It gets late, and the men
light more torches and begin setting up for supper. A cask of wine is opened,
and water is gathered from the fall. Faramir orders the hobbits be awakened and
offered a basin of water to wash with before the meal. Frodo gets up yawning.
Sam, who has not slept at all, asks the man who serves them to put the basin on
the floor. Then, much to the man’s astonishment, he plunges his head into the
cold water and washes his face, neck and ears. When asks if that’s what his
people do before supper, Sam replies, ‘No, before breakfast … But if you’re
short of sleep cold water on the neck is like rain on wilted lettuce.’
The hobbits are led to their
seats beside Faramir: tall barrels covered with hides for their comfort. But
before the men eat, they all stand and face west in a moment of silence. Faramir
gestures that Frodo and Sam should do the same. When it is over, Faramir
explains, ‘So we always do … we look towards Numenor that was, and beyond to
Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be. Have
you no such custom at meat?’
Frodo feels a little awkward
and ungraceful, and answers that they don’t, but they do bow to their host and
thank him when they’ve eaten. ‘That we do also,’ said Faramir.’
After their days in the
wilderness and short commons, the meal seems a feast to the hobbits. Pale
yellow wine, bread and butter, salted meat, dried fruit, and red cheese, all
eaten with clean hands. Frodo and Sam eat all they are offered, and even take
up to third helpings. They begin to feel more comfortable than they have been
since Lothlorien.
When the meal is over,
Faramir takes them to a recess at the back of the cave, partially curtained off
from the rest. There is a chair and a couple of stools and a little lamp. He
says that they should talk a little while before the hobbits go back to lie
down – which Sam will want to do for sure, since Faramir notes he hasn’t slept
at all, whether for caution or ‘fear of blunting the edge of a noble hunger’,
he’s not certain. There is much they could tell him about their journey, about
his brother Boromir, ‘old Mithrandir’, and of the people of Lothlorien. They
might want to hear more about Gondor and the lands they are traveling through.
‘Frodo no longer felt sleepy
and he was willing to talk. But though the food and wine had put him at ease,
he had not lost all caution. Sam was beaming and humming to himself, but when
Frodo spoke he was at first content to listen, only occasionally venturing to
make an exclamation of agreement.’
Bits and Bobs
Back in the day (circa 1979
and thereabouts) when we held our own celebrations of what we called ‘Ring Day’
(the Destruction of the Ring), we used the Standing Silence as part of the
ceremony. It is the one bit of solemnity in LOTR that approaches a sort of
religious practice. According to Tolkien Gateway, “The Tolkien Society has a tradition of
reciting the Standing Silence at events. Before a meal, attendees face
west and the Chairman recites the Standing Silence as told by Faramir.”
The phrase about Numenor
that was, Elvenhome that is, and Valinor (‘that which is beyond Elvenhome’) which
will ever be handily echoes the Christian formulation “As it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.”
Frodo feels ‘rustic’ in the
face of such graces, his learning and upbringing in the Shire, though good for
the place, seem firmly from the sticks. But good manners, ‘please and thank you’,
are proper wherever you go.
One gets the feeling that no amount of torment or questioning would ever open Sam’s mouth. But as Strider once observed back at The Prancing Pony, “Drink, fire, and chance-meeting are pleasant enough, but, well – this isn’t the Shire.” Sam is tired, full, and well-oiled now, perhaps a situation that Faramir is hoping will lead to a little more candor.
You may notice I've gone back from 'Notes' to 'Bits and Bobs.' Not sure when or why I slipped up on that.
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