Please explain the Barrow Downs and Wight - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lhunbelethiel · 04-07-2002, 06:57 PM

Okay, this is embarassing. I know this site is the Barrow Downs and is run by the Barrow Wight, but I am not clear on what either is in the book. I kind of skimmed that chapter a while ago because I was sleepy and never understood it.

What are the Downs (physically) and why are they so dangerous? What is the Wight and why is it so dangerous? What exactly does it do to the hobbits?

My apologies to the webmaster here and everyone else who "gets it". [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Thanks in advance for answering my dumb questions.

mordor136 · 04-07-2002, 07:44 PM

WELCOME TO THE DOWNS! A barrow is an ancient burial tomb for the kings of men.
A barrow wight is a demon spirit who can be destroyed by light.I don't know why they inhabit the downs but they put their victims into a suspended animation and the end their life with a ceremonial sword. HAVE FUN POSTING! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: mordor136 ]

Mayla Took · 04-07-2002, 10:32 PM

Eeewww. That kinda freaks me out. You know, the whole cerimonial sword bit. *shivers run up and down her spine*

Lhunbelethiel · 04-08-2002, 05:17 PM

Definitely creepy! Thanks for the explanation! Do we know what king(s) were represented in that chapter? I should re-read it but I don't have my own copy. (though I have my own TT and ROTK)

Vinyacairwen · 04-08-2002, 05:33 PM

::giggle:: Blah, don't be embarrassed. I did the same thing and asked the same question... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
::yee:: Welcome to the BD... ^^

mordor136 · 04-08-2002, 07:17 PM

nope it never said

Daegwenn · 04-08-2002, 07:31 PM

Have no fear!
Daegwenn is here!
[img]smilies/redface.gif[/img] *hangs head* Oh man, that was really corny. Well, anyways, I got an answer for what the Barrow-downs was in the book...it goes like this:

The downlands, east of the Shire and the Old forest were called the Barrow Downs because of the great barrow graves built in that place. It was the ancient burial grounds of the men of middle earth. The witch King of Agmar took refuge in them during the war. The Barrows became haunted by demons that were sent out from the kingdom of the Witch-King...

The Barrow-Wights are demons whose bodies had been destroyed, looked for others to inhabit, but desperatly found a refuge from the sun in the Barrow-downs...

There is a big, long-winded explanation on what they are but the KISS rule came into affect, and I am quite sure you would have been bored out of your skulls reading it...^_^ Anyways, I am gonna scram now. Hope it was at least some help. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

~~Daegwenn

Thingol · 04-08-2002, 07:40 PM

The tomb that Frodo was imprissoned in was supposedly the tomb of the last king of Cardolan.

Lhunbelethiel · 04-08-2002, 07:49 PM

Great! Thank you all for your help... it makes sense now!

Marileangorifurnimaluim · 04-08-2002, 09:55 PM

Daegwenn, do tell, I'm interested. There was never much on the Barrow-wights in the Silm.

-Maril

Daegwenn · 04-11-2002, 07:49 PM

The barrow-wights were of a substance that could crush will. Maybe that was why Frodo and Inc, felt so hopeless when captured, and it was really that Tom Bombadil rescued them from their hopelessness before the wights were able to take enough will from them to steal their bodies because they were animated souls.

If you crack open the Barrow and the sunlight came through, the barrow-wights would disapear and never come back. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] So don't crack a window or we might be down one Barrow-wight.

~~Daegwenn

[ April 11, 2002: Message edited by: Daegwenn ]

Voronwe · 04-12-2002, 11:43 AM

Personally I think it was the song of Tom Bombadil, and not the sunlight, that was responsible for the wight's defeat. It is after Tom has sung his song, and not after he cracks open the barrow, that the wight's shriek is heard.

Arwen Imladris · 04-13-2002, 08:03 PM

Thanks you guys, I never really wondered before, but I also didn't really know. (sorry, that made no sence)

Daegwenn, were did you find that, was that in the FOTR? I do not remember it.

