The Tale
Back in Gondor, Pippin is
roused from sleep by Gandalf. Though it is the second hour of morning, candles
are lit; the air is dim and heavy. Gandalf tells the hobbit he is called to his
duties with Denthor; the wizard has brought his meager breakfast. It is a small
loaf with a pat of butter and a cup of thin milk. Rations have started in the
City.
Pippin wonders miserably why
Gandalf ever brought him here; Gandalf says he knows it was to keep him out of
mischief; if he doesn’t like it, he must remember he brought it on himself.
They go to the Tower Hall,
where Denethor sits ‘like an old patient spider’. He beckons Gandalf to a
chair, but Pippin is left standing. The Steward turns to him at last and asks
him how he liked his free time yesterday? Though he is sure he is less than
pleased with his scant meals here. Pippin feels uncomfortable; it seems the old
Lord knows everything he did as well as much of what he thinks.
Denethor asks him what
Pippin thinks he can do in his service; Pippin replies he thought the Steward
would tell him what to do. Denethor says he must know what he can do, first. He’ll
find out best by having the hobbit take the place of his body squire, waiting
on him, taking messages, and amuse him, if he has time. Can he sing?
Yes, well enough for his own
people, Pippin answers. But their songs are simple and merry, not ‘fit for
great halls or evil times’. Denethor gives a backhanded answer, that surely
those who have fought against the Shadow on the front lines can hear untroubled
songs from the people they have protected. Then they can know their efforts
have not been fruitless, if unthanked.
Pippin’s heart sinks, but he
is not called to sing. Instead, Denethor questions Gandalf closely about the
Rohirrim, their policies, and about Eomer’s position; he seems well aware of
the situation in Rohan. Finally the old Steward turns to Pippin and sends him
off to the armory to get ‘the livery and gear of the Tower.’ He has ordered it
to be prepared yesterday.
Pippin goes and finds it is
so: a small hauberk of black steel rings, a helmet set with raven wings, a
black surcoat set with the silver token of the tree on its breast. His old
clothes are taken away and stored, but he is allowed to keep the cloak of
Lorien, but not to wear it when he is on duty. ‘He looked now, had he known it,
verily Ernil i Pheriannath, the Prince of the Halflings.’ But he is
uncomfortable and the gloom hanging the skies is depressing him.
It is dark and dim all day,
grow deeper as the day goes on. The cloud from the East devours the light of
day, getting deeper and blacker. ‘[T]he air was still and breathless, as if all
the Vale of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous storm.’
Bits and Bobs
A hauberk is defined as ‘a
piece of armor originally covering only the neck and shoulders but later
consisting of a full-length coat of mail’ and ‘The term is usually used to
describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves.’
A surcoat is ‘a loose robe
worn over armor, a sleeveless garment bearing the insignia of knighthood,
sometimes richly embroidered.’
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