The Land of Shadow

Sadly I have no good quotes tonight from the reading of The Land of Shadow. But all three kids guessed when Gollum was sneaking about. I think I’ll definitely get some reactions from tomorrow’s chapters.

The eight year old drew this picture of Frodo and Sam walking in Mordor with Mount Doom in the distance. You can tell which one is Frodo since he has a gold ring in his hand.

The Tower of Cirith Ungol

Tonight we read The Tower of Cirith Ungol. Sadly I don’t have any great quotes, but when Sam finally got to Frodo the older two both shouted “Frodo!” before I could read his name. So I decided to briefly trick them and said “Gandalf.” You’ve never seen such confused faces!

They were all extremely puzzled for a few beats, then they realized I was joking and all three yelled “Frodo!” back at me.

When I got to the end of the chapter the oldest begged me to go on, but knowing that the next chapter is decently long I told her not today.

Which Gandalf is Next?

 

My four year old is out and about with my wife and she just texted me to say that he was asking about Gandalf.

“Mommy what’s the next one after Gandalf the White?”

Just to be sure I asked if he thought Gandalf had more transformations coming up (he remembers Gandalf the Grey dying after “the bridge broke!” and has been paying attention as we read about Gandalf the White in Two Towers and Return of the King) and she confirmed this was so.

Yep. “Daddy keeping next one a secret.”

Well it is good to know the four year old has been paying attention to Tolkien even if he doesn’t seem like he is all the time.

The Houses of Healing, The Last Debate, and The Black Gate Opens

Today I was just supposed to read The Houses of Healing. Buuuut, the kids wanted me to keep going so I also read the The Last Debate and The Black Gate Opens and so finished up book five. We had some good discussions during the evening.

First the eight year old said: “I hope [Sauron] is paying so much attention to the outside world that he will be distracted and they can throw it in the fire. If Sam is attacked (just Sam because Frodo was captured) it will just be a random attack.”

I thought she picked up on Gandalf’s strategy quite well. Then once Gandalf mentioned that the Nazgûl were abroad they following exchange ensued.

8YO: “But only eight of his riders returned.”

6YO: “ The eight riders.”

8YO: “That sounds so funny, only eight.”

6YO: “Did the ring disappear when the Ringwraith was killed?”

Me: “I’m not sure. Maybe.”

6YO: “I hope he didn’t marry and have kids.”

8YO: “He’s long out of his time because the ring kept him alive.” [i.e. any kids of his would be long since dead]

6YO: “MORDOR, WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE. We must away before break of day to find our long forgotten gold.” (she uttered this on repeat while I was typing up this conversation)

Later on when the Mouth of Sauron brings forth the tokens the six year old was distraught as she assumed (like Pippen) that all was lost and Frodo and Sam had both been captured along with the ring.

6YO: “Now Sauron has the ring.”

8YO: “No he doesn’t.”

6YO: “Yes he does.”

8YO: “But he only captured Frodo.”

Then they argued, the six year old still certain Sam had been captured and the eight year old positive only Frodo had been taken. Finally I reminded her that the only items displayed were those on or with Frodo when he was captured and she said “Ohhh!”

Tomorrow we’ll enter the home stretch as we get back to Sam (the eight year old said I shouldn’t say Sam and Frodo since Frodo was captured—she thinks Sam will take the ring the rest of the way.) 

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields and The Pyre of Denethor

Tonight we read The Battle of the Pelennor Fields and The Pyre of Denethor since they temporally overlap. I felt like it was a crossover with The Princess Bride though. As soon as I read about Imrahil discovering that Éowyn was still alive my six year old (who thinks it terrible when my wife and I kiss

) was instantly worried!

6YO: “Are they going to marry? Will the rest of it be a boring wedding?”

8YO: “No, there won’t be a wedding. Wait, wedding between whom?”

6YO: “Between Eowen and the man who spoke.”

4YO: “Kissing is scusting!”

8YO: “Are there any weddings in this book?”

6YO: “I hope not!

Me: “You’ll have to wait to see.”

Also if note, later the eight year old said “I think Return of the King means Aragorn.”

The Siege of Gondor and The Ride of the Rohirrim

Tonight we read The Siege of Gondor and The Ride of the Rohirrim. Early in the reading six year old was complaining about something and I said her life could be worse. I said that she could be attacked by the Black Riders. First she thought she could fight them off but I said they were great warriors. Then she claimed she could talk them to death!

When the Lord of the Nazgûl appeared before the gate of Gondor the six year old piped up.

6YO: “Wait, was his horse not killed?”

Me: “They had other horses in Mordor.”

6YO: “Why didn’t the others ride them?”

Me: “They felt like flying.”

6YO: “Why didn’t He use one?”

Apparently she thinks like Peter Jackson since he was given a fell beast in the movie.

When I slowly read “All save one” the six year old started chanting! “Gandalf, Gandalf, Gandalf, Gandalf, Gandalf, Gandalf. Gandalf the White!”

The Muster of Rohan

Tonight we read the Muster of Rohan, but I didn’t get any questions about the riders but instead the talk turned to Mordor as soon as mention was made of the cloud that turned day into night.

