The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 12 and Last)

The Tale

‘Ever since the middle of the night the great assault had gone on. The drums roll.’ Company after company crowd the walls on all sides. Mumakil of the Hard pull assault towers and siege engines through the flames. The Witch King, their Captain, doesn’t care or direct what they do; their purpose is only to test the defenses and keep the defenders busy in many places. He is concentrating on the Gate. Strong as it is, made of steel and guarded with towers of stone, still it is the key, the weakest part in the walls of Gondor.

To that end they bring up Grond, a great battering ram a hundred feet in length, with a head forged in black steel in the shape of a voracious wolf, surrounded by great engines, swinging in chains, drawn by great beasts, with mountain trolls to wield it. It has been wound with ‘spells of ruin’. ‘Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old.’

But at the Gate the resisitance is strong, strengthened with the knights of Dol Amroth and the best of the garrison, and the wreck and slaughter of the invading forces choke either side of the Gate. But driven by madness more and more come up. Grond crawls irresistibly forward, unfazed by fire or the ruin of the orc troops caused by its maddened beasts.

The Witch King finally comes riding over the hills of the slain, ‘a horseman, tall hooded, cloaked in black.’ He comes forward, ignoring every arrow or dart. He stops and lifts a long pale sword. A fearful silence falls on defenders and foes alike, and for a moment all is still.  Then Grond reaches the Gate in a sudden rush and is swung, hurled forward by huge hands. The stroke lands, rumbling like thunder through the City. But the Gate holds.

‘Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone.’

Three times he cries, and three times Grond booms against the Gate. And on the third the Gate of Gondor bursts asunder in a flash of searing lightning and the doors lie in fragments on the ground. And the Lord of the Nazgul rides in through the archway that no enemy had ever passed.

All flee before him except one. There, silent and as immoveable as a statue, is Gandalf, upon Shadowfax, who ‘alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror.’ The wizard alone denies him entrance, sternly bidding him back to the abyss prepared for him, to ‘fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master! Go!’

The Black Rider throws back his hood and reveals that he is wearing a kingly crown. But it is on no visible head; you can see the fires behind him, flickering between his crown and shoulders. From his invisible mouth comes deadly laughter.

‘Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!’ He raises his sword high and flames run down the blade. Gandalf does not flinch.

 ‘And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

‘And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.’

NOTES

Wow. Only two pages, but they are so packed. I think even my ‘summation’ might be longer than the original material, and of course nowhere as skillfully managed for dramatic effect. It is a moment that, even years later, could still set Tolkien’s spirit thrilling.  You can feel its power even in the animated Rankin/Bass 1980 The Return of the King, and faint vibes in the Peter Jackson botched version of the scene.

Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, was later revealed in The Silmarillion to be the personal weapon of Morgoth, the original Dark Lord, with which he most famously fought and slew the Elf-lord Fingolfin.

The ‘spells of ruin’ and ‘forgotten words of power and terror’ add to the supernatural dread of the approach of Grond, whose assault is more than merely a great engine of destruction, forged of steel and swung by mountain trolls. It is there to ‘rend both heart and stone.’

Could Gandalf have defeated the Lord of the Nazgul at this moment? The Nazgul seems to think so. It was not, as it were, in Gandalf’s mission statement to oppose power with power, only to aid the peoples of Middle-earth when their own efforts were not sufficient. The Wraith Lord’s power was greatly enhanced by Sauron’s waxing power; he was no longer the creature that could be balked at Weathertop or the Ford of Bruinen. Gandalf had died fighting the Balrog; could he die again? As it is, he halts the Nazgul long enough for things to be taken care of by more human resources.

The cock crow has long been held to be of supernatural significance. It heralds the dawn, and at its sound all ghosts and the Undead must flee. The Witch-King flees, but it is more the coincidence (?) of the arrival of Rohan than any supernatural power inherent in the rooster. But the cock crow asserts the natural order of things in defiance of the terrors of the shadows.

There has long been a metaphysical argument that evil is nothing, a diminution of the good until it fades away into non-being. The Lord of the Nazgul’s ‘invisible sinews’ and unseen head argue, as C. S. Lewis puts it, that ‘Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why.’ It is the final abyss that awaits the end of evil, like a sucking black hole that, when entered fully into, cannot be escaped.

