The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part Five and Last)

 

The Tale

‘The light was still grey as they rode, for the sun had not climbed over the black ridges of the Haunted Mountain before them.’ Aragorn and the Grey Company (and Legolas and Gimli) pass through a line of ancient stones and so come to the Dimholt and a stand of ancient trees so black and gloomy that even Legolas (who was raised in Mirkwood, remember) cannot stand it very long. Passing through they come to a hollow place at the mountain’s root and a single tall stone like a warning finger.

‘My blood runs chill,’ said Gimli’ but his voice falls dead in that silent place. The horses will not pass the stone until the riders dismount and lead them around. And behind the stone in the sheer rock wall of the mountain is the Dark Door, gaping like a black mouth of night. ‘Signs and figures were carved above its wide arch too dim to read, and fear flowed through it like a grey vapour.’

All hearts quail ‘unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror.’ Halbarad, who may have some of the foresight of the Dunedain, predicts his death lies beyond the Door, but he will go through nonetheless. But he does not think the horses will go. Aragorn says they will need them once they pass through, so go the horses must. Every lost minute would aid Sauron’s victory.

Aragorn leads the way in, and his great will that the Rangers and their horses follow him. But Arod, the horse of Rohan, won’t enter, trembling and sweating, until Legolas sings some soft words, calming him, and then Legolas leads him through the Door. ‘And there stood Gimli Gloin’s left all alone.’

The Dwarf’s knees shake and he’s angry with himself that he does not go in immediately. ‘Here is a thing unheard of! he said. ‘An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!’ His pride stung, he plunges in. But his feet drag heavily over the threshold, ‘and at once a blindness came upon him, even upon Gimli Gloin’s son who had walked unafraid in many deep places in the world.’

Aragorn leads the company with a torch and Elladan (one of Elrond’s sons) brings up the rear with another. Gimli stumbles along, trying to catch up. If the company stops, he can hear a whisper of voices all around them in an unknown tongue. He knows there is no turning back.

There is a glint in the darkness and Aragorn turns aside to investigate. Gimli would go to look for gold any other time, but now he just wants to let it lie. It turns out to be a corpse clad in gilded armor, with a belt of gold and garnets. He is clawing at a closed door and his broken sword lies next to him, as if he died clawing trying to open that closed door.

Aragorn guesses who he is, one of the Kings of Rohan, but here no flowers will ever grow on his mound. No one will ever know what he was trying to find beyond the door, what treasures or secrets. Aragorn raises his voice and turns to face the whispering darkness behind them. For that is not why they are here! They only seek to pass through. He summons the Dead to the Stone of Erech!

The whispering falls into an even more dreadful silence, and a blast of wind blows out the torches. They cannot be kindled again. They pass on, and Gimli cannot tell how long they went on in the dark. He is always in the rear, pursued by blind horror that seems to grope at him. Finally, he is crawling along, thinking that he must either escape or turn and face the following fear.

Suddenly he hears the tinkle of water. The light grows, and he finds they are following a rill of water out of another door to outside to a steep road between sheer cliffs. So deep is the cleft that he can see stars above them, although it is still not sunset of the day they entered. It has seemed a timeless journey.

The company gets back on their horses and ride down through the deepening dusk in single file. Still the fear pursues them. Gimli rides behind Legolas again. When the Elf turns back to talk to the Dwarf, he sees Elladan bringing up the rear, but he is not the last behind them.

‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas, ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses, and pale banners like shreds of cloud, and spears like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’ Yes, says Elladan. ‘They have been summoned.’

The Company come at last out of a ravine and into the uplands of a great and rich vale before them. Gimli asks ‘Where in Middle-earth are we?’ and Elladan answers they are in the Morthond Vale, carved out by the chill Blackroot river as it wends its way past Dol Amroth down to the sea. The vale is rich and many Men dwell there.

Aragorn turns and cries to the Company that they must ride in haste to the Stone of Erech before the day passes. They pass like a wild hunt down through the land, and the inhabitants flee before them, crying that the King of the Dead is upon them. They come to the Stone just before midnight. It is ‘a black stone, round as a great globe, the height of a man, though its half was buried in the ground. Unearthly it stood, as though it had fallen from the sky, as some believed; but those who remembered still the lore of Westernesse told that it had been brought out of the ruin of Numenor and there set by Isildur at his landing.’ Nobody from the valley gets near it, as it is said to be a meeting place of ‘the Shadow-men’.

