The Lord of the Rings: The Choices of Master Samwise (Part Three)

 

The Tale

‘The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought.’ With the Ring on, Sam’s sight is dimmed, but his hearing grows more acute. He can hear the crack of stone and Shelob bubbling in misery far away in her lair and the cries of Orcs getting nearer. But around him shapes are no longer dark but grey and hazy. Everything except the Ring, which hangs heavy on his left hand and glows like an orb of fire. ‘He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible, and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him.’

Sam cowers against the wall as the Orcs grow clamoring near him, ‘grey distorted figures in a mist.’ And they pass him by; he is invisible. He cowers as this group of Orcs meets the group below. And he finds that he can understand them as they greet each other. ‘Perhaps the Ring gave understanding of tongues or simply understanding, especially of the servants of Sauron … Certainly the Ring had grown greatly in power as it approached the places of its forging[.]’ But it does not confer courage. He lies low and listens carefully.

The troops are led by Gorbag, from lower down, and Shagrat, from the tower, who is in command as the pass. The two trade insults and challenges for a moment, but then the other Orcs discover something: Frodo’s body. ‘Lying right in the road. A spy, a spy!’

Sam is suddenly snapped out of his cautious posture. He belongs at Frodo’s side; he never should have left! Even though he is sure Frodo is dead, he’s heard tales of Orcs doing terrible things, even to bodies. There are only a hundred and fifty of them! [Maybe a little exaggerated, but close.] He’ll probably be killed and the Ring found, but the Council will have to understand.

But Sam is weary, very weary, and he finds he cannot rush up upon the Orcs. He sees them gathered around something and searching bent down near it like dogs seeking a trail. He just drags forward, and is about to draw Sting, even knowing that its fire will reveal his presence, when the Orcs suddenly lift up a body and carry it away with cries of ‘Ya hoi! Ya harri hoi!’ They have Frodo and they are carrying him back to the tunnel. They have no fear of Shelob appearing tonight.

Sam cannot catch up with them; Orcs travel fast in their tunnels, and this is one they know well. They are hastening back to the tower, happily gabbling over the wounding of Shelob and their prize. Two voices seem closer to him as Sam struggles forward. The two leaders, Shagrat and Gorbag, are hanging behind to have a private talk.

The lads are making too much noise, but that’s all right; ‘[Shelob’s] sat on a nail, it seems, and we shan’t cry about that.’ Shagrat thinks they’ve had a stroke of luck, they’ve found something Lugburz [the Dark Tower] wants. Gorbag wonders why; the spy looked Elvish, but puny. What’s the harm in such a creature.

Shagrat suggests that they take a look for themselves, but Gorbag nixes the idea. He says something’s gone wrong, something they’ve not been told about. Even the ‘Top Ones’ can make mistakes. The Nazgul, and even Lugburz, are troubled. But they should go a little further and talk in private. There are snoops and informers everywhere.

There is a rumble and Sam tries to follow them, but he suddenly finds a stone blocking the way, just as he and Frodo had found before. The Orcs got through somehow, but he can’t. He listens at the stone, desperate to follow his Master’s body, and hears the two conferring together. Gorbag (who seems to be from Minas Morgul) is talking about the fast communications between all of Sauron’s towers, faster than anything can fly. But he asks no questions about the Nazgul. ‘Those Nazgul give me the creeps. And they skin the body off of you as soon as look at you, and leave you all cold on the other side.’ But they are Sauron’s favorites. Working in Minas Morgul, city of the Ringwraiths, is no fun. Shagrat says he should try it up here with Shelob for company.

Gorbag wishes they could go off and set up on their own, like the old days, just a few trusty lads and plenty of loot handy. No big bosses. Shagrat agrees, but Gorbag says it’s unlikely. And the other side hates them even if they aren’t with the bosses. But even the Biggest Boss can slip, and then it’s the poor Uruks who have to set things right.

Note (Not Bits and Bobs Yet, Just a Note)

I had meant to get to the end of the chapter today, but I'm just too tired, too tired to even write up Bits and Bobs. Perhaps I will do that this evening, or I may wait until I get to the end of the chapter (and, even more tantalizing, the end of The Two Towers). At any rate, when I do reach the end, I mean to take a break from LOTR, at least until the end of July. To that end, I may have even more LOTR posts during the week, instead of just on Monday. It's all kind of up in the air for now.