. They are fascinating.