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C2"We have explicitly made the link between the fog and the spells of the barrow wights . . . And it's interesting that the barrow wights' influence, through the fog, seems to be, at least in part, to obscure even the memory of Tom Bombadil's house." (35:46-36:05)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: NAMES
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 138, slide "The Fog Clears"
EPISODE:
C5"You'll notice, of course, the power of Tom Bombadil's name . . . It's the name itself, as Goldberrry implied, as Tom Bombadil implied, that has power . . . Frodo's repetition of the name here is enough to have an impact, not on the barrow wight, but on himself. (38:52-40:01
MORAL THEME: PITY
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "A Cheerful Abjuration"
EPISODE:
F16"Yes, Kyle, I think that Tom could be showing him pity by not sending him to his ultimate doom until the time of the mending of Arda comes. There is still hope. Possibly." (1:39:48-1:40:02)
F18"Don't forget the pity. Don't forget the sadness and the pitiableness of the wights . . . They're sorrowful. They're sad as well as horrible. And I think that Tom is not immune to that pity." (1:41:05-1:41:25)
THEOLOGICAL THEME: ESCHATOLOGY (LAST THINGS)
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "A Cheerful Abjuration"
EPISODE:
F18"Gravity asks, 'Is there a place for a wight in a mended world? Would he return?' Well, Gravity, yeah he would, but only if he is mended too . . . The only time when he's going to be permitted to return would be after the mending of the world, and the only condition under which he would return would be if he himself were also mended." (1:40:37-1:41:04)
F18"I do think the 'till the world is mended,' that he is implicitly invited to return after the world is mended is saying . . . that he, of course, will be mended as well" (1:42:05-1:42:47)
F20"I think he's going to have some company. By the end of the Lord of the Rings, I think we're going to see several others go the way of the barrow wight to barren lands far beyond the mountains, such as Saruman and Sauron. Neither of them is annihilated. But they're going to be wailing with the winds . . . Gandalf doesn't say that Sauron is going to be destroyed. He's going to be reduced to an impotent spirit who's going to go wailing like the winds into the barren lands far beyond the darkness." (1:43:22-1:44:06)
F21"The wight looks forward to moment when the Dark Lord lifts his hand over dead sea and withered land. Tom Bombadil, of course, at the end of his song looks forward to Arda remade. He looks forward to the mending of the world, whereas the wight is anticipating the ultimate marring of the world . . . What Tom is suggesting . . . coming back to that note of hope, that note of redemption or, at least, the potential for redemption that we were discussing before seems to be interestingly relevant." (1:44:56-1:46:25)
At the end of this episode (the end of F21) Professor Olsen begins to make a point that he didn't seem to have time to develop. I think his point may have been that Tom Bombadil's vision of the mended world includes pity and the possibility of redemption even for the evilest of creatures.
THEOLOGICAL THEME: EVIL: SADDNESS
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "A Cheerful Abjuration"
EPISODE:
F18"Don't forget the pity. Don't forget the sadness and the pitiableness of the wights . . . They're sorrowful. They're sad as well as horrible. And I think that Tom is not immune to that pity."
THEOLOGICAL THEME: EVIL: DESPAIR
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "A Cheerful Abjuration"
EPISODE:
F21"In a sense, we can already see how the wight is already darker than the darkness, the darkness of its own despair, the darkness of the Dark Lord's own despair . . . His victory will look like the destruction of everything . . . ruling over a dead world." (1:45:12-1:45:37)
TEXT: No specific text, slide "Notes and Queries 1"
EPISODE:
A1,A2"'This description (in Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy) seems apt to describe the Barrow-wight. Yes, Tom may pity the Barrow-wight, but could the Barrow-wight have an incurable condition?' . . . I agree with Evan entirely on this. I agree that that Beothian passage does point to one of the concepts upon which Tolkienian pity is based. That's why we are encouraged to pity the wicked not despite their wickedness but because of their wickedness. . . Pity for evil because it's evil, I do agree, is something we can see in Tom's condemnation of the Barrow-wight." (4:09-6:33)
THEOLOGICAL THEME: ESCHATOLOGY (LAST THINGS)
TEXT: No specific text, slide "Notes and Queries 1"
EPISODE:
A1,A3"'Could "Hell" in short, be a state of spiritual desolation? . . . Then, "the barren lands far beyond the mountains" if so, would indeed be a metaphor for spiritual baroness "more frightful than any sickness"' . . . Evan, I think you get really well at what I what I was trying, sort of fumbling, to say: that I think the casting out of the barrow-wight is fundamentally metaphorical . . . it's about the fact that he is going away, out there, as Evan says, somewhere off into the indeterminate distance. That has, of course, the spiritual, moral significance. (4:19-7:27)
MORAL THEME: JUST PUNISHMENT
TEXT: No specific text, slide "Notes and Queries 1"
EPISODE
A1,A3"'It really wouldn't matter where the Barrow-wight will be released because the Barrow-wight, if this is correct, is "darker than the darkness" already . . . It would appear to be far more of a matter of getting the Wight away from where his incurable "disease" of wickedness can't arm others' . . . Again, I agree exactly with Evan's interpretation there, his casting out is not a punishment so much as a kind or quarantine . . . Tom's not doing anything to [the barrow-wight] that it hasn't already done to itself . . . he's not increasing its suffering. All he's doing is removing it."(4:48-8:13)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL BEINGS
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "Fresh Air"
EPISODE:
B1"Do we have any evidence here that the wight is incorporeal? I kind of think so. Or, at least, the spirit that's leaving seems to be incorporeal.
