Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 103
Comment on the madness of the horses:
Comment on the madness of the horses:
- It is possible that the Black Riders’ horses are driven by the will of the Nazgûl in the same way that Sauron imposes his will to dominate his servants spiritually.
- Therefore, perhaps when the Ringwraiths are overcome by dismay at Glorfindel and the flood, they are distracted from controlling the horses’ will, leaving them steerless and despairing.
- Note: The analog for this is at the battle at the Black Gate when Sauron turns his will from all his servants and focuses solely on the fate of the Ring, his armies are no longer able to function.
- The destruction of the horses as collateral damage to defeating the Ringwraiths goes against the means vs. ends philosophy that espoused throughout the text, but this reading aligns with it.
- The nature of the bond between the Ringwraiths and their riders is unclear, whether that is based solely on training, or if it is a spiritual domination of the horses by their masters.
- The Ringwraiths would be unlikely to bond with their horses the way other riders do with theirs.
- Note: It’s not clear if the black horses that are stolen from Rohan are the ones used, or if they are used as breeding stock for horses that are then raised from foals to the service of Mordor.
- If they are being spiritually dominated, this fits more with the nature of Sauron’s character and powers and removes the horses from any culpability in their enslavement.
- If the horses were suddenly released from this domination, and in a situation where they are in the middle of a flood, it would be understandable that they would panic.
- It does seem that saving the horses was an option in order for them to be in the Ford when the flood comes down, though Glorfindel’s attack was against the Nazgûl, not their horses.
- Glorfindel’s revelation of his power may have only been the first part of the plan, the second being to deal with any Black Riders who stayed on the near shore, which proved unnecessary.
- The horses would probably be permanently damaged by their treatment by the Black Riders, and it is unlikely that they would have survived even if they had escaped.
- Therefore, their death might easily be seen as an act of mercy, rather than a means to an end.
- At Weathertop, Strider explains the way that the horses can see, and implicitly ties their senses to the senses of the Black Riders. A spiritual connection by domination might explain this.
- The Black Riders also do not seem to have spare mounts, so that connection would be personal.
- Note: This may be the kind of connection the Nazgûl will have with their winged mounts later.
- Among evil creatures, there are no examples of true friendship between servants and masters, or even between equals. There is always a relationship based on domination and servility.
- Note: We hear later that the Rohirrim do not sell horses to Sauron’s agents, even when offered, because they will put the beasts to evil uses, in both meanings of that phrase, to which the Rohirrim object out of their love of horses. This is why the horses are stolen in the first place.
- Note: There is no sense in which Sauron should be seen as serving Morgoth in humility affection or friendship. It is simply a means-to-an-end relationship for both of them. Sauron was only less evil in that he served a greater power out of humility, but not with love.
- In Frodo’s experience of the flood at the Ford, he was aware that many large stones are rolling.
- This would point to physical boulders, however the name of the river is the Loudwater (Bruinen), so this may be its normal sound before the flood.
- However, Gandalf’s syntax suggests that these boulders were part of his own doings.
- The fact that “stones” is used in Frodo’s description, while Gandalf uses the word “boulders”, suggests that these are two different phenomena.
- Gandalf may be referring to the strength that he added to the flood, which visually manifests as the horses and rides, and also had the physical effect of moving the natural boulders.
- The white flames that Frodo saw on the crest of the waves seem to be him recognizing Gandalf’s power directly in his wraithlike sight. The horses and riders are in the water itself.
- Note: In the film, the horses are made part of the foam of the crashing waves, but that is different from what is described here.
- There is a distinction in the description of the boulders from the horses which makes them seem like separate and different things. There is a lack of parallelism between these two mentioned.
- Gandalf’s use of “we”, meaning he and Elrond, implies that they have unleased the river’s wrath, not their own, which could be outside their control. The boulders would be part of that wrath.
- Note: In the text, there doesn’t seem to be any cases of Gandalf using a form of telekinesis, especially not as Gandalf the Grey. As Gandalf the White, he may do something more like that.
- Aside from fire, Gandalf’s magic primarily manifests as his strengthening of the wills of those who oppose the Enemy. In this case, he is encouraging the spirit of the river itself.
- Note: As with Goldberry, natural features are animated by spirits in Middle-earth. This element was much more prominent in the early drafts of the book, such as Legolas’ speech about the stones in Eregion, where he speaks much more explicitly about those spirits and how they are foreign to him as a stranger there. As with many other concepts, Tolkien made these things more implicit than explicit as he goes to increase the sense of mystery, but they’re still there.
- Gandalf’s reference to the vigor of the waters is a sense of the personality of the river’s feisty spirit, and the reference to the loud waters is an invocation of the river’s actual name.
- Note: This is not truly an anthropomorphism, in that these forces do not take human form, but more in making them more personal and animated, and a less inert, passive phenomena.