When they get there, Aragorn turns and blows a silver horn that Elrohir (Elrond’s other son) hands him, and he is answered by dim horns like an echo in a mountain pass. The Company is aware of a great host all around them and ‘a chill wind like the breath of ghosts came down from the mountains.’ Aragorn dismounts, stands by the Stone and cries out ‘Oathbreakers, why have ye come?’

A voice answers, as if from far away: ‘To fulfil our oath and have peace.’

Aragorn says the hour has come at last. If they will follow him and clean the land of the servants of Sauron, he will hold the oath fulfilled, and they can depart and have peace. For he is Elessar, Isuldur’s heir of Gondor.

He bids Halbarad unfurl his standard, and in the darkness, it looks completely black; whatever is on it is hidden by darkness. There is a silence from the ghostly host. The Company camps by the Stone that night, and not a noise is heard from the Dead, but there is little sleep for dread.

When the dawn comes Aragorn raises the Company, and urges them forward, though they are still weary. They ride, and ‘only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the Dunedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves.’

They pass Tarlang’s Neck, and come to Lamedon, then to Calembel upon Ciril. The land before them is deserted; many have gone to war, and others have fled before the terror of the Dead. The Company stay overnight at the fords of Ciril. ‘But the next day there came no dawn and the Grey Company passed on into the darkness of the Storm of Mordor and were lost to mortal sight; but the Dead followed them.’

Bits and Bobs

Halbarad is a kinsman of Aragorn and has some of the foresight of the Dunedain; unfortunately, his premonition of his death comes true on the Pelennor Fields. He is, however, staunch and heroically faces his doom as necessary.

Dimholt translates as ‘the obscure, secret (dim) wood.’

The passage through the Paths of the Dead is told through Gimli’s eyes, who might be considered the ‘lowest’ of the Company, and so the most affected by the fear. It is only his Dwarvish pride that compels him to enter the caves.

The corpse they find is that of Baldor son of Brego, grandson of Eorl, who boasted he would take the Paths of the Dead and was never heard of again. That was 450 years ago. Tolkien wrote in a later note that the door that his body was found in front up was to an evil temple; it was shut in his face and the Dead broke his legs and left him to die.

It is said that when they finally emerge into a steep valley that it is so deep that, although it is still daylight, Gimli can see the stars. This so-called ‘chimney effect’ has since been disproved to exist. I think (and I’m not absolutely sure) that when Gimli uses the term Middle-earth that this is the first time it occurs used by a character in the story itself; at least it is the first place I ever noticed it.

The Stone of Erech seems like a strange artifact to lug all the way from Numenor; perhaps it had some significance that was never explained. Pelargir is ‘the Garth of Royal Ships’ where the Men of Westerness first landed and was the haven of the Faithful of the Numenoreans. Tolkien wrote of Tarlang’s Neck that it was named after one of the legendary Giants who built those mountains; when he died, he was built into the mountain wall, his neck becoming the ridge. He also said it could have been named because it was a difficult way for ‘stiff-necked’ people to take who would brook no delay. Calembel (Greenham’, ham as in town) sits on the Ciril, a river that cuts through the land (cir = cleaves).

Pippin sees the same sun go down redly from the walls of Minas Tirith; Sam and Frodo have seen it as they pass from Minas Morgul to Osgiliath. Now we are reminded of where most of the players are on the board.

The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part Four)

The Tale

‘And while Theoden went by slow paths in the hills, the Grey Company passed swiftly over the plain, and on the next day in the afternoon they came to Edoras; and there they halted only briefly, ere they passed up the valley, and so came to Dunharrow as darkness fell.’

They are greeted by Eowyn, who is glad to see such mighty men, but most of her attention seems to be on Aragorn. She hears the full tale of Helm’s Deep; as she hears of the great slaughter of the enemy and of the heroic charge of Theoden and his knights, her eyes shine. She says they will find Aragorn and his company places to rest for the night, and better beds tomorrow night.

But Aragorn reveals that they must leave tomorrow morning on a most urgent errand. Eowyn smiles and says it was kind of him to go out of his way and visit her in her loneliness, but her face blanches and she goes silent when he says it is on his way to take the Paths of the Dead. Does he seek death? For the dead do not suffer the living to pass on that Path.

’They may suffer me to pass,’ said Aragorn; but at the least I shall adventure it. No other road will serve.’