B3"The fact that the barrow-wight was using a body, a physical, tangible body, to interact with stuff is pretty clear. What is less clear to me is whether the barrow-wight is taking the body with him when he leaves. . . I don't think it's physically running away and retreating in that way. I think the 'fading away into an unguessable distance' is the much swifter and much more direct retreat of it's spirit."(14:36-16:00)
B4"What Frodo's hearing when he hears the shriek fading away is not even necessarily even a purely physical sensation. He's perceiving his departure in a more spiritual sense"(16:00-16:21)
D4"If the barrow-wight has a physical form, there are one of two possibilities: either it is a spiritual being that has manifested itself in a physical form, like the Valar can do, or it could be animating another body, the body of something else. That's much more unusual, we don't see that kind of thing happening very often at all. But it's possible. For instance, werewolves. Werewolves are evil spirits that have been brought in and sort of shoved into the bodies of monstrous wolves, so that the physical body of the beast, the wolf, is animated by the malicious and intelligent spirit that has been bound to it"(37:15-38:20)
D5"It would not shock me to find that it was just a manifestation. But if it's just a manifestation, why would its hand still be there after it has run away? I don't think that would happen. I can't imagine that that would happen. . . The fact that it's hand was still there suggests to me that this was a physical corpse animated by an evil spirit."(39:06-40:02)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER; SPELLS
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 139, slide "Fresh Air"
EPISODE:
B6"The Mad Violinist's suggestion that it's the final breaking of the spell of the barrow, that Tom will prevent him from returning by piling the treasure on the mound - right, exactly. That is part of that process. We will see Tom . . . explaining that what he's doing with the treasure is explicitly intended as a kind of spell. He's performing a kind or rite of his own, which is specifically designed to prevent the wight ever coming back."(17:15-17:33)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER
TEXT: Chapter 8, pp.139-40, slide "More Fun with Verb Moods"
EPISODE:
F2"Both the east and the west sides are pointing to outside influences. On the east side of the barrow you are facing the shadow . . . the barrow-wight's influence in exerted more on the eastern side . . . There is another power. Some other power had a hand in the west side of the barrow, the side that if facing toward elven-home and Valinor, to the light in the west. Apparently that has some influence. Tom suggested it in his advice before the left. He suggests it again in laying the three comatose hobbits on the west side of the mound."(53:01-53:57)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL BATTLE
TEXT: Chapter 8, pp.139-40, slide "More Fun with Verb Moods"
EPISODE:
F12"Let us not forget the strength Frodo shows here in the barrow. It was kind of a big deal what he was able to do, the victory that he won over the barrow-wight. Calling out to Tom Bombadil was already a victory. . . That was winning. We know that the barrow-wight's spell, the fog and the barrow-wight's spell, was actively preventing him from remembering Tom Bombadil. But he remembers. So he overcomes. He wins. . . It will be intriguing to compare this sequence a long time from now when we get to the Witch-King on Pelanor Field, Auruaron. We should definitely remember this scene. We should also remember this scene when we get to the balrog. There are a number of place where battles of the kind of which Frodo was fighting a battle . . . we'll see that on numerous occasions."(103:00-104:43)
THEOLOGICAL THEME*: RESURRECTION
TEXT: Chapter 8, pp.139-40, slide "More Fun with Verb Moods"
EPISODE:
F20"It's not exactly a resurrection, but it's kind or resurrection-ish. Here I come back to the point that Tony made, which I think is really relevant. This looks like Easter Sunday morning, with the rolling away of the stone, the word "rolling" is actually used, and the morning sun streams into the tomb and the bodies come out and are animated again. Yes, there's resurrection stuff in the air."(1:15:33-116:13)
*This "theological theme" is, of course, theological in a different way than most of the other "theological themes" I am identifying. It has to do with a way the story relates to the Christian theology espoused by its author, rather than the Middle-Earth theology of the world that he subcreates.
C1"Sam is a peasant lad and that golden crown and the bejeweled rings and the jeweled belt he's just flung down on the grass is probably worth more money than his family has made in four generations, and yet it's not even on the radar screen. He doesn't even contemplate that. . . It strikes me how deeply un-tempted he is by all this stuff."(40:39-41:47)
C4"Matt, you're absolutely right that Sam's lack of temptation with the riches here is a pretty close parallel with the temptation of the ring. As Matt says, 'Sam isn't going for the rings of gold even when it's free, only turning Mordor into a garden is a temptation."43:25-43:47)
C5"Galendar, you're right. It's interesting that it's not just that Sam is un-tempted by the riches but that he misses his garments. Presumably, his weskit wasn't all that much of a garment, probably not worth all that much, but he is more interested to find his cloak, jacket, and britches."(43:57-44:30)
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 142, slide "Tom and the Treasure"
EPISODE:
B4"This is, if it's not a spell, it's at least a counter-spell. It is part of the breaking of the power of the wight. "(33:58-34:13)
B7"Tony, exactly . . . what we see going on here is the breaking of a spell like that . . . the treasure is obviously part of the spell of the mound. . . whether the treasure was instrumental in the curse, it is clearly part of the breaking of the spell of the mound. If the treasure is dispersed, no wight can come and live there again. (35:46-36:23; 39:49-40:03)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: MERRIMENT
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 144, slide "the Last Bombadil Poem"
EPISODE:
J3"'Keep up your merry hearts.' That's more Tom Bombadilian advice. We have seen - and this is an inappropriate way to describe it - but the kind of weapon that merriment is against the darkness, certainly against the barrow-wights, as we saw."(1:41:10-1:41:31)
THEOLOGICAL THEME: PROVIDENCE
TEXT: Chapter 8, p. 144, slide "the Last Bombadil Poem"
EPISODE:
J4"'Ride to meet your fortune' is a really interesting thing for him to say too. . . this is about 'chance if chance you call it.' They are riding out to meet what is supposed to happen, the things that are going to be occurring. It might be good fortune, it might be bad fortune that they are going out to meet but whatever be the fortune they are going to encounter they should ride out to meet it. . . Galendar, yes, I would think that this is 'fortune' in the sense of fate, of what really lies behind fortune, which is providence and fate"(141:32-142:46)
TEXT: Chapter 8, pp. 144-145, slide "Sam's Commentary"
EPISODE:
B7"He acknowledges that, not only is Tom Bombadil good, he is extraordinary good. We might go a long way before we see anything better than Tom Bombadil. And I don't think he means better in the sense of 'more noteworthy,' better in like a tourist sense, 'a more remarkable thing to see.' I think he means better like 'he's good.'"(39:19-39:45)
MORAL THEME: BREE VIRTUE / HOBBIT VIRTUE: HUMILITY
