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Originally Posted by Lalwendë
The harshness of the landscape in Chapters 1 to 3, and the enormity of it which the Hobbits must overcome, also serves to underline just how little they are, both physically and metaphorically. They not only struggle with the logistics of getting down cliff faces but they are plunged, effectively alone, into an old and vast landscape, one which is treacherous and full of terror, as seen in the Dead Marshes. Here they are just two Hobbits trying to pick their way across the remains of an ancient battlefield, small and insignificant in comparison to what went before. We know what they carry, and just how important their mission is and therefore how far they really are from being insignificant, but the enormity of the landscape serves to remind us how vulnerable they are.
This passage shows us how at one time, this area must have been populated, that it even had such frivolous things as gardens with water features. Yet just as we are feeling safe and that the Hobbits are in a benevolent part of Middle Earth, Sam finds the Orcs' fire and we are not only reminded of the ever present peril they are in, but we get another reminder of how Sauron's servants have despoiled a beautiful place.
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That is exactly what I meant by plot device,
Lal. The geographical descriptions are not present simply because they are nice, but to serve a narrative function.
I will, however, take issue with your comments about
"such frivolous things as gardens with water features". Of course any social habit or custom can be trivialised and sentimentalised, but gardens from time immemorial have had substantive cultural functions, as have water gardens and water features. One need only consider the traditions of water gardens in Middle eastern culture to recognise the significance of water to the human faculty of sub-creation. The loss of the hanging gardens of Babylon and the cedars of Lebanon stand as important cultural icons about loss. It suggests a lonely remnant of a once highly developed, sophisticated culture now lost.
I'm sure, however, that you could find frivolous garden features at the Chelsea Flower Show!
