Chapter 10: Strider
Jacob's Thoughts (4/10/14)
I love hearing original context of famous quotes; David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water", for example, gets passed around a lot as some sort of empowering pep-talk on the importance of positive thinking, as exactly the sort of "banal platitude" that the address is explicitly trying to avoid--which, while fine, ignores the original's much darker context of suicidal depression (especially troubling, given Wallace's own end game). Likewise, "Not all those who wander are lost," that most renowned of Tolkien quotes, the one on all the bumper stickers and buttons and Tolkien paraphernalia across the globe, is situated in a far more ominous and foreboding context than the t-shirts might imply.
For Strider is a person who's seen things, maaaan! (to put it reductively). He is our Han Solo, our Hagrid, etc. He is older than he looks, and he doesn't exactly look great to begin with. "Weeks, months, even years" of ceaseless travel, ranging, fighting, and hiding has left our man Strider weary and hardened; he has seen "too much, too many dark things"; he has not been "looking for himself," so to speak. "Not all those who wander are lost" is a true axiom, and while I still like that quote a lot, it is hardly a clarion call to adventure and introspection and self-discovery, as the out-of-context window-decals seem to suggest.
Concerning the "too many dark things," I couldn't help but think of all of Ben and Erics' critiques of the previous chapters, of how our Hobbits repeatedly lacked basic common sense and intelligence concerning their predicament; shoot, I remember being annoyed by how long it took them to finally leave the Shire in the first place, as though there was nothing more pressing! Well, apparently this Hobbit ditziness was intentional on the part of Tolkien, for I heard all of Ben and Erics' criticisms echoed out of Strider's own mouth in this chapter. It's a wonder the Hobbits even made it this far, for they have already made so many dumb mistakes. This acknowledgment is effective at raising the stakes, as it makes the Hobbits' predicament feel far more dire due to their unforced errors.
Meanwhile, what makes this exposition-dump of a chapter work for me is the small moments of character development everyone here still gets, despite Strider being the titularfocus. For starters, we learn Frodo is very discerning, as he says to Strider after reading Gandalf's far-too-belated letter, "I believed that you were a friend before the letter came...or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would--well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand." It is important to me that Frodo can read people effectively, which will be even more important once he starts his dealings with Gollum in The Two Towers.
As for Sam, we learn that he hardly a rustic old rube, but clear-headed and head-strong in how rightfully suspicious he is at first of Strider--for indeed, until Gandalf's letter arrives, how do we know that Strider isn't just tricking them away to their own destruction? Pippin continues to be the same sort of non-self-aware comic relief, as he yawns in the middle of this intense info-dump about how they might scarcely survive the night. I even like how quickly fleshed-out the innkeeper is, as a man fundamentally good-hearted but absent-minded, and the detail that the innkeeper "prided himself on being a lettered man," is an excellent reminder that we are very much in a medieval context, where literacy is by no means universal or a guarantee. As for Merry, we finally get to see his Sherlock Holmes-esque investigative abilities at work once more, as he tracks down the Black Riders within Bree.
We even finally learn some new things about the Black Riders themselves, namely that they only attack in broad daylight "if they are desperate," for again, as dark as the darkness may be, the light is still more powerful, and that is also important to remember going forward. Moreover, these Black Riders apparently rely much more on terror and shadows than on their power--indeed, that is how most tyrants maintain their control, for the truth is that the mass of people secretly frightens them, which is also an important thing to remember, in our own lives.
Also: I love the throw-away detail of how, when the Black Riders first arrived in Bree, all the animals started making a commotion at them, for that shows how unnatural the Black Riders are. Maybe it's just that my graduate seminar on Ecocriticism this semester is once again infecting me too much, but I love the implication that there is something fundamentally hostile about Sauron not only towards the people of Middle-Earth, but against the natural environment in general! For the powerful do not just want to control people, but everything, and they will willingly destroy the ecosystem and leave a scorched earth in their quest for power if they have to--and often do.
