The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part Five and Last)

The Tale

‘Now Gandalf rode to the great pillar of the Hand, and passed it, and as he did so the Riders saw to their wonder that the Hand appeared no longer white. It was stained as with dried blood; and looking closer they perceived that its nails were red.’ Gandalf leads them further down the road, into the obscuring mists.

At last they reach the gates of Isengard, a little past noon. But to their surprise the iron gates are twisted and thrown down, the bowl of the valley filled with steaming and bubbling water, filled with floating wreckage. The power of Saruman has been cast down, apparently. But in the middle, unbroken, but wreathed in winding cloud, the dark spike of Orthanc still rears itself in the pale sunlight.

The king and his company marvel at the ruin and cannot imagine how it was accomplished. But then they see, sitting on a heap of rubble next to the gateway, two small, grey-clad figures ‘taking their ease’. They are surrounded by bottles and bowls and plates. One seems asleep and the other is sitting, blowing long wreathes and rings of smoke from its mouth. They are indeed, Merry and Pippin, found again at last.

As Théoden, Eomer, and their men gaze in wonder, Merry (the smoking hobbit) suddenly becomes aware of them and jumps to his feet, bowing low. Seeming to ignore his old friends of the Fellowship, he welcomes the King to Isengard, and introduces himself and Pippin as the doorwardens, giving him their formal names Meriadoc and Peregrin (and digging into Pippin with his foot to wake him up). Doubtless Saruman would be here to welcome them himself, but right now he’s closeted with one Wormtongue.

Gandalf laughs at all his formality and politeness and says surely Saruman didn’t give them this job. No, says Merry, it was Treebeard, ‘who has taken over the management of Isengard’ and asked him to greet the Lord of Rohan with fitting words.

Gimli cries out, and what about us, your friends? We’ve chased you two hundred leagues, through waste and war, to rescue you, and here we find you idling and feasting – and smoking! ‘Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst, it will be a marvel!’

Pippin opens an eye, and placidly answers that they find the hobbits sitting on a field of victory, enjoying a few well-earned rewards, a reply that elicits a burst of skepticism from the Dwarf. The Riders laugh at the exchange, and Théoden says they are clearly witnessing the reunion of dear old friends.

Théoden says the days are fated to be filled with marvels. He asks Gandalf if these are his companions the Halflings, that some among his folk call the Holbytla? Pippin tells him that they are Hobbits, if you please, and Théoden says the name is strangely changed from his tongue, but not unfitting. Pippin is amazed to learn that his folk know anything about Hobbits. Théoden says there are no stories, just a general legend. But he’s never heard that they can spout smoke.

Merry eagerly begins to tell him the history of pipes and pipeweed, but Gandalf cautions the King about the garrulity of Hobbits, who will sit on the edge of ruin and talk about the stories of their kinfolk to the ninth degree. He asks Merry where is Treebeard?

The hobbit tells him he’s gone to the North side to get a clean drink of water. And is Saruman thus left unguarded? Well, there is the water, and several other Ents are on watch. And has Treebeard left no message, Gandalf asks.

Merry was coming to that, but he was hindered by other questions. If Gandalf and Théoden will ride to the northern wall, they will find Treebeard and food of the best selected for them, ‘discovered and selected by your humble servants.’

Gandalf asks if Théoden will ride with him and meet Treebeard, for Treebeard is Fangorn, the oldest Ent and the ‘oldest of all living things.’

‘I will come with you,’ said Théoden. ‘Farewll, my hobbits! May we meet again in my house! There you shall sit beside me and tell me all that your hearts desire: the deeds of your grandsires as far as you can reckon them … Farewell!’

‘The hobbits bowed low. ‘So that is the King of Rohan!’ said Pippin in an undertone. ‘A fine old fellow. Very polite.’

Bits and Bobs

I’ve always wondered if Gandalf put the whammy on the White Hand, or if they only noticed the red as they passed it. I’ve never seen any place that accounted for it. Just a small detail, but I wonder.

