Episode 237 Summary

Tony Meade · Sep 13, 2022

SESSION 237

Dead silence around:

The description here is of Sam’s subjective experience of the silence, not the silence itself.
Aragorn shows his continued vigilance by choosing to stay awake, but not by replacing Sam.
This is an extension of his desire to take the hobbits under his wing at various points in the journey, much as he did with Merry earlier at Weathertop, teaching them what they need.
While Aragorn being perceptive of the silence is to be expected, the fact that Sam is aware shows how pervasive it is, and it is less about the hearing of no sounds, but the feeling it gives.
Sam’s progressive awareness of the sounds of the others and himself allows him to notice noises that would usually be in the background and covered up by other sound that are now missing.
As a gardener, Sam would be familiar with sounds of nature, and would miss them if gone.
There is an escalation in the description of the sounds that Sam can hear, and his uneasiness.
The blue sky stands in contrast to the gloomy feeling, and also to the oppressive weather from before, which adds a sense of eeriness to the silence, as it seems out of place in the daytime.
The air is not just silent, but still, as we would expect the leaves to make noise in the wind.
While Sam can hear the noises of the Company, he seems not to be able to hear Aragorn.

Like flying smoke in the wind:

The use of “drove”, and not “driven”, gives the dark patch a sense of agency and purpose.
Smoke often makes the wind visible where it is usually invisible, like this wind from the south.
There is a sense of this as an invading force, and though its identity and purpose are unknown.
It’s important that this approaching thing has not broken the silence, which is equally strange.
As there is no wind, the description of “smoke in the wind” is more metaphorical than literal.
Sami’s combination of lack of panic and honest curiosity shows a bit of his internal courage.
Aragorn’s silence in response to Sam is ominous, as he is holding back from saying anything until he figures this out, as this is something that he has never seen before, despite his experience.

Flocks of birds, flying at great speed:

Sam is able to identify this as flocks of birds at probably the same time as Aragorn, but while he is able to see the fact of what they are, he can’t understand the meaning of this like Aragorn.
The chaotic movement of the birds within their flocks adds to the far-off appearance of smoke.
Since there are multiple flocks, there seem to be different groups doing different things, which suggests that there is a systematic nature to their actions, which is what suggests the searching.
While large groups of birds can travel together in unison, having them act in this way adds a level of eeriness, and even suggests the behavior of carrion birds when they find a dead body.
There is no description of the color of the birds yet, and Sam doesn’t even attempt to identify them, as the important things to him is their quantity and unusual behavior, which is unsettling.
Aragorn, in contrast, seems to be considering all these unasked questions of Sam’s for meaning.
The silence of the flocks of birds is the other unusual characteristic, as they usually make noise.
The fact that the native birds are not singing makes it possible that they have either fled away from the searching flocks or some other threat, or they are in hiding from the same.

Steadily drawing nearer:

Their speed is also unusual, as circling flocks of birds are usually move much less energetically.
It’s clear that these birds have not yet seen the Company, nor know where to look for them.
It seems to have been a few to several hours since the birds went silent preceding the flocks.
Likely, there is a more spiritual dimension to these phenomena, though that goes unexplained.
Note: This spiritual dimension is more obvious and explicit later with the Three Hunters and Saruman, and this dead silence in a nihilistic manifestation is a sign of the work of the Enemy.
Since Gandalf had been openly cultivating the Company to engage in merriment for their spiritual upliftment, they would be less sensitive to the bad feeling on the outside of their circle.
Note: Is Gandalf employing Narya? It’s possible, though he seems to work through it regularly.
Where are the bad feelings coming from? One candidate is the Ring, though they have had the Ring with them their whole journey, and the silence of the birds is a new phenomenon.
Sauron and Saruman seem to be the most likely candidates for the source of the oppression.
Note: Caradhras is another candidate, though that spirit seems to act in a much more local way.
Whatever the source, the same will that is driving the bird flocks can be felt by the local fauna.

END OF SESSION