We see that in the Three Rivers Gorges Damn that drowns out dozens of ancient villages; in man-made global warming that leaves most the American Southwest and all of Australia vulnerable to massive drought; in the wanton destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest (the lung of the world) for coffee plantations; in the oil fires floating down the Nigerian river basin; in the smog over LA, Beijing, Guangzhou, Salt Lake City (and now Paris, most recently!); in the escalating rate of extinction among endangered species; in the destructive process of fracking that poisons our water sheds; in our increasing the acidity of the oceans, the melting of the polar ice caps, the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Pile that's bigger than Texas; in our oil drilling in the Gulf that not only causes catastrophic eco-disasters, but disappears the marshes that had helped shield New Orleans from hurricanes, etc and etc and etc.
Sauron is described as a "Shadow from the East," like some dark thing that blots out the sun, and I can't help but wonder if Tolkien had in mind the black plumes from the smoke-stacks of Industrial Revolution England when he wrote that.
In all cases, it is a relentless pursuit of profit, explicitly for power and gain over all else, that has caused Mankind to turn on the environment--and the environment to turn onus! In Lord of the Rings, we see this first manifested in the animals that instinctively bark at the Black Riders--much later, we will see it in the Ents. All these need not even be metaphorical: For as changes in global climate patterns cause more and more polar vortexes to break off the Arctic Circle and rampage across the eastern United States (which I had to put up with no less than 3 times this past winter in the Midwest), and as drought afflicts the southwest U.S., and as greater and more powerful hurricanes and typhoons ravage our seaboards, it becomes clear: Nature is pushing back against us. The animals are wiser in intuiting the threat of the Black Riders, to warn us against the darkness that we allow among ourselves that will destroy us as well as them, for we are not separate from nature.
For one more world building moment: the final footnote of the chapter mentions that "The Sickle" is the Hobbit term for the Plough or Great Bear. That is, Middle-Earth has the same constellations as us, because we are on Middle-Earth. This is our world Tolkien is telling us about--and it is our world that Tolkien is warning us to protect! Remember that, for all the Medieval touches in this novel, there is still a one peculiarly modern twist to it: the quest is not to attain something of great power--an Excalibur or a Holy Grail or what have you--but to destroy it! The question is clear: will we be as wise as our most distant ancestors, to destroy our desire for power and control that the Ring represents, or succumb to its temptation of power and allow it to destroy us, as all the natural world warns us against?
Ben's Thoughts (4/19/14)
"Fellowship" Book 1 kicks into high gear with this chapter. Aragorn has officially arrived, and he's managed to shake things up for our Hobbits. Finally, someone to talk some sense into them. I understand Jacob's point that Strider manages to underscore my complaints about the Hobbits' stupidity to this point in "avoiding" the Black Riders, and that the reader's frustration was probably Tolkien's intent, but Frodo & Co. still make me want to shake some sense into them. Fortunately Strider is here to do the job for me.
Right from the outset -- Strider's sudden and unaccountable appearance in the Hobbits' room -- Strider comes across as about 200% more competent than these silly Hobbits. He manages to put them entirely off balance by just saying a few simple sentences (except for, possibly, Pippin, who to this point has an off-putting "whatever, man" attitude about this whole trip). The really lovely thing about this initial introduction of our favorite mysterious Ranger is just how much personality he has. He snarks off to the Hobbits, insults them, but also expresses his sincere desire to help them. Far from your typical stoic fantasy hero or sour, angsty "Savior of the World" type from modern grimdark fantasy, Aragorn is lively and interesting, exhibiting an interesting mix of world-weariness, grim humor, and overwhelming self-confidence. Look there -- Tolkien managed to characterize Aragorn better in one chapter than he has for Merry and Pippin (and practically the other two Hobbits as well) in the entire rest of the book!
