Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Overview of Book I, Chapter 3

Just like approximately one year ago with the Overview of Book I, Chapter 2, I have carefully read the chapter using multiple lenses of interpretation, including those of history, literature, world religion, and potential animated musical. I have written the first draft of the script to be used while crafting the animatic for this section and continue to add more accurate “stage directions” than in my previous scripts, which will hopefully result in fewer rewrites. In this essay, I give a quick summary of the chapter, discuss the history being the chapter title, and present the timeline for the next episode.

What Happened?

I have divided this chapter in fourteen scenes:

“You Ought to Go Quietly”. Gandalf warns Frodo to leave the Shire as soon as possible. Frodo waits instead but will eventually go to Rivendell with Sam.
“Mr. Frodo Is Selling Bag End”. Hobbits discuss theories around why Frodo is selling his beloved home. In my version, the discussion takes place when Sam meets with the other rustic hobbits in the Green Dragon.
“The Little House at Crickhollow”. In my version, Lotho meets with Frodo to encourage him to invest in his pipe-weed mill, but Frodo rejects this idea. In the far future, Elanor rips this section from the book. In the original book, Merry chooses and buys a little house for Frodo at Crickhollow. In my version, Sam and Frodo discover this in a letter that they read together.
“Gandalf Disappears Again”. Gandalf leaves the Shire again. Frodo has a small birthday-party with his closest friends: Pippin, Merry, Folco, and Fatty (Fredegar). Sam is presumably present as the cook and waiter. Lobelia arrives before the official time of transfer and uses microaggressions against the Gamgee family, so Frodo kicks her out.
“The Unpleasant Voice”. A Ringwraith questions the Gaffer, who sends him away. Sam drinks beer straight from a beer-barrel and then brings the keys to his father.
“The Walk in the Dark”. The walking begins. A sentient fox has thoughts.
“The Road Goes Ever On (Three Is Company)”. The trio sings a hobbit walking song.
“The Black Rider”. The hobbits hide as a rider approaches, wondering if it is Gandalf. It is actually a Ringwraith. Frodo is tempted to put on the Ring but does not.
“The Walking Song”. The trio sings another walking song.
“Another Black Rider”. Another Ringwraith crawls around sniffing, and Frodo wants to put on the Ring again but does not. Approaching elves scare the Ringwraith away.
“The Hymn to Elbereth”. The elves sing a hymn to the Vala Elbereth Gilthoniel, also known as Varda.
“The People of Gildor Inglorion”. The hobbits talk with the elves and then walk with them.
“The Feast with the Elves”. The elves feed the hobbits the best food that the hobbits will ever eat. The elves think Frodo is the “jewel among hobbits” because he is so elf-like.
“The Talk with Gildor”. The elf leader, Gildor, gives advice to Frodo. In my version, some of Gildor’s lines are a recitative, a style of operatic singing.

The Chapter Title

As previously noted by Tolkien royalty Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull in their famous commentary The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, the chapter title “Three Is Company” references the phrase, “two is company, three is a crowd”, a phrase that has been hotly debated on English Stack Exchange for over a decade. According to the Farlex Dictionary of Idioms, the phrase describes a time when “the presence of a third person would make everyone feel awkward or uncomfortable, especially when the other two are lovers or close friends”. With this in mind, the chapter title takes on a deeper meaning. While Frodo is a social pariah, Sam is a low-ranking servant, and Pippin is an obnoxious adolescent boy, the three are such good friends that they are happy to have each other’s company, even if they occasionally annoy each other.

The etymology blog Word Histories mentions describes a version of the phrase as first appearing in A Collection of English Proverbs… compiled by John Ray and published in 1678 Other fun idioms on the page included, “A fine new nothing”, “As nimble as a cow in a cage”, “I wip’t his nose on’t”, and “To morrow come never”. English speakers have always been a happy, positive sort of people.

Another version of the phrase existed in Spanish and was translated into English by John Stevens in his book A new Spanish and English dictionary… in 1706. His translation and explanation was: “The company of two is God’s company. That is, two agree better than more, and may be truer friends, and there their society more pleasing to God… A company consisting of three is worth nothing. It is the Spanish opinion, who say, that to keep a secret three are too many, and to be merry they are too few… One is not company; two in company, God’s company; three in company is bare company; [these two have been explained above;] four in company is company for th edevil; because four being just two and two may talk apart, and if they vary are just enough to quarrel, and want an odd man to reconcile them.” I worry about the sort friends had by poor John Stevens.

The exact phrase of “two is company, three is a crowd” appears in print at least as early as January 1856 in an excerpt of the book Pictures of Europe, framed in Ideas by C.A. Bartol appearing in The North American Review. One phrase that predates all of these comes from Matthew 18:20 with a quote from Jesus, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. This appears to be the origin of the Spanish idioms, which may have morphed into the present version of the phrase.

What’s Next, Abby?

“Book I, Chapter 3” is set to go into production somewhat more quickly than “Book I, Chapter 2”. Here is the current schedule of essays, subject to change:

I have cut a month and a half off production time from the last installment. While this is by no means a fast process, I hope to continue increasing efficiency as I learn more about animation, film scoring, voice acting, and overall production.

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