Episode 320 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 320

Since the dwarves fled:

• When Sam says that he wants to learn Gimli’s song, he means that he would like to memorize it.
• Repeating of the line “in Moria, in Khazad-dûm” shows Sam’s enthusiasm for learning the poem.
• While his first response is to the poetry, his second is to apply it to the environment around him.
• This shows how his imagination has been sparked by Gimli’s song, as does his vision of treasure.
• This is a parallel with Bilbo’s hearing of Thorin’s Company’s song at the beginning of The Hobbit.
• In both cases, the hobbit is transported to a vision of the place and feeling Dwarvish thoughts, and then back to their present circumstances, in this case from old Khazad-dûm to Moria now.
• This also shows that Sam listened to the poem carefully and took in all the contrasting imagery.
• It should be no surprise that Sam also thinks of the riches possibly still present in Moria, as they are described in great detail in the middle stanzas of the poem, and Sam was immersed in it.

Piles of jewels and gold:

• Sam had also been raised on stories of hordes of Dwarvish gold from Bilbo’s old adventures.
• There is no evidence that they know the story of the fall of Khazad-dûm or what was the cause.
• Gimli’s song does not mention it, only presenting the state of Moria before and after the fall.
• There are stories and rumors of what Moria is like now, as was shown by Boromir’s statement.
• They have also had discussions of the presence of Orcs, but not about the original fall of Moria.
• That doesn’t mean that none of the Company know anything, only that it hasn’t been discussed.
• Frodo’s fear of Moria was largely driven by Aragorn’s response to Gandalf’s wish to try that way.
• For the hobbits, Moria may be a dark rumor like Mordor itself and they could even be conflated.
• Boromir might have had better or more accurate instruction on the history of Moria in Gondor.
• All of the references to Moria in The Hobbit have to do with the war with the Orcs, not the fall.
• Sam’s idea that the treasure might be still lying in Moria is still a somewhat naïve response.

Having sung his song:

• Gimli’s silence may mean that he had entered into the world of the song and not come back yet.
• There is also a sense that Gimli may not choose to respond to Sam’s questions out of secrecy.
• The use of “would” shows that Gimli is holding back out of choice and not some cultural taboo.
• Sam and the other hobbits would not be able to read Gimli’s response clearly, since they haven’t known Gimli for a long time and would have not spent much time around Dwarves in general.
• Gimli is also possibly overcome with emotion, and this is a state that would be unusual for him.
• Note: The internal arc of Gimli’s experience being in Moria for the first time is still ongoing and will not be concluded until the Company arrive in Lothlórien, and Gimli’s focus changes there.
• While Gimli had only joined the Company with the intention of seeing the Ring-bearer over the mountains before turning to the Lonely Mountain, he has been rewarded with this experience.
• As he had been in awe and overwhelmed, and he had not been much help to Gandalf except for making educated guesses, the singing of the song represents a turning point in his journey.

In a shadow of fear:

• Up until now, the Company’s fears of Moria have only been vague, with no concrete evidence.
• Gandalf seems to understand Gimli’s lack of response and comes to his aid to answer Sam.
• This helps bring Sam back to his senses and out of his imagination inspired by Gimli’s song.
• Gandalf only mentions that the Orcs would have cleared out any treasure in the upper halls.
• What remains in the deeper places is possibly there, but unreachable to all, including them.
• Gandalf hints for the first time that there is something deeper of which the Orcs are afraid.
• The mention of drowned places is a sign that things have changed greatly without the Dwarves.
• The Dwarves would have controlled any underground water flows as part of their mining efforts.
• When Gandalf mentions the “shadow of fear”, he is comparing it with those drowning waters.
• Note: This seems to be the moment when Tolkien, through Gandalf, plants the first seed of the idea that will later turn out to be the Balrog, in that a tangible source of the fear lies in wait, that is apart from the Orcs, and since even Orcs won’t go into the deep places, they are also afraid.
• This also reveals that Gandalf believes that the treasure does exist, just not accessible to them.
• Gandalf seems to make an educated guess and could be based on his prior experience in Moria.
• Note: Gandalf does not seem shocked later to discover that the source of the fear he suspected turns out to be real, even though he is surprised to learn that it is in fact a Balrog. While he and others, like Galadriel and Celeborn, have heard of “Durin’s Bane”, they do not know what it is. Even the Dwarves who experienced the fall of Khazad-dûm didn’t know what it was, and there are many nameless things in the deep places, as Gandalf had mentioned earlier there could be.

What do the dwarves want to come back for?

• Sam’s question could imply that he can see no good reason for dwarves to want to return without the possibility of finding their treasures there, as they had done at the Lonely Mountain.
• However, his appreciation of the poem shows that he had been thinking about Moria more deeply, and he is instead responding to Gandalf’s statement about a shadow of fear deep below.
• Sam would understand both the practical aspects of water flooding and the physical destruction.
• However, Sam is also thinking about the darkness and what Gandalf has hinted might be in it.
• Sam would have heard stories about Balin, but he would have wondered what his plan was.
• Even after working out practical problems, they would have to deal with whatever that fear is.
• Sam seems to be asking out of genuine curiosity, and not in an accusing way of their motivation.
• Given that returning seems impossible, it seems that Balin’s desire represents something else.
• Sam does not seem to question their desire, only that it seems that it wouldn’t be possible.
• In Sam’s dialect, his asking this as a question might be simply rhetorical, not expecting answers.
• While the story that has been told is Sam’s favorite kind of story, either he or Balin may not have understand the hope that is held out at the end for the return of Durin and what that means.
• This also represents Sam’s complicated relationship with the idea of hope, both amdir and estel.

END OF SESSION