LotR -- Book 5 - Chapter 03 - The Muster of Rohan

[Lhunardawen]

Originally Posted by Esty

What do you think of Éowyn’s emotional state of mind? Remember, we don’t yet ‘really’ know who Dernhelm is – did you recognize 'his' identity right away when you first read the book?

She is obviously very upset to the point of being potentially suicidal. As I have said in the previous thread, she has taken Aragorn's leaving and the thought of him dying too hard, and I would hazard that right at that moment she was thinking of following him - not to the Paths of the Dead but to the death that seems to be about to welcome him.

'All is well,' she answered; yet it seemed to Merry that her voice belied her, and he would have thought that she had been weeping, if that could be believed of one so stern of face.

Merry has no idea what had just happened to her, so I understand his doubts. But the mere fact that he suspected this - when he didn't know her very well - makes us think that maybe she has indeed been weeping.

Notice that she mentions the words "he is gone" three times. Repeating something implies emphasis and importance, and apparently Eowyn considers Aragorn's loss a big deal, not just in relation to the impending war but also to herself, personally. To me it seemed that she is saying, "He is gone, and soon I will be as well."

I particularly find this interestingly ironic:

'Greatly changed he seemed to me since I saw him first in the king's house,' said Eowyn: 'grimmer, older. Fey I thought him, and like one whom the Dead call.'

and later

He [Merry] caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it suddenly came to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death.

For some reason, I knew right away that this man is actually Eowyn. She sees that the one she loves is about to die, loses hope because of it and so goes searching for the same end. That cannot be emphasized enough.

Although if it is any consolation, it means to say that Aragorn really is an effective leader, for a big part of leadership is influence. That, or Eowyn is really just crazily in love with him.

More later.

[davem]

Then Eowyn rose up. 'Come now, Meriadoc!' she said. 'I will show you the gear that I have prepared for you.' They went out together. 'This request only did Aragorn make to me,' said Eowyn, as they passed among the tents, 'that you should be armed for battle. I have granted it, as I could. For my heart tells me that you will need such gear ere the end.'

I don’t know whether this is true ‘foresight’ on Eowyn’s part, yet it seems to be. If we take Merry’s later perception of her as ‘one who goes in search of death’ then maybe this is similar to Halbarad’s foresght that his death lay beyond the Paths of the Dead. Of course, it could simply be that she is reaching out, in her despair & loneliness, to one she considers to be a kindred spirit.

What she eventually achieves could not have been achieved without Merry’s aid. In fact, it could be said that (as Tolkien originally intended her fate to be) that if she hadn’t taken him along, she would have died on the Pelennor Fields. It is only this reaching out, this compassion for a fellow sufferer, that ensured her survival - another example of the way a selfless act can bring benefit.

The difference between them is that while Merry also wants to go to the battle, he is not looking to perish there - though it seems he expects to. When he looks into ‘Dernhelm’s’ face & sees there the desire for death he ‘shivers’. This desire for death terrifies him. It also seems to inspire in him pity & horror, rather than a feeling of ‘kinship’. Does Eowyn understand Merry’s desire to fight, hoping against hope that he will come through, or does she think he too desires death? Their relationship is a ‘strange’ one, to say the least. Merry seems to have an insight into her state which she does not have into his, yet only together can the two of them defeat the Witch King.

I don’t want to go too deeply into later events here, but I wonder exactly how deep Eowyn’s desire for death actually goes. Certainly, she doesn’t simply want to die - she could just slash her wrists or hang herself if that was all she desired. Oddly, it is her desire to ‘die’ that inspires her to act, to move, & not simply curl up into a ball & waste away in despair. It seems, almost, that her desire for ‘death’ is what finally makes her do something, makes her take control of her life & act. Its almost as if before she wanted to die she was unable to truly live. Its as if she didn’t truly seek her own death - much as she may have thought she did: what she truly sought was the ‘death’ of her old self. Deep down, all unawares, it seems what she wanted was to live, to be fullly & completely alive. Maybe this is what she saw & responded to in Merry. At the very least, I think it accounts for her ‘change of heart’ when she met Faramir. He was what she had wanted all along, but, not believing he (& what he ‘symbolised’) could exist, she latched onto the only alternative she could concieve. When it comes to the test, standing over Theoden & facing the Witch King, she makes an instinctive choice to live - ie, when she is faced with ‘Death’ (‘Do you not know Death when you see it’ he asks Gandalf) she defies it & ultimately ‘kills’ it. Yes, it is only with Merry’s aid that she dispatches the Witch King, but it is she herself who ‘kills’ what he symbolises for her - the false Death, despair & meaninglessness that has obsessed her for so long.

