LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 06 - Lothlórien

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Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Err... not sure if you understood me correctly: I did not say anything about the fire thing or anything that would concern it.

You are of course right about that. But I don't think you really understand my main point either. If the fire was lit by the native orks of Moria or stationed Mordor sentinels alerted by Pippin's mishap, then why did they attack the fellowship in the manner they did? Why light a fire intended to cut escape off and then chase the hunted straight down perhaps the only escape route? That makes little sense. The fire, I belive, was lit by the Orks entering Moria, already alerted of what had happened at the opposite gate and aware of some of it's consequences. The Orks attacking the fellowship must IMO have been a separate group, perhaps under the command of the Balrog, but without any clear knowledge of the fire intended to trap the fellowship. Cus like I said, if the attackers were the ones who lit the fire, why then chase them down the emergency exit? Perhaps they they just didn't study the blueprints? Maybe it was all a mistake?

Orc 1:"I told you to light a fire to the right of the emergency exit, not to the left of it you, you lousy maggot!"

Orc 2: "Sorry boss, I thought you meant my right, which is your left, if you see what I mean sir...

(getting a bit off topic here, sorry)

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Oh, I see. But then, to settle the matter, I think the answer is in the book. Gandalf says:

Originally Posted by The Bridge of Khazad-Dum

If we had come by the main road down from the upper halls, we should have been trapped here

And if you remember, the Chamber of Mazarbul was one of the side chambers of the large hall to which the Fellowship arrived, and to which they intended to return after they spent enough time at Balin's tomb. So, the Orcs' original idea was: light a fire by the main route (assuming, quite correctly, that the Fellowship would use the main route) and attack the company from behind, so that they cannot escape. By taking a turn and leaving the main route for a short while, it happened that when the Orcs arrived, the Fellowship was off-course for the planned trap. It could have still gone well for the Orcs, had they allowed the Fellowship to return to the main hall - which, actually, not to be too unjust to Orcs, they could have done; but it was the Fellowship's choice to block the door and defend themselves inside the room. This way, the Orcs had to attack them in the room, thus discarding the possibility to catch the Companions in the fire. They still had a good chance in at least pursuing the Fellowship (the Orcs still were in larger numbers), however the collapse of the chamber after Gandalf's spell duel with the Balrog forced them to use the route they themselves trapped before.

So, hope this explains it, and if so, settles the question

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Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

So, hope this explains it, and if so, settles the question

I guess that does make a lot of sense. Yours is the simpler explanation and therefore most likely correct (Okham's razor and all). I should also reprimand myself for posting in the chapter-by-chapter to discuss an episope I haven't read recently.

Still, I can't shake the feeling there's something fishy about the situation (Gollum? Nah!). I mean, aren't Orcs better at ambushing in their own domain? Shouldn't they've planned the whole thing a bit better? Perhaps they did not live here and were just as afraid and lost as the fellowship? Nah! Maybe my problem is I can't clearly visualize the size, manner and more importantly, location of the Chamber relative to the Orc's attack route, the main road and to the fire.

[Formendacil]

Despite an absolutely fascinating fourteen-year-old discussion about Boromir (of all characters for this chapter!), and some promising comparisons to be made between Moria and Lórien, I'm going to go far more Reader Response than analysis with this chapter than usual, because its final paragraphs were referenced back to me of late by a friend (and a non-Downer friend at that!) and have been on my mind and I realise that Cerin Amroth has had something of a strong effect on me.

Specifically, the line: "here is the heart of Elvendom on earth," and the sadness this engenders upon rereading knowing that it is about to be said of Aragorn that "he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man."

Although Cerin Amroth is not even in the top twenty moments or scenes I think of first when thinking of The Lord of the Rings, these two coupled lines, which bracket this moment for me, are chiselled into my understanding of this book and retain their shapes in the leafmould of my own mind.

Since 2010 I have been an immigrant--not, perhaps, from one very different culture to another, but I am 3000 miles as the wolf runs from what was once my home "and [t]here my heart dwells ever," if I may be so bold as to apply the words of Aragorn to myself.

Like Aragorn coming into this chapter, I will likely revisit "the heart of Elvendom on earth" (very much redefining "Elvendom" here to mean something more like "home"--but that is, I think, still in keeping with the mood of Aragorn's speech here), but inevitably there will be a last visit and I will come "never again as living man."

I bring all this up not to evoke some sort of pity for me, but because I think these two snippets of text, shaded in by the narrative around them, form one of the great examples of how Tolkien's writings have helped me process and understand my own life. Aragorn still has Gondor and marriage and Eldarion and plenty other great things in his future--but he will never revisit this moment. And consider what "the heart of Elvendom on earth" means as a statement coming from someone who was raised among the Eldar!

This scene, which is close to essential to understanding the character of Aragorn (and the essence of many things in the book) is almost impossible to imagine in Peter Jackson's movies. This isn't exactly a question of faithfulness, though it draws that in, as of dimension: this transcendant otherliness of things like Lórien (and, for that matter, the sinful wretchedness of somethings at the far end of the same continuum) are lacking in the movie--whether they CAN'T be portrayed in movies, like depth in a 2-D picture, is a question I leave for other minds to ponder.