When Bilbo Baggins looked for somewhere to endure the Battle of Five Armies, he did not choose the highest summit in sight. He went to Ravenhill. That detail is easy to overlook. The Lonely Mountain dominates the landscape around Dale. Erebor is the enormous landmark, the fortress, the treasure-house, and the reason five armies have … Read more
When Théodred falls at the Fords of Isen, Rohan loses far more than King Théoden’s only son. It loses the man commanding its most threatened frontier. It loses the heir who stands between an aging king and an uncertain succession. And, at almost exactly the same moment, another of Rohan’s great commanders—Éomer—is becoming increasingly isolated … Read more
The Pass of Aglon was not a glittering city, a mine, or the seat of some legendary treasure. It was a cold opening between highlands, swept continually by a bitter wind from the north. Yet Celegorm and Curufin fortified it heavily and held it with great strength. That apparent contradiction reveals something important about the … Read more
When Aragorn’s army finally reaches the Black Gate of Mordor, there is no realistic prospect of storming it. The Morannon is a fortified barrier across the entrance to Mordor. Enemy forces are concealed in the surrounding country. The Nazgûl watch from above. And the Captains of the West have arrived with fewer than six thousand … Read more
The Arkenstone is small enough for Bilbo to carry in his pocket, yet by the final chapters of The Hobbit it has become powerful enough to hold an army at the gate of Erebor. Bilbo understands why. Thorin has named the Heart of the Mountain above all the other treasures recovered from Smaug. When Bilbo … Read more
When Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli finally find Merry and Pippin again, the setting could hardly be stranger. They have crossed Rohan in desperate pursuit of the captured hobbits. They have fought at Helm’s Deep. Saruman’s army has been shattered. Then they ride to Isengard expecting to confront the stronghold from which that army came—and discover … Read more
When Glaurung first crawled from Angband, he changed the wars of Beleriand. He was enormous, armored, cunning, and devastating—but he did not fly. For most of the First Age, the dragons known to the enemies of Morgoth were creatures of the earth. Then, at almost the last possible moment, something unprecedented came out of Angband. … Read more
When Théoden prepares to answer Gondor’s call, one number dominates the final Ride of the Rohirrim: six thousand. It is easy to read that figure as a simple statement of Rohan’s military strength. Six thousand Riders leave for Minas Tirith; therefore, six thousand Riders must be what Rohan can field. But the text gives us … Read more
The Fellowship has already been defeated by Caradhras when the next problem begins. The Redhorn Gate has failed. Snow has driven the Company back down the mountain, leaving Gandalf and Aragorn to confront an increasingly unpleasant question: if they cannot cross the Misty Mountains above ground, how are they going to reach the eastern side … Read more
At the beginning of The Hobbit, Gandalf’s behavior is deliberately mysterious. He marks Bilbo’s door, brings thirteen Dwarves to Bag End, calls a bewildered hobbit a burglar, and produces a map and key connected to a kingdom lost generations earlier. Bilbo understands almost none of it. For much of the story, neither does the reader. … Read more