"The Field of Cormallen" - Ben's Thoughts

This chapter always occupies an awkward place, because it contains both the conclusion of the climax and the beginning of the denouement. The smashed-together feel of the chapter does not serve it well, in my opinion.

I wish I could offer Tolkien a better alternative. I feel like the stinger at the end of "Mount Doom" ("Here we are at the end of all things, Sam") is such an evocative closing line that I hesitate to make a recommendation that it should just be turned into a mere line prior to a section break. A different writer might have turned the four paragraphs of the Eagles and Gandalf saving the hobbits into a larger section; indeed, perhaps an entire chapter in and of itself. Such a theoretical chapter could have involved a more complete description of the battle before the Black Gate from Gandalf or Aragorn's perspectives -- or even from Legolas or Gimli's, since the text is so intent on separating itself from Gandalf or Aragorn's personal thoughts (the better to keep them as heroic savior figures, I suppose). The section could have heightened the tension that the reader has felt since the end of Book V, the question of "so what?" The Ring is destroyed, but what does that mean for the characters we know and love? Did Pippin survive, did the forces of the West triumph?

The trouble is, as Jacob pointed out in his comments, that Tolkien doesn't seem to care much about getting Frodo and Sam from point A to point B; it's all just rushed along without much thought or energy spent on the journey. I do find myself wishing we got a little more insight into what hold, exactly, Sauron had over his minions (especially since we had fairly complex insights into the lives and opinions of the orcs in the preceding chapters), and how exactly his end affected them and their involvement in the war. How it's resolved is all very hand-wavey and convenient.

As for the rest of the chapter, it's just tripe. Pure sugar. Even at my height of Lord of the Rings awe, I rolled my eyes at the bard trotting out with his lute or whatever like a character in the animated Disney "Robin Hood" movie and singing about Frodo's mystical journey or whatever. C'mon. A war just ended. Probably thousands of people lost their lives at the battle before the Black Gate, and Frodo just got his finger bitten off. It's still too raw to sing about it like it was a long-ago tale. And the way the Fellowship is reunited, especially with Merry and Pippin being all like, "Naw, ya'll, we so important now" is just ludicrous. This is a meeting that shouldn't be as joyful as Tolkien tries to make it out to be. So to conclude: not a good chapter. And the last part is unadulterated tripe.