Inside the Barrow

[The Barrow-Wight]

I don't think the light was caused by the wight, if that's what you mean. Definitely a Ring thing.

The Barrow-Wight

[Farael]

Originally Posted by The Barrow-Wight

I don't think the light was caused by the wight, if that's what you mean. Definitely a Ring thing.

Ah... but we forget that Frodo is described to be a "special" hobbit. No, I'm not saying he glows, but perhaps the green glow is a "reaction" to something the wight is doing. Perhaps it is a counter-spell (innate, of course because Frodo did not know magic). Perhaps it's a counter-spell caused by the Ring.

But we see a correlation between glow and the creepy... sorry, creepING hand. Glow, hand appears, hand gets chopped, no glow.

I think Hookbill may be on to something (read the previous post). It seems that dead, decaying things glow. Another example I can think of are the candles in the dead marshes. So there is another correlation between this glow and dead, wight-like creatures. (Mostly Hookbill's dig, my comparison may be stretching it a bit, but he's right on)

[alatar]

Not exactly sure.

First off, there has to be some light source as the scene is much less interesting when we cannot 'see' anything happening. So I'm guessing that the green glow is a plot device. Green, like in Minas Morgul, to indicate decay.

I initially thought that it was some moss or other plant-life that was emitting the glow, and though that might have been possible in Middle Earth, there are no 'green light-emitting' plants, mosses, etc in the real world. However, if the moss on walls contained the luciferase enzyme, which would be great to have in shubbery, then they would emit the glow. If there were ordinary moss and a little bit of light squeaking though the doorway, we may have a green glow as seen here.

Discounting that, knowing that the Barrow was littered with gems, jewels and other crystals, we could also consider triboluminescence, but that's a bit unlikely due to the lack of activity in the room. I would then say that the green glow is somehow an indication of the wight, and Frodo, being the bearer of the Ring and already, pre-Weathertop, not your average hobbit, is sensitive enough to see it. Why is Frodo set apart? Was this do to the Ring or Frodo's resistance? Or being taken last? (Did I remember that right?) Was the Barrow Wight (in the books, not on this forum ) trying to force Frodo down the wrong path? If Frodo would have walked away, leaving his friends behind in the cold barrow, his downfall and the recapture of the Ring by Sauron would have been assured. Gandalf, later in Rivendell, notes that that moment in the Barrowdowns was the scariest of all in the journey from the Shire to Imladris.

Anyway, those're my thoughts.

[Farael]

Originally Posted by alatar

I initially thought that it was some moss or other plant-life that was emitting the glow, and though that might have been possible in Middle Earth, there are no 'green light-emitting' plants, mosses, etc in the real world. However, if the moss on walls contained the luciferase enzyme, which would be great to have in shubbery, then they would emit the glow. If there were ordinary moss and a little bit of light squeaking though the doorway, we may have a green glow as seen here.

Isn't there some kind of green algae that luminesces? or is it a Protozoan? I remember from first-year bio, they had a flask that if you shook it it'd glow green... maybe Frodo moved and disturbed the Wight's algae? no wonder why he was angry and sung a curse about stiff dead bones. *ahem*

Originally Posted by Alatar

Why is Frodo set apart? Was this do to the Ring or Frodo's resistance? Or being taken last? (Did I remember that right?) Was the Barrow Wight (in the books, not on this forum ) trying to force Frodo down the wrong path? If Frodo would have walked away, leaving his friends behind in the cold barrow, his downfall and the recapture of the Ring by Sauron would have been assured.

Well, I'm not sure that the Wight was trying to nudge Frodo to leave his friends behind and so make it easier for him to be ensnared by the ring. After all, he might as well just grab it and possibly earn some gifts from his Master (by that I mean the Witch King whom I believe awoke the wights on his way to The Shire).

I'm fairly sure he was taken last. Or at least, since we are told the story from Frodo's perspective, by the time he is caught he can no longer hear his friends' screams.

Originally Posted by FoTR Fog on the barrow downs

(to give you an idea of what has happened before without copying too much text, Frodo is screaming for Merry, Sam and Pippin as they got separated in the fog)

'Where are you?' he cried again, both angry and afraid.
'Here!' said a voice, deep and cold, that seemed to come out of the ground. 'I am waiting for you!'

It seems to me that:
a) The Barrow Wight knew of Frodo's coming
b) Frodo was probably the last one of the bunch (else the wight might have said "you and your friends" perhaps?)

