Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 234
To the end of the journey – in the end:
To the end of the journey – in the end:
- The lack of planning may be frustrating for Boromir, who already has his own plan to accomplish, and this kind of impracticality may be against his usual expected leadership style.
- Does Hollin “smell like elves”? It’s possible that whatever that smell is, it still lingers faintly. This may be what Gandalf means when he mentions the “wholesome air about Hollin” to Merry.
- It’s ironic that all the Wise have trusted entirely to providence, even with all their knowledge.
- Gandalf seems to still be trying to be cheerful and uplifting to the mood of the Company.
- Moving as far as they have without being seen or waylaid has been no small accomplishment.
- The land not forgetting the Elves probably refers to the effect the Elves had on the land that has not yet faded, using the metaphor of memory to describe that lingering effect to the others.
- Gandalf seems to mean that it is possible for the whole land to forget if enough evil befalls it.
- Legolas takes up Gandalf’s metaphor and makes it literal, saying that the land itself has memory.
- Even though Legolas and Thranduil are Sindar, the use of the lower-case “silvan” folk refers to their shared forest-dwelling lifestyle, not the ethnicity of the people, said as being Silvan Elves.
- Note: This is a glimpse of what was more explicit in the earlier drafts, in which spirits of the lands were more present, but later became more implicit than explicit. Both Goldberry and Caradhras are examples that remain in the final version, but not explained. Legolas is unable to speak to the spirits of stone because they are unlike the woodland spirits he knows well.
- The spirits who have bound themselves to particular lands and kinds of life do so out of love, like the Valar have done. This is not imposed upon them from someone in authority, but voluntary.
- Note: Christopher has made in clear that even when Tolkien cuts material, he still has that material in mind in the background unless he later explicitly changes or contradicts it later on.
- Legolas seems to be able to perceive the consciousness of the living things around him naturally.
- Note: Sam’s later healing of the Shire is done in the same spirit of what the Elves have done in Hollin, which Saruman has attempted to hurt the Shire not only physically, but spiritually.
- The use of the word “now” is important, since Legolas is clarifying Gandalf’s comments rather than contradicting, and assumes that the trees and grass would remember, but are too young.
- There is a tragic irony that the holly trees have forgotten the Elves, as it was likely the Elves of Hollin that brought them here and planted them and famously named their country after them.
- It’s important that the stones don’t just remember the presence of the Elves, but how the Elves shaped and used them, even though there is no description of a building or ruin nearby.
- This seems to be a collective memory of the stones, as if the stones have heard rumors about it.
- It’s clear that Legolas is pointing toward the Noldorin Elves and not Dwarves, as he has probably heard stories about the Elves of Eregion and draws this conclusion from the stones’ laments.
- Legolas’ use of “strange” implies that there was a different kind of connection between the stones and the Noldor than is people are able to have with the materials of their lands.
- It does seem that the stones saw their delving and being wrought as a positive thing they recall, and it has an almost mythical memory of it as they were participating in the Elves sub-creations.
- The Elves not only used the stones, but beautified them, and gave them a part in their glory.
- The second use of “they are gone” is not italicized, showing that this is Legolas echoing the stones’ lament, as before he was merely quoting what he heard them say, and affirms it.
- Legolas is being circumspect in only mentioning those that sought the Havens, as these would have merely been the survivors of Sauron’s invasion of Eriador when Eregion was destroyed.
- The rocks, however, don’t know what happened to the Elves of Eregion, only that they were left.
- This places an old and permanent sadness in the land itself, as they have lost the Elves forever.
- Note: This passage, along with the encounters with Bombadil and Treebeard, gives us a window into Tolkien’s conception of nature and its spiritual significance, both for themselves and for us.
- This relationship is different from other peoples, such as how the hobbits of this time don’t have a real understanding of the life and thoughts of the natural world around them, such as of trees.
- Note: There is an echo of the phrase in the Gospels where Jesus says that the stones themselves can cry out in praise, which attributes a similar consciousness of their place in Creation itself.
