LotR -- Book 5 - Chapter 05 - The Ride of the Rohirrim

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

Wind is changing!

I have always wondered what was so special in the wind changing. The Wild Men and Rohirrim weren't aware of Aragorn sailing up Anduin so what did it matter where the wind blew? Especially Theoden's reaction to Widfara's news about the wind is surprisingly strong:

If you speak truly, Wídfara, then may you live beyond this day in years of blessedness!

Was it just a psychological thing, a hope of a "change in the tides of battle" as Estelyn said?

I guess that Ghân-Buri-Ghân and Rohan's army were so close to the sea and Anduin that they could feel the wind turn from land breeze to sea breeze which is a sign of a day.
For those who don't share the same enthusiasm for geography; land breeze is a local wind blowing at nights to the sea. Sea breeze blows at days from the sea's high pressure to land's low pressure area. The wind changes because sea warms up and gets cold slower than land areas and that makes low and high pressures switch places daily.
If that's the case, it probably was reassuring to know that it wasn't an eternal night but it was actually dawning.


I've read this following passage six times or something...

Far away and almost straight ahead there was a red glow under the black sky. They were drawing near the Rammas of the Pelennor; but the day was not yet come.

... and I just realized that there weren't street lamps in Middle-earth. Well, of course I knew that but I hadn't thought of how dark there must have been at nights.

I remember when I was at the charming are-we-there-yet-age and we were driving home from our summer cottage. When driving in dark, a red glimmer behind forests meant that we were approaching a city and it was a nice feeling to know that we'd be home soon.
But in the light of my new observation () it must have been one spine-chilling sight for the army to see a red gleam on the horizon knowing that it wasn't the Sun rising (and definitely not the street lamps shining) but Gondor burning.


This chapter flows beautifully. In the beginning the mood is very bleak. But the aid of the Woses kindle a hope in the Rohirrim (and in the reader, too). I found the Wild Men trustworthy from the beginning but I think that's because I had never heard of them before. There must have been quite colourful rumours and tales floating around of the mysterious people who live in the forests, so it's no wonder that the Rohirrim might have felt uneasy about them.

The atmosphere grows towards an emotional climax. I think it's very moving to hear Theoden calling Eomer his son and if Tolkien compared Theoden to a vala, his ride must really have been something magnificent.

This chapter's last line is a real gem, I think.

And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the city.

I believe Tolkien knew what he was talking about when he wrote about the "joy of battle". The last paragraphs of the Ride of the Rohirrim might give a romaticized image of war waging but that's one of the things that make us want to go to Middle-earth; it's more beautiful than the real world. Good overcomes evil. I think that's a pretty good reason to sing.