When Merry and Pippin first meet Treebeard in Fangorn Forest, the ancient Ent does not begin by asking where they come from, whom they serve, or why two small strangers have appeared in his wood. His first difficulty is more fundamental: he cannot work out what they are. Treebeard knows Elves. He knows Dwarves, Men, … Read more
The tragedy of the Noldor does not begin with the burning ships at Losgar, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, or even the Oath of Fëanor. Before any Noldorin host leaves Aman, something quieter and politically dangerous has already happened: the House of Finwë has effectively divided between two centers of power. One stands in Tirion upon … Read more
When Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli finally reach the edge of Fangorn, the Orc-band they have pursued across Rohan is already gone in the most literal sense. The Rohirrim have killed it, searched the battlefield, stripped the enemy dead, piled the bodies together, and burned them. Only hot ashes remain. For Aragorn, this is almost disastrous. … Read more
The One Ring was destroyed on March 25, 3019 of the Third Age. That date became so important in the restored kingdom of Gondor that the new royal calendar made it the beginning of the year. Yet if a hobbit in the Shire had been asked when the Fourth Age began, the answer would not … Read more
The Midgewater Marshes contain no Ringwraith ambush, no Orc-band waiting among the reeds, and no monster rising from a black pool. Yet when Strider leads Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin through them after leaving Bree, the journey becomes miserable almost immediately. That matters because the danger of the Marshes is not an enemy at all. … Read more
Why the One Ring Was Gold: The Older Corruption Behind Sauron’s Masterpiece The One Ring looks almost disappointingly simple. No jewel crowns it. No elaborate setting announces its importance. To an uninformed observer it is merely a plain band of gold. Yet that gold may be one of the most revealing details about the Ring. … Read more
Bilbo Baggins has a sword in his hand when he first meets Gollum. That detail matters. He is lost beneath the Misty Mountains, separated from Gandalf and the dwarves, surrounded by goblins, and standing beside an underground lake whose depths he cannot see. Then a strange creature approaches out of the darkness. Bilbo does not … Read more
The Green-elves of Ossiriand seem, at first glance, like one of Middle-earth’s oldest woodland peoples: Elves dressed in the colours of leaves, hidden among rivers and trees, so difficult to see that strangers might pass through their country without ever knowing they were there. But “Green-elves” was not the identity with which their story began. … Read more
Of all the honours Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took receive after the War of the Ring, the strangest may be the one they could never enjoy themselves. They are buried in Gondor. Not merely somewhere within the realm, and not simply as honoured foreigners. After leaving the Shire in old age, Merry and Pippin spend … Read more
Look north in Middle-earth and one of its oldest histories is still hanging in the sky. The seven stars called Valacirca—the Sickle of the Valar—are easy to treat as another beautiful piece of celestial lore. Hobbits know the same recognizable star-pattern as the Wain, and Frodo sees the Sickle shining above Bree during his journey … Read more