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 11)

The Tale

‘Pippin left him and called for the servants[.]’ Six men come, trembling at the summons. Denethor has them lay warm covers over Faramir and bids them take up his bed. They proceed slowly out of the chamber, followed by Denethor, ‘bending on a staff’, and last of all Pippin.

They leave the White Tower like a funeral procession, the overhanging clouds flickering red with the fires below. They pause for a moment by the withered White Tree, the fountain’s dripping water from its dead branches dropping like tears into the pool below. They pass out of the Citadel gate, and those they see them pass look on in wonder and dismay.

Going westward they come to a door in a wall towards the rear of the sixth circle. This gate is called Fen Hollen [Fen=Door, Hollen=Closed], and was only opened at times of funeral. This takes a winding road to the ‘mansions of the dead Kings and of their Stewards.’ Denethor bids the porter open the gate and they take the lantern from his hand. They pass down to Rath Dinen, the Silent Street, past pale domes and empty halls and statues of men long dead, until they come to the House of the Stewards. They enter in and lay down their burden.

In the little light of the lantern Pippin sees they are in a huge, shadowy vaulted room, filled with tables on which lay silent forms with folded arms. There is one table nearby, ‘broad and bare.’ Denethor has them put Faramir there and lies there with him. He commands the bowed servants to bring wood and oil. They will not be embalmed but burned at his command. Speak to him no more.

Pippin takes his leave of Denethor and flees from that deadly place in terror. His only thought is of Faramir, about to be burned alive, and of Gandalf, who might be able to save him. In passing the servants he asks them to go slow and set no fire until Gandalf can get there.

‘Who is the master of Minas Tirith?’ the man answered. ‘The Lord Denethor or the Grey Wanderer?’

‘The Grey Wanderer or no one, it would seem.’ Pippin speeds on out from the tombs and out into the Citadel again. At the gate he is hailed by Beregond, who has heard that Denethor and Faramir have passed through the Closed Door. Pippin confirms this and Beregond despairs that Faramir is dead, then.

But Pippin affirms he is not dead yet, and even might yet be saved, if he can find Gandalf. He has Denthor’s leave but calls the Steward ‘fey and dangerous.’ Beregond directs him down to the battle, and Pippin asks him to go back and do something to stop ‘any dreadful thing happening.’ Beregond replies that he cannot leave his post save at Denethor’s command. ‘Well, you must choose between orders and the life of Faramir.’ Denethor’s loony, I tell you. [Well, he doesn’t use these exact words, but he says this in the Rankin/Bass adaptation, and I thought it one of their more grievous choices of dialogue.] He must go, but the hobbit will return if he can.

Pippin runs down to the Second Gate, past fleeing men who, seeing his livery, urge him to turn back. At the Second Gate he sees great fires flickering over the wall, but all is strangely silent.

‘Suddenly there was a dreadful cry and a great shock and a deep echoing. Forcing himself on against a gust of fear and horror that shook him almost to his knees, Pippin turned a corner opening on the wide place behind the City Gate. He stopped dead. He had found Gandalf; but he shrank back, cowering into a shadow.’

Bits and Bobs

Denethor’s walking ‘bending on a staff’, where before he stood tall and tough, shows his spirit is broken and age fallen upon him.

Rath Dinen features some buildings with balusters, which means ‘pear shaped columns.’

The shadowy forms on the tables in the House of the Stewards seem to be the embalmed bodies of past Stewards. The book has already mentioned that Gondor had long developed such skills in an effort to cheat death, if only in form. But Denethor says no long embalmed sleep for him and Faramir. It may be noted that fire is not only quicker, but it will also keep the conquerors of the City from desecrating their bodies.

Beregond is once more faced with the dilemma: follow orders to the letter, or do the right thing? You may remember Hama, Theoden’s doorward, was faced with the same kind of choice when debating whether to let Gandalf bring his staff into Edoras. Although Pippin has Denethor’s leave, people seeing him racing down to the gate know that guards in his uniform are not supposed to leave the Tower and try to stop him, if not too effectively.

There are only three more pages of this chapter to go; I seem to have lingered over it for months now. But those three are very dramatic and important, well-illustrated many times. Not so this interlude among the tombs.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 9)

The Tale

The City is now besieged, ringed with foes. The sheltering Rammas wall is broken and all the Pelennor fields abandoned and left to the enemy. Men come running along the northward road before the Gate is finally shut. They are led by Ingold, who let Gandalf and Pippin in only five days ago, ‘while the sun still rose and there was hope in the morning.’

