The
Tale
At
the Ford of Bruinen the Fellowship leave the road and turn south, passing
through bleak and desolate lands, holding a trail west of the mountains, hoping
to avoid enemy eyes by going this seldom-trodden way. Gandalf leads them, along
with Aragorn, and Legolas, with his keen Elvish eyes, brings up the rear. An
icy blast comes off the mountains, and they are seldom warm as they travel by
night and rest in the middle of the day and only rarely light a fire, for fear
of being seen.
They
have traveled a dreary, slow two weeks when suddenly the wind changes, veering
to the south. They reach a low ridge crowned with ancient holly-trees. Frodo
can see the dim shapes of mountains ahead of them in the south-west, where the
range bends ahead of them. Gandalf says they have reached the borders of
Eregion, an ancient land once inhabited by Elves, that Men call Hollin. Gimli
recognizes the mountains before him, and his Dwarvish heart is deeply moved. ‘There
is the land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of
those mountains into many works of metal and of stone, and into many songs and
tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathur.’
‘Only
once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know them and
their names, for under them lies Khazad-dum, the Dwarrowdelf, that is now
called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue. Yonder stands Barazinbar, the
Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead:
Celebdil the White and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call Zirak-zigil and
Bundashathur …There the Misty Mountains divide and between their arms lies the
deep-shadowed valley which we cannot forget: Azanulbizar, the Dimrill Dale,
which the Elves call Nanduhirion.’
Gandalf says they are heading for the Dimrill Dale, by climbing through the pass over the mountain called the Redhorn Gate. Gimli says his heart trembles at the thought of being there and seeing the dark waters of Kheled-zaram, the Mirrormere. Gandalf wishes him joy at the sight, and says they will rest here in Hollin a while before going on. There is a wholesome air in the once-elvish place, though Legolas says the stony land is strange to the Woodland Folk.
They
build a fire and are merrier than they’ve been since leaving Rivendell, looking
forward to a hot meal and night of rest. Only Aragorn is uneasy. The land is
too quiet; there should be many birds. Gandalf says that they must then more
careful; if you bring a Ranger with you, you should listen to him.
Everyone
but Sam and Aragorn lie down to sleep. After a while they see huge flocks of
birds passing silently over the land. They lie low until they pass, then
Aragorn springs up and wakes Gandalf. These are crebain, large crows out
of Dunland and Fangorn, not native to the land. Aragorn fears these are spies
and that the company will not be able to take the Pass without being seen.
The
hobbits, especially Pippin, groan when they are awoken in the late afternoon
and told that they’re moving at night again. They stay undercover until dusk
when the spying flocks disappear. They march all night. In the cold hour before
dawn, Frodo looks up at the sky, and sees or feels a shadow pass overhead.
Perhaps just a wisp of cloud … but it was moving fast and against the wind.
On the third day out, Frodo overhears a discussion between Gandalf and Aragorn. The wizard grows ever more doubtful of taking the Redhorn Gate, and there is no other pass until the Gap of Rohan, which will take the Ring too close to the treacherous Saruman. But there is a third way, which Aragorn seems reluctant to even discuss. When the company wakes up that afternoon, it is decided that, despite the threat of deepening cold and spies, they will attempt crossing the Redhorn Gate as quickly as they may. Boromir knows something of such high crossings, and advises all to gather and carry as many bundles of wood as they can.
They
start out again on the mountain path, but the way soon turns steep and
difficult and the night ‘deadly dark under great clouds’. And then it starts to snow. Aragorn remarks
that snow seldom falls so heavily in the lower passes, and Boromir wonders if
this is some contrivance of the Enemy. Gimli says his arm has grown long indeed
if he can hurl snow at them from three hundred leagues away.
‘His
arm has grown long,’ said Gandalf.
As they go along it grows worse, until all stop as if in agreement. Eerie noises surround them, like shrill cries or wild howls of laughter. Stones fall around them, whistling overhead or crashing about them. Boromir says there are fell voices on the air, and Gimli notes that Caradhras had a cruel reputation even before Sauron came to these lands. They gather close to the cliffside for shelter and rest a bit. ‘Shelter!’ muttered Sam. ‘If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof make a house.’