TEXT: Chapter 9, p. 146, slide "A New Frontier"
EPISODE:
G7"I agree, Amathorne, the Breelanders do seem to be content. As to why they never grew into an empire or fell into darkness, that seems to have as much to do with their humility as anything else. They're a humble village; have always been. They've been a humble village for 7,000 years or something like that."(120:05-120:33)
G8"I do think that, Tony as you say, 'their humility protects them from the temptation of evil like the hobbits.' There does seem to be a kind of likeness between the Breelanders and their outlook on life and the hobbits and their outlook on life. [Hobbit humility is commented upon in Episode 1 and Episode 8]"(121:48-1:22.14)
TEXT: Chapter 9, p. 151, slide "A Cordial Invitation"
EPISODE:
C10"If you think about all of the choices that they have made since Frodo left Bag End, it's not a very glamorous list. . . But, of course, you notice that what all of those things have in common is they all turned out well, actually. None them are particularly good decisions . . . and, of course, were going to get the same thing here. Their going to the common room, which is a terrible, terrible decision, is going to lead to them meeting Strider. We're going to continue to see this same pattern."(45:08-48:04)
C11"It could be, Tony, that there is some other power at work, looking out for them. I rather suspect that that is the case, in fact. But that's part of the thing, right? . . . They weren't picked for this because they are qualified. Remember what Gandalf said to Frodo when Frodo says, 'Why was I chosen,' and Gandalf says, 'Not for any strength or wisdom that others don't possess.' [see Chapter 2, pp. 59-60, slide “The Only Option” considered in Episode 8]"(48:19-48:43)
MORAL THEME: TEMPTATION: RING TEMPATION
MORAL THEME: RATIONALIZATION
TEXT: Chapter 9, p.154, slide "A Hasty Intervention"
EPISODE:
G1,G3"Does this impulse come from the Ring? I say, 'Yes, definitely.' But there are two interesting differences here between the temptation that Frodo is experiencing here and the temptation he has experienced before. Difference number one: he resists it. The barrow was the first time he ever resisted it. . . His record in resisting these ring temptations has not been great so far. . . The [second] different thing here than what we've seen anywhere else . . . is that he's aware of it at as an outside thing. We've seen him struggle with temptation from the Ring before; we have never seen him aware of the fact that he is resisting a temptation from something outside himself. . . he seems to associate it with the ring itself . . . So, he succeeded. The Ring has attempted to make him put it on and escape and vanish in front of everybody, and it's failed."(1.21:01-1.25:44)
G6,G7,G8"Why is he squeezing the Ring in his hand when he's talking? He's fighting back against the Ring by holding it to prevent it from escaping. Of course, the Ring is going to end up on his finger because he's doing that. . . He thinks he's resisted, but he's not totally resisted. He doesn't put it on, but he is holding it. . . That has the flavor of the same rationalization that we've seen the Ring induce before. I think this is him temporizing with the temptation, not just rejecting it. . . I think this is him succeeding in resisting one temptation but falling for the other. . . I think this shows the state of his heart to some extent. . . He is attached to the Ring, and the rationalization comes from him. . . He's telling himself that he's clasping the Ring in his hand to prevent it from escaping or doing any mischief. But that's a rationalization. Why is he holing it in his hand? Because he wants it in his hand."(1.26.15-1.30.14)
TEXT: No specified text, session "Notes in Queries: Tom's Toleration"
SESSION:
A4,A5"What does it mean to be good? The assumption, Vranda, that seems to be underlying your question, the questions you're posing in that sentence there, 'As Tom is undoubtedly "good", and if the barrows are within his realm of influence, what reason could he possibly have for allowing the wights to persist?' . . . We often assume that goodness has to be activist, part of what it means to be good means to be fighting against evil. You see evil you have to resist it, not just resist it in the sense of not letting it corrupt you . . . but you should resist it in the sense of going out and taking care of it. Tom Bombidil and Treebeard provide us with important evidence that Tolkien's world does not make that assumption."(8:19-10:15)
A6"Rather than saying . . . "We have to find a way to fit Tom Bombadil's non-interventionalist policy into our concept of goodness" . . . instead of doing that, what I think we need to do . . . is to to take Tom's non-interventionalist policy as a sort of building-block fact in order to contribute to our understanding, building our vocabulary from within the book. What does it mean to be good, according to The Lord of the Rings?"(10:39-1147)
A12, A13"I'm not sure that it isn't with a certain measure of sadness that Tom Bombadil casts out the wight. He doesn't want to cast that spirit into outer darkness . . . Exactly, JJ, all evil creatures are themselves victims, sometimes victims of their own choices. It's not to say that they're innocent victims but, at the end of the day, they're all tragic, and who more than Old Man Willow? That the mightiest singer of all the trees in the forest should have spiritually rotted away at his core - that's sad. That's tragic. I think that Tom Bombadil is well aware that it's tragic and he's not ready to take out his axe and have it down."(19:28-20:25)
A15"Matt Deforest is recalling Gandalf's answer about not being to quick to deal out death and judgment [Chapter 2, p.58, slide “The Fate of Many” considered in Episode 8], and that not even the wise can see all ends. . . It's not about relativizing good and evil. It's about what does it mean to be good, and what are the responsibilities of goodness, and what is the relationship between good guys and bad guys."(22:49-24:33)
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C3"It's clear that the Nazgul have an effect. It's not like their powers are merely waning or anything like that. Nob's hair is all stood on end; he's terrified. He's very much impacted by his brief conversation."(41:53-42:14)
C8"The kind of power that they are able to wield over people, the kind of oppression they can bring to the spirits of people, to drive them into despair, to make them incapacitated with fear and with dread, they don't have that here."(45:25-45:45)
C9"They don't have none of it. Remember the effect of their hearing the cry and the song of the Nazgul above the Marish? . . . It still affects them, but it's not going to affect them nearly as much as that same song, that same cry in the Dead Marshes. . . But we do see the impact they have on people. We see Nob's terror. We see the dogs and the geese. The dogs are yammering and the geese are screaming. It's uncanny."(45:46-47:26)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: PLACES; THE PRANCING PONY
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C5"Eroheb (spelling?) says that Barliman is the lord of one of the strongest fortresses against the Riders, we're told. Yeah, we'll see that actually"(42:41-42:51)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: PLACES: LANDS UNTOUCHED BY THE SHADOW