It is in the encounter with Aragorn that she is forced to confront this growing obsession/possession of her true self, but only by, in a sense, surrendering to it, that she can pass through it & come to the ‘Light’ beyond.

Back to Merry. His perception of Eowyn’s state shows yet again that he is no ‘ordinary’ Hobbit - he can look into a person’s eyes & see their ‘soul’. The more we see of Merry (if we pay attention) the more complex a character he becomes.

Aside: the ‘song of Rohan’ is a later interpolation. This raises all kinds of questions about what was contemporary to the story & what was added later - & who by. Who put the song into the Red Book, when, & what for? We come back to the ‘Translator conceit’ again. Is this the only example of such a later ‘addition’ ? What about the ‘spontaneous’ song of Aragorn & Legolas at Boromir’s funeral? Were other verses ‘tided up’, so that what we have were the final ‘approved’ versions of the songs. It may seem a petty point, but no-one in the story ‘umms & ahhs’, stumbles over their words, etc. In fact, whenever anyone is expected to say something meaningful &/or profound they do so. This verse & the account of its presence at that point in the story, rather than in an appendix, is in many ways another reference to the way life can be seen as a ‘story’, & I can’t help but recall the final line from the movie ‘The Man who shot Liberty Valance’: ‘When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!’ The interpolation of this verse at once heightens the emotional impact of the episode, & at the same time confirms that we are not reading ‘reportage’. What we actually have is the legend of the War of the Ring set down for us, in a translation of a translation (to what degree?) of a lost original. This, I think, was Tolkien’s intention, & a ‘conceit’ he did not want us to forget.

Oh, & finally, I just have to say that this verse contains one of the lines in the whoole of LotR that always reduces me to tears:

Six thousand spears to Sunlending.

[Lalwendë]

Since readin Lhunardawen's post, I've been thinking about this line:

'Greatly changed he seemed to me since I saw him first in the king's house,' said Eowyn: 'grimmer, older. Fey I thought him, and like one whom the Dead call.'

Fey struck me as an odd word, and it always has, as it is very similar to Fae, from Faerie. It also always brings to mind Morgan Le Fay, conjouring up a beautiful yet terrifying image. But looking up the etymology of Fey I found this:

"of excitement that presages death," from O.E. fæge "doomed to die," also "timid;" and/or from O.N. feigr, both from P.Gmc. *faigjo- (cf. M.Du. vege, M.H.G. veige "doomed," also "timid," Ger. feige "cowardly"). Preserved in Scottish. Sense of "displaying unearthly qualities" and "disordered in the mind (like one about to die)" led to modern ironic sense of "affected."

What is interesting in how Tolkien has Eowyn deliver this description is that he has her define the meaning of the word. That's not something a skilled writer would normally do, so perhaps here his scholarly interest was making an interjection, underlining the definition he wanted us to use. Fey can also mean 'affected' as it says above, which has different connotations. I wonder was he making a distinction allowing for the changing use of language?

[Lhunardawen]

Originally Posted by davem

Certainly, she doesn't simply want to die - she could just slash her wrists or hang herself if that was all she desired.

That would be too uncharacteristic of her to do. After everything she had declared to Aragorn about her being a shieldwoman, choosing that manner of death would be like an insult to herself. If she were to die, she wanted to die the way Aragorn will. Maybe at least in that way she thought they could be together. Which brings me to wonder...did she expect to see Aragorn again in the battlefield at all, a potential driving force behind her action?

Originally Posted by davem

Oddly, it is her desire to 'die' that inspires her to act, to move, & not simply curl up into a ball & waste away in despair. It seems, almost, that her desire for 'death' is what finally makes her do something, makes her take control of her life & act. Its almost as if before she wanted to die she was unable to truly live. Its as if she didn't truly seek her own death - much as she may have thought she did: what she truly sought was the 'death' of her old self. Deep down, all unawares, it seems what she wanted was to live, to be fullly & completely alive. Maybe this is what she saw & responded to in Merry.

Ironically, as she goes 'searching for death,' she gives life to another. Merry, when discharged from Theoden's service and told to stay behind, had died - he had nothing left to live for. All his original companions are gone. There was nothing he could do for his part in the War, when all his friends are involved in some way. He was 'dead,' not living but merely existing. And then this person who goes in search of death gives him life by taking him on 'his' horse. Dernhelm thought he was helping a fellow 'death-searcher' but in actuality they are both on the road to a life that is really lived.

Confound this rep rule, but I just want to say that those thoughts are really good.