That is madness, replies Eowyn. And he would lead all these warriors to their doom when they are needed in the upcoming war! But this is his appointed path, and whoever does so, does of his own free will. The others can stay here; but he himself must go, alone if necessary.

They speak no more but finishing eating, but Eowyn’s eyes are on Aragorn and she seems in torment. When they are done and go to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas’ ‘booth’ (tent or temporary hut) to sleep, she comes and stops him before he can follow the other two in. She is a slim white figure in the night.

She asks him one last time if he must go. Aragorn replies it is the only he sees of doing his part in the war against Sauron. He doesn’t choose it because he wants to. If he did what his heart wanted to, he’d be in Rivendell. When Eowyn sees that Aragorn is ‘a stern lord and resolute,’ she has one last plea. Let her go with him. She is tired of hiding in the hills and wants to face danger and battle.

When Aragorn tells her that she has a duty to lead her people, and she cries out that she’s heard about duty too often. ‘But am I not of the House of Eorl, a shieldmaiden and not a dry-nurse?’ Too long she’s spent caring for the faltering Theoden, and since he falters no longer, ‘may I not now spend my life as I will?’

‘Few may do that with honor,’ he answered.’ She has accepted the charge to care for the people. If any other captain or marshal had taken the duty, to leave it would be desertion. And so it is with her.

Will she always be chosen to mind the house while warriors win fame in battle, and to feed and house them when they return? But, says Aragorn, a time may be coming when none return, and deeds without fame but no less valiant must be done in defense of their homes. Eowyn says that just means ‘You are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honor, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more.’ But she can ride and wield a sword and fears neither pain nor death.

What does she fear, Aragorn asks. ‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use or old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’ And yet she tried to dissuade him from taking the Paths of the Dead. But she did not tell him to flee from peril; just do not throw away something ‘high and excellent’ needlessly. And that’s what he’s asking her; to stay, and not throw her life away. She has no errand to the South.

‘Neither have those that go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee – because they love thee.’ She turns and vanishes into the night.

 

The next day, when it is light, but the sun hasn’t even risen over the eastern ridges, Aragorn and the Grey Company prepare to ride. But before he mounts, Eowyn comes out to bid him goodbye, bearing a cup of farewell. She takes a sip, wishes them good speed, and hands to cup to Aragorn. He bids her farewell, and drinks to her fortune, and of her House, and of all her people. He asks her to tell Eomer they might meet yet, beyond all shadows. Legolas and Gimli are nearby and can see her weeping ‘and in one so stern and proud that seemed the more grievous.’

Eowyn asks one more time, but Aragorn will go, and he will not take her with him. He can’t without Theoden and Eomer’s consent and they won’t be there until tomorrow, and he needs every minute now. She falls on her knees and begs him, He raises her, kisses her hand, springs into the saddle and rides away. But those near him see the pain he bears.

Eowyn stands still as stone until they pass into the shadows of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, where are the Paths of the Dead. Then she stumbles blindly back to her lodging. But none of her people see her; they have hidden in fear of the reckless strangers who would ride such a way.

‘And some said: ‘They are Elvish wights. Let them go where they belong, into to dark places, and never return. The times are evil enough.’

Bits and Bobs

Eowyn is glad to hear about the battle exploits of the Rohirrim; she had feared that the House of Eorl would end in ignominy with the weakening of Theoden. It stirs her valiant heart; she is a shield maiden (a female warrior, of a type mentioned in Norse folklore and mythology; two famous shield-maidens are Hervor and the ever-popular Brynhildr, or Brunnhilde) and no longer need be a dry-nurse (a wet-nurse takes care of infant, feeding them with breast milk; a dry nurse takes care of anybody, in other words, just what we’d call a nurse).

Aragorn says that the Dead may ‘suffer’ (tolerate, allow) him to pass; at any rate he will ‘adventure’ (venture, try without guarantee of success) it. He gently hints at his heart being with another, Arwen, far away in Rivendell. Eowyn still wants to go. In early drafts of the story, Eowyn was going to be Aragorn’s love interest and Queen.

But she still wants to go and fight, now that she doesn’t have to care for Theoden, she wants to ‘spend her life as she will’, but Aragorn she still has a duty to her people to remain, where she may still have valiant deeds to do. Her bitter complaint about being burned in the house after all the warriors are gone is a fate that happened all too often in the Norse sagas: many valiant Vikings did not hesitate to burn their enemies’ halls, with the women and children and elderly; if they did not surrender. (see the terrible Njal’s Saga.)