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C6,C7"This is one thing I always want to recall, which I think we can see a trend for here. The Riders - it's not necessarily that they're weaker but their power is not as strong here as it would be back in Minus Morgul, as it would be in Mordor, as it would be under the Dawn-less Day. There's a reason why Sauron spreads his darkness over the land before is armies come out. Here, in lands far from Mordor untouched by the shadow, the Nazgul struggle. Their power is reduced. Or, rather, the power to resist them is still fairly strong. People like Farmer Maggot, with a close relationship with the earth, they can resist the Black Riders."(42:52-43:51)
C8"The kind of power that they are able to wield over people, the kind of oppression they can bring to the spirits of people, to drive them into despair, to make them incapacitated with fear and with dread, they don't have that here."(45:25-45:45)
C9"They don't have none of it. Remember the effect of their hearing the cry and the song of the Nazgul above the Marish? . . . It still affects them, but it's not going to affect them nearly as much as that same song, that same cry in the Dead Marshes
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C3"It's clear that the Nazgul have an effect. It's not like their powers are merely waning or anything like that. Nob's hair is all stood on end; he's terrified. He's very much impacted by his brief conversation."(41:53-42:14)
C8"The kind of power that they are able to wield over people, the kind of oppression they can bring to the spirits of people, to drive them into despair, to make them incapacitated with fear and with dread, they don't have that here."(45:25-45:45)
C9"They don't have none of it. Remember the effect of their hearing the cry and the song of the Nazgul above the Marish? . . . It still affects them, but it's not going to affect them nearly as much as that same song, that same cry in the Dead Marshes. . . But we do see the impact they have on people. We see Nob's terror. We see the dogs and the geese. The dogs are yammering and the geese are screaming. It's uncanny."(45:46-47:26)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: PLACES; THE PRANCING PONY
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C5"Eroheb (spelling?) says that Barliman is the lord of one of the strongest fortresses against the Riders, we're told. Yeah, we'll see that actually [see Chapter 10, pp. 170-171, slide "Who Will Attack the Inn" considered in Episode 61]"(42:41-42:51)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: PLACES: LANDS UNTOUCHED BY THE SHADOW
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 164-165, slide "One Problem After Another"
EPISODE:
C6,C7"This is one thing I always want to recall, which I think we can see a trend for here. The Riders - it's not necessarily that they're weaker but their power is not as strong here as it would be back in Minus Morgul, as it would be in Mordor, as it would be under the Dawn-less Day. There's a reason why Sauron spreads his darkness over the land before is armies come out. Here, in lands far from Mordor untouched by the shadow, the Nazgul struggle. Their power is reduced. Or, rather, the power to resist them is still fairly strong. People like Farmer Maggot, with a close relationship with the earth, they can resist the Black Riders."(42:52-43:51)
C8"The kind of power that they are able to wield over people, the kind of oppression they can bring to the spirits of people, to drive them into despair, to make them incapacitated with fear and with dread, they don't have that here."(45:25-45:45)
C9"They don't have none of it. Remember the effect of their hearing the cry and the song of the Nazgul above the Marish? . . . It still affects them, but it's not going to affect them nearly as much as that same song, that same cry in the Dead Marshes
TEXT: Chapter 10, p. 165, slide "Butterbur's Resolve"
EPISODE:
A3"'"Save us!" cried Mr. Butterbur turning pale' Matt suggests it does imply a belief in a divine force that we don't often get. Some kind of general appeal. Tom was asking, more broadly, whose assistance, exactly, is he requesting? I don't really know. It's not at all clear. I don't see much reason to think that Butterbur has even a vague notion of the Valar, that this some kind of vague invocation asking for the assistance of the Valar . . . It does seem, Matt as you were saying, like sort of a broad appeal to 'I don't know whom.'"(12:59-14:08)
A4"Ragamuffin on Twitter was just saying that 'save us' could just be an expression like 'God bless you' in response to a sneeze. Yes, except 'God bless you' in response to a sneeze shows a basic theological underpinning. You might not be meaning it. It's quite likely that when you say 'God bless you' that you're not actually thinking about invoking a monotheistic god and asking his blessing upon the person who just sneezed. The whole explicit theological conception that underlies it may not be in your mind, but it is nevertheless the cultural root of what you're saying. Whereas, when he says 'Save us!', does that in fact also suggest a similar kind of cultural underpinning, that there is some sense in the culture of Bree that there exists a force to appeal to? Presumably not Illuvatar. Maybe the Valar, perhaps."(14:28-15:37)
A5"Valorie, I'd be supper surprised if the concept here was that of a conception of Iluvatar or Eru among the people here. That's, I won't say a secret, it's not like anyone's hiding it, the existence of Iluvatar. But that does not seem to be a well known thing. Eroheb, I agree that 'the Valar turn him aside' or something like that could easily turn into a semi-meaningless 'save us' given a few millennia. Yeah, you could argue that. You could conceivably say that this is a relic of that sort of expression. 'The Valar turn him aside,' as Eroheb is quoting here, is what the Dunadain down in Ithilien say when the mumak is heading towards them. But they, of course, have a much more explicit theological grounding. They know about the Valar and they actually have ceremonies that revere them. We're way far away from that, both culturally and geographically, in Bree."(15:40-17:05)
A7"I agree, Cecilia, we really know so little about any kind of religion or even vestige of religious belief in this area. Remember, Frodo is going to feel rustic and uncouth when he's eating with Faramir."(19:30-19:48)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER; RINGWRAITHS: TERROR
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 169-170, slide "Merry's News"; Chapter 10, p. 170, slide "A Close Encounter"
EPISODE:
D3"This is enormously important to understand about the Nazgul: what is so threatening about the Nazgul? It's not that they're going to beat you up. It's not even that they're going to kill you. It's the effect that they have on you. that is what the Nazgul are about. They're uncanny. They're scary. They are terrifying. And that's what they do. That's what they did to Merry."(55:26-55:54)
E5"He [the Nazgul] has overwhelmed Merry. Merry's description again: 'I felt terrified, and I turned back, and was just going to bolt home, when something came behind me and I fell over.' So the Black Rider caught him. . . The Black Rider comes up behind him and 'boom.' he drops. That's the Black Rider taking Merry captive. . . This is our prototype now . . . this is the first time we've seen a Black Rider attack anyone . . . It knocked him out. He was overwhelmed by fear and he fell into an evil dream. . . Based on this scene, and this is the one piece of data we have so far in the book, this is what a Nazgul getting you looks like."(121:28-124:25)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER; RINGWRAITHS: ATTRACTION
MORAL THEME: RING TEMPTATION IN RESPONSE TO RINGWRAITH POWER
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 169-170, slide "Merry's News"
EPISODE:
