“Then it was late in coming,’ said Gandalf, ‘as you will see. I was in an evil plight. And those who know me will agree that I have seldom been in such need, and do not bear such misfortune well. Gandalf the Grey caught like a fly in a spider’s treacherous web! Yet even the most subtle spiders may leave a weak thread.”
We kinda skipped over this sub-clause and I was really looking forward to digging deeper into it, since it seems to give us a bit of characterization of Gandalf that we might not get this vividly anywhere else. Doesn't bear such misfortune well? What does that mean? Not gracefully? Not maturely? I'm picturing him yelling and throwing things off the tower like a kid throwing a tantrum in his room. Is this how Gandalf acts when he fails — kicks himself over it repeatedly and unproductively? I love the implication in context that he's just super mad at himself for having been so stupid. Him! Gandalf the Grey! I was an actor once, now look at me LOOK AT ME
E: actually I was also wondering about "You were walking backwards and forwards" in Frodo's dream. That's odd wording, isn't it? Not "back and forth". Back and forth would imply he was just pacing, killing time. But "backwards and forwards" suggests he's actually walking backwards? On top of Orthanc (where he can fall off if he's not careful)? Is this some kind of ritual he's performing?
But that might be a British-ism I suppose? Their usage is more to prefer "back-to-front" for what we consider "backwards" from my understanding, so maybe "backwards and forwards" really does convey the same "pacing" imagery.
We kinda skipped over this sub-clause and I was really looking forward to digging deeper into it, since it seems to give us a bit of characterization of Gandalf that we might not get this vividly anywhere else. Doesn't bear such misfortune well? What does that mean? Not gracefully? Not maturely? I'm picturing him yelling and throwing things off the tower like a kid throwing a tantrum in his room. Is this how Gandalf acts when he fails — kicks himself over it repeatedly and unproductively? I love the implication in context that he's just super mad at himself for having been so stupid. Him! Gandalf the Grey! I was an actor once, now look at me LOOK AT ME
E: actually I was also wondering about "You were walking backwards and forwards" in Frodo's dream. That's odd wording, isn't it? Not "back and forth". Back and forth would imply he was just pacing, killing time. But "backwards and forwards" suggests he's actually walking backwards? On top of Orthanc (where he can fall off if he's not careful)? Is this some kind of ritual he's performing?
But that might be a British-ism I suppose? Their usage is more to prefer "back-to-front" for what we consider "backwards" from my understanding, so maybe "backwards and forwards" really does convey the same "pacing" imagery.
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