LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 11 - A Knife in the Dark

[Child of the 7th Age]

A few days ago Aiwendil said this:

This poem brings up an interesting point. It is often remarked that a large part of the appeal of LotR lies in its sense of depth - the feeling that there is a 'real' history, filled with stories, that leads up to the present action. And of course there really is a history that lies before LotR - the Silmarillion.

Aiwendil pointed out that most of the historical references in LotR really refer to the Alkallabêth rather than Silm per se....a point I find intriguing. But I wanted to go back to his initial statement: the whole idea that part of the appeal of LotR lies in its sense of depth, with real history leading up to the present circumstances.

These historical references not only give the reader the illusion of depth, but, when taken together, perhaps mirror one of Tolkien's essential themes: the failures of the past weighing down on the heads of Men, and the limitations and challenges posed by that string of failures. To put it bluntly, either the free peoples of Middle-earth overcome the failings of those who went before them or they fall into unending darkness, and there is no turning of the page to the Fourth Age. I am not saying this is allegory (heaven forbid!) but it does sound strangely compelling when set against the history of the twentieth century, which had a similar lesson for us.

The first two chapters say it all. We are presented with the Hobbits, a stubborn and insular, albeit a delightful people, who can not or will not remember or recall their past. In both UT and LotR, Tolkien indicates the Hobbits have little recollection even of their own history and have forgotten many things they used to know. In complete juxtaposition to this, Tolkien entitles the very next chapter "Shadows of the Past" to show the intrusion of the Ring. These two contrasting images can not be accidental.

In succeeding chapters, we begin to get a glimpse of further intrusions of the past upon the present. This takes a variety of forms, some known to the reader and others only hinted at. The first is the Hobbits' meeting with Gildor. As an Elf, Gildor is the mirror image of the Hobbits in one important respect: Elves spend much of their energy dwelling on the past and trying to reconstruct it. The true identity of the Ringwraiths hearkens back to ancient things as well as Bomabadil's poignant description of the Rangers :

Few now remember them...yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.

(Those "folk who are heedless" can certainly be read as Hobbits who have forgotten the past.)

But it's only in this particular chapter that the historical theme begins to take center stage. There are three or four incidents in this chapter that underline the fact that past and present are becoming mixed. The Hobbits are not only travelling geographically: they are becoming entangled with disputes and problems that are very, very old. And just as Tolkien is careful to describe the geography of Middle-earth to help us visualize what type of land the Hobbits are travelling through, he is also careful to lay out the historical setting.

First, there are the physical remains that the Hobbits see as they approach Weathertop:

the remains of green-grown walls and dikes, and in the clefts there still stood the ruins of old works of stone.

Added to this is the fact that the paths are constructed in a particular way because of ancient battles against the Witch King (at least the Hobbits would consider them 'ancient'). Even more telling, there is Sam's poem of Gil-galad and Aragorn's tale of Tinúviel, which also includes a lengthy history lesson given to the Hobbits.

It is Aragorn who is the linchpin in all of this. Once Tolkien got rid of Trotter and substituted Aragorn, he discovered that his storyline was not only moving forward in terms of miles, but moving backwards in terms of themes and antecedents. In chapters to come, Aragorn will take us to Rivendell -- the seat of ancient lore -- and finally to Lothlorien, where we will actually go outside time.

The "knife in the dark" that comes hurtling at Frodo is quite literally out of the past. And the cry that he issues -- O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! --is also a glimmering from the past: most contemporary free peoples of Middle-earth, with the exception of Elves, were blithely unaware of Varda's existence, since the Valar now had little to do with Arda. It is this sense of the past intruding on the present that intrgues me in this chapter, and many others to come.