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Old 09-18-2004, 04:20 PM   #14
Hilde Bracegirdle
Relic of Wandering Days
 
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: You'll See Perpetual Change.
Posts: 1,488
Hilde Bracegirdle has just left Hobbiton.
Yes, 'other world' but not 'netherworld', I suppose. And I certainly hope the association of green with death and witches derives from the faerie tradition and not the other way round! But at this gathering, Frodo has become recognized as part of the history of Middle-earth, and his simpler life has died. So in some respect, I see these green garments as a symbolic of his new, vital role in history.

It is strange too, how Frodo, when talking with Gandalf about encountering the Witch King, says that it was good he didn't know exactly what the effect of the knife would be, or he would have been too scared to move. Yet as we will see, now that he does know the sort of things he is up against, he volunteers to continue. I wonder if he really was made of sterner stuff than he thought, or whether it was a function of this life long wound. Are some of his actions at this stage to be attributed to the pull of the ring, or rather his close call with becoming a wraith himself?

Quote:
They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in the wound.
Quote:
…then suddenly it seemed to Frodo that Arwen turned toward him, and the light of her eyes fell on him from afar and pieced his heart.
These two lines also caught my attention, like bookends. But it is interesting that Tolkien has the light of Arwen’s eyes and not simply her gaze itself effectively pierce Frodo's heart. Earlier, he mentions that thought and knowledge were in her glance, but the light of the stars were in her eyes.
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