Merry’s formality with the King and his idea of ‘fitting words’ strikes me as a strange combination of his memory of ceremonial speech (as in Rivendell or Lorien) and the Hobbit notion of dignity. Such an example is his phrase that Treebeard has ‘taken over the management of Isengard’, as if it were an inn that had simply switched owners. Merry’s father’s name Saradoc recalls the Celtic name Caradoc, and Pippin’s father’s name Paladin is the Frankish term for any of the Twelve Peers of Emperor Charlemagne, and has come to mean any especially chivalric knight (and also an entire class in D&D).

The words of Gimli that he might burst recalls the fate of other dwarves in lore and legend, some of whom burst at the touch of sunlight, or who, becoming outraged, pull themselves apart and sink into the earth (like Rumpelstiltskin).

The fact that Theoden’s people dwelt in the North long ago accounts for the similarity of between their speech and the speech of the Hobbits, and bears something of the resemblance between Anglo-Saxon and English. Indeed, it sparks the creation of one of Merry’s later books, Old Words and Names in the Shire. In real life Tolkien, having created the name Hobbit, felt he must come up with a possible ancestry for it, and found Anglo-Saxon hol-bytla (‘hole- builder’) to answer the need quite handily.

I also have to remark that the King’s first amazement at pipe-smoking recalls the effect of Hank Morgan’s smoking in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, a book Tolkien had read but was not entirely pleased with. Here it is another juxtaposition between the 'legendary' and the 'modern' mode, as is Pippin's down-to-earth comment to Theoden's ornate farewell.

The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part Four)

The Tale

Tolkien describes how Isengard was at the height of Saruman’s power. ‘Partly it was shaped in the making of the mountains, but mighty works the Men of Westernesse had wrought there of old; and Saruman had dwelt there long and had not been idle.’

A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, jutting out from the mountain and pierced with only one entrance, a long black tunnel hewn into the south side closed with doors of iron, encompasses a mile-wide, but shallow bowl of land. It used to be filled with trees but now there are long lines of pillars, joined by heavy chains. In the wall are hewn many chambers, halls, and passages, and the plain itself is delved with shafts to chambers underneath, treasuries, storehouses, smithies, and furnaces. The shafts are covered with mounds and domes of stone. Inside Isengard are housed workers, slaves, warriors, servants, and even wolves cared for in great stables underground. At night, colored vapors rose from these subterranean rooms.

In the center, where all the chained roads lead, rises the great tower of Orthanc, an isle of rock rearing five hundred feet above the plain.  It is black and gleaming, like four pinnacles of pointed stone, melded into one. Between the spires is a stone platform, ‘written with strange signs’ where wise men could watch the stars. This is Orthanc, whose name in Elvish means Mount Fang, but in the language of Rohan, the Cunning Mind. In the days when Saruman forsook his wisdom for ambition, the wizard imagined it was a rival to even Barad-dur, Sauron’s Dark Tower, though in comparison it was only ‘a little copy, a child’s model, or a slave’s flattery’.

‘This was the stronghold of Saruman, as fame reported it; for within living memory the men of Rohan had not passed its gates, save perhaps a few, such as Wormtongue, who came in secret and told no man what they saw.’

Bits and Bobs

Tolkien made at least five different sketches of Orthanc before he was satisfied with the final concept. He also changed the Elvish meaning of the word ’Orthanc’ several times before he arrived at ‘Mount Fang’. ‘Orthanc’ is of course an Anglo-Saxon word translating as roughly ‘cunning device or work’, or, as Tolkien expands it, ‘machine’.

In this passage we get an interesting insight into the relationship of Saruman and Sauron: into Saruman’s deluded pride into thinking himself a rival to the Dark Lord, and Sauron’s contempt of the wizard thinking he might equal his might.

In the Hildebrandt painting, their interpretation of the covered shafts reminds me of the 'Morlock holes' in George Pal's The Time Machine.