What is interesting to me with this picture of Strider's confidence and charisma is how different I remember him being from the distant, cold, and lordly Aragorn of Book 3 especially. I know it's that whole "responsibility" thing that he assumes as heir apparent of the kingdoms of Men, but I think I like him better this way. We'll see if my prediction -- that Aragorn is much more boring and remote as god-king in "Return of the King" than he is here as a scruffy Ranger -- pans out as I expect. If it does, I see it thusly: the Ranger is who Strider really is. He's a wanderer -- a leader, yes, but a wanderer all the same, not tied down to one kingdom or people, but adventuring hither and yon to champion the cause of justice. How heroic! Makes me wonder what kind of a king he would actually be. I know Tolkien believes in the do-no-wrong variety of prophesized hereditary kings, but it seems like he would be a far better wanderer than ruler (a la Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones -- a far better warrior than monarch).
Along those same lines, did anyone know that Strider was originally conceived of as a Hobbit himself? Yes, "Strider" was once named "Trotter," and was a overly-tall Hobbit who helps the gang (Frodo was named "Bingo" in this early draft of LOTR) get to Rivendell. Perhaps all this personality is just "Trotter" carrying over. It's interesting to think that Tolkien didn't originally conceive of LOTR as an epic about (at least in part) a king trying to reclaim his kingdom. How different it would be without Aragorn. His quest is one of two main narrative threads going forward, and one that (in my mind) almost engulfs the far more important "Ring" quest in later books.
Now a few examples of just how awesome Strider is. I almost laughed out loud when Frodo was babbling on to Butturbur about the identity and origin of the Black Riders, and Strider just cuts through all the crap: "They come from Mordor." No time for beating around the bush. And what about this speech about why the Hobbits need him:
Now to address the narrative. I had remembered that the Hobbits received a letter from Gandalf c/o Butturbur in this chapter, but I forgot that the reason that Frodo didn't receive it earlier was because Butturbur had forgotten to send someone to the Shire with it. That's awfully convenient. While I was reading the letter, I found myself wondering whether it was necessary from a narrative standpoint at all. It does give Butturbur something to do, and I agree with Eric that he is a fun and memorable character (the first of all the stout innkeepers populating every fantasy novel ever!), but wouldn't the tension have been increased if the Hobbits hadn't received a letter and were left in the dark about whether Strider had their best interests at heart? Butturbur's counsel to leave Strider out of it might have borne more weight, then.
I agree with Jacob, though, that Aragorn's poem is lovely. This is what a poem should look like -- short, powerful, and memorable. Without the letter, the poem would have had to wait until Rivendell. It's nice to get a little foreshadowing of the arc Aragorn will take in later books.
On the Black Riders: Aragorn says that "their power is terror," and that they would not dare assault the inn directly, relegating them to more of an existential threat even at this advanced stage. If I'm remembering correctly, they remain that way throughout all of this book -- Aragorn is able to drive them away in the next chapter with a torch, and the same happens in the next book when they confront the raging fords after Frodo safely crosses. It makes them both less and more sinister, which is, I imagine, what Tolkien was aiming at. They were never meant to represent a physical threat. It's too bad that our cultural understanding of the Nazgûl is now irrevocably colored by Jackson's trilogy.
I did have one question, though, about their MO: If Merry is bewitched by the Riders when he is exploring outside the inn, and they are about to whisk him away, why would they do so if they knew (presumably, by the point that they were standing directly over him) that he didn't have the Ring? And why would they stop and leave him when Nob shouts? Who cares about Nob? What's he going to do?
It would be remiss of me to end my commentary without noting that Frodo finally, FINALLY gets a bit of physical description in this chapter. Apparently he is "'[A] stout little fellow with red cheeks. . . . taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye.'" That… is not terribly helpful, actually. I guess I'll take it. Merry and Pippin are still non-entities.
Onward into the Wild!
Eric's Thoughts (4/20/14)
I thought to myself before reading: a chapter called Strider is probably going to be about Strider. Unremarkably, this proved to be accurate. This chapter is about Strider trying to tempt the hobbits to trust him, especially suspicious Sam.
'Excellent!' exclaimed Strider … 'You seem to be coming to your senses again, and that is all to the good. You have been much too careless so far. Very well! I will tell you what I know, and leave the reward to you. You may be glad to grant it, when you have heard me.'