Eventually Eowyn starts using the more intimate ‘thee’ with Aragorn, while he continues using the formal ‘you,’ to keep her at a distance. She provides him with a ‘stirrup cup’, a parting cup given to departing guest, when their feet are ‘in the stirrup,’ so to say, and they are ready to leave. For her to go on her knees to beg to go is an extravagant gesture for a noble lady.

The Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain, is translated in Old English from dwimor (ghost, phantom, illusion, deception, delusion) and beorg (mountain). Compare Eowyn’s name for the Lord of the Nazgul dwimmerlaik (work of necromancy, spector) and Dwimordene (haunted or enchanted valley), the Rohirric name for Lothlorien. The Rohirrim, in general, considered all ‘sketchy’ uncanny things in the same superstitious light; it’s no wonder they referred to the Grey Company as ‘Elvish wights’; uncanny beings perhaps not quite human, and better off far away.

The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part Three)

 

TheTale 

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go to the hall in the Burg and sit at table. For a long while Aragorn does not speak. Finally Legolas bids him unburden himself and say what has happened to him since they returned to make the man so grim and weary.

Aragorn replies a struggle that was harder for him than the battle of Helm’s Deep; he has looked into the Stone of Orthanc.

‘You have looked in that accursed stone of wizardy!’ exclaimed Gimli with fear and astonishment in his face. ‘Did you say aught to – him? Even Gandalf feared that encounter.’

For a moment Aragorn is stern and his eyes glint. The dwarf forgets to whom he speaks. Doesn’t he remember who he is and what were his lineage and claims, announced aloud at the royal hall at Edoras? And what did he think he would say to the Dark Lord? Then he looks tired again. Aragorn is the lawful master of the stone, with both the right – and the strength, he judged – to use it. The right was certain, and the strength was enough, but barely.

He spoke nothing, but wrenched the Stone from Sauron’s will. That would be blow enough to the Dark Lord, to lose such a tool, but Sauron saw him ‘in other guise’, not as a grim and weathered Ranger, but as the Heir of Elendil with the Sword that slew Sauron reforged at his side. That must have been a blow to his heart; the Dark Lord had no idea he existed, and to suddenly have him appear when his great designs are in motion must have been a shock. ‘He is not so mighty yet that he is above fear; nay, doubt ever gnaws him.’

Gimli is afraid that Sauron will only strike faster, but Aragorn replies that ‘The hasty stroke goes oft astray.’ And after he mastered the stone, Aragorn learned many things. An unlooked-for enemy approaches Gondor from the South. Minas Tirith will fall in ten days if it is not countered. There is only one way to get there in time: he must take the Paths of the Dead.

Gimli doesn’t like the sound of that, and neither did the Rohirrim, he noticed. Can the living use such a path? And even if he makes it, can such a small force as he leads, doughty though it is, counter Sauron’s forces?

The Heir of Isildur may use it, if he dares. Elrond’s message to him reminds him of the words of Malbeth the Seer, spoken in the days of Arvedui, the last king of Fornost in the realm of Arnor in the North. It says in coming days of darkness the Dead shall awaken and the Heir of Isildur to whom they swore allegiance shall pass through the Door to the Paths of the Dead.

Gimli doesn’t understand, but Aragorn says if he wants to know better, follow him there, but only of his own free will. For there is toil and great fear and maybe worse on that way. Gimli says he will come, wherever the Paths may lead. Legolas says he will come too: he does not fear the Dead. Gimli hopes the forgotten people have not forgotten how to fight.

Aragorn tells them the tale: in the days of Isildur the King of the Mountains and his people swore an oath on the Black Stone at Erech to him to fight against the Dark Lord, but when Isildur called them they did not answer but hid in the hills. So he cursed them to linger until they had fulfilled their oath. They dwindled away and died out, but the terror of the Sleepless Dead lingers around the hills and Erech.

Aragorn stands and draws his sword. He cries that he will go to the Stone, taking the Paths of the Dead. Let follow him who will! Elf and Dwarf join him as he strides forth to the Grey Company of Rangers and the Sons of Elrond who await him. Halbarad blows a great horn, ‘and with that they leapt away, riding down the Coomb like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze.’

Bits and Bobs

Aragorn’s retort to Gimli in the First Edition was a bit more severe, if grimly humorous: ‘What do you fear that I should say: that I had a rascal of a rebel of a dwarf that I would gladly exchange for a serviceable orc?’ Tolkien softened this in the Second Edition, even though Gimli’s questioning of Aragorn’s judgement was a little impertinent.