The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part Three)

 

The Tale

The company grows melancholy as they draw near the Fords of Isen, the recent scene of another battle. Carrion birds are flocking and there is the howling of wolves. Their hearts grow heavy at the thought of the men who fell there and how they have probably been fed on. But when they reach the actual Fords, they are greatly surprised. The river Isen has been reduced to a mere trickle. And on a small island in the middle of where its waters used to flow, a burial mound has been raised, ringed with spears.

Gandalf explains that not as many men fell at the Fords as they thought. He gathered their scattered numbers and set some to burying the fallen, some with Erkenbrand to Helm’s Deep, and some back to Edoras to guard the Meduseld against any stray raid. It is with the slain Orcs that the Wolves and carrion birds are holding their feast. The men are safely buried.

‘Here let them rest!’ said Eomer. ‘And when their spears have rotted and rusted, long still may their mound stand and guard the Fords of Isen!’

They ride on until midnight, then stop to camp. They are at the feet of the Misty Mountains, and Nan Curunir, the Wizard’s Vale, lies below them. It is dark, but they can see ‘a vast spire of smoke and vapor’ rising out of the valley and into the starry sky. Aragorn says it looks like the whole land is burning; Eomer wonders if Saruman is brewing up some wizardry to meet them, using the vanished waters of the Isen. Whatever it is, says Gandalf, they shall find out the next day.

They settle down to sleep, but they are awakened by the cries of the sentries late in the night. A darkness blacker than the night is creeping past them on either side of the empty riverbed, heading north. Gandalf warns the company to draw no weapon, and to wait. It – whatever it is – will pass them by. But it seems a long and anxious time, but at last the strange shadow goes by, vanishing between the mountain’s arms.

Away south on the Hornburg a great sound is heard and the ground trembles. None dare look out, but in the morning they find the forest of strange trees gone, and the bodies of the slain Orcs vanished. But a mile below the Dike there is a newly dug pit heaped with stones. Whether it contains only the Orcs the men have killed or also those that vanished under the trees, none can tell. In after days it is called the Death Down; no grass grows on it and no human sets foot there. ‘But the strange trees were never seen in Deeping Coomb again; they had returned at night, and had gone far away to the dark dales of Fangorn. Thus they were revenged upon the Orcs.’

Back at the camp, Theoden and the company sleep no more that night. A strange thing happens, though. The water suddenly comes rushing back down the riverbed until the Isen flows along as it ever did.

At dawn they get ready to go. The light is grey and pale, the sun hidden by a fog and reek laying upon the land around them. But they ride now along the highway, which is broad and well-tended. They pass into Nan Curunir, the Wizard’s Vale, which was once a green and pleasant land. It is so no more. Although beneath the walls of Isengard there are still acres tilled by the slaves of Saruman, most of the valley has become a wilderness of weeds and thorns, filled with burned and axe-hewn stumps. Smokes and steams lurk and drift through hollows.

After some miles the highway turns into a wide street, closely paved with flat stones, with trickling gutters on either side. ‘Suddenly a tall pillar loomed up before them. It was black; and set upon it was a great stone, carved and painted in the likeness of a long White Hand. Its finger pointed north.’ Isengard must not be far ahead, but they can see nothing through the mist.

Bits and Bobs

Not a whole lot to say here, except that Saruman seems to be a big fan of branding as an indicator of his dominance. I remember another Dark Power who had several White Hands scattered around her fortress as well.

The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part Two)

 

The Tale

As the company finally passes the eaves of the strange woods, Legolas turns to look back in regret. He suddenly cries out and would ride back, despite Gimli’s protests. The Elf has seen strange eyes in the shadow of the boughs. Gandalf bids him stop; now is not his time.

Even as he speaks three tall, strange figures come striding out of the woods. ‘As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height; their strong bodies, stout as young trees, seemed to be clad with raiment or with hide of close-fitting grey or brown. Their limbs were long, and their hands had many fingers; their hair was stiff, and their beards grey-green as moss.’

