Episode 143 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 143

The questions Galdor asks are bound together:

• There is an assumption, voiced by Galdor, that Saruman has been at least consulted as the expert, but this also raises the questions as to why he is not here, or at least has sent word.
• Galdor is closely echoing Boromir’s questions, though he is doing so in a more neutral way.
• Bilbo and Frodo’s accounts have not added up to any proofs as to the Ring’s identity. Though it establishes the provenance since Gollum, that says nothing about before that, or its powers.
• There is also an assumption that given the lack of definite proofs so far, those are now coming.
• Galdor also questions the reason for Saruman’s absence, as he might have been expected to be summoned to a council regarding the Rings of Power by whatever power called the others.
• Note: Galdor uses “trove” to refer to the Ring, which is the correct term, as it refers to treasure that is found accidentally. It comes from the Norman French “trové”, meaning “found”.
• By calling it a trove, it emphasizes that Bilbo found it, and did not steal it, but more that the fact that it was found by chance in the Misty Mountains makes it less likely that this is Sauron’s Ring.
• It doesn’t seem that his use of “trove” has no bearing on Bilbo’s right of ownership, as he is not interested in that, but only the ultimate provenance and identity of the Ring itself.
• Any questions of its ownership are rendered moot if it is the One Ring, as that is Sauron’s alone.
• Note: This is parallel to Fëanor’s claim of ownership of the Silmarils, as his oath is made to supersede anyone else’s claim if they find or lose the Silmarils, regardless of the circumstances.

The part of Gandalf to make clear:

• Elrond is emphasizing that Gandalf will not only tell more stories to fill gaps. He will also make the necessary connections to that they can all understand what everything means.
• He is also showing that Galdor’s questions were not necessarily meant for Gandalf, though Elrond is redirecting them to him in his introduction.
• The fact that Galdor’s questions are bound together is not obvious before Gandalf explains why.
• Elrond is the first one to point to Gandalf as the prime mover in the resistance to Sauron, which would also not be obvious to those at the Council, which is why Galdor asks about Saruman.
• Gandalf has always been seen as important from the hobbits’ point of view, but not universally.
• Elrond seems to be preparing for what Gandalf will say of Saruman, as they have discussed it.
• Note: In The Hobbit, Gandalf isn’t even as famous to Beorn as Radagast, his near neighbor. This is reflected in Frodo’s realization of something of Gandalf’s true nature when he sees Gandalf at the feast in Rivendell alongside Elrond and Glorfindel. Even here, he would not look very regal. The White Council is not a public forum, so Galadriel’s understanding would not be known.
• Note: Why does Elrond use the name “Gandalf” instead of the Elvish name “Mithrandir”? They are in the North and speaking Westron, and this is the name by which he is known to the Hobbits and Dwarves and others, so this is a courtesy to them, accommodating their knowledge. Elrond and Gandalf both know that ultimately Frodo will be the most important person in the room, and while Frodo is using the name he knows, he will render the name “Mithrandir” later.
• Note: The Council of Elrond is the point at which Tolkien’s early drafts stopped most often, and which he had the most opportunity to revise. So, if he wished to change the name, he could’ve.
• Those at the Council would have no idea of Gandalf’s true role in events, as he hasn’t told them.

The gap in the knowledge of the Wise has been filled:

• Note: Tolkien is seemingly inconsistent on whether the Nine Rings are still worn by the Nazgûl or held by Sauron to control them. It’s possible that both are true, in that they wear their rings, but Sauron holds them under his power.
• Gandalf refers back to Glóin’s story as evidence toward the identity of the Ring, which no one else connected. That the Enemy wanted the Ring so much to offer the Seven for it is important.
• He is using this to show that the Enemy’s own actions, including sending the Nazgûl themselves to get the Ring, show that Sauron himself at least believes it is the One Ring and wants it.
• This is a commentary on Frodo’s story as well, which shows it as evidence about the Ring.
• Just as Boromir left the battlefield because of his need to find a solution to Minas Tirith’s peril, so has the Black Rider he encountered left to go to the Shire, which means that the city is safe.
• Gandalf is using deductive reasoning by recalling the accounting for the other Rings of Power. He does this for the benefit of the others in the Council to show how his thoughts evolved.
• There is still some mystery, as only Sauron can be sure of the other Rings, but Gandalf removes the possibility of it being a lesser ring by showing how Sauron has acted toward it.
• By deploying the Ringwraiths to the Shire to search for the Ring, he temporarily abandons the chance for total victory over Gondor, in favor of the longer-term benefit of having this Ring.
• Even if his promises to the Dwarves are lies, the fact that he was willing to make them matters.
• Gandalf acknowledges the problem of establishing provenance in terms of both space and time.
• Why does Gandalf use the Black Speech term “Nazgûl” in Rivendell? It’s possible that this is a word borrowing that has come into common use in Westron and isn’t seen as Black Speech.
• Note: This is similar to Strider using the names of Sauron and Mordor after having told Frodo not to do so, as the context in which those words are used matters to their power.
• Gandalf points out that however long it took the Wise to learn about the Ring, it took Sauron longer, and that is fortunate, though they should have figured it out sooner.
• In both the beginning and end of his preamble, he emphasizes Sauron’s actions based on what he knows and believes, and not what they know or believe, and that time is running out to act.
• While Galdor has invoked Saruman as the expert of ring lore, Gandalf reminds them that the true master of that lore is Sauron himself, and he has decided that this is the One Ring.
• Galdor has not suggested that the Wise are wrong, only that their knowledge be revealed. Gandalf is asking for trust in the Wise due to the lack of time for long debate, but he goes on.

