All right, all right, this chapter wasn't that bad. The primary reason was that it was short, but it did feature an excellent character in Farmer Maggot and some extremely creepy scenes dealing with the Black Riders. The real dreck is still in the future, however.
The increasing threat from the Riders sets the tone of this chapter quite nicely. Frodo's concerns that the morning was almost too cheerful and bright bring home the difference between safety and the mere illusion of such. And then all of the hobbits' fear regarding the Riders is brought slamming back home when they see the dark figure a-horseback on the ridge where they breakfasted. The big question is how exactly the Rider tracked the hobbits to that ridge. Were they aware the whole time that the hobbits had been taken in by the Elves, but stayed away because the Elves could defeat them at that point in time?
The one thing that feels strange to me is how the Riders communicate with the hobbits. The idea of the Nazgul -- the storied Ringwraiths -- conversing with random hobbits in the Shire just feels odd. I did like how Tolkien makes the Rider's language ability a bit off: the Rider asks "Have you seen Baggins" without denoting whether that is a person's name or denoting an entire group of people. Very Gollum-like, which makes sense when that is where Mordor got its information. It was also interesting that the Rider offered Maggot gold in exchange for information. And that the Rider would have to "return" with gold -- where would he go in order to get it? Agents of Saruman to the south of the Shire? This mention of gold also makes me speculate about the Shire's economy. We haven't had much mention of currency to this point, just the hobbits' obsession with "things," particularly Bilbo's supposed hoard.
In any case, Tolkien sets the mood just right as far as the Riders are concerned. You can feel the web tightening around the party in a very visceral way. Unfortunately, all of this tension will be dispelled in the coming chapters, which makes very little sense to me in terms of forward progression of plot.
Farmer Maggot is the other high point of the chapter, in and of himself and also in the way he reveals aspects of the other hobbits' characters. He serves as a nice counterpoint to the gossipy, backbiting hobbits we encoutnered in earlier chapters. All in all, Tolkien seems to prefer the more provincial, "backwards" Eastfarthing hobbits to the pompous "gentrified" hobbits of Hobbiton. Once again, Maggot is very aware of the class difference between himself and Frodo and Pippin -- he is quick to address Pippin by the proper honorific, "Mr." (instead of the "Master" he would have received as an under-age but upper-class youngster). But he also does not hesitate to give sound advice and make shrewd deductions regarding Frodo's plans. Of course, he never really considers the fact that Frodo is in real trouble, or that he would actually want to leave the Shire at any point.
Some character notes: Frodo is not very good at duplicity and cannot even meet Maggot's eye when the farmer is speculating about the Riders. He also comes across as something of a worrier. Pippin is quite carefree but Tolkien manages to insert an edge of thoughtlessness into his dialogue that helps to set him apart from Frodo in characterization. Sam is stalwart and introspective. Nobody got any kind of physical description. This still irks me. We'll see if Merry gets any when he becomes a larger player in the next chapter.
All in all, not too much to write about. A decent chapter, with some well-crafted scenes and a likeable one-off character. I still think Tolkien is spinning his wheels with this whole "flight from the Shire" segment.
For whatever reason, the Nazgul in my mind are less "tracking" Frodo et al as they are systematically exploring each of their possible tracks, and by efficient process of elimination narrowing down on them; that actually makes them more terrifying to me, that they can work so quickly and intelligently, thinking outside the box and accounting for all possible routes, patiently drawing their web. They're like machines, implacable, Terminators systematically calling and killing every Sarah Connor in the LA phone book, knowing it's only a matter of time before they find the right one. They are unnerving I think because they represent in our collective consciousness death incarnate, terrifying because your doom can only be temporarily evaded, not beaten.
ReplyDeleteAs for the offer of gold but needing to get some? Well, I assume if Mordor is truly evil, then they would have no serious intention of ever paying up the gold for info in the first place, just lying and cheating at every opportunity.