6YO: “It’s not a cloud.”*

8YO: “How do you know? I hope Sauron the last dark lord. How long has Sauron been the dark lord?”

6YO: “Ten thousand years.”

I added up the lengths of the second and third ages (since Sauron hadn’t ruled on his own before Morgoth fell) and let them know he ruled for almost 6,500 years.

8YO: “How did he live that long?”

Me: “He is immortal.”

*Later I asked her about this and she replied “Because I thought it was black riders on their black steeds blocking out the sun.” She thinks everything unexpected is black riders! In her mind the Nazgûl are around every bend!

The Passing of the Grey Company

Tonight we read The Passing of the Grey Company and went through the Paths of the Dead. The kids definitely thought the paths were creepy.

We talked about exactly who the dead were that had been cursed by Isildur and the six year old asked “what about the skeleton?”

I explained that he wasn’t one of the cursed Dead, but had been one of the kings of Rohan (Baldor, grandson of Eorl the Young).

And once again, I love the book descriptions of the Paths and the Dead themselves so much more than the movies…    

Minas Tirith

Tonight we read the chapter Minas Tirith. As the city was described we reviewed the history of Minas Ithil and Minas Anor that then became Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith. The kids had a number of questions about the various names. The eight year old asked if there was a special stone at Minas Ithil and for a moment thought she meant a Palantír, but she just wondered if it had a moonstone.

When she heard about the white tree the eight year was curious and made a connection.

8YO: “What happened to the white tree.”

Me: “You’ll have to wait and see.”

8YO: “Wait, was that from the seeds that came over the sea?”

Me: “Yep.”

Later during a pause in reading the chapter the eight year old also had a great thought. “I hope dark lords are done after Lord of the Rings and that there were only two, Morgoth and Sauron.”

Shelob's Lair and The Choices of Master Samwise

Sorry for no report yesterday, but there were no good reactions to record from those chapters. Tonight I started out reading Shelob’s Lair and had some good discussion of Shelob and what Ungoliant and Morgoth had done with the Silmarils. When I got to the end the kids didn’t like the suspense and begged me to continue, so I went on and read The Choices of Master Samwise to finish out The Two Towers. When Sam decided that Frodo was dead the following exchange happened.

8YO: “So he has to be the ring bearer now?”

6YO (): “Why did they put Frodo in if he had to die? All this is Sauron’s fault! If he hadn’t made the ring none of this would had happened.”

8YO: “Do you remember something good from the last chapter? [Sauron] isn’t paying close attention to his own land so I hope it will be easier for [Sam] to throw it in that fire.”

There was a big sigh from the eight year old once the Shagrat revealed that Frodo wasn’t dead after all. Then the six year old asked “If he gets Frodo back and he’s awake will he give him back the phial and the Ring?”

Me: “We’ll have to wait and see.”

The Forbidden Pool and Journey to the Cross-roads

Today we read both The Forbidden Pool and Journey to the Cross-roads since they’re both fairly short. As Faramir gave parting guidance the kids had thoughts about his eliding of the name of Mordor.

6YO: “Why do they say nameless?”

Me: “They don’t want to say the name Mordor.”

6YO: “I don’t mind. Mordor, where the shadows lie.”

8YO: “Maybe they’re afraid He will hear.”

6YO: “Maybe Mordor is real! Mordor is real.”

8YO: “Mordor isn’t real. Dad, tell her it isn’t real.”

The Window on the West

Tonight we read The Window on the West and my six year old has a beef with Tolkien for not incorporating Pegasus.

As I read “something a little strange” the six year old hypothesized that it could be a man on a black flying horse. I reminded her that the nine riders weren’t on horses any longer but on a kind of flying creature.

6YO: “No, I mean Sauron.”

Me: “There are no flying horses in this world.”

6YO (indignant): “You mean the author that made this didn’t have any imagination?”

Me:

We read on and I asked the kids what the thing that the man spotted could be. The older one didn’t know but the six year old hesitantly said “a black rider?”

I laughed and said “you see black riders everywhere.”

6YO: “They were everywhere!”

8YO: “There weren’t hundreds of them, only nine.”

Of Herbs and Stewed Meat

Tonight we read Of Herbs and Stewed Meat and got to read about the oliphaunt mentioned in yesterday’s poem. All of the kids were a fan and as soon as I read “vast shape” the six year old called out “elephant, elephant!” The eight year old quickly said “oliphaunt.”

They also made some other good (but easy) deductions in the chapter. Realizing that taters were potatoes (or tomatoes hypothesized the six year old). And then they both easily heard the similarity between Boromir and Faramir’s names.

The Black Gate is Closed

Tonight we read The Black Gate is Closed. As Gollum offered an alternate route the six year old piped up with her opinions about him.

6YO: “I only like Sméagol, I hate Gollum. Sméagol is better but Gollum is black all through. Gollum only cares about his ring. His Precious!!”

For much of the rest of the chapter the youngest kept muttering.

4YO (guttural): “Gollum! Gollum! Gollum!”

At the end of the chapter the eight year old drew a picture of an oliphaunt based on Sam’s rhyme.

