Episode 91 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 91

Comment on the loss of Sam’s waistcoat:

• When the hobbits ask what happened to their clothes after being revived on the Barrow-downs, Tom dodges the questions and discourages them from trying to retrieve them from the Barrow.
• The hobbits’ reactions are amused and bemused, and they don’t consider how they were lost.
• Tom also seems to want the hobbits to avoid having the think about how they lost their clothes, due to the horror of having been stripped by dead hands while unconscious and helpless.
• Even more horrifying is that their clothes were probably cut off of them using a knife, too.
• There may be a sense in which the cerement clothes on the hobbits were swapped for theirs onto the human corpses as part of the ceremony to bind them to the barrow.
• The clothes that the hobbits wake up wearing are ragged robes, so the size would not be an issue, and the only reference to the size difference is the oversized crown on Merry’s head.
• In the end, it is unclear what happened to their hobbit-clothes, but the overall sense is that they were taken to remove from them a connection to their living world.
• Overall, Tom’s purpose is to keep them strong in their spiritual warfare with the dark forces by not allowing their minds to drift into horrifying places.
• Frodo is made a spectator, and later disruptor, of the ritual, and keeps his clothes. He is kept separate from the other three hobbits and is treated differently, possibly because of the Ring.
• It’s not clear that the Barrow-wights are aware of the Ring, but they may be influenced by its power in some way, as it is the source of the Witch-king who made them.
• There is also the difference that Frodo is marked as an Elf-friend, which would set him apart.
• It is mostly other benevolent people who can see the mark of an Elf-friend in another, but evil creatures may be able to as well.

Comment on “clip” vs “clop”:

• Onomatopoetic sounds for horse hooves are seemingly used by Tolkien to identify the kind of horse making them, and while the hobbit ponies generally “clop”, elf-horses always “clip”.
• Also, only allies’ horses are described using onomatopoeia. The villains’ horses are described with ominous phrases, such as “the sounds of hoofs”.
• Likewise, some of the other allies’ appearances are signaled through singing, like Gildor and Tom Bombadil, while the approach of the dismounted Ringwraiths is noted as silent.
• The use of “clip” for the approach of Asfaloth seems to imply both faster and lighter gait, but something about that sound also gives is the impression of a lighter spirit around the horse.
• There is definitely a subconscious meaning in the heavier, darker sounds of the Black Riders’ horses and the lighter, brighter sound of the elf-horse.
• It seems to be a stylistic decision to associate onomatopoetic phrases with good characters but not bad characters, as if the villains are too serious a threat to be treated lightly.

Noro lim, Asfaloth:

• Glorfindel stops speaking to Frodo in this moment and gives his command directly to the horse. This would activate the plan take the ride across the Ford without Frodo’s will being involved.
• He seems to still be at the back of the party but needs Frodo to get moving so that they don’t have to stop with the Riders approaching. He’s obviously within shouting distance now.
• Glorfindel also seems to guess the struggle that is going on within Frodo right now, and even if he doesn’t give in to the will of the Witch-king, his stopping may result in his capture.
• He may also feel the will of the Witch-king at work, even though it is not directed at him.
• Though he may or may not be aware of the approach of the other four, he has always suspected that the Ford would be held against them.
• Glorfindel’s first shout to Frodo is not necessarily to get him to ride, but to aid him in the spiritual battle in which he is engaged to resist the attack, and to encourage him.
• He’s seen Frodo drawn his sword, so he knows Frodo still wants to fight, but not that he can. He also knows that fighting is not an option and the only hope is in escape.
• Glorfindel would be aware of the river’s ability to defend Frodo, so he knows crossing is escape.
• Note: The use of the name of Elbereth doesn’t seem to be a possibility here, as before, this was an inspired action in Weathertop, based on Gildor’s benediction for Varda’s intervention.