Maybe the song of Tom forced the wight into the sun, or forced the sun into the cave, I don't know

Daegwenn · 04-13-2002, 08:37 PM

^_^ I meant the hope that was instilled in the hearts of the hobbits. Not the sunlight. It could be easy to hide from...but the hope in which the song Tom Bombadil sang. The only way a wight could steal a body is by crushing their will to live, and then ridding the bodies of a soul in which their own could be harvested.

I spent an arm and a leg on a handy little book called "Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia" By David Day. It is a pretty impressive book and even has some handy maps and time lines and things. ^_^ I recomend it to all LOTR lovers.

The feature of the Barrow-downs and the Barrow-wights are in FOTR. After they leave Bree if I am not mistaken.

~~Daegwenn

Marileangorifurnimaluim · 04-14-2002, 01:17 AM

The actual events with Tom and the Barrow-wight occurred just before Bree. Are you referring to some explanation of the Barrow-wight's powers given after Bree? I haven't found it yet.

Another question, where did you find the explanation of the Barrow-wight's means of taking over the bodies of another (crushing their will through lack of hope)? Is it an interpretation, or something in the HoME?

-Maril

Daegwenn · 04-14-2002, 10:16 AM

Quote:

The actual events with Tom and the Barrow-wight occurred just before Bree.

*slaps self in head* Bah! Silly me. Thanks for the clarification, Maril.

Quote:

Is it an interpretation, or something in the HoME?

No. It is in the encyclopedia I have. Hasn't anyone heard of it?

~~Daegwenn

Bragolandune · 04-14-2002, 10:23 AM

i have the encyclopedia too daegwenn..useful little book it is. alot of people don't even know it exists, and its hard to find too. everyone should go out and look for it though, its great.

Marileangorifurnimaluim · 04-14-2002, 11:48 AM

*slaps self on head, displaying a bruise equal to Daegwin's* Jeeze, you just told us you found it in the Encyclopaedia, didn't you? It was late when I posted.

-Maril

[ April 14, 2002: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ]

Demloth of Dol Amroth · 04-14-2002, 12:18 PM

IMHO, i think Tom could possibly be like either a Maia or somthing very similar-he doesn't look or dress like an elf, and is abnormally powerful for a woodsman-and he is wholly unaffected by the One Ring-by the fact that he plays a magic trick on Frodo by making the Ring disappear and reappear. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] anything that could do that would have to be near or on par with Sauron powerwise. and just in case this is common knowledge here already-sorry, didn't know. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Manelwen · 04-14-2002, 07:55 PM

Tom is a Maia.

Demloth of Dol Amroth · 04-14-2002, 08:14 PM

yeah, thats what i said...

Quote:

Tom could possibly be like either a Maia

Quote:

and just in case this is common knowledge here already-sorry, didn't know.

no need to be stingy now.

Manelwen · 04-23-2002, 07:27 PM

Sorry...I didn't mean to insult you, Demloth of Dol Amroth.

04-07-2002, 06:57 PM	#1
Lhunbelethiel Wight Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (aka Bay of Belfalas) Posts: 103	Please explain the Barrow Downs and Wight Okay, this is embarassing. I know this site is the Barrow Downs and is run by the Barrow Wight, but I am not clear on what either is in the book. I kind of skimmed that chapter a while ago because I was sleepy and never understood it. What are the Downs (physically) and why are they so dangerous? What is the Wight and why is it so dangerous? What exactly does it do to the hobbits? My apologies to the webmaster here and everyone else who "gets it". [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Thanks in advance for answering my dumb questions. __________________ ~~All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wander are lost, all that is old does not wither, deep roots are not touched by the frost...~~

04-07-2002, 07:44 PM	#2
mordor136 Wight Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: snowboarding with Morgoth in the void Posts: 221	WELCOME TO THE DOWNS! A barrow is an ancient burial tomb for the kings of men. A barrow wight is a demon spirit who can be destroyed by light.I don't know why they inhabit the downs but they put their victims into a suspended animation and the end their life with a ceremonial sword. HAVE FUN POSTING! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: mordor136 ] __________________ It's not A.D.D I'm just ignoring you. I'm like a super-hero with no powers or motivation

