Foes that would freeze his heart...

Tony Meade

Active Member
I don’t know why I didn’t make this connection before in Aragorn’s comment about Butterbur in the Council, when Aragorn describes him as “one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly.” I was always more focused on Aragorn’s rebuke of Butterbur’s contempt for him and the other Rangers to notice that he is referring to very specific foes.

The enemies that live less than a day’s march away and would freeze his heart has to be a direct reference to the Barrow-wights. The Barrow-downs are literally within a day’s march, as it only took several hours for the hobbits to reach Bree from there on ponyback. We also know what kind of powers they have, as evidenced by the Barrow-wight’s poem: “Cold be hand and heart and bone”. They are guarded ceaselessly by not only the Rangers, but by Bombadil himself.

Now, the wights wouldn’t be able to directly attack Bree, but there are other enemies nearby who could. Aragorn might be referring to trolls, wolves, or other monsters, but I think it more likely that he’s speaking of the brigands in the area, and who we later find out are in the pay, or under the influence, of Saruman. They seem to have already been around before this, as we know the hobbit Bounders have had trouble with men recently, and that it is these men whom Bill Ferny, Harry Goatleaf, and others will join upon leaving Bree. Furthermore, they will, in fact, try to lay Bree in ruin, though their attack is defeated.

Though Aragorn’s annoyance with Butterbur still stands, his fear for the safety of the Bree-folk is well-founded, and not by a vague idea of boogeymen, but real enemies that we know about in the vicinity.

Thanks for reading.
 
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