The Lord of the Rings: The Houses of Healing (Part Two)

‘Now as the sun went down Aragorn and Eomer and Imrahil drew near the City with their captains and knights; and when the came before the Gate Aragorn said: ‘Behold the Sun setting in a great fire! It is a sign of the end and fall of many things, and a change in the tides of the world.’

He declares he will not enter Minas Tirith just yet. It has been in the rule of the Stewards for many years and to enter it unbidden might seem like a challenge, and cause upheaval among the people at this time of trouble. He’ll camp outside until welcomed in.

Eomer says that he’s already risen the standard of Elendil and the kings; will he let that be humbled? But Imrahil says he is wise; Denethor (whom he still believes is alive) is proud but old and set in his ways, and he’s been acting odd since Faramir was stricken down. ‘Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the door.’

‘Not a beggar,’ said Aragorn. ‘Say a Captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone.’ He has his banner furled and takes off the Star of the North-kingdom and gives it to Elladan and Elrohir to keep for him.

But Eomer and Imrahil go into the City and go up to the Citadel, looking for the Steward to report and confer with. But when they come to the Hall of the tower his chair is empty, and before it is the body of Theoden, covered in a cloth of gold, laid in state with sword and shield and guarded by twelve knights of Rohan and twelve knights of Gondor. The peace of death is upon him, and he seems young, and wise beyond the reach of youth.

Imrahil asks of a guard for the Steward and is told he is in the Houses of Healing. And Eomer asks about Eowyn. Shouldn’t she be lying here with Theoden, in no less honor? Imrahil answers that she was still alive when they bore her in; didn’t Eomer know?

‘Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to Eomer’s heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall; and the Prince followed him.’ It is evening outside, and stars shine in the darkness above. Outside the Houses of Healing they meet Gandalf and ‘one cloaked in grey.’ They ask for the Steward; has he been hurt? And what of the Lady Eowyn?

Gandalf says she is inside, but near death. And the Steward is the wounded Faramir, for Denethor is now dead and his house in ashes. ‘And they were filled with grief and wonder at the tale he told.’ Imrahil says it is a sad day when both Rohan and Gondor lose their rulers. Eomer is new King of Rohan; with Faramir in peril, shouldn’t they now send for Aragorn?

‘And the cloaked man spoke and said: ‘He is come.’ He throws back his hood and it is Aragorn, wrapped in the grey cloak of Lorien, his only token the green stone Galadriel gave him. Gandalf has begged him to come. He is here not as king, though, but only as Captain of the Dunedain of the North. He says by his counsel Imrahil, as the Steward’s near kinsman, should rule until Faramir awakes, but that all their actions should be ruled by Gandalf in their ‘dealings with the Enemy.’ And Eomer and Imrahil agree.

‘Then Gandalf said: ‘Let us not stay at the door, for the time is urgent. For it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House. Thus spake Ioreth, wise-woman of Gondor: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.’

Notes

“The peace and youthfulness of the dead often represent a transition from earthly suffering to a state of calm, eternal rest, as described in literature and spiritual, as well as scientific, contexts. This state is frequently characterized by a release from fear, shame, and physical limitations, creating a "marble sleep" or serene, unchanging, and youthful stillness.” – AI summation.

Aragorn is very careful not to enter as merely a conquering hero, lest he seem too high-handed. All his claims to the kingdom must be established and proved first; he is not merely a victorious warrior; he is rightful king. His humility seems a little wry when says to tell people he is shy and not used to such high falutin’ stone buildings.

Ioreth seems to be a name that simply means old woman. That the hands of a king have the power to heal is an old medieval idea; the power was supposed to descend on them when they were sacramentally anointed. It is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where Edward the Confessor is mentioned as having the power. It is a form of laying on of hands, called the Royal (or King’s) Touch, and was said to cure the King’s Evil (scrofula, a tubercular infection). The last monarch of England to perform the Royal Touch was Queen Anne in the early 1700’s. The infant Samuel Johnson was among the people she touched, to indifferent results.

The Lord of the Rings: The Ride of the Rohirrim (Part 2)

The Tale

Merry draws near and he hears the strange figure start to speak. The Wild Men will not help the Horse-men fight. They kill gorgun, orc-folk, when they can, but Druedain are hunters, not fighters. Eomer asks what, then, is this help they are offering?

The Woses have lived here for ages. They know all the paths in the woods they are passing through. They are great scouts. They know the enemy armies are blocking the roads. Many more folk than the Rohirrim.

Eomer asks how he knows that, and Ghan-buri-Ghan replies that the Wild Men are not children. He knows – they have been counted – that Theoden has ‘a score of scores counted ten times and five.’ The enemy have more. And there are many more, inside and outside of Minas Tirith – the Stonehouses.

Theoden agrees. And they have dug trenches and cast stakes across the road. There will be battle before they ever get to the city.

But this is where the Woses can help. They know of an ancient, abandoned, and secret way through the hills, built by Gondor in its heyday but long forgotten. Ghan and his folk can lead the Rohirrim by that way and bring them back to the road, circumventing the enemy. Then ‘you will kill gorgun and drive away bad dark with bright iron, and the Wild Men can go back to sleep in the wild woods.’

Theoden and Eomer confer a while. Then Theoden agrees, and offers Ghan a rich reward if they survive, which is not at all sure. Ghan replies that the only reward they want is to be left alone afterwards and not hunted like animals anymore. As a sign of good faith Ghan offers himself as a hostage to go with the king, and Theoden accepts.

The way is narrow, only wide enough for four horsemen at a time. By their calculations, it will take ten hours to get out of the hills and then form the host again. They wonder what time it is now; with the Darkness all is night. But Ghan knows. It is not night; the Wild Men feel the Sun even when she is hidden. It is rising even now over the East-mountains, behind the dark pall.

‘Then we must set out as soon as may be,’ said Eomer. ‘Even so we cannot hope to Gondor’s aid today.’

NOTES

‘A score of scores counted ten times and five’ is 6000, 920x20x (10+5). The Woses are simple but not ignorant, ‘not children.’ They know the score, and know what time it is even when other men are lost in the unnatural dark. They have long memories, stretching to before the Numenoreans, who have passed into legend, even arrived. And Ghan can speak at least some Common Speech. The only recorded word in the Druedain language is gorgun, Orc, creatures whom the Woses have hated for uncounted years.

The people of Rohan in the past have hunted Woses for sport like beasts, not recognizing the Wild Men’s common humanity. The only reward they want for their help is to be left alone in their forests. That they would ally themselves with Rohan now shows how dire are the straits, and also argues for the common sense of the Woses, not allowing past grudges to crowd present necessities.

On a personal note, I am sorry that I am a day late and a dollar short with this post. I seem only to be able to crawl along a couple of pages at a time. I am undergoing some Dark Days myself lately. But ‘above all shadows rides the Sun.’ Maybe – maybe – I can prepare such posts more than once a week, and so speed things up a bit. We shall see. In the beginning I was able to cover a chapter at a time, but those were simpler matters, a hobbit’s birthday opposed to an epic battle. Now my efforts seem as laden as the whole Matter of Middle-earth.