"Flight to the Ford" - Ben's Thoughts

"Flight to the Ford" is not as good a chapter as "Knife," either tonally or plot-wise. But I do think that most of Jacob's criticism are undeserved. It has its problems, but I think by this point Tolkien has control over his narrative. The plot is driving forward with some real momentum here, and there are also nice links to past and future events (references to the Hobbits' escape from the Shire; the Elvish drink Glorfindel gives them) that allow the chapter to exists comfortably in the overarching narrative.

First things first: Elbereth. "Elbereth" is the Sindarin name for Varda, the "Queen of the Stars" or chief goddess among the Valar (Tolkien's pantheon of "higher" gods). Elbereth is linked to Frodo throughout LOTR, and the connection between them seems to stem from his affinity with Elves. (I say "seems to stem" because it is never spelled out directly; supernatural forces seem to lend him (and later Sam) strength, but the nature of this power is never specified.) She is referred to by her Sindarin name because by this point, most of the Elves in Middle-Earth are Sindar.

What the heck is a "Sindar", you ask? Hearkening back to our Elven taxonomy class, the Elves were first created by Eru ("God") but were left sleeping in the Earth until they were awakened by the creation of the stars (hence their link to Varda as "Queen" of the stars). Once awakened, the Valar invited them to come to Valinor (the continent in the west where the gods dwelled). Many Elves did not want to come, but others chose to undertake the long journey west. These Elves were called the "Eldar." The Eldar were divided into three families: the Noldor, the Vanyar, and the Teleri. The Noldor are the "Deep-Elves," who were concerned with metallurgy. Fëanor was a Noldor, and he brought his family back to Middle-Earth after Morgoth stole the Silmarils from Valinor. Most of the important Elves in LOTR are of Noldorin descent, for example Elrond and Galadriel. The Sindar, or "Grey-Elves," on the other hand, were Teleri who made most of the journey west, but ultimately decided to stay in Middle-Earth. Thingol, who I mentioned in my previous post, was their king. By the Third Age, the wars between Morgoth and Sauron and the Elves had decimated the Noldorin houses, and the remaining Elves were almost all Sindar. Legolas, for example, is Sindar. "Quenya," or the Noldorin language, is all but a dead language by the time of LOTR. "Sindarin" was the native Elven language by that time.

Whew, that was a lot of backstory to just explain the origin of one word. In any case, the invocation of "Elbereth" is a defense against the Riders because of Varda's constant opposition towards Morgoth and Sauron (who was originally Morgoth's lieutenant). In The Silmarillion, Varda's husband Manwë is typically portrayed as more easy-going towards Morgoth's crimes (because during the creation of the Earth, they had similar talents and abilities), while Varda is always opposed and antagonistic towards them. Thus Varda because the favored goddess of the Noldor, because of the Noldor's quest to destroy Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils. I've speculated about Frodo's supernatural connections prior to this point, but it seems logical that Elbereth is the source of his dreams and visions; for example, the vision Frodo had in "Knife in the Dark" about the Riders' attack on Crickhollow was probably from that source.

But back to the matter at hand. I feel like the driving action of the chapter was to get the Hobbits and Strider to the Ford (hence the chapter title), and it did a relatively good job of doing that. Jacob is right that the company's interlude with Bilbo's trolls is pretty out of place here. After the Riders' retreat from Weathertop, there was no need for a second pause to lower the levels of tension. While the callback was cute, it also was the opportunity for Tolkien to shoehorn in another poem (the fourth poem in as many chapters!), and while I gushed about the last one, this one was truly cringe-inducing. A comical song about a troll was just not needed in this chapter to keep things going.