They are not looking at the riders. They look northward and putting their hands to their lips let out a long, horn-like call, that is answered with another call and more of the strange creatures approaching from the north. Uneasy, some of the riders set their hands on their swords, but Gandalf tells them that there is no danger; these are no enemies, but herdsmen, and are not concerned with them at all.

The figures vanish back into the trees, and Theoden asks in wonder what were they. Gandalf answers ‘There are children in your land, who, out of the twisted threads of story, could pick the answer to your question.’ They are Ents, the Ents that the Entwood and Entwash are named after in his own tongue. To them, all the years from his ancient ancestor Eorl to today are a passing hour.

The king is silent a while, then says he is beginning to understand ‘the marvel of the trees.’ His people have long busied themselves with ‘the life of Men’, paying little attention to old legends or the farther world. And the stories are fading.

Gandalf says he should be glad: he has unknown allies, even if he thought they were only tales. Theoden replies maybe, but in the coming war, who knows what strange and marvelous things could pass away, and him just only finding out about them.

‘It may,’ said Gandalf. ‘The evil of Sauron cannot be wholly cured, nor made as if it had not been. But to such days are we doomed. Let us now go on with the journey we have begun!’

Bits and Bobs

And so, we are given a refresher course on what Ents are like; in some ways a clearer, more concise description, how they appear from the outside, as it were.

We are also given some insight into the world of philology, Tolkien’s field of learning. In old names and preserved in the twisted threads of story, ancient truths and facts about the past can be divined with care and study. These details, ignored or taken for granted, preserve the bones of forgotten history.

Gandalf packs a lot of philosophy into those last statements. Evil cannot be cured or ignored; the past Good cannot return, though it may be healed in unforeseen ways. For example, Adam’s Fall cannot be undone as if had never happened; that chance is past. But it can be redeemed and go a different, even more glorious way. In the meantime, we have to ‘go on with the journey we have begun.’  

The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part Two)

 

The Tale

They ride along, but Legolas keeps looking from side to side, and would stop to listen to the trees if Gimli would let him. They are the strangest trees the elf has ever seen; he is sure that in time he could understand their voices. Gimli thinks that he knows what they want, to crush and strangle all that goes on two legs. Legolas guesses not. It is Orcs they hate and know little of Elves or Men. He guesses that they are from the deep dales of Fangorn Forest.

Gimli replies that they may be wonderful to the elf, but he has seen a greater wonder. Men are strange! The caves of Helm’s Deep, the ‘holes’ they fly to in the time of war and which he has just visited, are one of the marvels of the Northern World!  He waxes poetic about their beauty, until it moves even Legolas. He tells the dwarf he hopes he may see it again in time, but to tell none of his kinfolk, lest they destroy the place with mining. But Gimli answers that he does not understand the hearts of Dwarves, who would carefully ‘tend these glades of flowering stone.’

The two make a bargain. If, when all else is done, Gimli will come with him to Fangorn, Legolas will go with him to see the Glittering Caves. But for now, they must leave both. As they come to the end of the trees, Legolas asks Gandalf how far it is to Isengard.

About fifteen leagues (45 miles), the wizard replies. But they shall rest during the night. Gimli asks what they will find when they get there. Gandalf was there yesterday at nightfall, ‘but much may have happened since.’ But they might see something worth seeing there, even if they have to leave the Glittering Caves of Aglarond.

Bits and Bobs

The name ‘Aglarond’ was snitched by a third-rate fantasy franchise, ‘Forgotten Realms’, and by an obscure Gothic/Doom Metal band from Mexico. It is said that Tolkien based it on Cheddar Cave in the UK.