'Go on then!' said Frodo, 'What do you know?'
'Too much; too many dark things.'
-Strider to Frodo
'Not all those who wander are lost.'
-Gandalf on StriderPart of me really wants to give Eric a longer chance to catch up; but another part of me wants even more to get on with the story, now that we're to the good stuff! And like Frodo waiting for Gandalf, although I worry for him, I fear that if I wait till the end of July, it will almost be too late! So I start from Rivendell now, and trust that I can meet up with him later. (And for the first time ever, I wonder if that old Low song is Tolkien allusion.)
I love hearing original context of famous quotes; David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water", for example, gets passed around a lot as some sort of empowering pep-talk on the importance of positive thinking, as exactly the sort of "banal platitude" that the address is explicitly trying to avoid--which, while fine, ignores the original's much darker context of suicidal depression (especially troubling, given Wallace's own end game). Likewise, "Not all those who wander are lost," that most renowned of Tolkien quotes, the one on all the bumper stickers and buttons and Tolkien paraphernalia across the globe, is situated in a far more ominous and foreboding context than the t-shirts might imply.
For Strider is a person who's seen things, maaaan! (to put it reductively). He is our Han Solo, our Hagrid, etc. He is older than he looks, and he doesn't exactly look great to begin with. "Weeks, months, even years" of ceaseless travel, ranging, fighting, and hiding has left our man Strider weary and hardened; he has seen "too much, too many dark things"; he has not been "looking for himself," so to speak. "Not all those who wander are lost" is a true axiom, and while I still like that quote a lot, it is hardly a clarion call to adventure and introspection and self-discovery, as the out-of-context window-decals seem to suggest.
Concerning the "too many dark things," I couldn't help but think of all of Ben and Erics' critiques of the previous chapters, of how our Hobbits repeatedly lacked basic common sense and intelligence concerning their predicament; shoot, I remember being annoyed by how long it took them to finally leave the Shire in the first place, as though there was nothing more pressing! Well, apparently this Hobbit ditziness was intentional on the part of Tolkien, for I heard all of Ben and Erics' criticisms echoed out of Strider's own mouth in this chapter. It's a wonder the Hobbits even made it this far, for they have already made so many dumb mistakes. This acknowledgment is effective at raising the stakes, as it makes the Hobbits' predicament feel far more dire due to their unforced errors.
Meanwhile, what makes this exposition-dump of a chapter work for me is the small moments of character development everyone here still gets, despite Strider being the titularfocus. For starters, we learn Frodo is very discerning, as he says to Strider after reading Gandalf's far-too-belated letter, "I believed that you were a friend before the letter came...or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would--well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand." It is important to me that Frodo can read people effectively, which will be even more important once he starts his dealings with Gollum in The Two Towers.
As for Sam, we learn that he hardly a rustic old rube, but clear-headed and head-strong in how rightfully suspicious he is at first of Strider--for indeed, until Gandalf's letter arrives, how do we know that Strider isn't just tricking them away to their own destruction? Pippin continues to be the same sort of non-self-aware comic relief, as he yawns in the middle of this intense info-dump about how they might scarcely survive the night. I even like how quickly fleshed-out the innkeeper is, as a man fundamentally good-hearted but absent-minded, and the detail that the innkeeper "prided himself on being a lettered man," is an excellent reminder that we are very much in a medieval context, where literacy is by no means universal or a guarantee. As for Merry, we finally get to see his Sherlock Holmes-esque investigative abilities at work once more, as he tracks down the Black Riders within Bree.
We even finally learn some new things about the Black Riders themselves, namely that they only attack in broad daylight "if they are desperate," for again, as dark as the darkness may be, the light is still more powerful, and that is also important to remember going forward. Moreover, these Black Riders apparently rely much more on terror and shadows than on their power--indeed, that is how most tyrants maintain their control, for the truth is that the mass of people secretly frightens them, which is also an important thing to remember, in our own lives.
