III 2340 was the date of the founding of Buckland, and so the Bonfire Glade, which was created by the Bucklanders, cannot have appeared earlier than that date. The fact that it could still be seen at the end of the Third Age strongly suggests that it was much more recent than that, as does the appearance of fire-weed still growing there (which would usually indicate a very recent burning). Our only specific comment on the subject, however, is that the glade was made 'long ago', according to Merry Brandybuck in The Fellowship of the Ring I 6, The Old Forest. Despite Merry's comment, the fact that the trees of the Old Forest had not yet begun to grow again in the area seems to imply that the glade was, at most, a few decades old.
These clues seem to be mutually contradictory, but perhaps we could take them to mean that the burning that created the Bonfire Glade was not a single event. Instead, after one enormous bonfire long ago, the Bucklanders continued to keep the trees in check with further regular bonfires. In fact, this would seem to be necessary for the Hobbits to maintain a cleared space beyond their Hedge, and it would also help to explain why a path led from Buckland to the Bonfire Glade. If such continued burnings did occur, however, Merry fails to mention them in his brief account of the glade's history.
Of course, any discussion on points like these needs to take account of the strange nature of the forest and its trees. It may be that the trees were 'choosing' to keep the glade clear for reasons of their own (we do know that they affected the course of the path that led toward it). If this is the case, then the Bonfire Glade might very well have been rather older than it appeared.
|
SHARE
