[Like I said in the PM, I'll put up the next threads.]
Alright, so first of all I've been wondering why Tolkien doesn't spend more time on describing the long days where the Fellowship just marches on through the landscape. I mean he so often spends pages literally on describing a forest or the way a stream meanders through the landscape but we after the hobbits leave the Shire he never drops a word on the journey. Like what do they eat, how do they find food, how do they camp, what do they talk about? They're so many different people and races.. imagine having to travel with so many people you don't know.. some might snore, some may fall asleep on their watch, some might be great story-tellers etc. I would have liked a bit more of what PJ shows in FotR when we see Aragorn and Boromir sparring with the hobbits. Just to get a glimpse of the everyday life on the journey!
Also, I've been wondering why Legolas doesn't seem to take more watches as apparently he's the one needing the least sleep being an elf and all.. Elves don't sleep like mortal races, Legolas was "resting his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world." [From The Riders of Rohan, sorry jumped ahead].
So, even if Tolkien didn't spend time on the everyday routine of the journey he may show small bits of the characters' personality in their comments and remarks. I don't know if it reflects that the Fellowship had been together for too long but sometimes it does seem like they're lashing out on each other. Like this when Pippin says he cannot sleep in the trees even if they're mellyrn:
'Then dig a hole in the ground, said Legolas, 'if that is more after the fashion of your kind. But you must dig swift and deep, if you wish to hide from orcs.' [Lothlórien]
That's kind of cheeky.. or mean, to say that.. And there are more of these comments throughout the book.. did anyone else notice that?
All the characters do it but the elves might be the worst.. resting so confidently in the belief that they are a superior race.. which it's true, they are superior.. but still! Like in Rivendell and the elves laugh at Bilbo's songs but at least they pretend to enjoy them. Or when the hobbits meet the departing elves in the Shire and the elves laugh at them and make fun of the clumsy hobbits.
Sorry, I know it technically belong in the past discussion thread but there isn't much going on between Lothlórien and Emyn Muil...