Also: I love the throw-away detail of how, when the Black Riders first arrived in Bree, all the animals started making a commotion at them, for that shows how unnatural the Black Riders are. Maybe it's just that my graduate seminar on Ecocriticism this semester is once again infecting me too much, but I love the implication that there is something fundamentally hostile about Sauron not only towards the people of Middle-Earth, but against the natural environment in general! For the powerful do not just want to control people, but everything, and they will willingly destroy the ecosystem and leave a scorched earth in their quest for power if they have to--and often do.
We see that in the Three Rivers Gorges Damn that drowns out dozens of ancient villages; in man-made global warming that leaves most the American Southwest and all of Australia vulnerable to massive drought; in the wanton destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest (the lung of the world) for coffee plantations; in the oil fires floating down the Nigerian river basin; in the smog over LA, Beijing, Guangzhou, Salt Lake City (and now Paris, most recently!); in the escalating rate of extinction among endangered species; in the destructive process of fracking that poisons our water sheds; in our increasing the acidity of the oceans, the melting of the polar ice caps, the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Pile that's bigger than Texas; in our oil drilling in the Gulf that not only causes catastrophic eco-disasters, but disappears the marshes that had helped shield New Orleans from hurricanes, etc and etc and etc.
Sauron is described as a "Shadow from the East," like some dark thing that blots out the sun, and I can't help but wonder if Tolkien had in mind the black plumes from the smoke-stacks of Industrial Revolution England when he wrote that.
In all cases, it is a relentless pursuit of profit, explicitly for power and gain over all else, that has caused Mankind to turn on the environment--and the environment to turn onus! In Lord of the Rings, we see this first manifested in the animals that instinctively bark at the Black Riders--much later, we will see it in the Ents. All these need not even be metaphorical: For as changes in global climate patterns cause more and more polar vortexes to break off the Arctic Circle and rampage across the eastern United States (which I had to put up with no less than 3 times this past winter in the Midwest), and as drought afflicts the southwest U.S., and as greater and more powerful hurricanes and typhoons ravage our seaboards, it becomes clear: Nature is pushing back against us. The animals are wiser in intuiting the threat of the Black Riders, to warn us against the darkness that we allow among ourselves that will destroy us as well as them, for we are not separate from nature.
For one more world building moment: the final footnote of the chapter mentions that "The Sickle" is the Hobbit term for the Plough or Great Bear. That is, Middle-Earth has the same constellations as us, because we are on Middle-Earth. This is our world Tolkien is telling us about--and it is our world that Tolkien is warning us to protect! Remember that, for all the Medieval touches in this novel, there is still a one peculiarly modern twist to it: the quest is not to attain something of great power--an Excalibur or a Holy Grail or what have you--but to destroy it! The question is clear: will we be as wise as our most distant ancestors, to destroy our desire for power and control that the Ring represents, or succumb to its temptation of power and allow it to destroy us, as all the natural world warns us against?
Ben's Thoughts (4/19/14)
"Fellowship" Book 1 kicks into high gear with this chapter. Aragorn has officially arrived, and he's managed to shake things up for our Hobbits. Finally, someone to talk some sense into them. I understand Jacob's point that Strider manages to underscore my complaints about the Hobbits' stupidity to this point in "avoiding" the Black Riders, and that the reader's frustration was probably Tolkien's intent, but Frodo & Co. still make me want to shake some sense into them. Fortunately Strider is here to do the job for me.
Right from the outset -- Strider's sudden and unaccountable appearance in the Hobbits' room -- Strider comes across as about 200% more competent than these silly Hobbits. He manages to put them entirely off balance by just saying a few simple sentences (except for, possibly, Pippin, who to this point has an off-putting "whatever, man" attitude about this whole trip). The really lovely thing about this initial introduction of our favorite mysterious Ranger is just how much personality he has. He snarks off to the Hobbits, insults them, but also expresses his sincere desire to help them. Far from your typical stoic fantasy hero or sour, angsty "Savior of the World" type from modern grimdark fantasy, Aragorn is lively and interesting, exhibiting an interesting mix of world-weariness, grim humor, and overwhelming self-confidence. Look there -- Tolkien managed to characterize Aragorn better in one chapter than he has for Merry and Pippin (and practically the other two Hobbits as well) in the entire rest of the book!
