The Fellowship of the Ring: Ch 9-12

Chapter 9 - At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

• The man stared after the hobbits for a moment, and then he went back to his house. As soon as his back was turned, a dark figure climbed quickly in over the gate and melted into the shadows of the village street.

Q1 - What is this?

• ‘Mind yourself! Don’t get lost, and don’t forget that it is safer indoors!’

Q2 - Are you shocked that Merry and Pippen were the two who stayed behind?

• Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weatherbeaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.
• He felt the Ring on its chain, and quite unaccountably the desire came over him to slip it on and vanish out of the silly situation. It seemed to him, somehow, as if the suggestion came to him from outside, from someone or something in the room. He resisted the temptation firmly, and clasped the Ring in his hand, as if to keep a hold on it and prevent it from escaping or doing any mischief.

Q3 - What is happening with Frodo here?

• ‘Certainly!’ said Frodo; but his heart sank. He wondered how many private talks he would have before he got to bed, and what they would reveal. Were these people all in league against him? He began to suspect even old Butterbur’s fat face of concealing dark designs.

Q4 - Is this Frodo, or the Ring?

Chapter 10 - Strider

• Well, you know your own business, maybe,’ said Mr. Butterbur, looking suspiciously at Strider. ‘But if I was in your plight, I wouldn’t take up with a Ranger.’ ‘Then who would you take up with?’ asked Strider. ‘A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day?

Q1 - What do you think of book Strider?

• All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.

Q2 - Amazing way to end a letter.

Chapter 11 - A Knife in the Dark

• There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed far away. The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered. ‘Open, in the name of Mordor!’ said a voice thin and menacing.

Q1 - Fatty Bolger is a brave hobbit!

Q2 - How terrifying is this?

Q3 - What do you think of Sam reciting that poem?

Q4 - What do you think of the Beren and Tunivial story?

Chapter 12 - Flight to the Ford

Q1 - What is happening to Frodo being stabbed?

Q2 - Do you like the amount of songs in the book?

Q3 - What do you think of Glorfindel?