"Shelob's Lair" - Ben's Thoughts

Now this is a chapter. Gollum's treachery has been building towards this moment, and it lands a solid blow when it arrives: claustrophobic tension, the horror of the monster's eyes appearing in the dark, the backstory weighting the creature with monstrous import, the reveal as she appears in full form between Sam and Frodo in the tunnel, and finally Gollum's futile assault against Sam.

Most of my goodwill towards Sam stems from this chapter and the ones that follow, into Book 6, as here he shows his true mettle and rises to the task of combating the nearly hopeless situation that (admittedly) he himself contributed to create. Setting aside for a moment the mistakes that led the trio to this moment, Sam is marvelous here: rightly suspicious of Gollum; guessing that he has finally made his move when they find themselves abandoned in the tunnel; and outwitting the scheming "Stinker" at his own game. I felt like laughing a grim laugh at Tolkien's description of Gollum's ultimate failure:

Grabbing from behind was an old game of his, and seldom had he failed in it. But this time, misled by spite, he had made the mistake of speaking and gloating before he had both hands on his victim's neck. Everything had gone wrong with his beautiful plan, since that horrible light had so unexpectedly appeared in the darkness. And now he was face to face with a furious enemy, little less than his own size. This fight was not for him.

The unveiling of the Phial of Galadriel is also one of those moments that makes the series for me. I appreciate that it's not the light itself but the resolve and fortitude of the bearer of the light that defeats the "unseen malice" of Shelob. Tolkien seems a firm believer in willpower, and when the hobbits' will is bent towards the defeat of evil, evil retreats. Only when Frodo and Sam's attention is directed elsewhere (Frodo on his irrational, exhilarating escape; Sam on the defeat of his old enemy Gollum) and the two are separated both physically and mentally is when Shelob is able to strike and overpower the light's bearer. Also significant is the continuation of the theme of the neverending story from the last chapter; Frodo cries in Quenya, " Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!" as he advances towards the monster. Eärendil, if we recall, was the bearer of the Silmaril, sent to convince the gods of the Undying Lands to aid Elves and Men in their fight against Morgoth, the Great Enemy. Eärendil succeeds and is instrumental in Morgoth's defeat in a final battle, but may never return to earth; instead he resides in the heavens, the Silmaril eternally lighting the night sky. Frodo and Sam are the heirs, in this chapter and the next, of Eärendil's legacy of courage and defiance in the face of great evil.

Which of course brings us to Shelob. Tolkien's backstory reveals Shelob as a "child of Ungoliant." In The Silmarillion, we learn that Ungoliant is a Maia who assumed the physical form of a giant, monstrous spider, who was unaligned with either Morgoth or the Valar until Morgoth approaches her and convinces her to aid him in stealing the Silmarils from the Elves in the Undying Lands. Ungoliant kills and poisons the Trees that light the world while Morgoth steals the jewels. Back in Middle-earth, Ungoliant, intent on consuming the Silmarils as well, attacks Morgoth, who barely manages to fend her off. Ungoliant represents the primal desire to consume. She had no will to create; just to consume, to engorge herself on things of beauty and light to increase her own darkness. Shelob, as her heir and extension (not a Maia, but certainly a being of great power), adopts that legacy, and with Frodo re-enacts Ungoliant's role in the history of the Silmarils as she is confronted with the light that her mother in the ancient past desired to devour. She also represents the counterpoint to Sauron's quest for perfect, fascist, martial order: primal, base hunger and the desire to consume. Sauron, however evil, does create; he loves systems and structures and organization (as we'll see more of when we interact with the Mordor orcs in Book 6). Shelob desires to only feed. She is the ultimate primal animalistic force.

And this is what Sam's up against at the end of the chapter. The hobbits underestimated her will to consume; in a way, the reader senses that the more resistant and powerful the prey, the more Shelob's hunger will be sated. I've always felt that Shelob is a more terrifying antagonist than Sauron, for all of his armies. This chapter and the next represent some of the very best of The Lord of the Rings.