Erech is a pre-Numenorean name of unknown provenance, though it may contain the Sindarin element -er, (one, alone). Erech is also the name of a famous ancient city in Mesopotamia.

Arvedui (Sindarin ‘king + last’) was given his name at birth by a seer, and was indeed the last reigning king of the North Kingdom. That seer (prophet, one who sees) was Malbeth (?Sindarin; ‘mal Gold + ?’) whose name recalls for modern readers the Latin mal (evil) and Macbeth, with its association with evil, curses, ghosts, and prophecies.

Perhaps Legolas, as an Elf, has more familiarity and insight into spirits, while Men instinctively fear the unnaturalness of the separation of body and soul. The fact that they are usually unseen to mortal eyes doesn’t help either.

Tolkien explains elsewhere that not only did Aragorn have the right to the Palantir and the strength to use it, but also the distance from Sauron’s physical form helped protect him from the Dark Lord’s full power.  That Sauron sees him ‘in other guise’ suggests that the Dark Lord sees him as he spiritually is, at least as much as Aragorn will reveal to him; remember the crown that Legolas seems to glimpse flickering around Aragorn’s brow. That Gimli refers to 'that accursed stone of wizardry' shows he doesn't really understand the palantiri. They are not evil in themselves, though they are definitely perilous with Sauron plugged into them. 

The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part Two)

The Tale

The night is old when they come at last to the Hornburg [the name of the actual fortress at Helm’s Deep]. They will stay there a while to rest and make plans. Merry sleeps until he is woken up by Legolas and Gimli; it is nearly noon. Legolas calls the hobbit ‘Master Sluggard’; everyone else is up and getting ready. Gimli wants to give Merry a tour of the battlefield (only three nights ago!) where he and Legolas ‘played a game that I won by a single orc.’ He suggests that they see the Glittering Caves, but Legolas says they have no time: ‘Do not spoil the wonder with haste!’ They’ll return if there are days of peace again. Now they will be eating soon and setting out again.

Merry yawns, feeling dismal. He hasn’t got nearly enough sleep and he misses Pippin and everyone seems busy except him. He asks where Aragorn is. Legolas says he is in a high chamber in the Burg, with only his kinsman Halbarad with him, taking thought. Some dark care seems burdening him.

Gimli says this Grey Company seem a strange folk, strong and lordly, yet grim and weathered, like Aragorn himself, and silent. But courteous when they do talk, rejoins Legolas. And have you noticed Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond? Fair and gallant as Elven-lords.

Merry asks why they have come, and Gimli replies that a summons came to them through Rivendell, though now they’re not sure who sent it. The dwarf guesses Gandalf, but Legolas says it must have been Galadriel. She spoke (through Gandalf) of the riding of the Grey Company from the North.

Gimli agrees; she read the hearts and desires of many. Why didn’t they wish for their own kinsfolk to come and help them in the war? Legolas looks away toward Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain, troubled. He does not think any would come. They don’t need to march to war, war already marches on them.

The three walk together a while, touring the scene of the battle. They come to a high spot on Helm’s Dike and look from there. They can see the Death Down, black and stony, where the Huorns buried all the dead orcs. A lot of repairs seem to be going on quietly in the valley, some being done by the chastened Dunlending men. It is like the uneasy peace after a great storm.

When they return to the Burg for the midday meal, Theoden calls Merry to his side. This place is little like his hall at Meduseld, but he wants the hobbit to eat and talk with him while they can; it might be a long time before they have another chance.

Merry is surprised and delighted by the king’s kindness, and tells the old man that he has been feeling useless, though he would like to help in any way he could. Theoden says that he knows it, and that he has had a mountain-pony prepared for his transport. It will do well on the paths through the hills that they must take, and Merry shall ride as his esquire, if he will. He asks Eomer if they have any gear for the hobbit?

Eomer says they have no armor or swords here that will fit him, though they might find a light helm. Merry says that he has a sword, and draws his Barrow-blade from its old black scabbard. Filled suddenly with love for Theoden, he offers his sword and his service to the old king. Theoden gladly accepts it, ‘and laying his long old hands upon the brown hair of the hobbit, he blessed him.’ Merry arises an esquire of Rohan in the King’s household. Theoden bids him take up his sword and bear it unto good fortune.