What is interesting to me with this picture of Strider's confidence and charisma is how different I remember him being from the distant, cold, and lordly Aragorn of Book 3 especially. I know it's that whole "responsibility" thing that he assumes as heir apparent of the kingdoms of Men, but I think I like him better this way. We'll see if my prediction -- that Aragorn is much more boring and remote as god-king in "Return of the King" than he is here as a scruffy Ranger -- pans out as I expect. If it does, I see it thusly: the Ranger is who Strider really is. He's a wanderer -- a leader, yes, but a wanderer all the same, not tied down to one kingdom or people, but adventuring hither and yon to champion the cause of justice. How heroic! Makes me wonder what kind of a king he would actually be. I know Tolkien believes in the do-no-wrong variety of prophesized hereditary kings, but it seems like he would be a far better wanderer than ruler (a la Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones -- a far better warrior than monarch).
Along those same lines, did anyone know that Strider was originally conceived of as a Hobbit himself? Yes, "Strider" was once named "Trotter," and was a overly-tall Hobbit who helps the gang (Frodo was named "Bingo" in this early draft of LOTR) get to Rivendell. Perhaps all this personality is just "Trotter" carrying over. It's interesting to think that Tolkien didn't originally conceive of LOTR as an epic about (at least in part) a king trying to reclaim his kingdom. How different it would be without Aragorn. His quest is one of two main narrative threads going forward, and one that (in my mind) almost engulfs the far more important "Ring" quest in later books.
Now a few examples of just how awesome Strider is. I almost laughed out loud when Frodo was babbling on to Butturbur about the identity and origin of the Black Riders, and Strider just cuts through all the crap: "They come from Mordor." No time for beating around the bush. And what about this speech about why the Hobbits need him:
"'You may escape from Bree, and be allowed to go forward while the Sun is up; but you won't go far. They will come on you in the wild, in some dark place where there is no help. Do you wish them to find you? They are terrible!'"Gives me the shivers. Finally, a nice Hobbit-slam: "'It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider . . . And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.'" Burn!
Now to address the narrative. I had remembered that the Hobbits received a letter from Gandalf c/o Butturbur in this chapter, but I forgot that the reason that Frodo didn't receive it earlier was because Butturbur had forgotten to send someone to the Shire with it. That's awfully convenient. While I was reading the letter, I found myself wondering whether it was necessary from a narrative standpoint at all. It does give Butturbur something to do, and I agree with Eric that he is a fun and memorable character (the first of all the stout innkeepers populating every fantasy novel ever!), but wouldn't the tension have been increased if the Hobbits hadn't received a letter and were left in the dark about whether Strider had their best interests at heart? Butturbur's counsel to leave Strider out of it might have borne more weight, then.
I agree with Jacob, though, that Aragorn's poem is lovely. This is what a poem should look like -- short, powerful, and memorable. Without the letter, the poem would have had to wait until Rivendell. It's nice to get a little foreshadowing of the arc Aragorn will take in later books.
On the Black Riders: Aragorn says that "their power is terror," and that they would not dare assault the inn directly, relegating them to more of an existential threat even at this advanced stage. If I'm remembering correctly, they remain that way throughout all of this book -- Aragorn is able to drive them away in the next chapter with a torch, and the same happens in the next book when they confront the raging fords after Frodo safely crosses. It makes them both less and more sinister, which is, I imagine, what Tolkien was aiming at. They were never meant to represent a physical threat. It's too bad that our cultural understanding of the Nazgûl is now irrevocably colored by Jackson's trilogy.
I did have one question, though, about their MO: If Merry is bewitched by the Riders when he is exploring outside the inn, and they are about to whisk him away, why would they do so if they knew (presumably, by the point that they were standing directly over him) that he didn't have the Ring? And why would they stop and leave him when Nob shouts? Who cares about Nob? What's he going to do?
