Episode 230 Summary

Tony Meade

Active Member
SESSION 230

A cold clear dawn:
  • While the emphasis before was on the wind, the weather itself was not described in any detail.
  • The change in the weather signals a new phase in their journey and seems caused by the wind.
  • The wind, while not explicitly associated with Sauron, came from the east, which implies that, and when that wind stops, their misery abates as they feel cheerful, if not actually warmer.
  • While it’s still cold, it is clear, and the rising of the sun signals a return to light out of darkness.
Crowned with ancient holly-trees:
  • The emphasis on the details that they notice shows that they are aware of the land around them for the first time in a while, as if waking from a dark dream and coming back into the real world.
  • The use of “shone” and “glowed” focuses on the light imagery, and when combined with the use of “crowned” in reference to the holly-trees, it is an image of both treasure and royalty.
  • Note: This description of the holly also conjures up Christmas imagery, which makes this on or near Epiphany, which is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi to bring the Christ Child gifts.
  • Only after the description of their cold, dreary journey do we get a time marker of a fortnight.
  • The ancientness of the holly-trees is emphasized, which marks the lost realm of Eregion (Hollin).
  • Being a realm of the Noldor, this echoes of their invention of gem-cutting and jewelry-making.
  • Note: This may be a private reference for Tolkien to his earlier depiction of the Noldoli of The Book of Lost Tales inventing jewels themselves, but when it was written in the 1940’s, only Tolkien himself would have understood the association of jewelry with the Noldorin Elves.
  • While we have been told about Eregion in “The Shadow of the Past”, at this point we have not had anyone identify this land with that name or with the people of the Jewel-smiths.
  • The imagery on its own conveys majesty, beauty, and things of great price, like a crown itself.
  • Note: The terminology for this Elven people evolves over the course of The Lord of the Rings, starting by calling them the “High Elves” early on, in the vein of The Hobbit, as those early chapters were more focused on being a sequel to The Hobbit. As the text continues, the use of terms like “Noldor” are used more frequently in the epic register, especially in the Appendices.
Dim shapes of lofty mountains:
  • While the wind out of the south is shown as a good thing, the mountains are also in the south.
  • A red-colored tooth as an image is ominous because of its association with blood and danger.
  • The mountains are portrayed as if they have deliberately and unexpectedly blocked their way.
  • Note: This may be another reference to The Silmarillion, in which the Misty Mountains were said to have been raised by Melkor in order to impede the travels of Oromë across Middle-earth. It’s also possible that it was actually their inclusion as a barrier in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that inspired that myth to be included in Tolkien’s later revisions of The Silmarillion texts.
  • This associates the mountains with an active hostility, in opposition to the helpful south wind.
  • It’s also notable that the same phrase of “glowed red” is applied to the mountain as to the holly-berries but giving a very different effect. The mountain is tipped with snow but looks like a fang.
  • Note: The fact that Sam will later say that he believes this mountain to be Mount Doom makes another strong echo between their journey now and the associations with Mordor and Sauron.
Perhaps all the more dangerous:
  • The danger comes from their possibility of being exposed in clear weather and more open land.
  • Frodo’s use of “real sunrise” and allowing the sun to fall on his face is a good sign for his state of mind. Even in the wind had been a malicious work of the Enemy, the sunrise is real and good.
  • Note: The complex alliteration of “letting the morning light fall on his face” is probably deliberate on Tolkien’s part, and usually done when an important symbolic connection is made.
  • Frodo is being passive in this moment, allowing the light to fall on his face, rather than taking it.
  • The fact that Gollum hid from the burning sun has already been mentioned by Gandalf, so Frodo still appreciating the light and warmth of the sun shows that he is in a much better moral place.
  • Frodo is reversing Gollum’s story, seeking out light while Gollum sought out the darkness. He has responded to the previous fortnight of joyless gloom and cold by moving toward the sun.
  • Note: This is echoed again in Ithilien when Frodo sees the sunlight on the crowned statue. The gesture of appreciating the sun after the night and the gloom is an important symbolic motif.
END OF SESSION
 

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