But
resting makes them even more sluggish. Gandalf gives them all a sip of miruvor,
the cordial of Imladris, and it revives their spirits, but the snow does not
relent. As it seems a choice between fire and death, Boromir suggests they
light some of the wood. When no other seems able to get one started in the
weather, Gandalf sticks his staff into a bundle of wood, speaks a word of
command, and sets it ablaze. ‘If there are any to see, then I at least am
revealed to them,’ he said. ‘I have written Gandalf is here in signs
that all can read from Rivendell to the Mouths of Anduin.’
The
fire keeps them alive through the night, and near dawn the snow grows less, and
finally stops. The morning light shows heavy clouds still up above them. They
decide they have to go back down, but even that is now difficult with the deep
snow behind them. As Gandalf cannot burn snow, Aragorn and Boromir must force a
path through. Legolas goes after them, running lightly over the drifts to scout
ahead.
The
party returns, and Boromir and Aragorn first carry Pippin and Merry down, then
return for Frodo and Sam, followed by Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli on Bill. Just
as Frodo is set down, there is a rumble as snow and stones come tumbling in an
avalanche after them. They are hit with the spray of it, and when it clears,
they see the path they have made behind them is buried.
‘Enough,
enough!’ cried Gimli. ‘We are departing as quickly as we may!’
The fallen
snow grows less and less until finally they reach the flat shelf where they
first felt the flakes falling. Here they rest. Aragorn points out the spying
birds are still flocking below them; Gandalf says it can’t be helped. They must
get off the mountain at once.
‘Caradhras
had defeated them.’
Bits
and Bobs
I
have to say that I love Tolkien’s dwarves and have ever since I read The
Hobbit. That’s why I had to have such a long quote of Gimli’s incantatory listing
of the mountain names; this is holy ground to him. I have to admit there’s a
strong strain of Dwarf ‘DNA’ in my own imaginary race of Morgs (>it’s the
beards<). Beyond that just about every dwarf in fantasy literature has owed
Tolkien a huge debt; before them we mostly had Grumpy and Doc.
Legolas
is a Silvan (Woodland) Elf; the Elves who built Eregion were Noldorin were ‘Deep
Elves’, given to cunning and craftsmanship. Their leader was Celebrimbor, who
made the Three Rings and was for a while deluded by Sauron. Legolas says he can
hear the stones still lamenting the fall of their masters. Are these actual
voices he can hear, or just a figure of speech? We are never told exactly, but
in this world we can believe either. The name Hollin, of course, refers
to the numerous and ancient holly trees throughout the land.
The crebain
are never revealed in the text exactly as such, but the general consensus is
that they are indeed ‘spies of Saruman’, as the Jackson movie states. While it
is also never made clear what the shadow that Frodo feels pass overhead is,
Christopher Tolkien has stated that it was his belief that it is a Winged Nazgul,
making a very precocious appearance before the new mounts of the Nine are
revealed. Also, so we are never told what the fell voices on the wind are,
whether the malice of Caradhras itself or strange spirits haunting the pass.
All this uncertainty adds to the growing anxiety of the journey.
Scholars will point out (based on remarks that Tolkien himself made) that much of his descriptions of journeying through the mountains (both here and in The Hobbit) are based on a trek he made through Switzerland in his younger days. Especially formative was the site of the Jungfrau (‘maiden’), and its satellites, the Monch (‘monk’), and the Eiger (‘ogre’). Another satellite peak, the Silberhorn, was the particular inspiration for Tolkien’s Celebdil (‘Silvertine’). There was even a Swiss chalet on the trip that helped inspire Rivendell.
Gandalf
performs his first on-stage and openly magical act in the book; his fireworks
could be seen as craft, and his white horses at the ford are produced from
afar. The words he uses to ignite the wood, ‘naur an edraith ammen!’ translates
from the Sindarin as ‘fire be for saving us!’ It has an effect, not only of
lighting the wood, but of revealing to ‘any with eyes to see’ a magical act,
far farther than the mere light can be seen.
