The
Tale
Seventeen
years pass sleepily in the Shire. At first Gandalf visits every now and then,
never staying long, but as the chapter begins Frodo has not seen him for nine
years. Frodo has kept up Bilbo’s reputation for eccentricity, wandering about
the land, talking to passing Dwarves, and maybe even going off to see Elves
occasionally. There are rumors filtering through of a Dark Power returning to
the distant and evil land of Mordor. Frodo’s doings are discussed one evening
in the Green Dragon. Sam Gamgee, who has become his gardener, defends Frodo and
all the legendary world, while Ted Sandyman is more skeptical. Sam goes home,
looking up thoughtfully at the stars.
That
same April evening, Gandalf turns up at last and he and Frodo talk late into the
night. When morning comes the old wizard tells him some evil tidings that he
did not wish to speak of in the darkness. The Dark Lord Sauron has indeed
returned.
He
explains the nature of the Great Rings of Power, how they prolong the lives of
mortals and bestow invisibility when they are worn by them. He grew curious
about the nature of Bilbo’s ring almost immediately, but all that Saruman, the
ring expert of the wizardly order, could tell him quieted his fears for a
while. Until the night of Bilbo’s departure.
That
disquieted him so much he began a search in earnest to discover the true nature
of the ring. There is but one final test to be made. Frodo gives him the ring,
and the wizard throws it into the fire. Frodo cries out, but when Gandalf
removes the ring, it is not even warm. But there are suddenly fiery letters
surrounding the band, inside and out, that identify it as the long-lost One
Ring.
That
Ring was made by Sauron long ago, but when Elendil and Gil-Galad overthrew him
(though perishing in the deed) Isildur Elendil’s son cut it from the Dark
Lord’s hand. Sauron’s spirit fled and hid for long years, slowly taking shape
and growing again over the centuries. But when Isildur was attacked by Orcs while returning to his kingdom in the north, he
put the Ring on and leapt into the Anduin River to escape. It slipped from his
finger, and becoming visible, Isildur was slain and the Ring lost.
Gandalf
has been trying to fill in the gap in the history between Isildur and the
creature Gollum, from whom Bilbo won the Ring. With the help of Aragorn, “the
greatest traveller and huntsman of this age”, he finally found Gollum, and
questioning the wretched thing, pieced together his story.
Long
ago, Gollum had been a Hobbit-like creature named Smeagol. When his friend
Deagol had found the Ring in the river while fishing, he killed him and took
the precious thing. He was banished from his family and wandered off,
eventually crawling into the caves in the Misty Mountains. There the Ring
prolonged his life for centuries, until he lost it to the passing Bilbo, who
rather unwisely told him his name. After a year or so Gollum left the mountains
and followed Bilbo’s trail all the way to Mirkwood, overhearing Bilbo’s story
(it was great news in those parts) and learning the name of the Shire. As he
headed vaguely south, he was drawn at last to the evil of Mordor, where he was
captured, tortured by the Dark Lord for his information, then let loose to work
his mischief. That was when Gandalf found him, questioned him, then left him in
the care of the Wood Elves. Frodo wishes that Bilbo had killed the vile
creature, but Gandalf says it was Bilbo’s pity that helped him to resist the
corruption of the Ring for so long.
After
hearing the tale, Frodo asks why they don’t just destroy the Ring. Gandalf asks
him to try, but it already has such a hold on the hobbit that he finds himself
unable to even seek to damage it. Gandalf tells him it is only in the volcanic
fires of Mt. Doom, in Mordor, in the very heart of Sauron’s land, that it can
be unmade. He also reveals that with the names of Baggins and Shire
now known to the Dark Lord, it is inevitable that his evil servants will come
seeking it. Frodo tries to pawn the Ring off onto Gandalf, but the wizard dares
not take it lest he become corrupted. Frodo reluctantly realizes that for the
safety of the Shire he must leave and draw
danger away from his home. Gandalf is impressed by his resolve and warns him to
beware enemy spies and to adopt the traveling name of Mr. Underhill.
Gandalf
hears a noise outside the window and suddenly hauls Sam inside, who, having
been working in the yard, has become enthralled by the tales told and overheard
Frodo’s resolve to leave. Frodo makes him promise to tell no-one of his plan,
and Gandalf humorously decides to punish him by making him go with Frodo, thus
fulfilling his lifelong dream to see Elves. Sam bursts into happy tears.
Bits
and Bobs
Tons
of information given here, and quite a bit of time summarized, albeit in an engaging
and intriguing manner.
Ted
Sandyman (who seems to embody the worst of the small-minded elements
of the Hobbit race) thinks Sam’s cousin Halfast is ‘half-ast’ when he reports
seeing a creature like a walking tree on the North Moors. A foreshadowing of the Ents, or maybe a Huorn
from the Old Forest, or even one of the lost Entwives, the incident is never exactly
explained. Sam, who has been ‘infected’ with wonder by the tales of Bilbo (who
taught him his letters), wants to believe.
In
an interview reported in A Reader’s Companion, Tolkien said he
composed the Ring-Verse in his bathtub, although it underwent several revisions
(for example, at first there were 9 rings for Elves and 3 for Men). This verse helped
solidify the number of the Great Rings. Also, in an early version the rings could
turn Elves into ‘elf-wraiths’ (although not under Sauron’s domination), and
some were given to Orcs to make them ‘orc-wraiths’. I suppose this was later deemed
unnecessary as Orcs were already in his control.
Gandalf
hints obscurely that there is another power beyond Sauron (‘chance, if chance
you call it’ or ‘luck’ or something that ‘meant for Bilbo and Frodo to find the
Ring’). In retrospect, this suggests that Eru (the One, the Creator) is
guiding events so that there is an opportunity to defeat Sauron if people will
act on it.
Frodo’s threat to have Gandalf turn Sam into a toad is apparently a joke, as Gandalf never shows such a power, but Sam takes it seriously.
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