He brings no news of the Rohirrim; even if they do come, it won’t help, he thinks. The host coming their way is very strong. Battalions of Orcs of the Eye, and companies of a sort of men they’ve never seen before. Broad, bearded like dwarves, and wielding great axes. The northward road (from which Rohan is most likely to come) is held by these forces. ‘The Rohirrim cannot come.’

The Gate is shut against the siege. All night the enemy burn field and tree, and kill any man they find, chopping up even the dead. They can’t tell how many of them have passed over the river, but come morning, such as it is, the plain is dark with their marching companies and great camps of black and red tents have sprouted up ‘like a foul fungus.’

And Sauron’s forces are digging great trenches, behind which they set up great engines to cast missiles. There are no such devices on the walls of Minas Tirith strong enough to throw anything far enough to stop their construction. But the defenders of the City are not overly concerned. The walls are high, and ‘built ere the power and craft of Numenor waned in exile, and its outward face was like to the Tower of Orthanc, hard and dark and smooth.’

But the engines are not there to break the wall, but to sow confusion and fear among the defenders. Some volleys are aimed over the wall and burst into flame, bringing peril and drawing away forces from defending the walls. There is a lesser cast from the great catapults, but more terrible, bringing great woe. ‘For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen fighting’, faces contorted in pain when they can be recognized and not merely crushed and shapeless, but all branded with the Lidless Eye. Some see people they knew when alive.

The pitiless foe heed not the Gondor men’s curses, clamoring in ‘harsh voices like beast or carrion-birds.’ But worse than that are the calls of the flying Nazgul, circling like vultures, who ride above beyond sight or bowshot, filling all who hear them with dread and despair, freezing their will. And the effect just gets worse with every scream; there is no getting used to it.

‘At length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought no more of war, but only of hiding and of crawling, and of death.’

Notes

The exact name of this group of previously unknown men fighting for Sauron is not clear; perhaps they are the ‘Easterlings with axes’ mentioned later. Their description makes them sound very Dwarf-like, and there has been some speculation (unfounded from anything Tolkien wrote) that they were ‘half-dwarves’ or at least taught or influenced by Dwarves some time in their history. Perhaps it was only ‘parallel evolution’.

I remember describing the ‘head-flinging’ incident to my Uncle Bazzell, trying to match his gruesome details from Scottish border history.

The efforts of the Witch King were not the tactics of ‘some brigand or Orc-chieftain’ but calculated psychological warfare to soften his enemies up and impress upon them the futility of their position. The effect of the Nazgul cries were more effective than any swooping down on siege engines or casting soldiers from the walls, as featured in the Jackson movies.

I’m slowly grinding my way through the chapter, laying siege, as it were, to The Siege of Gondor, hoping to finally conquer it by slow attrition.

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part Six)

The Tale

‘The next day came with a morning like a brown dusk, and the hearts of men, lifted for a while by the return of Faramir, sank low again.’ The Nazgul are not seen, but their cries are heard from far above, making many quail with dread. And Faramir has had to leave again. Men mutter that Denethor drives him too hard, doing the job of two now that Boromir is dead. They wonder when Rohan will come to their aid.

Denethor sent Faramir forth despite his council. They wanted to stay in the city and protect the walls. But Denethor deemed that they should not abandon the Rammas Echor, the outer fence, that they have worked so hard on. He thinks the enemy will have to strike by crossing through Osgiliath, where Boromir stopped them before.

Faramir points out that was only a trial of Sauron’s strength, and this assault will be worse and with more troops. ‘He can afford to lose a host better than we to lose a company.’ To send men out so far afield would be perilous. The Prince of Dol Amroth points out that Cair Andros must be defended as well, and that more than one host may be sent out to assail both places.

Denethor retorts that Cair Andros is already manned, and more forces can not be sent so far. As long as he has a Captain who will obey him, he will not yield the river and the Pelennor Fields without fighting. There is a silence, then Faramir says that since his father doesn’t have Boromir any more, he will go if Denethor commands him, against everyone else’s counsel. Denethor shortly says he does. Faramir bids him farewell. ‘But if I should return, think better of me.’

