Tony Meade
Active Member
SESSION 239
Spying out the land:
Spying out the land:
- The area between the Mountains and the Greyflood is a massive part of the land to cover by air.
- What Sam has seen the crows doing is unnatural to him, but he has no grasp of the geography.
- Aragorn emphasizes the area the crows are searching, not where they come from originally.
- He includes Hollin in their search area but suggests that the crows have not found them and left.
- Aragorn seems to have done some guesswork based on his own observations to determine this.
- While there is cause for concern, there is good news in that since the birds are having to search such a wide area, which means that whoever sent the birds doesn’t know where to find them.
- Aragorn doesn’t suggest that they have been spotted, only that they need to leave Hollin now.
- Aragorn states the origin of the birds in a neutral way and doesn’t hint as to what it might mean, though the implication is that these birds are in the employment of Saruman and from Isengard.
- He seems to do this because he feels that this is self-evident to anyone familiar with the map, like Boromir, or doesn’t want to leap to conclusions, or to maintain discretion with Gandalf.
- Gandalf has so far taken special pains to keep up the spirits of the hobbits, Frodo in particular.
- Being mindful of morale is a necessity in this spiritual conflict, and to the success of the quest.
- Aragorn may also be cautious, because they can’t know for certain that this is Saruman at work.
- Note: It’s important to note the difference between the films and the book, in that Saruman does not reveal the presence of the palantir in Orthanc to Gandalf in the book the way he does in the film. Gandalf won’t find out about the palantir in the book until his confrontation with Saruman after Helm’s Deep, and even if he suspected it, only then does he understand how Saruman knew so much or how he was being controlled by and enthralled to Sauron himself.
- There is no reason for them to suspect that Saruman is spying out the land for Sauron’s benefit.
- Note: In Unfinished Tales, Sauron already has reason to distrust Saruman’s service to him because of the revelations of his deceiving the Nazgûl during their search for the Shire. However, even without that information, it is a constant theme that Sauron would mistrust any of his servants, especially powerful ones like Saruman, just because of the nature of evil beings.
- Aragorn puts forth the alternate explanation that the birds are fleeing from trouble, and as an alternative for the benefit of the hobbits, though he also admits that this is highly unlikely.
- Note: Tolkien does not want to confuse the reader with this alternative explanation. This is similar to Frodo’s statement that the Black Riders might have nothing to do with him.
- While they don’t know if the hawks have evil intent the way the crows’ strange behavior implies, and simply could be doing natural hunting behavior, the large number of them is suspicious.
- Hawks would seem to be a more efficient and effective for searching out the land, as well as not causing the large disturbance that the flocks of crebain create which draw attention to them.
- The observation of the presence of hawks affirms their decision to travel by night before this.
- Aragorn’s use of passive voice shows that he knows they are being watched, but not by whom.
- The term “wholesome” that Gandalf used of Hollin is now echoed in the negative by Aragorn.
- Aragorn’s circumspection is important, in that he is not trying to take over leadership of the Company, while still putting forward his observations, explanations, and recommendations.
- While Gandalf endorses Aragorn’s recommendation to move at nightfall, he does take the opportunity to voice his objection to going through the Redhorn Gate, though not pursuing it.
- There is a hint of regret at not allowing the Company to rest as he had planned, however.
- Aragorn also recommends putting out the fire, though he doesn’t rebuke it’s lighting in the first place and emphasizes that it didn’t give them away and there is no need to panic over it.
- The sheer number of crows sent out implies that they might also have orders to attack the Company if they find it and robbing them of all shiny objects is an appropriate job for corvids.
- Note: Time and distance compression is common in visual adaptations, and one example is the reporting of the crebain to Saruman almost immediately after they spot the company on the hilltop. However, Tolkien doesn’t do that in the book, which asks the question as to how the crows are expected to report back to him many days later, or what Saruman would do about it.
- There seems no reason to believe that Saruman is in contact with the birds over long distances.
- Unlike Gandalf and Radagast, there is no evidence that Saruman can speak to birds directly, and even if he can, any reports made by the birds would be late and their information incomplete.
- It’s likely that Saruman could use the palantir to spy out the land, though it’s possible that Sauron might either not allow Saruman to look away from his, or see whatever Saruman sees.
- Though this is probably most of the crebain in Dunland, they have a lot of ground still to cover.
- Hawks are significant in that they are designed to hunt things on the ground, not in the air, so the crows would have nothing to fear from the hawks searching above them in the same area.
- It’s significant that this is one of the mysteries in the text which will never be explained. While there are hints at backstories for what the Enemy is doing at this time, it is not revealed.
- While Aragorn and Gandalf hint at having notions about what the Enemy is doing, they don’t speak to them, which creates a tension for the hobbits, through which we experience the story.
- The unnaturally military behavior of the crows hints at the powers of the one who sent them.
- We know that Sauron can and has invested his power and will into servants, so can Saruman?
- It’s possible that the crows might have been instructed to attack anyone they find out in the open, and their numbers would allow it, so it is fortunate that this part of Eriador is abandoned.
- There is irony that Saruman would use crows like this after ridiculing Radagast as a “bird-tamer”, though there is a difference between the Radagast’s friendship and Saruman’s domination.
- The number of the birds would definitely number in the thousands, given the area they cover.
- It’s notable that Saruman has made use of aerial elements in his forces, unlike Morgoth before.
- The use of the word “regiments” is military metaphor that implies organization and numbers.
- Saruman has an advantage over Sauron in that he knows the people involved better and might be able to guess the route that they might take, assuming that they would make for Lórien.
- He would be most worried about Galadriel acquiring the Ring, since he knows that Gandalf has not taken it, nor Elrond, though there is a question as to whether he knows about Aragorn.