‘As a father you shall be to me,’ said Merry.

‘For a little while,’ said Theoden.

They talk a while as they eat together, until Eomer says they are close to the hour of departure. Shall he call Aragorn? He has not eaten yet. The king says let him be summoned; they will go ahead down to the Gate. There they find a great company of Riders getting ready to go; they are leaving only a small garrison at the fortress. Already a thousand Riders have left earlier, and another five hundred will ride with the king. The Rangers stand a little apart, ready to go, grim silent and grey, unadorned except for a silver badge pinning their cloaks. They have brought Aragorn’s own horse, Roheryn, from the North.

Theoden mounts Snowmane, his own horse, and Merry rides beside him on Stybba, the pony supplied for him. Presently Eomer returns with Aragon, Halbarad (still carrying the close-furled black staff), Elladan and Elrohir (so alike as to be hardly told apart), and Legolas and Gimli. But Merry can only look at Aragorn in dismay. A strange change has come over him, as if he has aged many years in one night, and he is grim, grey-faced, and weary.

Aragorn asks Theoden how long it will take him to get to Dunharrow, and Eomer replies that it will take them three days. Three days Aragorn murmurs, and the muster of Rohan will only be beginning. He now sees what he must do. He must leave with the Grey Company, and ride openly and direct, no longer hiding in the hills. He must take the Paths of the Dead.

Theoden trembles at the name; if there are indeed such paths, they start at Dunharrow. Eomer fears that if Aragorn does indeed take that road, they will never draw swords together again. Aragorn answers that he will take that road, and that they may meet again anyway, though all the hosts of Mordor stand between them.

Theoden doesn’t like the sound of things but says Aragorn must do as he must; the king himself rides another way. Aragorn tells him to ride to great renown. He is leaving Merry in his care: better hands than there were the last time they parted. But he asks Gimli and Legolas to hunt with him a while longer. Merry is puzzled and depressed at the leavetaking and misses the cheerful Pippin more than ever.

Theoden, Merry, and Eomer ride off with the host, and Aragorn watches their passing.  Aragorn turns to Halbarad and tells him there go three that he loves, and the smallest not the least. Merry goes to what end he does not know but if he did he would go nonetheless. Halbarad says that the Shirefolk are a worthy people, although they little guess how the Rangers have protected them.

‘And now our fates are woven together,’ said Aragorn. ‘And, yet, alas! Here we must part. Well, I must eat a little, and then we must also hasten away. Come, Legolas and Gimli! I must speak with you as I eat!’

Bits and Bobs

Sluggard: A lazy, sleepy, slow-moving person; like a slug.

Sword-thain: Esquire, squire; armed and pledged servant.

Weapontake: In context, the mustering of the army and the passing out of arms from a ‘weapon hoard’; most people (like farmers) would not have personal weapons of war.

Stybba: from Old English ’stump’ or ‘stub’; ‘Stubby’

Roheryn: ‘Horse of the Lady’; Arwen’s gift to Aragorn.

Gimli and Legolas are full of talk of the battle, and Gimli is still eager about the Glittering Caves. Legolas guesses (and it turns out he is right) that their homes are already under attack by the forces of Mordor. The captive Dunlendings are making ‘war reparations’ in a most literal way before being sent back home.

Merry is depressed and lonely, but he is inspired by the kindness and interest of Theoden to pledge his fealty to the old man. This is an interesting parallel to Pippin’s offer of service to Denethor, but while that was inspired by pride, Merry’s is inspired by ‘sudden love.’ It is also less formal but no less deeply felt, and no complex oaths of service are required of him.

The silver badge shaped like a star used by the Rangers may be a symbol of the House of Isildur, and recalls the badge worn by Aragorn while he was in secret service to Gondor, and by which he came by the name Thorongil, ‘the Eagle of the Star.’ The Rangers have long guarded the Shire, unacknowledged by the Hobbits, laboring in service to keep their lands free and untroubled. Halbarad says he does not grudge this.

Aragorn recalls Merry’s capture by the orcs and how he, Legolas, and Gimli were the Three Hunters; he asks them to ‘hunt’ with him a while longer. There is much fear and uneasiness among the Rohirrim at the name of Dunharrow (‘the heathen fane {temple} on the hill’) and the Paths of the Dead. Such a name of ill-omen is yet to be explained.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Passing of the Grey Company (Part One)

The Tale

We return to the time and place Gandalf and Pippin parted with Merry. The hobbit joins Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. They are all ready to ride. They will go with King Theoden to Edoras, who, after the Nazgul sighting, wants to leave right away under the cover of night to oversee the muster of the Riders of Rohan to go to the aid of Minas Tirith. But he is not sure if that is his road.

