"Helm's Deep" - Eric's Thoughts

I remember the taste of chewing cardboard as a child. It tastes something like this disaster of a chapter on oh-so-many levels.

Eagerly, I began reading this chapter. I expected epicness--and left it scratching my head. This is where Tolkien's character development and POV is really lacking. I simply did not identify with any of the characters particularly. The result? Meh. I wasn't really invested in the battle.

There are logistical problems as well. The battle made no sense. Theoden suddenly decided to charge when they were apparently outnumbered and pushed into the caves. Then, suddenly--wait for it--the charge apparently was so successful that the orcs were routed.

But wait! Now there are trees to the rescue! And Gandalf! And Dinkerbell too, err, I mean, Erkenbrand with--wait for it--1000 troops! Apparently 1000 troops and some trees were all that was needed, in addition to a magnificent charge, to route this force that is previously portrayed (between lightning flashes) as a bottomless mass of orc-power.

Literary critics have a word for this. It's called god out of the machine. In other words, everything is suddenly fine because the author says it is! The trees were in no way foreshadowed, and the charge against this infinite molasses morass of orcs just simply isn't plausible. Very disappointing.

That isn't to say there aren't great moments. Legolas and Gimli's competition is the highlight of the chapter and builds on their friendly rivalry. To be honest, all you become interested in, rather than the survival of these people, is whether Gimli or Legolas chop off more heads.

I know the only thing I was counting was the number of pages remaining in this chapter.