However, I do have to protest about Jacob's criticism of the Riders' MO in this chapter. Despite some indication of physicality displayed in "Knife" (what with the beating down the door at Crickhollow), I believe that Tolkien has been remarkably consistent in portraying that the Riders' power comes (1) from numbers, i.e. the greater number of Riders, the greater total power; and (2) from fear, despair, and terror (which, if I recall, remains very much in play throughout the rest of LOTR). One Rider in the Shire was easily shooed away by a group of wandering Elves. Two (probably) Riders in Bree had to sneak in the Prancing Pony's windows in the middle of the night, without making any noise, to try to get at the Ring. Three Riders were able to break down a door and openly announce their presence, but only in a dark alley in an obscure corner of Hobbit-land. Five Riders were able to assault the company's camp at Weathertop, but only in the dead of night when their enemies' fear was greatest, and chose to retreat when Aragorn attacked them.

Here, again, their plan is consistent. Frodo's injury will render him weaker and more susceptible to their persuasive ability re: the Ring (as evidenced at the end, when Frodo must obey their command to stop the horse on the far side of the Ford). It also increases the fear and terror of the company. Two Riders remain in the wilderness west of the River Mitheithel, to drive the company towards the three waiting to trap them at the Last Bridge. The other four wait in Rhudaur to trap the company if they manage to cross the bridge. They did not reckon on Glorfindel coming upon the "choke-point," as Jacob put it, and driving all five Riders west, which allowed the company to safely and easily cross the bridge. After Glorfindel turned back east, those five turned and rode down the Road as fast as possible. So to answer Jacob's criticisms, the Riders aren't particularly disposed to direct physical violence, and their power is increased only in some situations. As Strider tells Sam, they dispersed after the attack on Weathertop because the Riders "believe [Frodo] has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will." If Frodo succumbs to the wound, a nearby Rider could tell him to put on the Ring, and then it wouldn't matter what Strider or the others tried to do.

A word on Glorfindel: it makes sense that Elrond would send out his most powerful councilors to try and find the Hobbits. Glorfindel single-handedly is able to drive three Riders from the bridge and all five west, away from the company, and then with the help of Strider, the Hobbits, and some fire, forces six Riders to be swept away by the river at the end of the chapter. He is also able to ease the pain and effects of Frodo's wound. I've wondered a few times why Tolkien didn't just merge the characters of Glorfindel and Legolas (in fact, the Ralph Bakshi animated film does just this) in accordance with the Law of Conservation of Characters (never create two characters where one will do). However, I suppose Tolkien wanted to have someone able to be a threat to the Riders, while at the same time a member of the stealthy Fellowship couldn't be so overtly powerful. Thus Legolas.

As a result, poor Glorfindel seems shortchanged, and certainly doesn't feel like a fully realized character, despite his calm and confidence in the face of the company's predicament. He does manage to outshine Strider in the few pages of his arrival, which is almost too bad. I'm not as vitriolic towards Peter Jackson's replacement of Glorfindel with Arwen as Jacob is; I feel like the poor guy had to give female characters bigger roles, and this was the most fluid way to do it. However, I agree with Jacob that the ending of the chapter, where Frodo manages to defy the Riders on his own before being finally overcome, packs a lot more punch with respect to our main character than Arwen's overwrought "come and take him!" from the film.

In any case, Glorfindel is familiar to Tolkien fans as a minor character from The Silmarillion. He shows up as a lieutenant of one of the Noldorin High Kings of Gondolin, where he fights and kills a Balrog on his own but also gets killed in the process. Later ret-conning efforts by Christopher Tolkien have merged these two Glorfindels into one character, so we can now feel confident in this chapter that an Elf who is thousands and thousands of years old and who has killed a Balrog single-handedly can handle a few Ringwraiths.

I don't know if I really touched a lot on the chapter here. It's mostly plot-focused, with some time wasted on the troll interlude. Strider remains competent and concerned (although without the humor and sarcasm of previous chapters, which is too bad -- I hope some of that returns in later chapters). It was nice to see Sam's initial antagonism towards Strider at the beginning of the chapter -- way to make yourself an individual, Sam. Merry and Pippin are interchangeable here (Like Samneric from Lord of the Flies, I guess). I suppose that, like Jacob, I was a little underwhelmed by this closing chapter after the giddy heights of "Knife in the Dark," but we can't have it all. Let's see what Book 2 brings.