[Lalwendë]

Then Aragorn set trumpeters at each of the four roads that ran into the ring of trees, and they blew a great fanfare, and the heralds cried aloud: 'The Lords of Gondor have returned and all this land that is theirs they take back.'

This brings to mind Wiccan rituals. The Men are in a circle, which is reminiscent of the magical circle cast for protection; that it is one of trees makes this more significant. But what really caught my attention was that Aragorn had trumpeters at the four roads. In Wicca there are the four corners, or guardians of the four towers, each of which are invoked at commencement of the ritual and then thanked at the end. Here each of the roads heads North, South, East and West, and this also corresponds to the Wiccan corners or towers.

I'm sure Tolkien would not have intended this as to be seen as specifically Wiccan (not least because this would have been fairly arcane knowledge at the time), but otherwise, I'm not sure where he would have gained this image from, and what the significance of it is. I'd be interested to hear what other 'Downers think.

The hideous orc-head that was set upon the carven figure was cast down and broken in pieces, and the old king's head was raised and set in its place once more, still crowned with white and golden flowers; and men laboured to wash and pare away all the foul scrawls that orcs had put upon the stone.

This is a touching moment as time is given up to the restoration of this monument, and as a statue of an 'old king' it must be something deserving of respect, particularly by the Gondorians. I wonder which King this statue commemorates?

Again, this moment reflects upon real world activity; statues are often torn down after revolutions/wars, and it is considered a great dishonour to deface a memorial or statue - as seen when a Churchill statue was spray painted during a demo in London a few years back. The demonstrators wished to deface the icon, while to others it was an act of disrespect; it is not the statue, not the thing, which is at fault/venerated, but what it represents, and here this is what the Gondorians are doing, reasserting their rule.

It was near the end of the second day of their march from the Cross-roads that they first met any offer of battle. For a strong force of Orcs and Easterlings attempted to take their leading companies in an ambush; and that was in the very place where Faramir had waylaid the men of Harad, and the road went in a deep cutting through an out-thrust of the eastward hills. But the Captains of the West were well warned by their scouts, skilled men from Henneth Annun led by Mablung; and so the ambush was itself trapped. For horsemen went wide about westward and came up on the flank of the enemy and from behind, and they were destroyed or driven east into the hills.

Did anyone else get the suspicious feeling that some of these assailants might have been here before? Or at least that the tale of what Faramir's men had done there previously has spread amongst the enemy? Either that or this must have been a well known skirmish/ambush point. I noted how well the men led by Mablung knew the lie of the land and were able to stop the attack.

Was this an opportunistic attack? It surprises me that Sauron did not send more forces out to attack the group heading his way; they would have ben incredibly easy to pick off at many stages, and the Nazgul were watching them all the way. this only serves to underline just how much Sauron thought they were walking into a trap. Maybe he thought that the forces of the West were mistaken in believing they had won the whole war at Pelennor and wished to spring his surprise on them, but I don't think even Sauron in his arrogance would underestimate Gandalf's attention to strategy.

It seems, with all the stops to mend statues, blowing horns, sending out lieutenants and the like, that both sides are playing games with one another at this point. Which then leaves you at the end of the chapter, with Pippin possibly dead, wondering where on earth is Frodo?