04-07-2002, 10:32 PM	#3
Mayla Took Wight Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Shire Posts: 152	Eeewww. That kinda freaks me out. You know, the whole cerimonial sword bit. shivers run up and down her spine __________________ Good Things Come in Small Packages. (And don't you forget it!) Pippin:"What is that?!?" Merry:"This, my friend, is a pint!" Pippin:"It comes in PINTS?!?....I'm getting one!" "Don't let your heads get too big for your hats! But if you don't finish growing up soon, you are going to find hats and clothes expensive." Bilbo to Merry and Pippin "Fool of a Took! This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party. Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance. Now be quiet!" Gandalf to Pippin in Moria E-mail me at mailto:ThirdAgeHobbit@hotmail.comThirdAgeHobbit@hotmail.com</A> Oh, and please rate me. THANKS!

04-08-2002, 05:17 PM	#4
Lhunbelethiel Wight Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (aka Bay of Belfalas) Posts: 103	Definitely creepy! Thanks for the explanation! Do we know what king(s) were represented in that chapter? I should re-read it but I don't have my own copy. (though I have my own TT and ROTK) __________________ ~~All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wander are lost, all that is old does not wither, deep roots are not touched by the frost...~~

04-08-2002, 05:33 PM	#5
Vinyacairwen Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Lorien or California, take your pick. Posts: 16	::giggle:: Blah, don't be embarrassed. I did the same thing and asked the same question... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] ::yee:: Welcome to the BD... ^^ __________________ "If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they're yours; if not, hunt them down and kill them!" ^^

04-08-2002, 07:17 PM	#6
mordor136 Wight Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: snowboarding with Morgoth in the void Posts: 221	nope it never said __________________ It's not A.D.D I'm just ignoring you. I'm like a super-hero with no powers or motivation

04-08-2002, 07:31 PM	#7
Daegwenn Haunting Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Lothlórien Posts: 82	Have no fear! Daegwenn is here! [img]smilies/redface.gif[/img] hangs head Oh man, that was really corny. Well, anyways, I got an answer for what the Barrow-downs was in the book...it goes like this: The downlands, east of the Shire and the Old forest were called the Barrow Downs because of the great barrow graves built in that place. It was the ancient burial grounds of the men of middle earth. The witch King of Agmar took refuge in them during the war. The Barrows became haunted by demons that were sent out from the kingdom of the Witch-King... The Barrow-Wights are demons whose bodies had been destroyed, looked for others to inhabit, but desperatly found a refuge from the sun in the Barrow-downs... There is a big, long-winded explanation on what they are but the KISS rule came into affect, and I am quite sure you would have been bored out of your skulls reading it...^_^ Anyways, I am gonna scram now. Hope it was at least some help. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ~~Daegwenn __________________ "And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding— Riding—Riding— A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door. Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard. And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred. He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair" Highwayman Alfred Noyes

04-08-2002, 07:40 PM	#8
Thingol Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 259	The tomb that Frodo was imprissoned in was supposedly the tomb of the last king of Cardolan. __________________ Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.

04-08-2002, 07:49 PM	#9
Lhunbelethiel Wight Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (aka Bay of Belfalas) Posts: 103	Great! Thank you all for your help... it makes sense now! __________________ ~~All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wander are lost, all that is old does not wither, deep roots are not touched by the frost...~~

04-08-2002, 09:55 PM	#10
Marileangorifurnimaluim Eerie Forest Spectre Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Buried in scrolls of fanfiction Posts: 798	Daegwenn, do tell, I'm interested. There was never much on the Barrow-wights in the Silm. -Maril __________________ Deserves death! I daresay he does... And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them?

