Episode 241 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 241

White stars sprang forth:

• The hyphenated “mountain-pass” is using a noun as an adjective by pairing with another noun.
• This kind of hyphenated compound word may represent, in Tolkien’s texts, a translation of a single word which has no direct equivalent in English, such as from Elvish or Westron.
• This technique may be influenced by Germanic languages, which do similar kinds of compounds.
• The capitalized Sun and Moon differentiate the concepts behind them from the common noun usages, indicating their association with the Ainur and the metaphysics of Arda that are known.
• Tolkien follows the old Germanic tradition of making the Sun feminine and is referencing Arien.
• The more common tradition of the Sun as masculine shows up in many ways, including making comparisons between the “Son” and the “Sun” as a literary pun, such as in Shakespeare.
• Also, Tolkien primarily uses the capitalized versions when done in the context of recalled stories.
• Capitalization patterns may seem inconsistent, though there is an underlying system for Tolkien.
• There are an unusually high number of usages of the proper noun compared to common nouns.
• Note: While Sun and Moon are often personified, Earth is never personified in Tolkien’s writings, except as a metaphorical comparison when describing landscapes in an anthropomorphic way.

The Company in hiding:

• While they are in the same place where they said there was a “wholesome air” about Hollin, things have changed significantly and quickly, so that they must now treat it as dangerous.
• The passing of the birds again seems to reinforce the idea that they have not been spotted.
• Note: It is notable that Tolkien never explains the mission or source of the searching birds.
• This night was the one that they had planned to rest, but they are now setting out quickly.
• The plan seems to be to travel as much distance as they can away from Hollin and towards Caradhras, and they leave as early as they possibly can for their night march after sunset.
• While it’s clear that Gandalf is their leader, Aragorn’s role as their guide is very important.

The remains of an ancient road:

• This is clearly an ancient Elf-road and has echoes of the ones encountered in The Hobbit.
• Aragorn seems to have found the road from Eregion to Lórien through the mountain pass.
• There are many indications that Gandalf and Aragorn want to make as much haste through the passes as possible, even though these kinds of roads might be obvious places for spies to watch.
• Prior to this, they seemed to have prioritized secrecy over speed, but that must now change.
• Gandalf had already suggested that there was no chance of concealment in the pass anyway.
• Also, if it turns out that they were spotted, they want to get away before anyone follows up.
• Note: There is a note of deliberate alliteration and poetic meter in the landscape description. This seems to be an audible signal of the end of the scene, like a rhyme in a Shakespeare play.

Tumbled and ruinous stones:

• This seems to call back to Legolas’ comments about the memories of the stones and the land.
• Note: The noting of the full moon points to Tolkien’s work on planning out all the moon phases.
• The fact that the shadows are black is an unnecessary detail, but it does point to the fact that they had planned to rest during the full moon, when they would be most visible at night.
• This means that this is an additional risk they are running by moving out toward the passes.
• It would be the first clear night since they had left Rivendell, coinciding with the full moon.
• They must suspect that whoever organized all the crebain in Dunland has chosen this time.
• The black shadows cast by moonlight are exceptionally deep and made evocative and ominous.
• What should be a beautiful moonlit night is now overcast with fear and bleakness in the land.
• Note: More will be made of the connection between Sauron and shadows later in the books, as will the pale light that we see in the Ringwraiths and Gollum, for instance. Their presence now is less associated with Sauron directly, though fear’s influence lies over our perception of them.
• The stones that are casting these deep shadows are the same that are bereaved of the Elves.
• There is no narrative reference to the thoughts or feelings of characters in the scene, though.
• Note: The use of “pale” as connected with death may be connected to the pale horse of Death in the Book of Revelation, which is translated from a Greek word meaning a sickly green color.

END OF SESSION