D12"What he [Merry] is describing is exactly like the effect we are going to see the Nazgul have on Frodo on several occasions. This is a thing the Nazgul do. This is an effect the Nazgul have. "(105:14-105:28)
D14"I can only conclude that this kind of drawing [Merry, in this case] after it is an unconscious effect that the Nazgul seems to have on people. And that's interesting. . . I'm not sure what to make of this but I think it's an interesting point for us to watch and see, especially as we see the Nazgul interacting with others."(107:58-109:32)
D15"This attraction that the Nazgul seem to have, we have seen it before. Even in Frodo's temptations to put on the ring [considered in Episode 11). That was ring temptation but this desire to leap out and reveal himself to the Nazgul seems to me to be not the same. Again, you've got the ring involved so there's this whole other factor there. Because it's clearly a Ring temptation as well. And yet the sort of premise of that temptation seems to be something intrinsic to the Nazgul. This is why I find this passage so interesting, because without this passage I might have thought that that other stuff was just 100% the Ring. But now I'm not sure I do think it's 100% the Ring"(109:35-110:43)
D15"There's this aura of dominion about them that makes those who are near them want to follow them, come after them. And that's interesting. That to me puts another interesting factor into those moments when Frodo is being tempted by the Ring and how he's being tempted by the Ring. . . I think it helps me to understand better what's going on with those Ring temptations. . . Frodo is feeling a temptation that is derived directly from the Nazgul himself and the Ring seems to be the one who is taking advantage of that temptation in order to further tempt him to use the Ring to reveal himself. . . Forth Dauntless says this gives us a good clue about how the rings work. The Nazgul are great among men who obtain power by having many followers. The Nine allow their wielders to draw followers to them. That's interesting, . . perhaps so. That kind of power is part of the power tha nine rings give. That seems to me very plausible. . . Mad Violinist, I'm not at all disagreeing with the fact the the Ring of Power makes Frodo more vulnerable. . . Rather, the way that I would say it, is it adds an extra temptation. This feeling of like, 'I really should go after them, I really should reveal myself to them' just opens the door for the Ring. The Ring is just looking for an excuse to say, 'hey, why don't you put me on? That would be great idea. Go off on your own and wear me." This seems to be one of the main things the Ring keeps trying to tempt Frodo to do. So when he's trying to hide himself and the Ring from the Nazgul and he's feeling this temptation that derives from the Nazgul to reveal himself to the Nazgul, to go to the Nazgul, being draw toward it, then the Ring's going to seize right on that."(111:09-115:09)
TEXT: No specified text, slide "Notes and Queries: Merry's Fatal Attraction
EPISODE:
C6,C7"This is a thing which is actually really important in seeing how fate works. Fate doesn't compel you in advance. In general, when a doom is laid upon someone in Tolkien's world, and someone has a particular destiny, it's not looming over them like the prophesy of Oedipus, shaping their entire lives and them trying to fulfill it or trying to escape it. Normally, it's like Merry. When it happens, we see what his destiny was. And looking back we can say, 'Oh, that's really cool.' You can see how now in retrospect those things point to it. But if we try to do it the other way around, if we try to bring that fate backwards and say this fate has been looming over him all the way along, its not only less interesting, it works less well. And I think it's not true to how fate and destiny work in Tolkien's world. . . Of course [Merry] is destined to be part of the slaying of The Witch King, because he was. . . Tolkien married predestination and free will, which is traditional Christian doctrine. He marries those two things in his fiction as well as anybody I know has ever done it.."(30:48-33:38)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: RINGWRAITHS: BLACK BREATH
TEXT: Chapter 10, p. 170, slide "A Close Encounter"
EPISODE:
D1"Let's look at what in fact are the symptoms of the Black Breath. Marry is our first example on that phenomenon. First we have his verbal testimony. While under the influence of the Black Breath he said, 'I thought I had fallen into deep water.' He doesn't even remember saying that much less experiencing it, but he has the memory of having a dream, an ugly dream, which apparently, based on Nob's testimony, would seem to have something to do with falling into deep water."(35:00-35:46)
D3"The description, 'I thought I had fallen into deep water' could simply be - not that the dream was a dream about water but that he was submerged as deeply - metaphorically, the dream was itself like water. So falling into this ugly dream was like being immersed in deep water and being drawn down and he was afraid of being drowned. I actually incline toward that reading. When he says, 'I had fallen into deep water' he's sort of speaking metaphorically. We'll get some more data on this . . . in the houses of the healing . . . we will talk about this passage again in connection with Aragorn's experiences with Eowyn and Faramir in the houses of healing"(36:37-37:57)
D4,D5,D6"Merry is in fact the first of the several people who have been in close physical proximity, conversational proximity, to a Black Rider, Merry is the only one to have experienced this phenomenon. What this seems to suggest to me very strongly is that it's not just an area effect. . . It's a thing that they do to someone knowingly and maliciously. . . As soon as the Nazgul became aware of the fact that there was some dude creeping up on him along the hedge, the Nazgul's response was to turn and Black Breath him. . . He must have afflicted him with the Black Breath on purpose."(40.07-42:25)
D7"How does it [the Black Breath] work? It does, Belangspond, seem to have something to do with visions and dreams. Dreams and some kind of dream world, especially with Faramir, the description we get of Aragorn calling Faramir back is clearly from some kind of dream world. Aragorn goes like dream walking after him."(43:50-44:25)
D8"And this makes sense to me. Because one of the fundamental facts of life or un-life of the Nazgul is this peculiar relationship between the body and the spirit. The Nazgul are all about disjunction between body and spirit. That's kind of their problem. . . So what affect to they have on people? They affect their spirits, not their bodies. Merry's body isn't harmed. . . His spirit is, what?, enmeshed, captured, sent away. He looses touch. His body and his spirit loose touch with each other for at least a little while."(44:35-45:47)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: RINGWRAITHS: TERROR
TEXT: Chapter 10, pp. 170-171, slide "Who Will Attack the Inn"
EPISODE:
E8"The primary power of the Nazgul is fear. They can control people. Look at the words Strider uses, the metaphors he uses. 'Their power is in terror and already some in Bree are in their clutch.' Through the fear that they can inspire, they can just grab onto people and squeeze them and not let them go. Through their ability to manipulate others and dominate the spirits of others through fear . . . That sense of the uncanny is clear to everybody. Gaffer Gamgee has it. Farmer Maggot has it very distinctly. Harry Goatleaf is white and shaking when they leave him behind. "(105:49-108:58)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER; RINGWRAITHS; TERROR