04-11-2002, 07:49 PM	#11
Daegwenn Haunting Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Lothlórien Posts: 82	The barrow-wights were of a substance that could crush will. Maybe that was why Frodo and Inc, felt so hopeless when captured, and it was really that Tom Bombadil rescued them from their hopelessness before the wights were able to take enough will from them to steal their bodies because they were animated souls. If you crack open the Barrow and the sunlight came through, the barrow-wights would disapear and never come back. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] So don't crack a window or we might be down one Barrow-wight. ~~Daegwenn [ April 11, 2002: Message edited by: Daegwenn ] __________________ "And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding— Riding—Riding— A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door. Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard. And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred. He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair" Highwayman Alfred Noyes

04-12-2002, 11:43 AM	#12
Voronwe Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Gondolin Posts: 413	Personally I think it was the song of Tom Bombadil, and not the sunlight, that was responsible for the wight's defeat. It is after Tom has sung his song, and not after he cracks open the barrow, that the wight's shriek is heard. __________________ "If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things." -- René Descartes

04-13-2002, 08:03 PM	#13
Arwen Imladris Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In a box with a fox Posts: 1,347	Thanks you guys, I never really wondered before, but I also didn't really know. (sorry, that made no sence) Daegwenn, were did you find that, was that in the FOTR? I do not remember it. Maybe the song of Tom forced the wight into the sun, or forced the sun into the cave, I don't know __________________ "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, sleepies, we must go, yes, we must go at once."

04-13-2002, 08:37 PM	#14
Daegwenn Haunting Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Lothlórien Posts: 82	^_^ I meant the hope that was instilled in the hearts of the hobbits. Not the sunlight. It could be easy to hide from...but the hope in which the song Tom Bombadil sang. The only way a wight could steal a body is by crushing their will to live, and then ridding the bodies of a soul in which their own could be harvested. I spent an arm and a leg on a handy little book called "Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia" By David Day. It is a pretty impressive book and even has some handy maps and time lines and things. ^_^ I recomend it to all LOTR lovers. The feature of the Barrow-downs and the Barrow-wights are in FOTR. After they leave Bree if I am not mistaken. ~~Daegwenn __________________ "And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding— Riding—Riding— A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door. Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard. And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred. He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair" Highwayman Alfred Noyes

04-14-2002, 01:17 AM	#15
Marileangorifurnimaluim Eerie Forest Spectre Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Buried in scrolls of fanfiction Posts: 798	The actual events with Tom and the Barrow-wight occurred just before Bree. Are you referring to some explanation of the Barrow-wight's powers given after Bree? I haven't found it yet. Another question, where did you find the explanation of the Barrow-wight's means of taking over the bodies of another (crushing their will through lack of hope)? Is it an interpretation, or something in the HoME? -Maril __________________ Deserves death! I daresay he does... And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them?

04-14-2002, 10:23 AM	#17
Bragolandune Animated Skeleton Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Old Bridge, NJ Posts: 39	i have the encyclopedia too daegwenn..useful little book it is. alot of people don't even know it exists, and its hard to find too. everyone should go out and look for it though, its great. __________________ "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

04-14-2002, 11:48 AM	#18
Marileangorifurnimaluim Eerie Forest Spectre Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Buried in scrolls of fanfiction Posts: 798	slaps self on head, displaying a bruise equal to Daegwin's Jeeze, you just told us you found it in the Encyclopaedia, didn't you? It was late when I posted. -Maril [ April 14, 2002: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ] __________________ Deserves death! I daresay he does... And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them?

04-14-2002, 12:18 PM	#19
Demloth of Dol Amroth Wight Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 105	IMHO, i think Tom could possibly be like either a Maia or somthing very similar-he doesn't look or dress like an elf, and is abnormally powerful for a woodsman-and he is wholly unaffected by the One Ring-by the fact that he plays a magic trick on Frodo by making the Ring disappear and reappear. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] anything that could do that would have to be near or on par with Sauron powerwise. and just in case this is common knowledge here already-sorry, didn't know. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] __________________ One by one the Free Lands of Middle Earth fell to the power of the Ring-but there were some, who resisted...

04-14-2002, 07:55 PM	#20
Manelwen Haunting Spirit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Alqualondë Posts: 78	Tom is a Maia. __________________ Victory favors neither the righteous nor the wicked. It favors the prepared.

04-23-2002, 07:27 PM	#22
Manelwen Haunting Spirit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Alqualondë Posts: 78	Sorry...I didn't mean to insult you, Demloth of Dol Amroth. __________________ Victory favors neither the righteous nor the wicked. It favors the prepared.