SilkWeskit
New Member
Sorry to keep dragging back from the past. Getting there (up to Episode 138), and I have a question about the homework assignment from the previous episode regarding Bilbo dropping the K-bomb.
In re-examining Aragorn's poem (All that is gold...), I checked at the word "shadows" in the line
A light from the shadows shall spring
and wondered if we've been missing something in the usage of the word in this particular case. Of course Tolkien uses shadows constantly as a metaphor for the spread of evil, and just before this passage Boromir has his appraisal of Aragorn's offer for the house of Elendil to return to Gondor, assessing "...if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past." Now the obvious interpretation is that Boromir is referring to a murky, half-remembered history of earlier Gondor, and the 'light from the shadows' in Bilbo's prophetic poem would be best explained as symbolic of Aragorn's rise from obscurity, or - as Corey postulated in the first review of the poem - a reference to the kindling of fire to reforge the shards of Narsil, or the light of the sword itself. But is there another, less metaphorical meaning of the line out there as well?
First off, remember the context of the exchange leading up to Bilbo's recitation of the poem: the discussion led by Elrond had reached a point where he was discussing the deeds and sacrifices of the great men who founded the realm, mythic heroes whose like would not come again, metaphorical giants who would be looked up to by their descendants for some three millennia. In the context of these forebears, wouldn't Aragorn in a sense be 'living in the shadow' of Elendil, Isildur and Anarion until such time as he proved himself with great deeds of his own?
The second quatrain of the poem is forward-facing, if not specifically predictive. It points out two literal future occurrences - the reforging of the Sword that was Broken (which occurs soon after the council), and the crownless again being king (the following spring), but could it not also be referencing another specific transformative event between them? As the fellowship in the elven-boats passes the Argonath, great statues of the sons of Elendil, Tolkien points out that (my emphasis) "...[e]ven Boromir bowed his head as the boats whiled by, frail and fleeting as little leaves, under the enduring SHADOW of the sentinels of Numenor." Shortly after, Frodo observes the following at close range (again, my emphasis):
"Fear not!" said a strange voice behind him. Frodo turned and saw Strider, and yet not Strider; for the weatherworn Ranger was no longer there. In the stern sat Aragorn son of Arathorn, proud and erect, guiding the boat with skilful strokes; his hood was cast back, and his dark hair was blowing in the wind, a LIGHT was in his eyes: a king returning from exile to his own land.
"Fear not!" he said. "Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses of Isildur and Anarion, my sires of old. Under their SHADOW Elessar, the Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur's son heir of Elendil, has nought to dread!"
Note that this is the first time that Aragorn takes the name of Elessar for himself, as Galadriel urged when she gave him the Elfstone ("Yet maybe this will lighten your heart"), as he literally emerges from the shadows of his royal ancestors. One can note the change that occurs in Aragorn from this time forward, making fewer "bad" choices (climbing Weathertop, going up into the Trollshaws, the Redhorn Pass) and being less indecisive (using the Anduin to forestall the fate of the fellowship). I don't like to chalk up to coincidence anything involving wordplay where Tolkien is concerned, but am I stretching here, or was this one of the purposes of the line?
In re-examining Aragorn's poem (All that is gold...), I checked at the word "shadows" in the line
A light from the shadows shall spring
and wondered if we've been missing something in the usage of the word in this particular case. Of course Tolkien uses shadows constantly as a metaphor for the spread of evil, and just before this passage Boromir has his appraisal of Aragorn's offer for the house of Elendil to return to Gondor, assessing "...if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past." Now the obvious interpretation is that Boromir is referring to a murky, half-remembered history of earlier Gondor, and the 'light from the shadows' in Bilbo's prophetic poem would be best explained as symbolic of Aragorn's rise from obscurity, or - as Corey postulated in the first review of the poem - a reference to the kindling of fire to reforge the shards of Narsil, or the light of the sword itself. But is there another, less metaphorical meaning of the line out there as well?
First off, remember the context of the exchange leading up to Bilbo's recitation of the poem: the discussion led by Elrond had reached a point where he was discussing the deeds and sacrifices of the great men who founded the realm, mythic heroes whose like would not come again, metaphorical giants who would be looked up to by their descendants for some three millennia. In the context of these forebears, wouldn't Aragorn in a sense be 'living in the shadow' of Elendil, Isildur and Anarion until such time as he proved himself with great deeds of his own?
The second quatrain of the poem is forward-facing, if not specifically predictive. It points out two literal future occurrences - the reforging of the Sword that was Broken (which occurs soon after the council), and the crownless again being king (the following spring), but could it not also be referencing another specific transformative event between them? As the fellowship in the elven-boats passes the Argonath, great statues of the sons of Elendil, Tolkien points out that (my emphasis) "...[e]ven Boromir bowed his head as the boats whiled by, frail and fleeting as little leaves, under the enduring SHADOW of the sentinels of Numenor." Shortly after, Frodo observes the following at close range (again, my emphasis):
"Fear not!" said a strange voice behind him. Frodo turned and saw Strider, and yet not Strider; for the weatherworn Ranger was no longer there. In the stern sat Aragorn son of Arathorn, proud and erect, guiding the boat with skilful strokes; his hood was cast back, and his dark hair was blowing in the wind, a LIGHT was in his eyes: a king returning from exile to his own land.
"Fear not!" he said. "Long have I desired to look upon the likenesses of Isildur and Anarion, my sires of old. Under their SHADOW Elessar, the Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur's son heir of Elendil, has nought to dread!"
Note that this is the first time that Aragorn takes the name of Elessar for himself, as Galadriel urged when she gave him the Elfstone ("Yet maybe this will lighten your heart"), as he literally emerges from the shadows of his royal ancestors. One can note the change that occurs in Aragorn from this time forward, making fewer "bad" choices (climbing Weathertop, going up into the Trollshaws, the Redhorn Pass) and being less indecisive (using the Anduin to forestall the fate of the fellowship). I don't like to chalk up to coincidence anything involving wordplay where Tolkien is concerned, but am I stretching here, or was this one of the purposes of the line?
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