The Lord of the Rings: The Council of Elrond (Part Two)

 

The Tale

The man Boromir takes up the tale of Gondor and its chief city, Minas Tirith, for it is from there that he is come to seek counsel of the Lord of Rivendell. He says that though Gondor may not be as great as once it was, so that Minas Tirith’s sister city of Minas Ithil has fallen long ago to the Enemy and become Minas Morgul, the Tower of Black Sorcery, still the blood of Numenor is not wholly spent. The White City stands as a shield to all lands behind it.

But the time that that shield may be removed may not be far away. Sauron has returned to Mordor, and smoke rises again from Mt. Doom. Gondor had been driven from Ithilien, the fair land between Minas Tirith and Mordor, though it long held a foothold there through strength of arms. But they have now been driven even from that this very June.

This was partly because they were outnumbered by the forces of Mordor, now allied with Men, ‘with the Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim’. But also ‘a power was there that we have not felt before’, like ‘a great black horseman, a shadow under the moon’ that filled men with fear and the horses with terror. It drove their forces over the last bridge in Osgiliath, so that it had to be destroyed behind them. Only Boromir, with his brother, and two others, escaped from the last company holding the bridge.

But Boromir has come to Rivendell not to ask for allies in war, but for wisdom. On the night of the assault, his brother had a strange dream, and the same dream many times after, and at last once to Boromir himself. ‘In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear, crying:

“Seek for the Sword that was broken:

In Imladris it dwells;

There counsels shall be taken

Stronger than Morgul-spells.

There shall be shown a token

That Doom is near at hand,

For Isildur’s Bane shall waken,

And the Halfling forth hall stand.”’

Their father Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, can only explain that Imladris is the old name of Rivendell, and at first Boromir’s brother is eager to go. He has had the dream, after all, many times. But Boromir took the task upon himself and has sought Rivendell in a journey of a hundred and ten days, and the answer to the strange words of the dream.

Aragorn stands and says that Boromir shall find a part of the answer to his riddle and he casts his broken sword on the table. ‘Here is the Sword that was Broken!’

Boromir looks at him in wonder and asks who he is and what has he to do with Minas Tirith?

Elrond reveals that Aragorn is the last descendant of Isildur Elendil’s son, and Chief of the Dunedain of the North. Frodo jumps up, exclaiming that the Ring must then be Aragorn’s, and not his at all. Aragorn gently says that it belongs to neither of them, though Frodo has been ordained to carry it a while. Gandalf solemnly tells Frodo to hold up the Ring so that Boromir might understand the rest of his riddle. Frodo does so reluctantly, though the Ring seems not to want to be seen.

Boromir’s eyes glint as he gazes at it. ‘The Halfling! Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last?’ Aragorn says the words were not ‘the doom of Minas Tirith’. He asks that now that he has seen the Sword that he sought, if he wishes for the House of Elendil to return to Gondor? Boromir says that he asked for no help, but if the Sword should return to the South, they could use it. He looks askance at Aragorn. If indeed such things can come again out of the shadow of the past.

Bilbo, much annoyed, jumps up and recites the poem he composed for Aragorn, if the word of Elrond is not good enough for the man of Gondor. Aragorn smiles at the old hobbit, and says he forgives Boromir’s doubt; he little looks like the statues of his forebears in the White Tower, after his hard life and many journeys. He explains that he and the so-called Rangers are the last of the Dunedain in the North, and if Gondor has protected the lands behind them, the Rangers have protected them from the evils that slip past their watch. And as they walk in secret, they have even less thanks than Gondor.

‘Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. “Strider” I am to one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly.’

But now the world is changing, and war is at hand. The sword shall be reforged, and Aragorn declares that he will go to Minas Tirith.

Boromir still has doubts that this is the Ring lost by Isildur long ago. Elrond calls on Bilbo to tell his tale of its finding. And if he keeps it short, the sooner he can have refreshment. Bilbo looks sideways at Gloin, and says he will tell the true story now, even if others have heard it otherwise. He speaks of his encounter with Gollum, their riddle-game, and his finding of the Ring.

Elrond explains how the Ring then passed to Frodo as Bilbo’s heir, and calls on Frodo to tell of all his dealings with the Ring, from the day he received it to the time he crossed the Ford of Bruinen. All his steps are considered and closely questioned, especially his encounters with the Black Riders. When he finally sits down, Bilbo said his telling was not bad. ‘You could have made a good story of it, if they hadn’t kept on interrupting.’ Frodo says that the full story still has holes he’d like filled in, especially about Gandalf’s part in it.

Bits and Bobs

We are given some history of Gondor here and its continuing struggles with Mordor. “The Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim” are just simple terms for the Men from the East and from the Far South, ‘where the stars are strange.’  The name of Mount Doom in Elvish is ‘Amon Amarth’, meaning ‘Hill of Doom’. The word ‘doom’ means not only disaster or deadly ending. It also carries the meaning of judgement or fate, not always of a catastrophic nature.

“The great black horseman” encountered at Osgiliath is the Lord of the Nazgul, working Sauron’s will even before leaving to hunt for Frodo. If he seems more powerful in this encounter it may be because of the closeness to his Master, lending him strength, or because in his journey to the West he was told to move more secretly so as not to arouse Sauron’s enemies there.

It should be noted that the dream comes to Boromir’s brother (as yet unnamed) first, and many times. It seems clear that he was the one who was meant for this quest, though often denied it. Boromir ‘takes’ the mission after the dream comes to him at last. How different the whole story might have been if it were otherwise, for better or worse. Boromir was a ‘back-up plan’ for those who sent the dream. It worked, but it would have been healthier for him if he hadn’t gone.

Boromir’s answer to Aragorn’s question about his return is rather cagey, as he says that the ‘Sword’ of Elendil would be welcome, if not necessarily the ‘House’ of Elendil, i.e., his heir.

The first line of Bilbo’s poem about Aragorn reverses the old Shakespearean rubric, “All that glitters is not gold” (The Merchant of Venice). While that phrase warns against taking glittery objects for gold, Bilbo’s points out that even real gold does not always shine. The point in both cases is not to judge by outward appearances.

Bilbo’s explanation and his look towards Gloin when he begins to tell the real story of his finding of the Ring is a nod to the original version first published in The Hobbit, where his encounter with Gollum is told differently. Gandalf later says that this ‘lie’, made to better his claim on the Ring, was one of the first clues the wizard had that something wrong was afoot. Bilbo’s judgement on Frodo’s recounting as a narrative goes to show that the old hobbit is now deeply involved in the events as a tale and how it will be told.