Doesn't this chapter title just give you tingles? At long last, the full Company is chosen and the Sword of Elendil is forged anew and our journey is REALLY under way. (Hurrah!)
Not to strike a down note, but it's really interesting to me that delay was a problem at the beginning when leaving the Shire/giving the Enemy more time to mobilize, but then Tolkien has them delaying their start from Rivendell too while all the scouts go out. Maybe because Rivendell was one of the last fortresses/they were safe and leaving there (in a sense) it's a going to war and they have to properly prepare? Obviously, he was also throwing more adventures in their way and it had to be wintertime etc., but it's an interesting brain teaser.
When it comes to N/S/E/W directions in Middle Earth, I've been realizing I have a very similar brain to Pippin's. I can study the maps, but when journeying along I've realized I needed to turn round all the directions and adjust the position of the sun and the entire mountain range in my head.
I was also brought up short by the description of the Elves of Hollin. Is it surprising to to you, too, thinking of elves delving rock? I always tend to think of them more closely tied with the turning of seasons and trees and falling water, etc. etc.
And we run into our first major roadblock, which of course gives all sorts of room for problem solving. I love how much the different characters and personalities are starting to develop: Boromir concerned for the hobbits, Gimli being both gruff and eloquent, and Legolas running back and forth hassling Aragorn and Boromir as they're plowing through the snow together. <3
Quotes:
- "I can foresee very little of your road; and how your task is to be achieved I do not know. The Shadow has crept now to the feet of the Mountains, and draws nigh even to the borders of the Greyflood; and under the Shadow all is dark to me. You will meet many foes, some open, and some disguised; and you may find friends upon your way when you least look for it."
- "Their farewells had been said in the great hall by the fire, and they were only waiting now for Gandalf, who had not yet come out of the house. A gleam of firelight came from the open doors, and soft lights were glowing in many windows. Bilbo huddled in a cloak stood silent on the doorstep beside Frodo. Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully what this hour meant to him. The others could be seen as grey shapes in the darkness." <333 (Such a little moment, but I love it so much.)
- "A fair jaw-cracker dwarf-language must be!"
- "...happily your Caradhras has forgotten that you have Men with you,' said Boromir, who came up at that moment. 'And doughty Men too, if I may say it; though lesser men with spades might have served you better. Still, we have thrust a lane through the drift; and for that all here may be grateful who cannot run as light as Elves."
For thought:
- Personally, I actually love the idea of the storm coming from Caradhras itself, but what do you think caused it?
- And where do you think the birds are coming from?
I did feel like the delay might be a bit too long at this point. I hadn't really noticed it until this reread.
ReplyDeleteI love the exchange between Elrond and Gimli as the Fellowship is leaving. It's one of those moments that is more powerful on rereads; I don't remember what I thought of it the first time.
Legolas says that his people are the silvan Elves. Silvan just means "of the woods" - so these are the Wood Elves that featured in The Hobbit. The description of the Elves there says of the Mirkwood Elves: "most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. There the Light-Elves and the Deep-Elves and the Sea-Elves went and lived for Ages, and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their cunning craft in the making of beautiful and marvelous things, before some of them came back into the Wide World."
I think Aragorn is right about Caradhras: "There are many evil & unfriendly things in the world that have little love for those that go on two legs, and yet are not in league with Sauron, but have purposes of their own."
I think the birds are spies. It is an interesting contrast with the helpful ravens in the Hobbit.
They delay here a long time, and also in Lothlorien! They're certainly reluctant to forge onward.
ReplyDeleteI also think of elves primarily in connection with the woods and trees, but I think they were involved in all of Middle-earth at first, and we only get to see the ones who have made homes in the woods in the books. The Mirkwood elves (and it always is a little trippy for me to remember that Thranduil is Legolas's dad), the Rivendell elves, and the Lothlorien elves are the ones we get to encounter, so I think that's why we think of them that way?
I think the birds were definitely spies, but whether for Sauron or Saruman or even Caradhras, I don't know. I do think Caradhras causes the storm in the books, tho in the movies it appears to be Saruman.