(Image created by Ian Windling)

“Out of the shadows of legend I begin a little to understand the marvel of the trees, I think. I have lived to see strange days. Long we have tended our beasts and our fields, built our houses, wrought our tools, or ridden away to help in the wars of Minas Tirith. And that we called the life of Men, the way of the world. We cared little for what lay beyond the borders of our land. Songs we have that tell of these things, but we are forgetting them, teaching them only to children, as a careless custom. And now the songs have come down among us out of strange places, and walk visible under the Sun.” ~King Theoden

We have followed the victors through their battle at Helm’s Deep, have witnessed the fate of Isengard, have been given a glimpse of what happens when the Ents go to war, and have begun a new, arduous leg of a journey with two brave hobbits and their suspicious guide. We have come through the middle section of The Two Towers and await the rest of Frodo, Sam and Gollum’s journey up to Shelob’s lair.

But before then we have the joy of talking about all the adventure we’ve experienced with various members of the Fellowship this past week. I had the privilege of asking the questions to prompt this week’s discussions. I like to talk about The Lord of the Rings…A Lot!!! So the answers are verbose and filled with the kind of information you do not want to know if you happen to be unfamiliar with Tolkien’s tale and want to experience it for yourself one day. As for the rest of you, let’s talk Tolkien!

1. The Glittering Caves of Aglarond; Fangorn Forest: Which of the two would you be most excited to visit once the war was over?

My first thought after I typed this question was to wonder just how many of you would be joining me in declaring: Both! I had forgotten that it was at this stage that Legolas and Gimli make plans to continue their friendship IF they are able to navigate the coming battle with success. When the victors of Helm’s Deep ride off to Isengard, Tolkien takes the reader along for the ride on a path through the dark, menacing and very much alive Fangorn forest which showed up at the end to mop up the dregs of Saruman’s ill-fated attempt to destroy the men of Rohan. The forest sighs and groans and is unsettling–but isn’t it exciting?!?! Legolas finds himself in awe, nearly under a spell and loathe to leave the forest behind. I can understand that. It is the wisdom, beauty and history of an old forest that makes it such a magical, haunting place and even Fangorn with its danger is attractive to me.

But Gimli’s awe and wonder over the Glittering Caves of Aglarond are equally enticing. They too have their deliciously frightful elements: caves are dark, generally house bats, and if you’ve ever been in one for long you cannot help but feel a sense of dread build with thoughts of “what if…” in regards to cave ins or getting lost. But caves are also glorious, especially these jewel filled majestic caverns that Gilmi describes. I would certainly want to go visit those as well.

2. How did you like the reunion of at least part of the fellowship at Isengard? Did any part of it stand out to you?

It is the rare story that doesn’t follow somewhat predictable events. How fun then that Tolkien writes a story in which the three most stout-hearted warriors go off on a journey to save two little hobbits, only to get diverted to a battle while those same hobbits take part in a difficult to describe battle of their own, with walking trees at the forefront? I love how flabbergasted Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are to find Merry and Pippen kicking back leisurely as if they were still in the Shire and it was just another lazy summer afternoon. I love Gimli’s indignation. They practically kill themselves running to try to catch Merry and Pippen’s captures, then fight a battle against impossible odds, and return to find that the hobbits really didn’t need their daring rescue after all, they managed to happen up on help as a result of their own brave actions. Too fun.

The part that stood out to me this time was the mention of the Long Bottom Leaf and hints that Saruman must have dealings with someone in the Shire. I won’t say more about that because I know at least one of us in this group read has not read the books nor seen the last two films. But while I noticed that the first time I read it, I really took much more note of it this time.

3. What are your thoughts about Galdalf’s confrontation with Saruman?

This is an area where I think the book really shines over the films. First off, unless you’ve seen the Extended Editions of the films you haven’t even witnessed this scene. Do to the chronology of the story, this event didn’t take place until the end of the events in The Two Towers, and the film makers, rightly so in my opinion, didn’t feel like it worked at the end of the Helm’s Deep sequence. They then felt it didn’t fit well as the opening to the theatrical release of The Return of the King. Thankfully it was restored to the chronology in the Extended Edition of The Return of the King and it is an interesting scene, even if it does treat Saruman’s end the same (will save that conversation for the discussion on the group read for The Return of the King). Anyway…

I like the way in which Tolkien demonstrates the remaining power of Saruman by the manner in which we see the effects Saruman’s words are having in the thoughts of King Theoden’s men. It is fantastic how Tolkien sets things up as Saruman tries to persuade Theoden to come back and renew their friendship, how Tolkien uses past suspicions about Gandalf and his mysterious ways to shed doubt on Gandalf. The scene builds suspense and then you get that “oh no!” feeling as Theoden begins to talk and it seems he may be under Saruman’s influence again but suddenly the speech turns more authoritative and confrontational and the spell is broken off of Theoden’s men. I love that scene. I also think it is tremendous that Gandalf just sits there, allowing the people with him to make their own choices rather than assert his influence and power in an abusive, totalitarian manner the way Saruman and Sauron are or would do.

And when Gandalf drags Saruman back using only the power in his words and breaks his staff…that is just terrific!

4. We learn a great deal about the Palantiri in this section. How do you feel about Saruman given Gandalf’s speech about the use of the Palantir? Would you, like Pippen, be tempted to look in to see what you could see?