‘That depends on the manner of your return,’ said Denethor,’ In short, you’d better come back victorious.

Gandalf is the last one to talk to Faramir before he rides out, counseling him not to throw his life away rashly or in bitterness. Gondor will need him, and despite his actions Denethor really does love him. The old man will remember that before the end.

So Faramir has left with some men, into the gloom where the ruined city of Osgiliath cannot be seen. Men look towards the east, and to the north, wondering if Theoden and Rohan will come. Gandalf assures people he will come; right now it’s too soon; the summons could only have reached him two days ago. He will come, even if he comes too late.

At night news comes of Osgiliath. A host has come out of Minas Morgul and been joined by a regimen of Haradrim from the South. The Lord of the Nazgul is leading them again, and the terror of his coming is passing even across the river.

‘With these ill-boding words the third day closed since Pippin came to Minas Tirith. Few went to rest, for small hope had any now that even Faramir could hold the fords for now.’

Notes

The Rammas Echor, one may remember, was the great wall (30 miles or more) that surrounded the city of Minas Tirith and the Pelennor Fields, its farmlands and pastures. They were still repairing it when Gandalf and Pippen were heading for the City. Denethor’s stubbornness in defending this straggling line might emphasize his pride that will amount to despair in time.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 5)

The Tale

They all leave Denethor and go to rest. It is a starless, dark night, and Pippin bears a small torch as he and Gandalf go to their rooms. Behind closed doors Pippin finally speaks, taking Gandalf’s hand, and asks if there is any hope for Frodo. Gandalf puts his hand on Pippin’s head.

‘There never was much hope,’ he answered. ‘Just a fool’s hope, as I have been told.’

When the wizard heard Frodo and Sam were headed to Cirith Ungol, the Spider’s Pass, he almost despaired. But there seems to be some hope in Faramir’s news. Sauron has made his move while Frodo was still free, and the Enemy’s attention will be abroad, far from his own borders, watching the deployment of his troops and the West’s responses. Gandalf senses his haste and fear. Something has spurred Sauron to move before he is completely ready.

Gandalf ponders things a moment. Perhaps Pippin’s foolishness with the Palantir has helped, making Sauron fear they have the Ring along with a Hobbit. Maybe Aragorn himself has dared to look into the Stone and revealed himself to the Dark Lord, drawing his attention away from Frodo and his quest. If Sauron thinks Aragorn has the Ring, he could be making a hasty move.  

At any rate, they won’t know anything until the Riders of Rohan get to the City. Right now, they need to rest. But Pippin has one more question. Gandalf will only allow one more but before they sleep.

Pippin wonders how Frodo and Sam could be traveling with Gollum, even being guided by the foul creature? And the hobbit could see how fearful Faramir, and even Gandalf, was about the place he was leading them. What about that?

‘I cannot answer that now,’ said Gandalf. ‘Yet my heart guessed that Frodo and Gollum would meet before the end. For good, or for evil. But of Cirith Ungol I will not speak tonight. Treachery, treachery I fear, treachery of that miserable creature. But so it must be. Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes. Good night!’

Notes

Well, I’m back to Tolkien Tuesday and LOTR, for the first time since March 18, if only for a page or so. But I’ve got to start up somehow, and every little bit nudges me closer to completion.

Gandalf is making a pretty good guess at what has happened, though he sees nothing clearly. He works by insight and understanding of the characters of those he’s thinking about, both Sauron and Aragorn, and even Gollum.

His saying ‘A traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend’ is a theme that runs strong in LOTR and is put many different ways. ‘Oft evil will shall evil mar’; ‘oft does hatred hurt itself’. And it plays itself out: Saruman sending his orcs to capture hobbits takes them to Fangorn and leads to the downfall of his fortress Isengard. Even Eru, the creator, tells Morgoth at the beginning of the world: “And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”

As the Bible might put it, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him”, and by all things it means even ill things, which God can turn to greater good. Evil does not have the last word.

I remember a poem I read in high school; I can’t quite track it down right now. In the poem, the narrator is visiting the Courts of Heaven. He sees a strange, deformed jester capering around the Throne, trying to hit God with his bauble, but every blow just rebounds on the creature, hurting himself terribly. The narrator asks a nearby angel what it is. “That is Hate, God’s fool. Beware him!”

