Episode 127 Summary

Tony Meade

Active Member
SESSION 127

What it means under its fair cloak:
  • Dáin does well under these circumstances and despite all of the obvious threats. He might be simply stalling the messenger if he hadn’t expressed that he knows that the messenger is lying.
  • He refuses to play along with the messenger while saying nothing openly hostile or insulting, while the messenger refuses to be put off indefinitely and demands a quick answer.
  • Is Sauron able to attack the Dwarves right away if they refuse? Probably not, only because he is not currently attacking them, but the preparations are close to being completed.
  • It’s unclear how much intelligence the Dwarves would have on Sauron’s actual capabilities. They would probably know that there is no imminent threat, but Dáin is not only thinking of today.
  • Do they know that Sauron a Maia? It doesn’t seem clear that almost anyone in Middle-earth knows anything about the Ainur at all, much less their categories, unlike readers do.
  • Though an open threat has not yet been issued, the messenger makes it clear that it will not stay that way. He ignores Dáin’s assertion of his kingship as he thinks it to be temporary.
  • The messenger removes the future from the conversation and leaves this only in an uncertain present. He seems to be saying that the future is in Sauron’s hands alone.
  • The Dwarves base their disbelief on Sauron’s message mostly on historical precedent. Glóin implies that there were several betrayals before, and not just the giving of the Seven Rings.
  • Other betrayals would include the destruction of Eregion right next to Khazad-dûm, as well as possibly the death of Thror, but this is also a general statement of Sauron’s character.
  • He may also be speaking to the councilors in general of their shared history with Sauron.
  • Note: This may also be an untold tale, which Tolkien often uses to create the illusion of depth.
The power that has re-entered Mordor.
  • Sauron would prefer the Dwarves help him, but he would settle for their inaction and submission. He might bait them into even revealing something about the Ring inadvertently.
  • Sauron has previously declared himself ruler of all of Middle-earth, so in a way, this is a reassertion of that old authority by using the title “Lord Sauron the Great”.
  • By making the hearing public, Sauron might also hope to foment division among the Dwarves and between Erebor and Dale, so that if Dáin refuses, that may trigger descent.
  • It’s not clear that many outside of the White Council and perhaps some of the lords in Wilderland know that Sauron had been The Necromancer while in Mirkwood.
  • Most people assume that they were separate, and that Sauron had just returned to Mordor.
  • Many among the Wise thought that The Necromancer was one of the Wizards or of the Nazgûl.
  • Note: At the time of the writing of The Hobbit, this was true, in that The Necromancer was a dark Wizard. For most of the draft history of The Lord of the Rings, the Witch-king was called the Wizard-king and was a rogue member of the order of the Wizards, picking up on that earlier concept. He had been a Numenorean magician, picking up on the same ideas a C.S. Lewis used in making Merlin from “Numinor”.
Sent to warn Bilbo:
  • Far from giving up Bilbo in order to save themselves, their first priority for both Dáin and Glóin is to send the message to Bilbo that he is in danger, which speaks well of them.
  • They also understand that anything Sauron wants is not in anyone’s interest for him to get it.
  • Note: Unlike what many readers take for granted, it is not common knowledge that the One Ring even exists, much less that it would be the ring that Sauron seeks. It might have been known to the lords of the Dwarves back in the Second Age, but that ended over 3,000 years ago. They may still remember their own Ring of Power, but not anything if at all about the One Ring. The Elvish lore contained in the Ring poem might not have been shared widely.
  • While Elrond’s advice on the geopolitical situation is the largest matter, Glóin lists it last, while naming the desire to know more about the ring Sauron wants and the danger to Bilbo first.
  • The Dwarves wouldn’t know much about the kingdoms of Men in the South now, but the return of Mordor might bring up memories of the Last Alliance, but they seek out Elrond first.
  • They also travel in the West regularly, so this way would be more convenient to their travels.
  • The Dwarves may consult with the Elvenking in Mirkwood, though his Elves are less wise, and he is less revered. They have negative history with those Elves and positive history with Elrond.
(continued below)
 

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(continued)

