Comment on the role of Providence at Weathertop, and overall:
Was Strider’s decision to go to Weathertop despite the dangers a nudge from Providence?
Frodo’s wounding leads to a series of events that allow him to escape the Nazgûl, and for the Riders and their horses to be destroyed, which allows the Fellowship to leave unhindered, etc.
This is a recurring theme in Tolkien’s works, that seemingly disastrous events, though the only choice at the time, turn out to be uniquely fortunate, as events couldn’t play out otherwise.
This theme extends to decision making, in which the best of a set of bad decisions is made, and for the right reasons, which lead to unexpected fortunes. Aragorn is the prime example.
It is difficult to judge what might have happened had a different decision been made, though the narrator explicitly tells us how things would have worked out otherwise in The Hobbit
Gandalf will explain to Aragorn later how his decisions have been good after the breaking of the Fellowship, and how he couldn’t have done otherwise.
Strider will rue his decision to take Frodo to Weathertop because of the short-term consequences, though in the long-term things will work out.
The test does not explicitly say that the series of events following Frodo’s wounding were inevitable, as there are too many variables to make a direct cause and effect.
Gandalf will point to the direct cause and effect of Merry and Pippin’s capture and how it led to meeting Treebeard and the Ents. The relationship here is not so direct.
In a sense, Frodo’s struggle following the wound prepares Frodo to resist the Ring later in the story as it gets stronger. The other hobbits are also educated in the nature of the threat.
Providence is not causing Strider’s decision, but rather working through Strider’s decision. This issue of fate working through free will is another consistent theme in Tolkien’s works.
The hand of Providence is only clear in retrospect, and only sometimes, as it is not always clear.
Note: In the Old Testament, God often moves people to do things directly, which is different to what we see here. The text is not concerned with distinctions of fate and free will. In Tolkien, the choices that people matter, but it is through these choices that fate, or Providence moves. Evil choices are still evil, but even bad choices may be used for the ultimate good.
A hint about Bilbo:
Why doesn’t Frodo react to the implication that Strider knows Bilbo? Frodo seems surprised that Strider knows Bilbo later in Rivendell, and even surprised to see Bilbo in Rivendell?
There is a level of affection also implied in Strider’s comment, in that he knew other things.
They have accepted that Strider is friends with Gandalf, but don’t know anything else about him.
Strider emphasizes the fact that Bilbo, whether he knows him or not, did not compose the poem, and that this is older lore. He could be referring to this being an unknown translation.
Only in retrospect does this come across as a familiarity with Bilbo, but here it could be only with the poem. This would not elicit a response from Frodo or make the connection with Bilbo.
Much happens in quick succession that might have driven this from Frodo’s mind, including Pippin’s and Sam’s discussion and Strider’s admonitions.
Why doesn’t Strider tell Frodo that Bilbo is alive and well in Rivendell? Bilbo has made it clear that he doesn’t want his whereabouts known, and Aragorn respects his wishes.
It is also not clear that Bilbo was in Rivendell the last time Strider was there, as Bilbo traveled to Dale at some point. Strider isn’t going to talk about things he doesn’t know for sure.
Frodo doesn’t ask, and Bilbo never let Frodo know where he was, either, for his own reasons.
Bilbo, the poet and teacher:
Sam’s awe and reverence for Mr. Bilbo’s being a poet is palpable, and this shows that Bilbo has come a long way from the prosy hobbit he was in “The Unexpected Party”.
The hyphenated word “book-learned” implies that there are many kinds of learning within the Shire, and not all of them require literacy.
Sam’s learning his letters might have been seen as time-wasting, but Gaffer allows him to do so, which he later temporizes in The Green Dragon, still apprehensive but defending his decision.
Bilbo probably offered to teach Sam, though Sam asked for the stories as a young boy.
It would have been difficult for the Gaffer to say no to Bilbo when he offered to teach Sam, as Bilbo was his employer, though Bilbo would have probably respected his father’s prerogative.
The Gaffer would see Bilbo as one of his betters, and he may have been apprehensive about Sam getting above himself.
There is a cache and a sense of pride coming from the Gaffer about having Sam as one of Bilbo’s young favorites, but he would be careful not to appear to be putting on airs.
The Gaffer had no reason to bring up the fact that Sam has become literate, except pride.
Sam had only memorized this part of the poem due to his discomfort with talk about Mordor.
Strider emphasizes that the title of the original poem means that its focus is on what happens in Mordor, and Gil-galad’s battle and fall on the slopes Mount Doom.
Note: Not only does Sam find it hard to believe that he would go there, there is irony in the fact that he will go all the way to Mount Doom itself, just like Gil-galad. This is in retrospect, but it is a direct parallel. It’s clear that Mordor is what affected him, not just his sadness.
