Episode 152 Summary

Tony Meade

Active Member
SESSION 152

On the parallel between Black Speech and English:
  • It’s unusual for poetry to scan and be stressed in the same way between two languages.
  • This seems to point to the sound and rhythm of the Black Speech is more important to the power of the spell than the linguistic content or context.
  • When describing landscapes, we see how Tolkien visualized them before writing about them, but in the case of poetry, he is more interested in the sound of the lines than the context.
  • Tolkien also usually avoided describing people in detail, unlike his landscape descriptions.
  • Tom Bombadil’s rhythm and melody likely came first, and the content was added into it.
  • This is like more like songwriting, in which the music, and especially the melody, comes first, and then the words are composed to fit that structure.
  • Tolkien’s tendency to focus on the description of the world over the characters makes the world the primary character of the piece and makes it so memorable to the readers.
  • Tolkien may have written some Elvish poetry in Elvish, as is seen in Galadriel’s song, where the English translation is in prose and vastly different in rhythm from the Quenya version.
  • It seems likely that the English version came first, and then translated, due to the parallels in rhythm and rhyme scheme. The Black Speech version was probably made up to fit it.
  • The ugliness of the language is present in the sounds of the words, so any need to make it irregular would not add to its ugliness.
  • There may be a philological joke inserted by the extra syllable that is opaque to the reader now.
A shadow passes over the high sun:
  • Without the description of the physical effects of the quotation, we might think that Gandalf was only guilty of violating a social taboo in Rivendell based on Elrond’s words alone.
  • It is considered presumptuous by Gandalf to recite these words here, but it is more than that.
  • If this was merely aesthetic, the harshness of the language might also apply to Dwarvish.
  • Note: Tolkien believed in a link between words and things, and that there were fitting sounds to the words that describe things. This was part of his concept of phonoaesthetics. Therefore, the harsh sound of this language is fit to contain the hateful, resentful, malicious words of Sauron.
  • There may be a strong, traumatic memory among the Elves of hearing the Black Speech before, and the events which occurred around that time.
  • Gandalf is giving voice to a malevolence which is discordant with the harmony in Rivendell.
  • Rather than merely quoting the Black Speech, he is performing this with Sauron’s intention.
  • By investing these words with his will and power, it causes real physical effects in the world.
  • This is Gandalf doing magic, and rather than just describing the Shadow, he brings the Shadow.
  • That the fire letters from Isildur’s scroll are also present on the Ring show that it is the same ring, but by demonstrating their power, he is showing beyond doubt what the Ring is.
  • This goes beyond proving that this is the One Ring, but showing the danger of the Ring, too.
  • Gandalf had explicitly avoided speaking the Black Speech version in Bag End, and only gave the translation to avoid these effects there, but he chooses to do so now for his purposes.
  • Note: Even if Gandalf didn’t intentionally alter the spell to prevent its full effect, Frodo might have done so to not include its power in recording it in the Red Book.
  • Another effect of the spell seems to be a sense of oppression, which is lifted when he stopped.
  • Note: There is a similarity to the moment when he revealed his power to help Bilbo in Bag End. This also provides a manifestation of what would happen in Sauron recovered the Ring, and what he does do in his oppression of Minas Tirith later, to show the full threat to Council.
  • Its important that one’s own power must be applied to make this spell work, so it would be ineffective for those who don’t have the native power to do so.
Putting doubt aside:
  • While Gandalf seemed to be merely reaching a forensic climax in proving the identity of the Ring, based on Galdor’s questions, his point is beyond that. This is the time for them to act.
  • Gandalf is shutting down debate and emphasizing the need for haste in their decisions.
  • The Council had begun by seeming like something to forge alliances against disparate problems, but it has involved by showing that all the problems are from one root cause.
  • In showing the Ring as the ultimate root cause, they are being led to decide about it specifically.
  • The fact that the Council was not called in advance, and that there was a prophetic dream in Gondor about the Ring, all point to the fact that the bigger purpose for the Council is the Ring.
  • Rather than debating the identity of the Ring, Gandalf wants to talk about the significance of it.
  • It is important because of Sauron’s desire for it, as well as its own peril and malice, but also the opportunity that it presents by possessing it and depriving Sauron of that part of his power.
  • This opportunity is also unexpected considering Saruman’s words, and their current situation.
  • There is also a warning about what will happen if Sauron recovers it, when considering what his power is able to accomplish without the Ring, by remembering his successes in the Second Age.
  • Why does Gandalf quote the translation? This is to show what Sauron’s ultimate purpose is.
  • He did intentionally want to frighten the councilors, in order to make it real for them.
  • By telling them about Gollum’s capture and questioning in Mordor, he is emphasizing that not only is the threat real, it is imminent. Now Sauron knows all they do; time is running out.
  • The string of subordinate clauses after his facts increase the tension of his rhetoric at the end.
  • Gandalf is emphasizing that the mind of Sauron is focused on them and making the decisions. He has already shown that Sauron himself believes that this is the One Ring by his actions.
On Sauron’s knowledge:
  • Could Sauron already know that the Ring is in Rivendell? The Nazgûl are unhorsed, but there may be other ways that this could be revealed to him, such as birds allied with him.
  • Gandalf will say that his lighting fire on Caradhras might be perceptible across the continent. It’s possible that his speaking the Ring spell has the same effect, though why he’d do that is unclear.
  • Gandalf might play into Sauron’s looking for a moment of discord among the Free Peoples.
  • This is different to Aragorn’s reveal in the Palantir, which was to draw attention away from Frodo. Its unlikely that he would employ this strategy and them wait for two months to leave.
  • Could the Nazgûl travel quickly in an unbodied form? There’s no evidence for that, and it would negate the need for them to travel on horseback to the Shire.
  • The Nazgûl would probably not communicate through Saruman, as Sauron would not want Saruman to have any information about the Ring, since he was aware of Saruman’s treason.
END OF SESSION
 

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