[davem]

The Red Arrow

All I can find is this - (which is what I'd already come up with myself on searching through UT - there's no mention in HoMe)

I think, though, that the account in Cirion & Eorl was written after LotR, so the question that springs to mind is, was this story already in Tolkien's mind when he wrote of the Red Arrow in LotR, or was it based on something else, & the later account 'invented' as an explanation within the secondary world?

It is certainly an 'odd' symbol to use - how old was the Red Arrow? There seems to be a history behind it which Theoden was aware of. He only had to see it in Hirgon's hand to understand exactly what it meant. It seems from Theoden's words that it is a sign of absolute desperation on Gondor's part - 'Has it indeed come to that?' It seems that it declares Gondor to be in extremis, at the absolute point of complete destruction. Certainly, Hirgon could have told Theoden that Gondor was in deep trouble, but it seems that Denethor felt that would not be enough & he had to send the Red Arrow as well. It does seem that it had a very powerful symbolic value, & to be calling on the Rohirrim to fullfil an oath.

This is interesting in the light of the events of this & the previous chapter - oaths run through both, ones held & ones forsworn.

In passing, I also wonder what the 'mark' painted on the arrow was.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

The one point I must make about this chapter is how it demonstrates more than any other the 'place' of Merry in the overall structure. Frodo and Sam are off on their moral/emotional/psychic/psychological journey while Pippin is 'bearing witness' to the passing of the old world in the form of Denethor. They are the more passive members of the hobbits, insofar as they are 'along for the ride' as it were, with Frodo and Sam placing their hope and faith in providence (although still struggling mightily on their own) and following the guidance of Gollum. Pippin, on the other hand, while at the centre of things, is the companion of Gandalf and acting as a pair of hobbitish eyes onto the great events.

But here, Merry comes into his own. We talked about him and his remarkable character a lot in the early chapters, but it's not until now, I think, that he steps forward as the most truly representative hobbit of them all. Two lines stand out for me:

He longed to shut out the immensity in a quiet room by a fire.

On the one hand, the sheer weight of the history and landscape that's about him is too much, and he desires a very hobbitish thing: to retreat from it into comfort. But of course he doesn't do that, instead he says:

"I would not have it said of me in song only that I was always left behind!"

Still very hobbitish in its way, insofar as he is thinking of the songs that will be sung in that snug little room where he wishes he could be. Also very hobbitish insofar as he does not want songs telling how grand and heroic he is, but just that he went to the war and did his bit.

But the key point to make about Merry here is that it is Aragorn who has left orders that he be armed for battle -- hugely important. Frodo and Sam were 'outfitted' for their trek into Mordor by Faramir: a good guy to have as your armourer, but he's no Aragorn! Pippin has been put into arms by Denethor -- poor, pure, foolish, great-hearted Pippin, caught up as usual in circumstances far beyond his control and understanding, but doing his level best in them. Of all the hobbits, it's only Merry who recieves his arms from Aragorn -- it's ironic that he is clad in armour and arms of Rohan, of course, but it was Aragorn who told Eowyn to make some arrangement for him. I find this so hugely important insfoar as Aragorn has clearly had an almost Gandalf-moment of prescience or awareness as he has 'seen' in some way that Merry will both need and earn his arms. Aragorn is 'aware' on some level of the Providential Plan that will have Eowyn and Merry together at the Pelennor to destroy the witch king.

I don't think it's a mistake that there is also talk in this chapter about the shadowy host that passed through dunharrow to meet with Aragorn. These two acts of meeting the ghost army and arming Merry are Aragorns' first tangible acts of Kingship over Gondor: he has certainly been acting like a King before, but these are the first acts OF the King as he commands the fealty of those who swore their oath to Isildur, and sets in motion the events that will lead to Merry's heroics in defense of Minas Tirith.

And all Faramir does for Frodo and Sam is give them some nuts, some walking sticks and some really obvious advice...Aragorn is way cooler than that!

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Fordhim

But here, Merry comes into his own. We talked about him and his remarkable character a lot in the early chapters, but it's not until now, I think, that he steps forward as the most truly representative hobbit of them all. Two lines stand out for me:

Master Fordhim is very correct, it seems to me, about the Hobbitness of this statement. Indeed, I should that there is a lot The Hobbit to this statement. It strikes me as highly reminiscent of all those lines in The Hobbit when Bilbo thinks back to Bag-End and its larder as his refuge.

There's also, to my mind, a similar theme between this chapter and the part of The Hobbit immediately before the Battle of the Five Armies. In both cases we have hobbits (as noted, of a very similar nature) all alone and caught up in a large buildup towards war, over which they have little or no control. Both want to do something, but are concerned that they are too small or unimportant.