I think the Palantiri, the ‘seeing stones’, are an interesting device in Tolkien’s universe, particularly given their antiquity. They, like the many ruins of the Numenoreans, are a piece of ancient history, a thing of legend to some and to others something that has passed out of all knowledge. Tolkien is such a master at layering his world in this fashion. The idea of these communication devices that were once used for good purposes being turned to something evil is interesting. Especially as Tolkien indicates that Sauron couldn’t make the images seen in the palantiri be false images, but he can of course manipulate how these images are being interpreted, as he did with Saruman. For all the fantasy elements in Tolkien’s world, we still do not see a great deal of “magic”. It is there, but its presence is often sublte, as in the rings of power and the palantiri.

One of the things that fascinates me most about the palantiri is that they bring with them their own degree of mystery. No one knows for sure how many there were, nor are they all accounted for. There would have been one in the watchtower at Amon Sur, Weathertop, where Frodo was stabbed by the Ringwraith, but it is obviously gone. Is it lost? Was it stolen? Where did Sauron get the one he is using?

The revelation of the palantir in Orthanc and Pippen’s subsequent experience in it again demonstrates that Tolkien can be a very masterful writer. Gandalf says but a few words about the palantir and how Saruman was probably using it and from that you get the sense that Saruman is no one-dimensional bad guy. He really was good, though perhaps flawed, at one time and he most likely began using the palantir out of curiosity and a desire to gain knowledge, but through that was twisted by the influence of Sauron into thinking he could perhaps rule and reign. I see Saruman as a similar character to Boromir, a character who might have initially had the right intentions, the right “end”, in sight but was willing to take any means necessary to achieve that end, including trying to use the enemies power against him.

So I say all that to say I believe Merry’s finding of the palantir opened up the door for me to have at least some degree of compassion for Saruman, even though he is a good ol’ baddie.

5. What are your thoughts about Smeagol/Gollum in this first part of his journey leading Frodo and Sam? For those of you who’ve seen the film, are you hearing Andy Serkis in your head when you read Gollum’s lines?

I’ll answer the second part first: Of course! Anyone who has seen Andy Serkis’ Oscar-worthy performance as Smeagol/Gollum couldn’t help but hear his voice in their heads as their eyes scanned Tolkien’s dialogue. I like the character of Gollum more with each exposure to him, be it through the books or the films. He reminds me of Sam in a way, he is a character who defies initial type-casting who has heroic moments of his own, despite being treacherous and untrustworthy.

I love the way Tolkien uses Gollum, as a tour guide through the less appealing parts of Middle-earth. Gollum has traversed these ways before and knows at least some of the history of these darker, sinister areas. Gollum is the reader’s gateway into understanding and navigating the Dead Marshes and will later continue pointing out areas of interest to the reader merely by leading Frodo and Sam to, and through, them.

And of course how could I not like Gollum when he utters that perfect line, “What’s taters, precious, eh, what’s taters?” 🙂 Yet another part I was initially surprised to see wasn’t just dreamed up by the film makers for a light moment in the film but actually is present because of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination.

6. Sam and Frodo are not traveling in the most picturesque part of Middle-earth. Which would you find worse, the seemingly impossible to leave mountains or the Dead Marshes?

While some perverse part of me thinks it would actually like to see the Dead Marshes, the reality is that the damp, wet, dangerous and scary marshes would not be my first choice. I think it would be nearly as hard going as the efforts to maneuver through the mountains, but it would also involve wet feet (but no wet socks and shoes if you are a hobbit–bonus!) and either chill air if it was a cold season or bugs and heat and humidity during the summer months. Nope the dead marshes aren’t for me.

7. Tolkien introduces us to a lot of places in this section of The Two Towers, many just getting a mention in passing. What do you think of Tolkien’s place names (Minas Morgul, Isengard, the Emyn Muil, and on and on)? Do any stand out to you? Are there any that you don’t care for?

One of the first things to catch my attention during my first exposure to Tolkien’s work was the way in which his names for places and for characters just “seemed right”. It was later that I learned of his love of philology and his tremendous efforts to create a language built upon the foundation of real, largely forgotten languages. It is that realism at the core of his work that puts Tolkien’s Middle-earth stories in a class by themselves. When I read his work and see place names, like Minas Ithil which later became Minas Morgol, Cirith Ungol, Isengard with its tower Orthanc, Minas Tirith…even place names like the Westfold and Dunland excite me. His place names as well as the names of his characters ring true in ways that not all fantasy books do. With Tolkien you know that the names mean something, and that meaning can be traced not just back to the fact that Tolkien chose to give that meaning to the word but that he actually built a language where word roots are clues to a word’s meaning, its origin, and its translation.

I feel like I throw the word around too liberally when describing Tolkien, but I do consider him a master in this regard. I’m thankful for the films and the dedication of the film crew to bring Tolkien experts in for the proper pronunciation of words. The experience coupled with the glossary explaining pronunciation has helped me over the years to make sure that the words roll off my tongue and bounce around in my cranium the way Tolkien intended.

It has been a great pleasure reading and sharing my initial thoughts on this section of the book. I cannot wait to hear what you all have to say about it. And remember, even if you are not reading along with us, if you have thoughts about anything to do with this part of the story of The Two Towers, please jump right into the conversation. You are most welcome.
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Incidentally, my daughter ordered the above poster for me as my birthday present (coming in later November). Needless to say I look forward to getting it. 🙂