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 172, slide "Meanwhile, Back in Buckland"
EPISODE:
A1"We know . . these are the Nazgul themselves. And we get this first from just the growing sense of fear and dread that Fatty Bolger has, the way in which he is just affected it seems by the presence of the Nazgul. "(12:08-12:25)
A12"The Nazgul are really powerful but their power is if of a particular kind. And the Shire and the hobbits are not as defenseless as they look, not on this level, because they're not fighting with mortal weapons, neither side. When it's the Nazgul vs. the Shire, it's not about how good your weapons are . . . it's about a spiritual struggle between light and darkness, between the shadow and hope and joy. Their power is in fear. Their weapons are spiritual. And the weapons with which they are opposed, even unconsciously, are also spiritual. "(24:22-25:23)
A12"Yes, Harnuth, they can do physical damage as we can see when they stab Frodo, but the don't just stab Frodo. And you'll notice, nobody else gets attacked. They don't fight with normal physical weapons. Even the stabbing of Frodo is not merely an attack with physical weapons. It is also a spiritual attack. It is a spiritual attack for which a physical weapon is the instrument. But it's a spiritual attack; it's not simply a physical attack."(27:46-28:21)
B5"This is their strength. They're not going to come in and rough up Fatty Bolger. That's not the plan. . . They stand there. It's very creepy for us the readers. It would be beyond terrifying for Fatty Bolger inside. . . Terror ceased him just when he saw the gate open and close. . . It [the house] is under attack. It's under spiritual attack. It's under the kind of attack that the Nazgul do. . . They afflict their victims with fear."(40:00-41:18)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: PLACES: THE SHIRE / BUCKLAND
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 172, slide "Meanwhile, Back in Buckland"
EPISODE:
A10"Buckland might not seem like a bastion of strength to repel the Nazgul, but it kind of is. It's a little bit difficult for them to go into Buckland and make any headway in there. "(19:52-20:06)
A12"The Nazgul a really powerful but their power if of a particular kind. And the Shire and the hobbits are not as defenseless as they look, not on this level, because they're not fighting with mortal weapons, neither side. When it's the Nazgul vs. the Shire, it's not about how good your weapons are . . . it's about a spiritual struggle between light and darkness, between the shadow and hope and joy. Their power is in fear. Their weapons are spiritual. And the weapons with which they are opposed, even unconsciously, are also spiritual. "(24:22-25:23)
"'One does not simply walk into Buckland,' Forth Dauntless, that's exactly it."(29:25-29:29)
C2"I think they underestimated the hobbits, like so many people do. I think they believed that whoever was in the house was going to be paralyzed with fear, that when they bust through the doors they're going to find a quivering jelly of a hobbit absolutely paralyzed with fear inside the house."(59:46-1:00.10)
D5"They are being driven out of Buckland. They don't stand up to this kind of thing. In darkness and loneliness they are strongest. It's still kind of dark but it is not lonely any longer. As the entire community comes up in arms against them, they have to run. "(1:18:37-1:19:03"
D6"This is the power of the Shire, Tony: the community, their love of home. Remember it's a spiritual battle and the spirit with which the hobbits react is exactly the spirit with which to counter the spirit of the Black Riders, which is about fear, paralyzing terror, that sense of loneliness and helplessness and despair. That's the spiritual attack they are utilizing and that spiritual attack is being very effectually countered by the community spirit of the hobbits rising up, joining together, sounding out their horn calls, and coming together to defy the enemy.(1:19:40-1:20.21)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL ODORS
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 172, slide "Meanwhile, Back in Buckland"
EPISODE:
A13"Cecelia is wondering, 'could they [the Black Riders] have literally sniffed it out?' We've seen the sniffing. Possibly, in as much as they're actually sniffing. That is to say, if the scent they are following is a physical scent and not some kind of spiritual thing manifesting itself in an outwardly physical way . . . that their sniffing is an outward show that's sort of attached a more kind or spiritual perception."(31:32-32:40)
A14"Thinking back to Bilbo's famous line about 'It smells like elves' in Rivendell, because it's not obvious that that is a purely physical scenting."(33:11-33:27)
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 180, slide "Notes and Queries: Becoming a Wraith"
ESPISODE:
A1"This is Strider focusing on Frodo's own will. Don't give into that. Don't even joke about it. Don't acclimate your own mind to this idea of your becoming a wraith. You need to keep your resistance at 100% to the concept that you are ever going to become a wraith. (11:22-
A2"And Tom's exactly right. If you do put the emphasis on 'shall' - 'I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely or I shall become a wraith,' it shows that he's not just making a joke about becoming a wraith. I suggests that Frodo's already been thinking about becoming a wraith, that he considers becoming a wraith one of the likely things that's going to happen to him. It's almost like you could parenthetically add, 'or I shall (certainly) become a wraith' or 'I'll (definitely) become a wraith,' as if in the back of his mind he's entertaining the idea. He's still joking. He's joking about weight loss. He's not serious, and yet it does betray a potential weakening of his resolve, a tiny little chink in the wall of his will. And that, I think, is what Strider's picking up on."(11:22-12:52)
A3"Trifle says, 'the only problem I have with this is that giving up all hope is how Frodo responds consistently and arguably how he gets through Mordor.' That is very true and the question of hope and hopelessness, that's going to be a major theme that we're going to be looking at, especially once we get to book 4, to the Frodo and Sam half of The Two Towers. Because, I agree. That is a super interesting and complicated thing to look at. You don't have to read the book very many times to see that hope is a very important theme. And yet, you can read the book vary many times, and yet have the full complexity of that theme get past you. And I myself am not sure that I fully understand it yet. So I'm really looking forward to taking our time and working through that in detail."(13:17-14:15)
TEXT: No specified text, slide "Notes and Queries: The Reason for Weathertop"
EPISODE:
A1,A2,A3"This [observation about the choice to go to Weathertop being providential] definitely has the feeling of the kind of thing we see quite a bit in Tolkien's work. That is, when bad things, which in fact appear to be disastrous turns to the story, turn out to be, not only in the end beneficial, but in the end uniquely calculated to bring success where, looking back on it, success would not have happened had not this, at the time, apparently disastrous thing occurred. . . The obvious examples which I've made from The Hobbit many times are of course almost every disastrous change of direction on their journey that happens turns out to have been uniquely favorable."(5:42-6:27)
