A Hobbit's Guide to Stairs

July 6, 2023
Simon Cook

No going upstairs for the hobbit… (The Hobbit, p.1)

It began when Lúthien enchanted her hair and climbed out of her tree to escape deathlessness. From her were descended the line of ancient sea-kings of the island in the West, and these mortals built tall towers. But the Men of the West tried to take what was only permitted them to see, and Sauron the Necromancer made the Ring, which is not a tower that uses stairs to gain a view but a bridge and an invitation to pass over to the other side…

A Hobbit’s Guide to Stairs is a weekly serial for Hobbits who would themselves navigate a flight of stairs, in their dreams or out of them.

●◌◊□

The Guide is a Tower with a view, to be reached only by climbing many stairs. Composed by and for Hobbits, the Guide takes the stairs slowly, tackling a new stair each Wednesday and taking a breather at the top of each flight, or turn of the staircase.

Translation and editing of the Guide is a work in progress, which may be measured by the Table of Contents, in which bolded items are completed, and summarized below. The construction as it stands may be read here.

◌●◊□

Art credit. Front & back covers: AubreesPassions On Deviant Art