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 4)

The Tale

Faramir, Gandalf, and Pippin come to the private chamber of Denethor, where Faramir gives his father his report. Wine is brought, and Faramir takes a short meal of bread to help revive himself. Pippin listens enthralled and Gandalf looks almost asleep as he recounts the doings of the border maneuvers, the movements of the Enemy and the slaying of the great war-beast, the mumak. But then he comes to other matters. This is not the first halfling he has seen.

That makes Gandalf sit up, and with a look stop Pippin’s immanent exclamation. But Denethor observes their reaction and nods his head, as if in confirmation of something he already knew. Faramir tells his tale of his encounter with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, looking at Gandalf mostly but sometimes at Pippin as if to refresh his memory about hobbits.

Gandalf looks very old and troubled as the tale unfolds, and when he hears they meant to go to Cirith Ungol, he actually springs up and asks Faramir how long was this? Two mornings ago, and they might not even have reached Morgul Vale yet, let alone Cirith Ungol. This darkness spreading over the sky is not a reaction to their presence; it had started too early. Faramir has come with three other messengers and sent the rest of his men to strengthen the force at Osgiliath. He turns to Denethor, and asks if he has done well?

Denethor’s eyes flash in anger. Why ask his judgement? He has noticed his eyes fixed on Mithrandir, ‘seeing whether you said well or too much? He has long had your heart in his keeping.’ Denethor may be old, but he’s not senile yet. He knows the answers to many riddles, and secrets that Faramir has not seen fit to tell him yet.

Faramir answers quietly that he wished he had known what his father and lord wished him to do. As it was, he had to judge the situation as best as he could.

And if he had known, he’d have done just the same thing, Denethor snaps back. Faramir always did want to appear lordly. But this judgement could lead to not only to his death but also the death of his father and his people, who it is his duty to protect, now that Boromir is gone. Would Denethor have wished their places exchanged?

‘Yes, I wish that indeed,’ said Denethor. ‘For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift.’

Faramir reminds him that it was his decision in the first place that sent Boromir instead of himself to Rivendell. The Steward’s counsel prevailed then and look what that led to.

Denethor replies that this is indeed a bitter drink, and it gets worse as he comes to the end of it. If only ‘this thing’ had come to him, as surely Boromir would have brought it to him if he’d found Frodo in Ithilien!

Gandalf contradicts the old steward. Boromir died and died well; may he rest in peace. But Denethor is wrong if he thinks he would have brought him the Ring (which hasn’t been mentioned by name, but they know what they’re talking about). He would have taken it and so have fallen, and what would have returned to Denethor would not have been his son.

Denethor’s reply is hard and cold. Boromir was never as fitting for the wizard’s uses, was he? But he, his father, says he would have brought it to him. Gandalf may be wise and subtle, but not all wisdom is his alone. Gandalf asks what he would have done, then.

Denethor perceives two follies. To use it would be perilous; but to send it into Mordor in the hands of a witless halfling is sheer madness. That is a fool’s hope. It should have been brought to Gondor and been hidden somewhere dark and deep, out of the Enemy’s grasp, perhaps to be used as a last ditch effort if everything else failed. If Gandalf does not trust him with this test, he does not know him yet.

No. Gandalf replies, he does not trust him with this temptation. If he did, he could have spared himself and others much worry and toil. But the wizard does not even trust himself with the thing, and now hearing the steward speak, he trusts him even less. ‘Were it buried beneath the roots of Mindolluin, still it would burn your mind away, as the darkness grows, and the yet worse things follow that shall come upon us.’

For a moment the wills of the steward and the wizard are straining with each other, ‘glances … like blades from eye to eye, flickering as they fenced.’ Pippin watches, fearing some dreadful blow. Then Denethor relaxes and shrugs.

‘If I had! If you had!’ he said. ‘Such words and ifs are vain.’ All they can do now is work together against Sauron and wait to see what the outcome will be, and hope. It won’t be long. And when hope is gone, they can at least die free.

He turns to Faramir. What does he think of the garrison at Osgiliath? Faramir replies that it is not strong, though he has sent his company to strengthen it. Denethor replies they will need some stout captain to lead them. Faramir sighs.

He wishes they still had Boromir, ‘whom I too loved!’ He sways and leans on his father’s chair, asking for his leave to depart. Denethor concedes, having heard that he’s traveled far, and under shadows of evil in the air. He should go and rest while he can. ‘Tomorrow’s needs will be sterner.’

