LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 4 - The Field of Cormallen

[davem]

’This chapter begins a few moments before the ending of the previous one, but continues with its sense of impending doom - the Ring may have gone into the Fire but we do not expect Frodo & Sam to survive. The first thing that happens is the appearance of the Eagles. Eagles are the birds of Manwe & their sudden appearance heralds victory. So far ‘divine intervention’ has been in the form of winds out of the West, blowing away the Darkness of Mordor, Now the Eagles appear to drive off the Nazgul. This is an example of where a prior knowledge of The Silmarillion adds depth to the events in LotR. This is not simply an example of the Cavalry arriving in the nick of time, but of the Valar joining battle fully, supporting the king to be. It also shows that the sins of Numenor are forgiven, but it is also their swansong in Middle earth.

Then the unexpected victory, the Eucatastrophe, comes. The Dark Tower falls, the Nazgul flee, the servanst of Sauron are unmanned. Sauron’s ‘ghost’ appears, menacing but impotent, blown away on the wind - and all this happens because Gollum fell over his feet.

The question of why Gandalf takes three eagles with him is difficult to answer. Most probably because he didn’t know the fate of Gollum & thought there would be three survivors awaiting rescue. This would be interesting, showing that even at the end he was concerned for Gollum, & was still hoping for his ‘’salvation’.

The interchange between Frodo & Sam encapsulates the difference between them now the Quest is over:

]I am glad that you are here with me,' said Frodo. 'Here at the end of all things, Sam.'
'Yes, I am with you, Master,' said Sam, laying Frodo's wounded hand gently to his breast. 'And you're with me. And the journey's finished. But after coming all that way I don't want to give up yet. It's not like me, somehow, if you understand.'
'Maybe not, Sam,' said Frodo; 'but it's like things are in the world. Hopes fail. An end comes. We have only a little time to wait now. We are lost in ruin and downfall, and there is no escape.'
'Well, Master, we could at least go further from this dangerous place here, from this Crack of Doom, if that's its name, now couldn't we? Come, Mr. Frodo, let's go down the path at any rate!'

Tolkien stated that Frodo expected to die at the end of the Quest. He speaks of ‘the end of all things’, & when Sam suggests not giving up quite yet, because that’s not like him, Frodo counters that its like things are in the world. Unlike Frodo Sam never lost hope. Its as if Frodo wants Sam to forget hope too. ‘Hopes fail’ he says, ‘an end comes...there is no escape. This is much what he had said to Sam in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Even after the Quest has been achieved it seems that Frodo is still there, in that Tower. For Frodo the world is a place, not simply without hope, but a place where hopes fail. We may begin in hope, but the world will take that hope & dash it to pieces. The fact that he says ‘there is no escape’ is significant, as it shows that the idea of escape from the world is already in his mind - even if he believes it to be an impossible dream. Sam, on the other hand, is still thinking of the future - even if he will not be part of it. He talks about the tale they have been in & wishes he coulld hear it told. Frodo wants it all to stop now, Sam wants it to go on.

Yet we seem to see a change in Frodo when the two rescued Hobbits awaken in Ithilien. He laughs, & calls Sam ‘Sleepyhead’. He seems almost his old self again. But this is an illusion - its almost as if he himself has forgotten that he has no hope, being caught up in Sam’s joy. Soon, though, he will remember.

The significance of the date of the Fall of Sauron has been pointed out by Shippey. It is the date of the Annunciation & the old date of Good Friday. The Gondorian new year will always begin on that day from then on. Again, Tolkien comes close to allegory here, but it is not blatant & most readers will miss it.

Sam gets his hoped for ‘reward’ - the minstrel sings the ‘Lay of Frodo of the Nine Fingers & the Ring of Doom. There is joy & celebration, soon the survivng members of the Fellowship will meet up again & the whole story could end here, with victory achieved. Merry & Pippin appear, along with Gimli & Legolas. Aragorn is already the king - though he has not yet been crowned. But, as in real life, the participants must go home - if they can. So, the rest of the story will deal with that, & what happens when they get there.

Frodo is urged by Gandalf to wear a sword. Frodo at first refuses, then gives in. His reason for refusing has been speculated on. Probably its because he has already told Sam that he did not think it was his part to bear a sword again. What’s interesting is that Gandalf urges him to wear one. Why? Just so he won’t be the only one not wearing ‘ironmongery’? A sword is the weapon of a warrior & this is a celebration of victory in war for the other participants. For Frodo it is not. It seems that he already feels he is not worthy to be there. He ‘gave way’ & wore the sword, but one gets the sense he would rather be somewhere else.

Legolas, too, dreams of being elsewhere. Though he is a Sylvan Elf rather than one of the exiled Noldor, the Sea is in his heart

I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressea, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!'

But Legolas, unlike Frodo, has somewhere to go. Frodo, as far as he is aware at this time, must remain in this world where hopes fail.

Tolkien stated that he wept during the writing of this chapter & as Humphrey Carpenter stated, it is written in his ‘epic style’. Sam is lost in wonder at it all, but Frodo clearly believes he doesn’t belong in an epic. He’s right. Frodo is out of place here. Frodo’s presence undermines the Heroic Romance. He’s a twentieth century man who’s strayed into the world of medieval epic poetry. His values are different, so he’s out of place. Yet his foray in that world has changed him to such a degree that he cannot go back to his own world. He has stared into the abyss too long & too deeply. At the heart of Middle-earth is a Fire that burns away all things - from Magic Rings to hope. Frodo didn’t die. He no longer knows how to live. Tolkien had wanted a happy ending for Frodo right from the begining. He speculated on him settling down & living happily ever after with Bilbo. Even in this chapter that hope surfaces:

And in the morning they rose again in hope and peace; and they spent many days in Ithilien.

The question is, why could he not allow Frodo his happy ending? Frodo has suffered & will continue to suffer. Only the fact of his going into the West at the end makes it possible to bear reading about him. An athiest could not have written LotR. It could not have encompassed the depths of suffering & the gleam of hope.

Back to the Minstrel.

And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness’.

I can’t help thinking that’s a perfect description of Tolkien himself.