Friday, Dec. 5-Monday, Dec. 8
read: the remainder of Flight to the Ford, two-thirds of Many Meetings
It turns out that despite being snowbound all weekend I didn’t get a lot of reading done. It was comics-organizing time instead. But the resumption of my daily commute brings with it a renewed dedication to reading about history’s most dangerous piece of jewelry.
* “Flight to the Ford”: One of the most suspenseful chapters in the book, it’s noteworthy how Tolkien’s chronicle of Frodo’s journey from Weathertop to Rivendell is different that Peter Jackson’s. (I know I keep talking about the films, but this is really the first opportunity I’ve had to get my thoughts about them down on paper computer-screen.) Frodo has a great deal more agency in his journey here than in the movie. For starters, he’s not a gasping catatonic; for several days after the attack he’s more or less fully functional, aside from the pain and numbness in his left arm. And ultimately it’s Frodo himself who makes the mad dash on horseback away from the Riders and over the Ford of Bruinen. He’s not being carried by Arwen (or by Glorfindel, the Elf who plays the equivalent role in the text), in other words. While it is fair to say that the speed, smarts, and courage of Asfaloth the horse had a lot to do with Frodo’s successful escape, so too is it fair to say that Frodo’s bravery, or more to the point his innate unwillingness to let himself be bullied by these bastards, helped save him. Tolkien refers to it as “hatred”–hatred of these evil creatures, hatred of the fear and pain they have caused him and his companions, and first and foremost, I believe, hatred of the power of will they exert over him. For a hobbit who has lived a comfortable life of his own making, the notion that his thoughts and actions are no longer his own must be anathema. It’s inspiring to see Frodo make his stand–a stand for freedom against the “commanding wish” of totalitarian evil. Good for him!
(In fairness to P.J., though he did elide much of the bravery shown by Frodo in the journey from the Shire to Rivendell, so too did he cut many of the goof-ups: the shortcut through the Old Forest, getting separated from the group in the Barrow-Downs, dancing a jig on the table at the Prancing Pony. On the other hand, later on in the story the decision to enter the Mines of Moria–at first glance a disastrous one–is made by Frodo in defiance of Gandalf’s wishes, not in agreement with them as is the case in the book….)
“The Flight to the Ford” also includes the appearance of the aforementioned Glorfindel, a High Elf who in fact has been reincarnated after having died in combat with a Balrog many thousands of years ago. This fact, which I don’t believe is made clear in LotR proper, always kind of irks me–though the idea that dead Elves carry on a physical existence in the Halls of Mandos (in the Undying Lands of the West) while dead Men’s souls go someplace unrevealed is a fascinating one, the idea that those post-dead Elves can take the trip back to Middle-Earth seems to negate the sacrifice made by other slain Elves in some way. This is particularly so because Glorfindel, aside from his admittedly key role in keeping Frodo and the Ring from the Ringwraiths here at the Ford, is a pretty minor character; it’s not as if Tolkien had Elrond come back. (I feel a lot less gypped by the return of Gandalf–or for that matter that of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion–for this reason, I think.)
The chapter also has a great weapon in the form of the Witch-King’s blade, featuring a break-away section that worms its way in toward Frodo’s heart; a fair amount of levity–centered around references to the trolls from The Hobbit, much to my lasting delight; and Frodo’s chilling question upon coming to after the attack: “What has happened? Where is the pale king?” Finally, it’s got another terrifically haunting dream from Frodo:
He lay down again and passed into an uneasy dream, in which he walked on the grass in his garden in the Shire, but it seemed faint and dim, less clear than the tall black shadows that stood looking over the hedge.
* “Many Meetings”–This chapter is something of an interlude, between the thriller that was “Flight to the Ford” and the long, totally awesome DefCon 4 meeting in “The Council of Elrond.” As such it mainly gives both the characters and the readers some breathing room before plunging them back into the dire task at hand. Gandalf comes back, and notes that Frodo is already gaining something of an otherworldly quality to him, one that surprisingly sits well on him.
Gandalf also fills Frodo in on the nature of the Ringwraiths, picking up where Strider left off a couple chapters ago. I feel it’s important to explain the technical aspects of the Ringwraiths to the reader. Why, if they’re so badass, couldn’t they bother to look over the side of the road to find Frodo when he was hiding back at the beginning of the book? Why did they cut up empty beds and then once they realized it give up on finding the hobbits in another room? Why do they attack at Weathertop, successfully injure their quarry, and then retreat? Why can they be faced down by one Elf, one Dunadan and four hobbits with torches now, but intimidate the entire Gondorian army later? The power of the Ringwraiths is determined by a great many variables (their proximity to Sauron, the degree to which Sauron is concentrating on them or not, their proximity to the Ring, whether it’s nighttime or daytime out, whether anyone is using the ring, whether they’re all together or not, the nature of the beings they’re attacking, whether or not their physical means of carriage have been disrupted, etc.), so it’s good to explain this stuff once in a while.
It’s also wonderful to see old Bilbo back (I stopped about halfway through his and Frodo’s reunions)–I obviously knew full well it was coming, but still got all excited like a big doofus when the revelation came. I enjoy the brief mention of the sons of Elrond as well, because of its emphasis on the implacability of good’s drive to eradicate evil: “[Arwen’s] brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out upon errantry: for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, forgetting never their mother’s torment in the dens of the orcs.”
And the cameo appearance by Gloin (“the Gloin, one of the twelve companions of the great Thorin Oakenshield,” as Frodo puts it!) is a treat as well, with its mentions of Hobbit characters like Beorn, Bard, and Dain Ironfoot. I think I need to start greeting people in the Dwarf style: “Sean T. Collins at your service and your family’s.”
Next up: The big meeting!