The Passage of the Marshes

This afternoon we read The Passage of the Marshes. The kids didn’t have much to say but were very curious about who She might be. While my wife did mention Shelob to them yesterday (only by name) they don’t have any idea of what is coming. Come to think of it they’re just like Frodo and Sam in that way.

Taming of Sméagol

Tonight we read the Taming of Sméagol and both kids wondered why Frodo and Sam didn’t just have a tent they could use.

6YO: “Why don’t they just use a tent?”

Me: “Because they don’t have one.”

6YO: “Why didn’t they bring one?”

Me: “Because they didn’t have room.”

8YO: “Why didn’t they grab canvas and some sticks, while they were back with the company?”

Me: “They didn’t have any big pieces of canvas.”

8YO: “You mean they didn’t have any tents?”

Me: “Nope.”

Both: *surprise*

Our family goes camping quite a bit but except for a couple times in the back yard where we’ve slept in hammocks/tree fort we’ve always used tents. So I don’t think they realized there was another way to camp.

The Voice of Saruman and The Palantír

Tonight we read birth The Voice of Saruman and The Palantír (since they’re fairly short and related) and finished up book three.

When the Palantír was thrown down the eight year old thought maybe it was a bomb. Then she guessed that Wormtongue threw it down right before I read that. A bit later she asked more about Saruman.

8YO: “How long could Saruman live?”

I explained that he was virtually immortal like the Elves and her eyes got wide. I guess I hadn’t explained how long the Elves could live.

8YO: “What is Saruman’s name?”

Me: “Just Saruman. He isn’t Saruman the White any more.”

8YO: “So he looks like different colors depending on how you look at him?”

Me: “Yep.”

A bit later as we saw Pippen’s usage of the Palantír I asked if the kids understood now it worked. When they said they weren’t sure I explained that it was like a FaceTime call and then they understood.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Tonight we caught up on the Ent assault on Isengard as we read Flotsam and Jetsam. The eight year old drew this picture of Treebeard and a frightened Wormtongue.

The Road to Isengard

As soon as the kids heard “Gandalf the White” tonight at the start of The Road to Isengard they had objections. Apparently renaming a character isn’t cool.

6YO: “Gandalf the Grey.”

Me: “He is Gandalf the White now.”

6YO: “That’s not fair.”

8YO: “Why does HE get to change his name?”

4YO: “He is just Gandalf.”

6YO (grumpy): “That’s not fair!”

Me: “Why do you think it is not fair?”

6YO: “Because he was Gandalf the Grey first!!!”

Helm's Deep

While we read about the battle Helm’s Deep the eight year old had an interesting idea. When I read about the boulder she interjected “maybe it’s Gimli trying to beat Legolas. Check upstairs.” Then when Aragorn asked about Gimli she further said “maybe they should check where the boulder came from. That’s what I would do.” While we know he wasn’t there it would have been a great way for Gimli to increase his count!

The White Rider and The King of the Golden Hall

Oh boy did I get a reaction to the return of Gandalf as the kids met the White Rider for the first time.

First I got stunned silence as I read his name (they didn’t recognize Legolas saying Mithrandir a couple lines earlier). Then a loud squeal came from the six year old and the following exchange ensued.

8YO: “Daddy!!!”

6YO (upset): “DAD!!! DAD!! YOU LIED!!!”

8YO (annoyed): “Hmmmm.”

6YO: “Why didn’t you tell us? He lived.”

Me: “He really did die.”

6YO: “He didn’t!”

4YO: “Remember, he died when the bridge broke.”

6YO (very emotional): *storms off and then comes back a minute later*: “Daddy. It’s not fair!!” *stamps feet*

They both wondered why I didn’t tell them and so my wife and I both explained that they’d experienced what everyone had reading the story for the first time and that he really had died but had been sent back. They calmed down then and listened to the rest of the chapter. When we got to Gandalf’s explanation of his fight with the balrog near the end of the chapter they were glad to hear the details. The eight year old ultimately agreed it was a great surprise on Tolkien’s part, but the six year old isn’t sure about the whole thing.

Treebeard

Today we made our way deep into Fangorn Forest and met Treebeard. Here you can see some artwork by my eight year old showing when the three characters met. The six year old also had fun drawing a tall Ent next to Merry and Pippen.

Early in the chapter I was asked more about Ents so I explained how they were turned into trolls by Morgoth, forgetting that Treebeard related that history near the end of the chapter.

The Uruk-Hai

Tonight we read The Uruk-Hai and got closer to Fangorn. Early on the six year old wondered: “What do Orcs look like?”

As I explained I said that they used to be elves that were twisted by Morgoth, the original dark lord. Later the eight year old asked if the Orcs were older than Sauron. I said that Sauron was very old but then I realized she thought he had come about after the Orcs since he wasn’t the original dark lord so I explained that Sauron had served Morgoth before starting his own venture.

During dinner (we broke for dinner halfway through the chapter) as we were eating fajitas the six year old asked if sour cream could melt. I told her it could and then the eight year old joked “Saruman” as she thought it sounded very similar to sour cream.