Legolas and Gimli declare that they will go with him wherever his way takes him, and Merry begs to go along too. He doesn’t want to be left behind like baggage. Aragorn thinks he will be safer with the Riders. Merry recalls he did promise to tell the King all about the Shire. Aragorn thinks it may be long before Theoden sits in peace in his house to listen to tales.

The company departs; twenty four horses, with Legolas and Gimli riding double on Arod and Aragorn and Merry on Hasufel. The King’s Company have not ridden far past the Fords of Isen when they hear a band of horsemen approaching. Theoden calls a halt and they wait. Aragorn dismounts and stands at the King’s side. Merry feels more like baggage than ever. If there is a fight, what can he do? He can’t flee heedlessly into the wild fields, to be lost again. ‘He drew his sword and tightened his belt.’

They can see dark shapes approaching in the moonlight, horses and riders, spears glinting, uncountable in the dim light but no less than their own company. When they are fifty paces away, Eomer calls for them to halt and asks who rides in Rohan? The pursuers halt, and one man comes forward, hand held open in token of peace. Rohan, did he say? That is good news indeed. They have been looking for Rohan.

Well, you’ve found it, Eomer replies. But none ride here except by King Theoden’s leave. Who are you? ‘Halbarad Dunadan, Ranger of the North I am.’ They are seeking Aragorn, son of Arathorn. They heard he was in Rohan. Aragorn joyfully cries that he has found him. He rushes forward and embraces the newcomer. This is a welcome if unexpected surprise!

Merry is relieved. Not need to die defending the King yet. He had feared some last trick of Saruman. He sheathes his sword.

Aragorn introduces them as kinsmen of his from the North. Halbarad says there are thirty with him, all that could be gathered quickly, but also the sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir ride with them. All are here to answer his summons.

Aragorn replies he sent no summons, except in thought, wishing they were here. He asks Theoden if they may ride with his company, and Theoden gladly agrees. If these kinsmen are anything like Aragorn, they will be ‘a strength that cannot be counted by heads.’

As they ride together, Elrohir (Elrond’s son) tells Aragorn that his father sends this word of advice: ‘The days are short. If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.’ Aragorn replies that he’ll really need haste before he takes that road. They will not speak more of it under the open sky.

Aragorn asks Halbarad what he is bearing. It is a tall staff with a furled black cloth bound with many thongs. It comes with a message from Arwen, Lady of Rivendell, Elrond’s daughter. ‘The days now are short. Either our hope cometh, or all hope’s end. Therefore I send thee what I have made for you. Fare well, Elfstone!’ Aragorn now knows what it is. He asks Halbarad to hold it for him for a while yet. ‘And he turned and looked away to the North under the great stars, and then he fell silent and spoke no more while the night’s journey lasted.’

Bits and Bobs

The Grey Company is of course the name given to Halbarad, the Dunadan Rangers, and the sons of Elrond, cloaked in Elven-grey, as they ride to Aragorn’s aid. Halbarad might mean (hal high + barad tower) in Sindarin. Elladan means (el elf + adan man), referring to his mixed heritage through Elrond to Earendil; Elrohir also means (el elf+ rohir knight, man); the brothers were twins, just like their father Elrond (who chose to be Elven) and his twin Elros (who chose to be mortal), first King of Numenor. This makes them distant relatives to Aragorn. They too will have the choice whether to remain Elven or to be human.

Aragorn says he sent no summons; who actually called the Grey Company will be revealed shortly. The Paths of the Dead are mentioned as a possibility; such a name of ill-omen is not good to speak ‘under the open sky.’

Merry begins his journey towards courage to stand in battle; he has been courageous before, but not in this particular way. We are reminded of Arwen, not mentioned since Rivendell; she will come to play an increasingly obvious part in Aragorn’s path of destiny, not least by inspiration. Arwen calls him Elf-stone, ‘Elessar’, which will become his kingly name, after the green and silver brooch Galadriel gave him in Lothlorien.

Arwen’s use of ‘Fare well!’ as two words reminds us of the origin of the word ‘farewell’, not simply as a way of saying goodbye, but as a wish that one will travel (fare’) safely (‘well’) and to a purpose.