Note: Sometimes, when a larger poem is mentioned and only a snippet is given, the full poem exists, at least in part. Tolkien had written fragments of the larger poems all throughout his life, though most remained unfinished. This poem was not one of them, however.
Pippin reveals a little more of his lack of understanding as to the seriousness or scope of their journey by questioning the idea of going to Mordor.
Even when making up a song about going to Rivendell, it was still just poetry. The reality seems not to have fully set in, even though he’s been told about many things.
The conspirators believed that Rivendell was the final destination, but Sam has already started thinking about going all the way to Mordor and takes it for granted because he’s with Frodo.
Frodo, ironically, does not assume yet that Mordor is his final destination. He has only spoken of his journey as an exile, and he is unsure if Mordor will be the ultimate goal of his journey.
Frodo has only taken on carrying and hiding the Ring and has left the rest open-ended.
The journey to Mordor would be a “there and back again” journey, but he doesn’t think about it.
Sam’s priority is defending Frodo, and he understands that the only way for Frodo to be free of the Ring, and therefore safe, they have to go to Mordor and destroy it.
In a way, Sam is further ahead on the Ring quest that Frodo is, even though Gandalf tells him.
Frodo is probably trying not to think that far ahead, as he understands what going to Mordor would mean. The journey at hand is hard and dangerous enough.
Sam is not speaking any more confidently about going to Mordor and coming him, and if he parallels Gil-galad’s journey, he wouldn’t come home, but he has embraced the possibility.
Sam vs. Pippin, in worldview:
Pippin is still at least partly on a hobbit walking party, though he has been educated about the dangers, but doesn’t understand what their role is yet. He thinks they’re only going to Rivendell.
Note: Pippin’s journey to enlightenment and realizations about the full scope of the adventure is a long process. He doesn’t fully shake the illusion of a hobbit walking party until Minas Tirith.
Sam has thought the matter through to the end in a way the others haven’t, and as more resigned than the other hobbits, who want to think positively, he commits to seeing it through.
Note: The text doesn’t use terms like “optimist” and “pessimist”, and their loose colloquial meaning can make them hard to define. “Hope” and “despair” are more appropriate terms, as those at least exist in the text and are explored by the characters.
Pippin shows a species of humility here, not expecting to do things that are as important as they turn out to be. He doesn’t imagine himself as being in one of Bilbo’s stories the way Sam does.
Sam might also be thinking about this as a job, in the way a working-class person would, and in a way that his more idle companions might not. They might think of it more as a quest.
Part of a servant’s skillset is to anticipate his master’s needs, so he is already getting used to the idea that going to Mordor will be necessary to help Frodo.
If the other conspirators, other than Sam, are only thinking about a trip to Rivendell, how would it come about that they would go to Mount Doom? There are only a couple of possibilities.
Sam is going to serve Frodo, but the only way that this would happen to Pippin at this point is if they were captured by the Black Riders. This attitude will change once in Rivendell.
Note: There is irony in that it is only Pippin who will go all the way to Mordor, as Merry doesn’t.
It is important to remember that Merry and Pippin had promised to stick to Frodo through thick and thin, but they don’t know what that will mean as much as Sam.
Speaking of Mordor:
Whereas Strider had admonished Frodo before about speaking about being a wraith because he would dampen is own spirit, here he seems to think that the name of Mordor itself is dangerous.
Is the name of Mordor taboo? He seems more interested in the volume with which it is spoken, and is worried about spies and prying ears, and having their presence detected.
It’s not clear if he thinks that there will be a spiritual call to the Black Riders, or merely spies.
Strider does say the name Mordor himself, as he has said it many times starting in Bree.
Note: Possibly, the invocation of evil can attract evil, and we know that words and names have power. There seems to be a distinction between the power in giving something a name, such as “elf-friend”, and in repeating a name, and in simply saying the name.
Note: Tom Bombadil is named three times in the poem he gives them to call him, and in traditional folklore, if you invoke a spirit’s name three times, it calls them to you. This extends to films like Beetlejuice and is a fairy-tale trope.
Pippin may have simply spoken much louder than the others, as it said that he “cried” aloud.
Climbing Weathertop:
The hill is described a very bare, and there doesn’t seem to be a path up. They have to climb directly up the slope of the hill. There is a sense of openness and exposure all around.
Having been sheltered by rocks all the way up to the base of the hill, they are not completely visible all around and from the top of the hill.
If Gandalf had been there, therefore, they would be able to see him, at least nearby.
The bowl-shaped dell becomes important, as it provides some cover from anyone looking up.
