Breaking Politeness and Finding Adventure -- The Hobbit, Chapter I

I've explored The Hobbit before, over at my "Nightly Noises" blog, but I'm going to give it a fresh look here at Dark Lanterns.

The adventure begins with the deconstruction of politeness -- and the simple phrase "good morning."  Bilbo Baggins is so enamored by the beautiful day that he blithely wishes the wizard "Good morning!"  Gandalf cracks apart the pleasantry, asking whether "you wish me a good morning, or mean it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"  His questions are pedantic but precise.  Bilbo isn't bothered and replies "All of them at once," thus embracing a cloud of meanings, as vague and shifting as the smoke-rings from his pipe.  Gandalf, by contrast, demands a sword-shaped consciousness -- a sharp and ready focus.

He makes his inevitable offer of adventure, but Bilbo isn't interested.  The hobbit makes a few more statements (including good morning, again!), and "By this he meant that the conversation was at an end."  Yet Gandalf had yet to reveal his identity and does so now, reminding Bilbo "And you do know my name, though you don't remember that I belong to it.  I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!"  The language is terse and haughty, but effective.  And as is so often the case with Tolkien, there is a dynamic and mysterious tension between the name and the thing -- between the rune and the magic, as it were, between the letters and the language and the tale that they tell.  In any case, the wizard well knows that the residual memory of excitement and adventure has not quite departed from the boring, respectable, bourgeois hobbit.

Bilbo recites the mythology of Gandalf, such as he knows it, referencing a history of heroic tales and magical fireworks and invoking the lure of "the Blue" and "mad adventures."  The madness to which he refers may seem rather humble and innocuous, activities like climbing trees and sailing in ships.  Yet, to the eyes of children and the unjaded imaginations of sensitive souls, such things will always constitute a vital part of life's magic and adventures.

Towards the end of the conversation, Gandalf tentatively reestablishes the presence of politeness and formality, playfully granting Bilbo his "pardon."  Perhaps it's just a trap, since Bilbo panics and invites Gandalf to tea, doubtlessly the default activity of any respectable hobbit.  Gandalf finds the thought of Bilbo going on an adventure "amusing" -- and it should serve as a reminder that, though often linked to the epic grandeur of The Lord of the Rings, this book, The Hobbit, is a rather curious and often quite a comic tale.

With one more desperate "good morning!" from Bilbo, the stage is set for the meetings and quests to come.