A4"What's more, we can see this often happening with bad decisions. When somebody makes a choice and it seems like the evidence would suggest that it was the wring choice. Think about the way that Aragorn is beating himself up about what happens Rauros. "You give the choice to an ill chooser" and that kind of thing. He does not think he has covered himself in glory as the leader of the company on that day. He thinks he has failed. And yet the choices he makes, and the apparent disasters that has come from them . . . turn out to be the uniquely favorable results. . . Gandalf later tells Aragorn not to regret the decisions that he made . . . and shows him how this thing which has seemed to be merely and unmitigated disaster as far as they can tell, has in fact not only turned out well but it has been uniquely beneficial. (6:45-9:01)
A13"Do I think that providence is at work here? Yeah, absolutely. But providence is not causing Strider's decision, it's working through Strider's decision. This is one think we see very persistently throughout the Lord of the Rings. . . Belongspond asks, "When is providence not at work?" Well, never. The only thing is we can't aways see what it's doing. It's not that there are some moments when providence is active and some moments when providence is taking a nap. The point is that there are some moments when we can see in retrospect the hand of providence involved in guiding events, and some times when when we just can't, we just can't see enough of the picture to see how it all.fits together. . . We see this right from TheMusic of the Ainor on forward. The Music of the Ainor is where this is most explicitly brought out. But we can see it through The Lord of the Rings and as, I argue, through The Hobbit as well. And that is, the way in which people's choices are active. People's choices mean something. And yet, through the choices that they make the work of providence is done."(16:17-19:20)
TEXT Chapter 11, p. 185, slide "Estel's Right Here, Frodo"
EPISODE:
F1"This moment: 'If I move I shall be seen and hunted! If I stay I shall draw them to me!' - It's a good thing Frodo didn't have this particular moment until he had Estel with him. He had Hope who could lay his hand on this shoulder and say, 'There is still hope. You are not alone.' He wasn't alone before but he wasn't not alone in the same way he's not alone here."(1:40:04-1:40.38)
F2"Follow Aragorn's train of thought here. Frodo is in despair, terror and despair. And Strider says,'There is still hope. You are not alone. Let us take this wood that is set for the fire as a sign. There is little shelter or defense here but fire shall serve for both. Fire is our friend in the wilderness. ' "(1:40:45-1:41:10)
F4"I would say there are three things that we can see Aragorn saying to Frodo here . . . Reason number one, Frodo, to cheer us and not to despair: we have resources. You may seem helpless and this may seem absolutely hopeless. How can we possibly resist them? How can we keep from being destroyed? . . . No, we're not necessarily all going to die. We have fire; they hate fire. Let's make a fire. With that we have a chance of fighting off the enemy. The second thing: You are not alone. You have comrades. We are all here. . . we are all in this together. You are not alone. You have us to help to defend you and together we might be able to fight them off. Third, 'let us take this wood that is ready for the fire as a sign.' Belongspond, I absolutely hear that as a reference to providence as well. This is the first time Strider has delivered this line, 'let us take this as a sign.' He's not even speaking with the 'if chance you call it' evasive language. He's being much more open than that. . . 'You are not alone.' Someone is looking out for us and has brought us to a place where the resource that we most need, that would most help us to defend ourselves against the enemy, happens to be here ready for us. Let us embrace that chance. Let us embrace that providence."(1:41:12-1:44.41)
THEOLOGICAL THEME: PROVIDENCE
MORAL THEME: PREMISES FOR GOOD DECISION MAKING
TEXT Chapter 11, p. 185, slide "Estel's Right Here, Frodo"
EPISODE:
F4 "[Strider says to Frodo,] 'Let us take this wood that is ready for the fire as a sign.' Belongspond, I absolutely hear that as a reference to providence as well. This is the first time Strider has delivered this line, 'let us take this as a sign.' [see Chapter 2, p.58, Episode 8 slide “The Fate of Many”, also considered in Episode 18 slide "Notes and Queries 1] He's not even speaking with the 'if chance you call it' evasive language. He's being much more open than that. . . 'You are not alone.' Someone is looking out for us and has brought us to a place where the resource that we most need, that would most help us to defend ourselves against the enemy, happens to be here ready for us. Let us embrace that chance. Let us embrace that providence."(1:41:12-1:44.41)
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 186, slide 'Strider Fights the Darkness"
EPISODE:
C4"Where are the Ringwraiths right now? What are they doing right now? Have they not arrived yet? Remember what we learned from the attack on Crickhollow. What was the M.O. of the Ringwraiths? What didi the Ringwraiths do? How did the assault at Crickhollow go? Do you recall? Yeah, the spiritual siege, Mad Violinist. Step one is you surround the house and you stand there possibly for hours just soaking the place in the fear that you generate as you try to strengthen yourself. That's how they operate. It would not surprise me even a tiny bit to learn - and we're not told exactly, they're not moving in yet, they're not advancing on them - I would not be the lease bit surprised it there were already Ringwraiths around the camp right now as they're huddling and shivering and Strider is telling them stories."(27:23-28:50)
C5"The spiritual battle is already going on. When Strider starts telling them stories, he's not just doing this to pass the time. He's telling them tales to keep their minds from fear. And this, in this case, is enormously practical. This is not just, 'I'm trying to distract you.' This is because 'your fear is the strength of our enemies.' The fear that you are experiencing, that is the weapon of our enemies. And Yes Veronica, I would suspect that Aragorn does know that they're there and is not telling the hobbits that the Ringwraiths have already surrounded them. I wouldn't be in the least surprised to discover that."(28:56-29:50)
C5"Exactly, Kate. They gather, They infest. They infuse the place with the fear of them, and then they attack. That's exactly, I think, what we're seeing here."(29:59-30:13)
C6"He is telling them 'of elves and men and the good and evil deeds of the Elder Days.' In other words, Strider's not telling them only cheerful stories. . . One of the things that's going to be interesting to see is, with what kind of tale does Aragorn primarily associate hope, this counteractive to fear."(30:19-31:44)
SPIRITUAL THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER: MIRTH AND MOURNING BLENDED
TEXT: Chapter 11, p. 189, slides "The Story in Prose", "The Prose Version, Continued", and "The Original Context of the Poem"
EPISODE:
A4,A5"Why is Aragorn telling this story? Why this story instead of another one? Sam asked him for a story about the elves before the fading time. Why this one? Why does this one help? Why is it relevant? Why is it appropriate in this moment? Here they are in the dell under Weathertop. The darkness is pressing in close, as Sam points out. Strider probably knows or suspects that the Ringwraith's themselves are not far away"(16:06-16:32)
D1"This is his emphasis: 'they have lost her whom they most loved.' . . . What we come to, the heart of the story, seems to be the sacrifice of Tinuviel. We see the fruit of her sacrifice: 'her line shall never fail.' That is a hopeful note."(35:00 . . .