It would be remiss of me to end my commentary without noting that Frodo finally, FINALLY gets a bit of physical description in this chapter. Apparently he is "'[A] stout little fellow with red cheeks. . . . taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye.'" That… is not terribly helpful, actually. I guess I'll take it. Merry and Pippin are still non-entities.
Onward into the Wild!
Eric's Thoughts (4/20/14)
I thought to myself before reading: a chapter called Strider is probably going to be about Strider. Unremarkably, this proved to be accurate. This chapter is about Strider trying to tempt the hobbits to trust him, especially suspicious Sam.
First off, I’d like to go back to Gandalf’s blunder that my compatriots were so quick to defend. They argued that Gandalf provided a letter to Butterbur, and so that showed that the old wizard didn’t make any blunder of the sort.
Wrong.
As Gandalf himself recognizes in a P.S.S., there is a distinct possibility that because Butterbur is an absent-minded fool (though he means well), there is a chance the letter won’t reach Frodo. If I remember right, the reason Gandalf left was to inform Saruman about the ring. Gandalf is already suspicious at this point that Frodo may be hunted.
So essentially Gandalf’s choices include: (1) personally informing Frodo before leaving, which would only delay him (at maximum) a few days by using the main road on horseback (no Old Forest roundabouts); (2) go straight to Saruman and tell him about the ring and trust that a letter sent by an absent-minded innkeeper reaches him -- AND also fail to inform Strider to help the hobbits.
Gandalf chose the second option. For a lesser god, he seems remarkably absent of insight, or maybe lesser gods aren’t the brightest people. With stakes being high enough with the Ring (Sauron's agents getting it = game over), you would think . . . Ah, well, what do I know? Of course, compared to Pippin, he’s a genius, so I guess it’s all relative.
Sam is beginning to come into character again, and I particularly liked it when he told Strider to shove it, and advised Frodo not to trust him. That was a nice touch. Of course, this runs inconsistent with some of his earlier characterizations, but it seems like the hobbits are finally beginning to materialize in and be more consistent with character. (Though I will point out a single hobbit has yet to be described. Butterbur did indirectly describe Frodo as fat and having red cheeks, so maybe that finally counts?)
Okay, now that I’ve rambled for a few paragraphs, let’s go back to what this chapter is really about: Strider. He’s trying to convince the hobbits to trust him, and he tells Frodo that “I really just wanted you guys to trust me on my own merits. You see, if I had mentioned Gandalf, that would be like cheating. I just wanted you to think I’m nice by my own personality without resorting to the ‘G’ word.”
That seemed a little weird. It almost felt like Strider just wanted to be loved, which is not something I would think of a hardened ranger, whose peoples’ mottos are: we’re weird and dangerous, get over it. Indeed, why not just mention Gandalf? Strider mentions that the hobbits might not have believed him anyway, but certainly mentioning that Gandalf sent him wouldn’t have hurt. Strider’s response that he wanted the hobbits to believe him on his own merits just doesn’t make any sense.
The confrontation between Butterbur and Strider was one of the best in the scene, when Butterbur calls Strider a weirdo and creepy, and Strider just name-calls Butterbur back. Strider doesn't mess around. He tells Butterbur: Hey, guess where the riders are from, innkeeper? Mordor. That sound familiar? Now shut up, you fat fool. A great line.
But don’t forget about Merry. Meanwhile Merry has been sauntering about looking for the Black Riders. Unfortunately, he finds the Riders, and they knock him out with a drug called the Black Breath (which is probably similar to the droopy eyelids I was experiencing while reading The Old Forest, The House of Tom Bombadil, and Fog on the Barrow Downs).
And good old Nob saves the day—Merry falls quickly to the Black Breath, but Nob shows up and yells at the Black Riders. So naturally the Black Riders must flee from this fearsome hobbit (we can assume Nob looks fearsome because he’s never been described), instead of “Black Breathing” him too.
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