Bibliomancy...Tolkien style

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

Bibliomancy: Divination by books, or by verses of the Bible.

1753 CHAMBERS Cycl. Supp., Bibliomancy..amounts to much the same with what is otherwise called sortes biblicae..F. J. Davidius, a jesuit, has published a bibliomancy. 1864 N. & Q. Ser. III. V. 195/2 Bibliomancy or Divination by Books, was known to the ancients under the appellation of Sortes Homericæ and Sortes Virgilianæ. The practice was to take up the works of Homer and Virgil, and to consider the first verse that presented itself as a prognostication of future events.

An interesting practise, no? Most people are aware of bibliomancy only in relation to the Bible, but as the above demonstrates, it is a practice that predates the Bible and which continues to be applied to books other than the Christian Bible. Bibliomancy is easily done, even by the beginner:

1. Place a book on its spine
2. Let it fall open
3. Close your eyes and trace your finger across the pages to a random point
4. Open your eyes and read the paragraph your finger has fallen upon
5. Predict your future based on that passage

Given that this is a site dedicated to our mutual appreciation of a marvellous book, it seems only fitting that we accord it such reverence. So go grab your favourite copy of The Lord of the Rings and bibliomance away. I suppose you can also use The Hobbit if you wish, but I would go to The Silmarillion only at your peril. As to the HoME, well, don't say I didn't warn you.

To get the ball rolling, here's what I found and what I make of it:

They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large man-like, almost troll-like figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distances from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a green light.

There are two ways for me to interpret this passage. Either I will someday look at a person such as is being described or I shall become that person.

In the former case, I can only assume that I will get into some kind of terrible trouble because I somewhat foolishly but entirely bravely decided to follow a friend into mortal danger and thus get caught up in events which I barely understand. I will be little more than a passive observer to most of what goes on around me, and I will have to rely on the deep wisdom and strength of this person to guide and help me. This person will be a little odd but interesting in his own right. I would do best to leave my axe at home. I will conclude my adventure with a meal. Probably several meals.

In the latter case (in which I am the person being observed, rather than the observer himself) I shall get remarkably hoary and ragged in my old age. People shall look at me and think "what an odd fellow" but I will manage to impress them nonetheless. I will catch some form of skin disease and grow some extra appendages but I will apparently be able to accept both. I will grow a beard. I will become much taller and both more helpful and less sociable than I am now. In brief, I will become my father.

What does your future hold in store for you?