"The King of the Golden Hall" - Ben's Thoughts

The Rohirrim as a people always seemed a little bland to me. I think Tolkien does a fine job of capturing the singularity of the Elves and (to a lesser but still present extent) the Dwarves, but Men, for some reason, are basically just stick figures.

Jacob already compared this chapter to Jackson's film, and I agree with his sentiments -- here I'm left wondering what exactly did Gandalf do to free Theoden from Grima's influence -- and would like to add that Jackson did a wonderful job of characterizing Theoden and Eowyn. The movie characters feel like real people whereas here they are just cardboard cutouts. Eowyn, granted, will receive more characterization from Tolkien in Book 5, but Jackson wisely made her a major character in the second film. Here she just swoons over Aragorn (while he looks "troubled") and stands stoically at the doors of Meduseld while the men ride away to war (Tolkien gives with one hand, in allowing Eowyn to command the household in her relatives' absence, but then takes away with the other, with that final, traditional glimpse of the lonely woman in the empty house).

Theoden, as well, comes across in the films as a complex and realistic character. He grieves over his son's death, he is in turn defiant and defeated by the war that is coming to him unbidden. There is a marvelous scene in the film that is comprised of quick cuts between the Uruk-hai marching on Helm's Deep and Theoden being dressed in his armor by his guards, with Theoden reciting the poem that Aragorn relates to the gang throughout. The poem is marvelously depressing, and the lighting and editing of the scene is simply masterful. Theoden finishes the recital (omitting the last two lines from the text version) with the statement, "How did it come to this?" Gives me chills every time, with the follow-up images of the orcs' banners blotting out the sun. Of course, the movie manages to dilute the emotions of that scene with something like an hour and a half of orcs getting hacked to pieces by Our Heroes, so there's that. But the characterization and staging of that scene encapsulate some of the beautiful work Jackson put into the trilogy.

In comparison, Tolkien places the poem at the beginning of the chapter. It is still marvelously depressing; the poem talks about how Eorl the Young, the legendary forefather of the Rohirrim, is both an inspiring figure and long dead. The implication of course is that the long years have brought an end to countless generations of Eorls, who will not and cannot return. Legolas underscores the sorrow of the poem with his comment that even without understanding the words, " 'it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men' ", thus translating that sorrow to the plight of Men in general.

It is interesting that Tolkien begins the chapter introducing the first kingdom of Men that the gang encounters with this rumination on the fleeting and transitory nature of human life. He certainly draws out the differences between the Elvish kingdoms and that of Rohan; the dark halls and almost buffoonish guards surrounding Theoden are a sharp contrast to what the reader remembers of the grace of the Elves in Lorien or Rivendell. But what is he trying to say by drawing our attention to these differences? If I recall, this meditation on human life does not extend into later chapters, which are more interested in taking care of Saruman and moving the gang on down the road to Gondor. I'll have to watch the Rohirrim closely in future chapters. They are certainly depicted as less High and connected to otherworldliness than the men of Gondor. It's just strange that Tolkien begins the chapter with such a somber meditation and then drops it in favor of Eomer's downright jolliness at the end.

I don't have a whole lot to say about the rest of the chapter. Gandalf isn't particularly creepy here; he doesn't bother to sleep at the beginning of the chapter, but then, neither does Aragorn. The dangerous power he displayed in the last chapter is fairly roundly dispelled by the Rohirrim taking him as their mascot at the end of the chapter ("Our king and the White Rider!") Onward to Helm's Deep, I guess.