Also,

Originally Posted by FoTR

But though his fear was so great that it seemed to be part of the very darkness that was round him, he found himself as he lay thinking about Bilbo Baggins and his stories (...)

(...)He found himself stiffening, as if for a final spring; he no longer felt limp like a helpless prey.
As he lay there, thinking and getting a hold on himself, he noticed all at once that the darkness was slowly giving way: a pale greenish light was growing round him. It did not at first show him what kind of a place he was in, for the light seemed to be coming out of himself, and from the floor beside him

A few pointers before another quote and then my conclussion... hope you are not bored yet.
a) When Frodo is afraid, he can see nothing.
b) When Frodo starts to feel a little less scared, he begins to see
c) The light is not only coming out of himself but from the floor beside him.

I'll discuss C now because it has nothing to do with the quote. Isn't it likely that, in Frodo's altered state of mind, he'd see things a little differently than what they are? What if the floor was glowing, reflecting on Frodo and he thought the light was coming off of him?

Also, to follow up with my luminscent algae theory, He might have spilled the stuff on himself and the floor. After the end of my quote it says that the light had "not yet reached the walls" perhaps it was because the poodle of water and algae had not yet dripped that far. *ahem, back to serious discussion*

Originally Posted by RoTK

(A quick preview to save you lines upon lines of text that do not matter to my point, Sam and Frodo are in the Emyn Muil trying to climb down a mountain, and just as Frodo is giving it a try a Nazghul flies overhead, Frodo slips but luckily lands on a shelf not too far below)

...But either the darkness had grown complete, or else his eyes had lost their sight. All was black about him. He wondered if he had been struck blind. He took a deep breath....

... Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it. There indeed at the bottom was a coil of the silken-grey rope made by the folk of Lorien. He cast an end to his master. The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo's eyes, or else his sight was returning. He could see the grey line as it came dangling down, and he thought it had a faint silver sheen.

Again we see that, in a moment of great distress (and when dealing with super-natural creatures) Frodo seems to loose his sight. The only other time (other than these two) that I can think of Frodo being in a similar situation is when he is trying to escape the "Black Riders". Yet by then he did not know exactly who or what they were and perhaps in his ignorance he was not as acutely afraid.

So what's the point of all this? well, the glow may very well have been there all along, it was not until Frodo settled down a bit that he was able to see.

[Firefoot]

It is interesting that the light is green. Green is usually used to show life, vibrancy, and growth; the barrow is quite the opposite, dead and decaying. It provides an interesting contrast - another example of evil twisting around good to make it eerie and foul. Even the light itself - usually another symbol of good - is convoluted. It is a 'cold glow' and causes the precious treasures illumined by it to seem 'cold and unlovely'. Later, when Tom opens up the Barrow, the light that streams in is 'real light.'

[Child of the 7th Age]

Just wanted to mention that there was an old, old thread on the BD started by Joy where folk discussed how "green" could be used to represent dying and death and evil as well as goodness and life. Here.

It's never had that personal connotation for me, but thought you might enjoy seeing this.

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Farael

Isn't it likely that, in Frodo's altered state of mind, he'd see things a little differently than what they are? What if the floor was glowing, reflecting on Frodo and he thought the light was coming off of him?

It depends upon how altered. Which has everything to do with (1) the length of time he has borne the Ring toward Mount Doom; & (2) his proximity to Mount Doom. The Barrow is pre-Rivendel, pre- "I will take the Ring though I do not know the way". Thus, I would venture to say that what Frodo sees is what is actually there. Compare that to passages in Mordor in which Frodo tells Sam that all he can see is a wheel of fire. But in this case it's not an altered view of what's nearby, but an artifact (the Ring) so powerful, the master of which is so powerful, that it overwhelms Frodo's perceptions. So in the Barrow if there's a green light, then there's light and it's green.

[MatthewM]

A very interesting topic! I've always loved discussing little details like this in The Lord of the Rings. Although I'm not completely sure where I stand in this, I am going to say that the glow is definitely connected somehow to the ghoulish Wight, as the similarities with the Dead Marshes, etc, have been pointed out.

[JennyHallu]

I believe the green light is inextricably connected to the Wight, and not to the Ring.

And I can prove it: I call your attention to that classic documentary of paranormal phenomena and the investigation thereof: Ghostbusters. It is quite clear throughout the film that several of the ghastly creatures captured on film emanate a green light, which is simply the natural color of the phosphorescent ectoplasmic slime they produce.