Tonight whilst waiting for her singing lesson, we read some of Chapter 3, and I was treated to Lucy’s first audible gasp.
The sound of hoofs stopped. As Frodo watched he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees, and then halt. It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow. The black shadow stood close to the point where they had left the path, and it swayed from side to side. Frodo thought he heard the sound of snuffling. The shadow bent to the ground, and then began to crawl towards him. [LotR, I, 3, ‘Three is Company’]
The Mathom-house 
How fortunate Lucy is to have a reader like you who can help her make such a response. And how fortunate you are to have a listener like Lucy!
And is that your artwork? If so, it is very good, capturing that moment perfectlyl
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Thank you! She is generally a very attentive audience. Lots of questions along the way so far, but that’s only a good thing. It means she wants to understand. She told me after we finished last night that she thought it was either a Black Rider sneaking towards Frodo, or else it was Gandalf coming to play a trick on him. Kids.
And no, that’s not my art! Oh dear, the caption doesn’t appear to have shown up (now corrected).
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That moment, like the whole part of the chapter with the Riders, is so scary! I remember reading it late at night before going to bed — and it was in the countryside. My dreams were then full of Black Riders! It was awful.
It’s wonderful how you go through the books with Lucy. This reading together enriches her experience of these tales so much!
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We’re going very slowly, and I think that’s the right way. There’s so much to talk about along the way. She has so many questions.
Last night we were only slightly further along, at Woodhall. When Frodo woke up in the morning and sat “thinking” and “eating”, and Pippin kept asking him question after question, she kept bursting out laughing. I think she likes Pippin.
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Indeed, I agree that it’s the right way. A quick read will inevitably cost some precious details, but with LOTR they are interesting and vital.
Oh, dear Pippin! He’s charming, isn’t he? It’s hard not to like him.
By the way, concerning our discussion from a couple of days ago, I’ve double-checked the Annotated Hobbit and it does have other poems from the Bimble Town cycle.
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