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[Tony Meade]

(continued)

A strange chance, if chance it was:

• What does Gandalf mean by Sauron “taking shape and power again”? While “power” could refer to both his own personal power and his military and political power, his “shape” is unclear.
• Its also unclear by what means Gandalf disguised or concealed himself to enter Dol Guldur and go undetected by both Sauron and the Nazgûl, but it’s clear that this is what he did.
• The word “shape” implies his physical form, which had been destroyed by Elendil and the others. This seemed to cause him lasting damage, so that his new form is missing a finger.
• Note: This is similar to what happened after Sauron lost his physical form in the downfall of Númenor and had to dwell in Mordor to take a new physical form.
• This implies that early in the Third Age he was a disembodied spirit, and that the loss of the Ring made it harder to manifest a new body according to his will, which is not an easy task anyway.
• Note: Melkor and Sauron are distinct from the other Ainur in the manifesting of bodies, as their weakening themselves in externalizing their power to dominate others has caused them to be tied to their bodies, as they have imbued their bodies with power that is lost when they die.
• That it has taken so long to manifest a new form shows the damage he took at Mount Doom.
• The phrase “our fears” refers to him and Elrond, and as probably the rest of the White Council.
• Note: While it was during this foray in Dol Guldur that he found Thorin’s map and key, it was the attack by the White Council for which he needed to leave Thorin’s Company outside Mirkwood.
• The fact that the title “the Necromancer” is accepted by the general population implies that there are other sorcerers, even among Men, that might attain this power.
• The Wise are willing to accept one of the Nazgûl, based on the Witch-king’s deeds in Angmar.
• Note: It’s not clear in what sense Tolkien is using the word “necromancer” in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, in that he is using the power of the dead, or communing with the dead, or simply using dark magic, however he addressed this in his later writings for The Silmarillion.
• Gandalf seems to describe these deeds to establish credentials to talk about Sauron and the Ring, but also to explain why it took the Wise so long to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.
• By showing Saruman’s counsel in the past, Gandalf is already interweaving Galdor’s two questions, and also showing a time in which Saruman’s counsels have gone wrong.
• Gandalf has probably had to reconsider everything that Saruman has said before this.
• He also wishes to show, through this example, the folly of watching and waiting too much.
• Note: There is a ninety-year gap between when he confirmed Sauron’s presence and their attack. It is another twelve years before the White Council meets again, two years after Sauron declares himself openly in Mordor. As head of the White Council, it would be up to Saruman to call this meeting, so the lack of meetings is his responsibility, and could explain his absence now.
• Gandalf would have known about Bilbo’s ring for twelve years by the time the White Council learned that Sauron was searching for the Ring, but his unease was allayed by Saruman.
• Gandalf is admitting that there is no direct evidence that he can show to prove that this is the One Ring, outside of his own experiences in putting together the pieces himself.

There let it lie until the End:

• It seems physically unlikely that a heavy gold ring would roll down a river by the water alone.
• Why does Gandalf quote Saruman’s words directly? Saruman’s chief message to Gandalf was to fear not and trust him, and Gandalf believed these words because he wanted to ease his fears.
• Gandalf had also made many excuses for Bilbo to resist his doubts until the night of the Party, because he didn’t want his fears to be true. Saruman seems to have played on this desire.
• He and the rest of the White Council had no reason to doubt Saruman’s words, as he is the expert on ring lore, which Saruman also knows and uses to his advantage.
• While Saruman’s claim seems like speculation, he is stating it as known fact. He is not claiming to have tested this as a theory, but rather he seems to attribute it to received knowledge.
• Who or what would have rolled the Ring down the River to the Sea? Saruman’s use of the passive voice implies that it “was rolled” by someone unnamed who has taken care of this.
• Note: Taking the Ring to throw it in the Sea is put forth as one of the options later in the Council. There’s precedent with the Silmaril having been lost in the Sea never to be recovered at the End.
• That Gandalf was “lulled”, along with the Wise, shows how much they want his claim to be true.
• Saruman and Gandalf are both subject to the authority of the Valar, and Gandalf to Saruman, so Gandalf would have to believe that Saruman had some insight or indirect knowledge about this.
• Saruman does not claim to have a direct message from the Valar, and so is intentionally vague, so to allow the others to come to that conclusion themselves out of their desire for it to be true.
• Saruman’s last statement invoking “the End” implies that this is the will of the Valar for the Ring and would draw the lore of the Silmarils to mind, as they are also in the keeping of the Valar.
• Gandalf cannot press Saruman on this because of his position and the plausibility of this story.
• If Saruman has used the power of this voice, his imperative of “Fear not!” is the place where he would do this, as this is what they would all want to do in the first place.
• Note: Saruman was actively deceiving them at this point, as he was then searching for the Ring.

END OF SESSION