The last lap:

• The use of the word “lap” invokes the metaphor of horse races, and the chase is compared to it.
• The Riders are said to cry, but this seems to point to one scream coming from behind him. This cry seems to come from the Witch-king as a call, and it is answered, like in the Eastfarthing.
• Why are two of the remaining four Riders heading straight toward Frodo? The other two head toward the Ford, which makes sense, but the other two seem to be taking a bad angle.
• It is possible that they hope to cut Frodo off from his friends, or to ensure against escape. This may be a herding tactic, but Asfaloth is too fast for this to work and still beats them to the Ford.
• Note: Tolkien was a good rugby player, so he would understand how to take a tackling angle.
• This may all be a miscalculation based on the fact that the Riders don’t expect Asfaloth’s speed.
• Frodo’s impression of the Riders growing larger and darker shows a change in perspective that is beyond sight. This may be a distortion of Frodo’s vision because of the wound.
• The Riders want to take up all of Frodo’s visual field, spiritually speaking, and see nothing else. They hope to both intimidate him and draw him into their influence.
• This is an important liminal space that Frodo is in. He is approaching this important physical border in the river, but also spiritually, between the real world and the wraith world.
• The race that is being run in the physical world is almost an outer enactment of the race going on in the spiritual world to reach safety and healing before he is overcome by the wound.

A close-run thing:

• Frodo is clearly passing into the wraith world as this is happening, as evidenced by the amount of detail Frodo can see of the Ringwraiths, including their eyes, even without wearing the Ring.
• Based on the way that Strider used the word “real” when describing the horses, we can assume that the robes, helms, swords, and other things are illusions or echoes, not physical objects.
• The fact that Frodo can no longer see his friends is partly due to the speed of Asfaloth, and being blocked by the Black Riders, but also due to the effects on his vision by the wound.
• His friends behind can see Frodo and the Riders, however, so this seems mostly spiritual, as the only things that Frodo can see clearly are the Black Riders.
• The breath of deadly cold must be Frodo’s experience of the Black Breath in close proximity.
• Note: In the last sentence contains three different similes about three different things. This is an example of the paratactic style Tolkien tends to adopt during action scenes or other exciting moments. This consists of short phrases or sentences, strung together with punctuations and conjunctions. This gives the text a fast rhythm, which moves the story along quickly. The last sentence, with all of the separate clauses, is stretched out to dilate the moment for suspense.
• This is a crisis of liminality, crossing the Ford at the same time the wraith world closes around him, with both the physical chase and spiritual struggle reaching their simultaneous climax.
• The passing of Asfaloth is compared to a flash of white fire, which is a reminder of the red flash of Frodo’s sword, and this flash seems to be in opposition to the Black Breath and cold spear.
• From who’s perspective is there a flash of white fire? This seems to be the Rider’s point of view.
• Is this last flash of fire simply a description of and action, or is this a spiritual phenomenon of the horse? It seems as though Asfaloth does something more than run faster at the last moment.
• Frodo’s fading hope is an important moment in the spiritual battle, and it is immediately after that Frodo can see the Black Riders clearly.
• The Black Riders seem to uncloak themselves literally and reveal themselves to Frodo fully.
• The swords may be insubstantial, but they may be a danger to Frodo in the wraith world.
• Clinging to the horse’s mane is a sign that Asfaloth is Frodo’s last connection to the real world, and the ringing of the bells, while a literal sound, they may seem shrill to him as he changes.
• Frodo’s closed eyes show that this perception of a white flash of fire is more than just physical.
• The phrase “as if on wings” shows that the previous phrase about white fire is not about horse’s speed, or this would be redundant. The flash of fire is about the suddenness of it beginning.
• This shows that this whole crossing of boundaries, on both levels, happens in an instant.
• The phrase “before the face of the foremost Rider” recalls the faces that Frodo could see in the wraith world, and their threat and perception of him.
• The last sentence begins and ends referencing the Black Riders, and in the midst of this, Frodo clings to the horse blindly, and the white flash of fire happens like a last moment of hope.
• It’s just after this that Frodo hears the splash of water and knows he’s made it to the Ford.

END OF SESSION