D2"What [Strider] emphasizes is the sorrow, the sadness. This is a sad story that he's telling. Beren and Luthien's story is a sad story. . . He seems to emphasize the sadness of the story, not just for Beren and Luthien but for the people around them. It seems to me that what is important about this story is not that it ends well despite the sadness. It's that sadness itself. . . One of the things that we find here that I think is really important in trying to think of why Aragorn is telling this story to lift up the hearts of the hobbits in the dell under Weathertop is that he doesn't tell a happy story. . . He doesn't emphasize the happy bits [of the Beren and Luthien story]. . . First he tells about the meeting - that's the essence; that's the most important thing - but in his synopsis, when he talks about it and puts it in context, the context is context of sorrow. It is the sadness of the story that, in part, is really important. But although it's sad, although it involves much suffering and fear and pain and death, it's a good story."(-44:24)
D3"It's going to be this moment, it seems to me, that Sam is primarily reflecting back on in that conversation he's going to have with Frodo on the stairs of Cirith Ungol when he talks about happy ending or sad ending stories and people in the story don't know whether it's going to be happy ending or sad ending. And that a story can be good to hear even if it wouldn't be one that would be good to be in. And that sometimes those stories that don't sound like any fun to be in are sometimes really good to hear and are really important to hear. . . When Sam realizes that they're in the same tale, that I think is ultimately Sam getting what Aragorn was thinking, possibly even more than what Aragorn was thinking. The moral that Sam was taking from this story may be even beyond what Aragorn was going for. when he told the story"(44:38-45:42)
D4"It is an important story for them to know. This is how the world works. Eucatastrophe happens. There is reason for hope. There is light and beauty that the shadow cannot touch and cannot destroy. But there's also sorrow. There's also pain. There is death and long separation. There is a price of sacrifice, a real price. Luthien sacrificed herself to be with Beren. And that was beautiful. It's the final eucatastrophe of the Beren and Luthien story. Off. the go together singing sorrowless. And yet there's a real cost to it. 'They have lost her whom they most loved.'"(45:44-46:45)
D4"The very sadness of this story is itself part of it's beauty and, through it's beauty therefore, it's power. This is a glimpse of how things are supposed to be(49:04-49:42)
D6"Zefan, I agree with you. I think a 'hey, look on the bright side of things' story would not have much power over their hearts at this moment. Would that be able to combat the fear that is right now being positively being emitted by the Ringwraiths? I don't think so."(49:54-50:14)
F10"[In The Alliterative Children of Hurin epic poem that Tolkien wrote decades before writing The Lord of the Rings] they [Turin and company] are in a frowning forest and this song ['Light as Leaf on Linden Tree': an earlier version of the Beren and Luthien poem that Strider sings to the hobbits under Weathertop] is sung 'for hearts' uplifting'. It's exactly the same context. They are about to be pursued in 'hideous flight from wolfriders and wandering orcs and the things of Morgoth'. The enemies are closing in. They're amid darkness and fear, so we get the poem. We get Light as Leaf on Linden Tree."(1:22:06-1:22:39)
F12"And what is it that uplifts their hearts? 'Music of mirth and mourning blended yet in hears does echo' - "a song he made them for sorrow's lightening. a sudden sweetness in the silent wood, that is "Light as Leaf on Linden' called, whose music of mirth and mourning blended yet in hearts does echo'. Certainly true. It is certainly true the the music of mirth and mourning does yet in hearts echo. It's still echoing in the hearts of Frodo and Sam and Merry and Pippin in The Fellowship of the Ring: the same poem, now revised, in the same context. . . We can see the parallel with Frodo's situation here and how the music of mirth and mourning might affect him. . . It is no accident that Strider sings this song here. It's not a new concept that Tolkien would associate this song with heart's uplifting at a moment of doubt and fear and uncertainty with the servants of the enemy closing in."(1:22:47-1:26:38)
F15"The Beren and Luthien story is designed to be sung at a moment like this. There is, I think, a lot that we can learn about the blending of mirth and mourning by looking at this poem . . . This is the best possible kind or story to tell in this sort of moment. And the power of the music of mirth and mourning being blended in it will still echo in hearts ages and ages later."(1:27:05-1:27:56)
The 'music of mirth and mourning blended' for 'hearts' uplifting' reminds me of Sam's speech to Frodo about Gildor and the elves they met in The Shire: 'They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes . . . so gay and sad, as it were'in Chapter 4, p. 85, considered in Episode 15. Is Strider singing this tale to lift up the hearts of the hobbits toward a more elvish way of being and thinking about the world?