Bits and Bobs

For the first time since the parting at Rauros do members of the Fellowship hear some news of Frodo, but when Gandalf hears that they meant to try the pass of Cirith Ungol, the news seems perilous. The old wizard knows more about that way than he’s telling.

But Sauron’s sudden movements cannot have been because he has Frodo and the Ring; the timing is off. Yet he is striking before he is fully prepared it seems.

Denethor seems to know a lot more about the Ring and the Quest to Mt. Doom than he should. But then he is neither blind nor senile, has pondered long the dream-prophecy, and can put two and two together. His wisdom is great, but it is focused on Gondor’s welfare and less on the whole world. And he underestimates the Ring. But Gandalf has a larger concern; other men, and other lives, and the future. And he pities even Sauron’s slaves.

Denethor seems rather jealous of Faramir’s relationship with Gandalf. But Boromir was no ‘wizard’s pupil’; his loyalty lay entirely with his father, or so it seems to Denethor. Especially now that Faramir, trying to be lordly and subtle, has let the Ring go.

I suppose we can assume that somewhere along the line Aragorn told Gandalf everything about the temptation and death of Boromir, though I can’t remember when such a debriefing took place.

In the contest of wills, it is Denethor who backs down. I do not think he would have fared well against the Ring. Though Faramir has done well under the threat of the Nazgul he doesn’t want to think about it. The memory is evil.

“Mithrandir” is the Sindarin Elvish for ‘Grey-Wanderer or Pilgrim’ and is the name Gandalf is known by in Gondor. Mindolluin (‘towering-blue-head’) is the mountain that Minas Tirith is built by.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 3)

The Tale

Pippin and Beregond are suddenly frozen with fear as a shuddering cry rends the air. Pippin recognizes it; he heard it long ago in the Shire when they were fleeing to Bree, but ‘it was grown in power and hatred, piercing the heart with a poisonous despair.’ For a moment they can neither move nor speak.

With an effort, Beregond, who had been staring out when paralyzed, speaks to Pippin, calling him to look below. In the dim air are five wheeling shadows, ‘five birdlike forms, horrible as carrion-fowl yet greater than eagles.’ They come to within bowshot of the wall, then wheel away, concentrating on something moving along the ground.

Pippin mutters that the ‘Black Riders in the air’ are chasing a small group of four or five horsemen. The peril and the hideous shrieking are more than he can handle, and the little hobbit cries out for Gandalf to help against this horror.

There is another horrific screech that is answered by the call of a rising horn from below. Beregond recognizes it as Lord Faramir’s call. At first it seems Faramir will hold his men together and reach the Gates, but the horses go mad with terror and the men are thrown. All except Faramir: ‘he can master both beasts and men.’ He rides back to help his unsaddled men. But one of the foul ‘hell-hawks’ comes stooping at him personally. Beregond springs away and hurries down to help his beloved captain.

Ashamed of himself, Pippin masters his terror enough to get up  and look out over the wall more closely, just in time to see ‘a flash of white and silver coming from the North, like a small star down on the dusky fields.’ It is Gandalf on Shadowfax, and the shadows seem to give way before him, and Pippin hears like an echo his great voice calling.

Pippin cries out the name of the wizard who ‘always turns up when things are darkest’, urging him on like a spectator at a great race that is almost lost.

But the Nazgul are now aware of the White Rider, and one wheels toward him. But Gandalf raises his hand ‘and a shaft of white light stabbed upward.’  The Nazgul gives a wailing cry, then all five wheel and fly away into the grim clouds above, and for a while the Pelennor fields seem less dark.

Pippin watches as the White Rider meets the horseman and they wait for the others on foot. Men now hurry out to join them, free from the wailing terror, and the company pass out of sight below toward the Great Gate. Pippin hurries down to meet them, guessing they will go right to the citadel and Denethor.

He joins a cheering crowd who are calling out for Faramir and Mithrandir; many have watched the race and rescue from the walls. The two dismount from their horses and walk toward the gate of the citadel, Gandalf with smoldering eyes and Faramir swaying like a weary or wounded man.