The doom that we must deem:
  • The fact that Elrond did not call this meeting probably comes as a surprise, as well as the fact that there is lore that, up until now, has been actively concealed, and is now being told.
  • The great distances in space and time also contribute to their ignorance of this lore.
  • Note: In a primarily oral culture, writing would be a rarer skill, and in the case of the Elves, their knowledge is preserved by their memories, so the perceived need for writing histories is less. There is written lore in Elrond’s house, but that is because he didn’t witness much of the First Age himself, and that living memory has been lost either to death or to those who sailed to the Undying Lands. But by committing this to writing, that becomes the only record, which can be lost if the documents are destroyed or the languages are lost.
  • Elrond says that they will learn more about Sauron’s doings, but also to resist as the only choice.
  • He also emphasizes the shared dangers among all the peoples represented in the Council.
  • Though Elrond seems to be widening out the scope of the meeting, it’s a surprise that the Ring is the source of all the trouble. Elrond also reveals that they have the Ring without saying it.
  • Elrond has to tell the tale of the Rings of Power because no one knows the full story, or understands the full threat posed by the One Ring or believes that Bilbo’s ring is the One Ring.
  • None of the councilors were expecting this portentous of a meeting when they arrived, nor about this topic. Only now do they understand that this is a council of war for all Middle-earth.
  • Elrond also has to prove that the Ring is the root of the problems that all of them have come to report, which turn out to be only a preamble, or otherwise it will be seen as irrelevant.
By chance as it may seem:
  • Elrond emphasizes the role of doom in their meeting, as he did not call the councilors to him. He is reading the signs and determines that this is not chance, but by outside design.
  • He also emphasizes the time pressure, as they don’t have time to get advice from any others.
  • Elrond’s use of the passive voice intentionally avoids mentioning who is calling and ordering.
  • It’s notable that none of the leaders have been called themselves, but only their ambassadors.
  • Note: Going back to The Hobbit, when something is pointed to as luck or chance, it rarely actually is chance. This idea is also picked up by Gildor Inglorien and Tom Bombadil earlier.
  • Elrond says that all of the western world is together in peril, and therefore should stand together in opposition to the danger, and they will decide together what do to about it.
  • Whoever brought the councilors all together just isn’t as important as that they are together.
  • The use of the word “ordered” is important, as it means both “organized” and “commanded”. This is comforting in the sense that there is an unnamed power who brought this all together.
  • Note: It’s not clear how many of these councilors have any understanding about the Valar and the West, including Boromir, though this lore is remembered somewhat in Gondor. This early part of the Council would probably sound differently to Faramir than it does to Boromir.
On the textual history of the One Ring:
  • This exposition adds new detail to what we have already learned in “The Shadow of the Past”, and this is Tolkien transitioning from Elrond telling the lore to telling us the lore.
  • Gandalf is included in those who do not know the full tale. He was not in Middle-earth during the Second Age, and though he knows much, part of this he might hear for the first time.
  • Within the story, Bilbo probably translated some of Elrond’s books of lore into what becomes The Silmarillion, and though it’s not stated who wrote the original material, it’s likely Elrond.
  • Outside the story, Tolkien had tried to get The Silmarillion published based on the popularity of The Hobbit, but he was unsuccessful.
  • Therefore, this hint that there is other history not recounted here may be to pressure for the publication of that history as The Silmarillion.
  • The history of the Ring starting with Celebrimbor is what the narrator means by the history that is elsewhere recounted, though that history is not in any of Tolkien’s published works.
  • There are allusions to it, but we are not told the actual stories or specific facts. Tolkien had not written any of this history before writing this in The Fellowship of the Ring.
  • Nearly all of the post-First Age history is written after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.
  • The Akallabêth had been written prior to this, which included the fall of Sauron with Númenor. So, in order to reconcile that story of the One Ring, he had Sauron leave the Ring behind.
  • Therefore, the consequences of the Ring on the Númenor story are not explored and explains why the “Akallabêth” and “The Rings of Power and the Third Age” are told separately.
  • There are parts of Elrond’s story that we simply don’t get to hear, and it seems that it takes him hours to tell everything that he knows, which shows that it is important to give all the context.
  • Importantly, this is history for which Elrond was present or in which he was directly involved.
  • Note: Though it seems that Galadriel should be present, she was not yet created at this point.
END OF SESSION
 

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