Episode 249 Summary

Tony Meade

Active Member
SESSION 249

Shrill cries and wild howls of laughter:
  • There is an echo of the battle of the stone giants in The Hobbit, both in the physical circumstances, and the feelings of fear and awe created by the sound of laughter.
  • Bilbo is more matter of fact about seeing the stone-giants, and adds humor with the game, whereas the Company doesn’t know what the sources of the sounds, which makes it more eerie.
  • Note: The reference to footballs in The Hobbit is more likely about rugby, rather than soccer.
  • Based on the parallel with The Hobbit, we are invited to imagine the stone giants here as well.
  • This is one of several things that are removed or altered from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, as the story has gone from a children’s book and fairy tale to a heroic romance.
  • Note: While his early work was concerned with mythmaking, Tolkien only became concerned primarily with more concrete worldbuilding when writing The Lord of the Rings and had to retcon the more freewheeling world of The Hobbit so as not to contradict the latter story.
  • Also, while giants are a prevalent inclusion in classic fairy-tales, they are notably absent later.
  • Note; Tolkien had plans to add giants into the story, but those were supplanted by the Ents.
Eerie noises in the darkness:
  • In this case, rather than attributing it directly to giants, there is an offer of a natural explanation.
  • By saying that the voices might be a trick of the wind, there is a degree of doubt allowed for by the narrator, as the characters present here were not present for the battle of the stone-giants.
  • Not sure what they’re hearing, there may be various opinions among them as to the source.
  • The narrator chooses a middle ground between the two explanations without asserting either.
  • This also allows the reader to choose what to believe, including the natural explanation offered.
  • The emphasis is on the experience of those hearing the sounds, and how it made them all feel.
From hidden heights above:
  • Like the sounds, there is no claim made about the source of the rocks, and the passive voice is used, which makes no attribution at all as to the cause, apart from natural explanations.
  • However, the felt experience is that of someone enjoying themselves throwing rocks at them.
  • It’s notable that there’s no avalanche of snow accompanying the rocks, as the snowstorm might.
  • The feeling here is different from The Hobbit, in that it is one of a malevolent will at work, and while the battle between the stone-giants was only witnessed, this is directed at the Company.
A blinding blizzard:
  • The use of alliteration in the description of the storm evokes the feeling of being in the storm.
  • However, the simple sentence “they tramped on again” emphasizes the effects of their efforts.
  • Note: The alliteration in the description does not exactly follow the sound and rhythmic rules of Anglo-Saxon alliterative poetry, but it is close enough that it evokes the same effect of the form.
  • The later sentences do not alliterate in the same way but recall alliterated sounds from earlier.
  • While Boromir is held up as the epitome of stubborn strength, Gimli is shown to be grumbling.
  • Pippin being the smallest and youngest is falling behind and is shown as isolated in doing so.
  • There is an onomatopoetic quality to the word “trudged” describing their walking in the snow.
  • The difference in the sound of “tramping” early in the passage is in contrast to “trudging” later.
  • Those choices of “grumbling” and “trudged” help convey the mood of the party at this point.
  • Note: While Tolkien did not believe that the sound of words was intrinsically tied to their meaning, like most scientific philologists, he did believe that some did and that it enriched their ability to communicate, and for that reason, he enjoyed playing with the sounds of words.
  • Frodo’s experience is described by his feeling rather than actions, though more subjective.
  • Note: This emphasizes that Frodo is likely the narrator of this passage, as the other characters are described objectively and more in third person, while we get Frodo’s internal experience.
  • The use of the word “stout” is meant to describe Gimli’s strength and hardiness, not his girth.
  • Note: The description of Boromir sets up his ability to clear a path through the snow later.
END OF SESSION
 

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