When Aragorn shows his sword to the hobbits at Bree, the weapon is almost absurdly unsuitable for the dangers gathering around them. He draws it, and they see that the blade is broken. For a Ranger traveling through a country stalked by servants of the Enemy, that is a striking thing to carry. Narsil cannot … Read more
When the waters settle around Isengard, Saruman appears to have lost everything that made him dangerous. His Orcs and Men are gone. His machinery has been wrecked. The walls of Isengard have been broken by the Ents, and the great industrial power he built beneath Orthanc lies flooded. Rohan has survived the assault that was … Read more
The word Eldar can sound as though it means the Elves of the Blessed Realm: the radiant peoples who crossed the Sea, lived beneath the Two Trees, and returned to Middle-earth carrying the memory of Aman. But that is not what the name originally means. The Sindar are the clearest proof. They never completed the … Read more
Bilbo Baggins survives trolls, goblins, giant spiders, Smaug, and the Battle of Five Armies. Yet when he finally reaches Bag End, one of the strangest obstacles of his adventure is waiting at his own front door: other hobbits are buying his furniture. The scene at the end of The Hobbit is deliberately absurd. Bilbo returns … Read more
When Frodo and his companions finally reach Tom Bombadil’s house, directions ought to be the simplest thing they need. They have escaped Old Man Willow. They have wandered through an Old Forest that seems actively hostile to ordinary travelers. Black Riders are somewhere behind them, and Bree still lies ahead. Every unnecessary delay carries danger. … Read more
Samwise Gamgee’s last journey begins with something wonderfully ordinary: a hobbit leaving Bag End. There is no recorded company of Elves waiting outside his door, no final council, and no description of a white ship prepared for him. In Shire Reckoning 1482, sixty-one years into the Fourth Age, the record becomes strikingly spare. Rose dies … Read more
When the Riders of Rohan finally thunder toward Minas Tirith in the War of the Ring, their coming can look like a single heroic decision: Gondor calls, and Théoden rides. But the roots of that ride lie more than five centuries earlier. In the year 2510 of the Third Age, Gondor was nearly overwhelmed in … 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
When the Fellowship prepares to leave Lothlórien, Galadriel gives them gifts suited to who they are and to the roads ahead. Aragorn receives a sheath made for Andúril. Legolas receives a bow of the Galadhrim. Merry and Pippin receive silver belts. Frodo receives the Phial that will later shine in some of the darkest places … Read more
When Aragorn became King Elessar, Faramir performed one of the most important acts in Gondor’s history: he surrendered the authority of the Steward to the returning King. Yet Aragorn did not simply dismiss him. He returned the white rod of the Steward, confirmed the office in Faramir and his heirs, and soon afterward made him … Read more