When Pippin presses forward and sees the face of Faramir he is startled. It is a face of one who has mastered a great fear, proud and grave. But what astonishes the hobbit is how much he resembles his brother Boromir, ‘whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly manner.’ But he also sees in Faramir ‘an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed’ but also ‘touched with the wisdom and the sadness of the Elder race.’  Here is a captain he would follow even under the shadow of the stooping Nazgul.

Pippin calls out his name with the others and Faramir, hearing his strange voice amid the clamor, turns and is amazed to see ‘a halfling, and in the livery of the Tower!’ Where did he come from?

‘But with that Gandalf stepped to his side and spoke. ‘He came with me from the land of the Halflings,’ he said. ‘He came with me. But let us not tarry here. There is much to say and do, and you are weary. He shall come with us. Indeed he must, for if he does not forget his new duties more easily than I do, he must attend on his lord again within the hour. Come, Pippin, follow us!’

 

Bits and Bobs

Just how ‘birdlike’ are the Winged Steeds of the Nazgul? Some earlier illustrators make them winged horse, ‘steeds’ literally. The beast that the Lord of the Nazgul rides later is described as a creature ‘of an older world maybe’ in terms that strongly suggest a pterodactyl to many readers. Tolkien agrees that it is at least ‘pterodactyl-like’. Are all the Nazgul supplied with similar beasts? They are most often compared to birds, hawks or eagles or other scavenger species. Is that just in shape? In an old draft the Witch-King rides something like a ‘huge vulture.’ Of course, in the Jackson movies they are most like dragons, wyverns to be exact, with only two legs. I’ve heard them commonly referred to as dragons by a lot of first reactors.

Some people who have only seen the movie have asked why Gandalf doesn’t use his ‘magic flashlight’ against the Nazgul more often. Perhaps it’s too draining. More than likely, it was because the Valar had set limits to the use of the wizards’ powers, never to use more than absolutely necessary to overcome situations that the Free Peoples could not match themselves. Enough to drive the Nazgul away and preserve life; not enough to outright destroy them.

Much space is given to Pippin’s first reaction to Faramir. You might say that as Pippin was now pledged to Minas Tirith that Faramir was his ‘ideal’ in the command chain. Something is in him that the hobbit ‘would fain call master.’ We are also given a further insight into Pippin’s attachment, his almost ‘hero-worship’ of Boromir that makes him quick to ally himself to his brother. One can almost imagine Pippin telling Frodo (as he gathers material for The Lord of the Rings) about his first impressions of Faramir after seeing him act to save his men under the terror of a Nazgul attack.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 2)

The Tale

After the 11^th hour, Pippin is released for a while to go get something to eat. In the ‘messes’ he meets Beregond again, who has just returned from an errand over the Pelennor fields to the Guard-Towers on the Causeway.

They stroll out to the walls, back to the embrasure where they ate yesterday, because Pippin feels claustrophobic even in the lofty citadel. They finally see a farewell gleam from the sun as it sets below the cloud cover, the same brief gleam that Frodo and Sam saw touching the head of the fallen king at the Cross Roads.

To Pippin, it seems years ago that he stood there. Yesterday he was just a wanderer passing through adventures; now he is one small soldier waiting in a besieged city. He might have been more pleased with his new array at another time, but his armor is somber and heavy, and he knows this is not playing. He yawns and sighs.

Beregond asks if he is weary of the day, and Pippin answers that he has been waiting on Denethor while the Steward confers with Gandalf and the Prince and other important people. It’s hard for a hobbit to watch others eat and stand by hungry. But under this spreading gloom even food and drink are no comfort. The very air seems thick; is it often thus when the wind is in the East?

No, this is no ordinary weather, but something brewed up by the Dark Lord to darken their hearts, maybe from the Mountain of Fire itself. Beregond wishes Faramir would return; he would not be dismayed.
Gandalf is worried about him too. And now Gandalf is off somewhere himself, having left the council before noon-meal in a bad mood. ‘Perhaps he has some foreboding of bad news.’

Bits and Bobs

The Guard-Towers on the Causeway are named Bered Ondrath (Sindarin: ‘?towers of the stone track’). They are a two-towered fortification on the north-eastern gate of the Rammas Echor, four leagues (12 miles) from the City gate.

The date is March 10, 3019.

Sorry about such a small snip, but I'm a little under the weather. I'm amazed I did this much.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Siege of Gondor (Part 1)

[Not an illustration from this part, but I can't resist a good Gordeev picture.]

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.’