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Old 10-07-2004, 03:28 PM   #16
Lalwendė
A Mere Boggart
 
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Lalwendė is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Lalwendė is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
Thinking about how this chapter manages to convey an air of menace, one striking aspect is the number of untold stories which are mentioned in passing. Some of these are retold elsewhere, but others are not, and we can only darkly imagine them.

We hear of Aragorn's passage through Moria, and it brings up the question of what he was doing there, and what frightened him. Gandalf too has passed through Moria, at least once, maybe more often; to what depths did he descend looking for Thrain? We also hear of a tale that I for one would like to hear more about, and that is Gandalf's adventure into Dol Guldur. And it is plain that there are stories that the Dwarves have never told.

This is clever technique as the tension is built up whenever we hear mention of another dark, perilous journey. Dangers are hinted at but never described. This not only adds to the tension and atmosphere of foreboding, but also adds yet more depth to the whole story. The fear of the Fellowship in this chapter is not based on something vague, but is built on tangible evidence, and the fact that we hear only hints of it from those few in the company who have experienced it, makes it yet more sinister.
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