Episode 264 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 264

The attack on the Redhorn Gate:

• Gandalf’s primary emphasis is that they are at a decision point, even though he considers going on the sole option, and only introduces the idea of returning to Rivendell so it can be dismissed.
• However, Gandalf makes it clear that that cannot travel that night, even though it had been their practice to travel at night, and he is clarifying for those who might assume that they would.
• The fact that Gandalf characterizes their attempt to pass the Redhorn Gate as an “attack” is important, because it acknowledges that they were doing so against the will of Caradhras.
• While there is no explicit information that Gandalf has crossed the Pass of Caradhras before, he must have done so, as it is the only direct way to Lothlorien over the Misty Mountains.
• Gandalf did not talk about an attack on an entity before, but rather passively about the weather, whether or not Gandalf believed that they might be actively opposed by the mountain itself.
• The metaphor seems to suggest that the Redhorn Gate as a fortification that they must assault.
• The Company as a whole is now thinking of it in those terms, and that they have been defeated.
• They had already been in need of rest when they stopped in Hollin but had been denied by the flocks of birds searching out the lands, and they have been in constant movement since then.
• However, their need for rest has been given priority over their secrecy, unlike before in Hollin.
• Gandalf may either be planning for them to sleep the night and move during the day or for them to rest until the following night and move then, but Frodo is more interested in the destination.
• Speed is now the priority over secrecy because their position already seems compromised, and Gandalf is possibly speaking of an “attack” in order to prepare them for needing to fight.
• It is important that its Frodo asks his question, because he’s the one who overheard the conversation between Aragorn and Gandalf and had dreaded the idea of the abandoned option.
• Gandalf may not have been planning to have the conversation during this council, but for Frodo.

The journey and the errand:

• Gandalf seems to separate the Quest of Mount Doom from the overall journey because not all of the Company are planning to go all the way to Mordor or attempt the destruction of the Ring.
• There is a sense that the journey will happen first and then the errand, in that order as named.
• While Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli had explicitly not expected to go to Mount Doom, it’s not clear if Gandalf was planning to go on the errand with Frodo, or to take another path.
• Gimli’s prior conversation with Elrond about the swearing of oaths did not necessarily imply that they would all swear to go to Mount Doom, but rather that they would make clear their intent.
• Elrond warned Gimli that the longer they were together the more difficult it would be to part.
• The use of “our errand” may imply that Gandalf intends to go with Frodo all the way to the end, but he already knows that in at least for Boromir, that is not the case, then he may not be, too.
• However, it’s important to remember that Frodo is not just a vessel for carrying the Ring at the will of Gandalf or Elrond, but rather that he has taken on the burden and the quest on himself.
• This is why only Frodo is charged with a specific task and destination, and not the rest of them.
• Sam is the only implied exception, as he’d already agreed to accompany Frodo no matter what.
• Since they had determined that sending Glorfindel all the way into Mordor would not be a good idea, Gandalf may sense the same about himself, though he may include all of them in solidarity.
• Gandalf wants to emphasize that, at least for now, they are all in this journey together, as all of them have business on the other side of the mountains, and that’s not to return to Rivendell.
• This is to reassure Frodo that he still has the support of the Company on this journey for now.

Veiled in deepening dusk:

• Note: The overall sound of alliteration continues to be present, with the first sentence being dominated by “w” sounds, with repeating “d”, “m”, and “c” sounds later in the paragraph.
• There is an emphasis on the time of day, and the waning light, and that there is already a change in their willingness to go on through the night, as they assume they will stop at the evening.
• There is a symbolic motif of the waning light along with their own waning strength and options.
• As before with the mountains being “shrouded” by the snow, they are now “veiled” in darkness.
• The prior use of “veil” had been in reference to hiding their true intentions from the Enemy.
• It’s also clear that the sun has not been out all day, confirmed by no red glow on Caradhras.
• Note: The chapter title “A Journey in the Dark” is already being foreshadowed here with the emphasis on darkness and failing light, and this idea of being hidden in darkness will go on.
• While this veil of darkness separates and protects them from Caradhras, they can still hear and feel him in the form of the cold wind that pursued them as they returned down the Pass.
• That Gandalf gives them another dose of miruvor may be to prepare them for the council, as it not only has a physically restoring effect but a spiritual one, and he needs them to participate.

Return to Rivendell:

• All three hobbits, apart from Frodo, are clearly in favor of returning to Rivendell, with Pippin being the most enthusiastic, even though he and Merry had insisted on following the Company.
• This suggests that Pippin is still unaware of the actual stakes of the journey and the errand.
• While his desire to go with Frodo is sincere, he would be fine if that meant following him back to Rivendell, just as Sam and Merry fall into amdir, rather than staying true to the quest’s estel.
• This doesn’t mean that they are necessarily giving up on the quest, and rather to try again at a better time, but without understanding that there will not be a better opportunity than now.
• Given their sufferings so far, its not surprising that even having that option is attractive to them.
• Aragorn and Boromir clearly don’t consider that an option for themselves, and it’s likely that if the Company did decide to return to Rivendell, they would not go with them, but on to Gondor.
• Boromir’s duty and Aragorn’s promise would constrain both of them to go on to Minas Tirith.
• Frodo is the one who directly connects the return to Rivendell with final defeat of the quest.
• Note: While the proper modern usage of the subjunctive would be to say, “I wish I were back there”, it’s possible that Tolkien was using a British English convention of his own time instead, or else was intentionally having Frodo use a non-standard usage to say something about him. Unlike Sam, who often uses dialectical speech, Frodo usually speaks in standard language.

END OF SESSION