The Lord of the Rings: The Road to Isengard (Part One)

 

The Tale

Theoden and Gandalf meet again on the green grass along the Deeping stream. Aragorn, Legolas, Erkenbrand, and the lords of the Golden House are with them. Suddenly there is a shout, and out of the caves come streaming the warriors from inside, including Eomer, Gamling, and Gimli, whose head is bound with a bloody linen band.

‘Forty-two Master Legolas!’ he cried. ‘Alas! My axe is notched: the forty-second had an iron collar on his neck. How is it with you?’

‘You have passed my score by one,’ answered Legolas. ‘But I do not grudge you the game, so glad am I to see you on your legs!’

Theoden greets Eomer happily, and Eomer hails Gandalf, saying that he is mighty in wizardry, looking at the strange forest that has sprung up in the valley and that has swallowed the fleeing Orcs. Gandalf says that maybe he is, but he’s done nothing to show it yet. The victory is owed far more to the valor of the men who fought there and who marched through the night.

Those there look doubtfully at the trees as if perhaps they are seeing things, but Gandalf assures them that they are indeed there, just not of his doing. It is a better thing, beyond the counsel of the wise. Theoden asks if there is yet a mightier sage behind it.

‘It is not wizardry, but a power far older … a power that walked the earth, ere elf sang or hammer rang … ere ring was made, or wrought was woe, It walked the forests long ago.’ If Theoden wants to know the answer to this riddle, he needs to ride with Gandalf to Isengard.

Isengard? Theoden says that if all the warriors in Rohan were gathered together and healed of wounds and weariness, they couldn’t take that fortress.  But he will doubt Gandalf no longer and go with him. Gandalf says they are not going for battle, but a parley. They will just need a small party. Meanwhile everyone should rest. They’ll leave in the shadow of evening.

Theoden sends messengers to all the land, proclaiming their victory and sending a summons to all men, young and old, to gather at Edoras in three days. He chooses Eomer and twenty Riders to go with him to Isengard. Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli will go with them. Even though wounded, the dwarf will ride. Aragorn tends his hurt.

While the king rests, those who are unwounded work to clear the battlefield. No Orcs remain alive, but their corpses lie innumerable. There are many wild men who have surrendered, and the Rohirrim set them to work to clean up the destruction. Then they will take an oath not to cross the Isen or attack Rohan. After that they can return home. The Dunlendings are amazed; Saruman had told them that Rohan burned their captives alive.

Two mounds are raised before the Hornburg, one with the fallen men of the East Dales, and the other with the men of the Westfold. ‘In a grave alone under the shadow of the Hornburg lay Hama, captain of the King’s guard. He fell before the Gate.’ Theoden throws the first earth on his grave. The Men of Dunland are set apart in their own mound by the Dike.

The Orcs are piled in great heaps, far from the graves of men, but close to the mysterious forest. None dare touch the wood to burn the foes in a pyre, but Gandalf advises that they let them lie. The morning may bring new counsel.

In the evening the King’s company prepares to depart. Men, women, and children gather behind them sing a song of victory, then fall silent for fear of the strange trees. The Riders enter the woods, though the horses are reluctant to pass within. Gandalf leads them through an arch opening into the trees.

A grey shadow lies like a mist about the forest, which is full of gnarled roots and sweeping moss. But the road they take is open to the sun and runs by the Deeping Stream. But under the darkling trees on either side comes ‘the creaking and groaning of boughs, and far cries, and a rumor of wordless voices, murmuring angrily.’  There is no sign of any Orc, living or dead.

Legolas and Gimli are riding together, and sticking close to Gandalf, because Gimli is afraid of the wood. Legolas feels a great wrath around them. He wonders what has happened to the Orcs.

‘That, I think, no one will ever know,’ said Gandalf.

Bits and Bobs

Just a short reminder that it was Hama that let Gandalf in with his staff and restored Eomer’s sword unasked when he let him out of prison. Theoden jested with him grimly about his disobedience but knew that he owed his renewal to his guard’s decisions. The King will refer to his fall in battle as one of Saruman’s more grievous crimes.