Beginning of Book 4. Back to hiker Earth, back to Frodo and Sam, back to the true Quest. But before I consider Frodo’s supreme act of Pity, I want to spend some time on a more minor puzzle or two.
Let’s start with Frodo, after he hears the crack of thunder and the Nazgul’s cry. Tolkien is surprisingly insistent as he describes what follows: Frodo goes blind. Or so it seems. Yet Sam can see fine. And the seeming blindness does not begin to lift until Sam lets down the Elven rope – which seems to Frodo (but not Sam, apparently) as if it has a silver sheen to it. What has happened?
Well, maybe we will never know. But, after years of wondering, I think I have a theory that might make sense: It’s the effect of the Ring.
Remember Frodo at Weathertop. What he sees when he puts the Ring on is a mist, with the Nazgul sharply outlined. When Frodo is partway into that world with the effect of the Morgul knife at the Ford, he sees everything as shadowy except there is a bright light across the river, which is later identified to him as Glorfindel’s Elven spirit, or fea. Here, it seems, it is almost as if we have put on the Ring (except there is no sense of a searching eye): we see nothing of the non-spirit world, and while we do not see mists, we do see Elven spirit in the rope. Somehow, despite the absence of the Morgul knife, Frodo is reaching into the spirit world, at a point where he is acting irrational as if he is having a mood swing, and where the Nazgul’s cry has pushed him into an absolute panic. But he would never have been able to do that without the effects of the Ring; he would have remained Joe Frodo, Esquire.
Now look at Sam’s vision at the end of the Chapter. He sees Frodo “with other sight”, and what he sees is Frodo as “a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud.” It is as if Sam himself is seeing Frodo as what the Ring is making him into in the spirit world, while Frodo is still a good person. Frodo has the brightness of an Elven lord, hidden in the cloud of the spirit world.
Next, consider Gandalf’s words at Rivendell, when he is contemplating Frodo after Frodo recovers at last from the Morgul-knifewound. Gandalf notes that Frodo has a hint of “transparency”, and that he “may become a clear glass for others to see who can.” Is it possible that Sam here is one of those who can? Who can see Frodo’s “character of the spirit”, piercing the veil of his mortal body as if it were a clear glass? Remember, Gandalf too can see the world of the spirit.
And finally, think about the next time Sam has such a vision, on the slopes of Mount Doom. Only now that tall figure is “untouchable by pity.” The Elven spirit is still there, the highness, the goodness, but the Ring has almost taken over.
And so, I am guessing that what Tolkien is signaling here may be the beginning of the next stage of the torment of the Ring. Frodo, in trying to achieve the Quest, in trying to resist the Ring, is using what the Ring gives – power according to one’s measure – to increase his measure, to increase his highness, to increase his perception of what the Ring is doing to him. It results in the spirit of a mighty lord, and yet one that still connects with such as Gollum, one that can now achieve pity. But the other side of the Ring is now coming into play: irrational urges, such as the one to march right up to Minas Morgul; greater transparency to those who can see, including the Lidless Eye whose direction he can now sense at all times. Tolkien, I would guess, is signaling the onset of the inevitable, irrevocable downward slide.
But there’s one more thing to ponder, before we consider Frodo’s pity. Before Frodo starts the downward climb on the Emyn Muil, Sam actually tries to go before him. As Tolkien drily notes, it is doubtful whether he would ever do something braver, or more unwise. Sam is effectively offering to risk his life to save Frodo’s. Greater love hath no man than this, that he give up his life for his friend. But what a stupid idea.
And yet, here’s the thing. In this one action, Sam is actually taking the lead, without waiting for word from Frodo. He is beginning to practice, beginning to act like, Sam the Leader. And, of course, the first time he does it, he does a terrible job. But it’s early days. And we know that Sam is slow to figure things out, but, like Barliman Butterbur, eventually he will be able to see through a brick wall at the end. He’ll get there.
So again, I think Tolkien may be saying, watch Sam. He is beginning to change, slowly, very subtly. He will cling to the past, to the memory of his old relationship with Frodo the Master; he will overestimate the blindness of Frodo the new high person; but he will change, to the point where after he returns to Hobbiton, the change in him will be visible to all. That is the new message of Book 4. Watch Sam.
Next time, Frodo’s pity – and Tolkien’s empathy.
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Like You’ve Never Heard It:
- The First of a Series of Ramblings About JRR Tolkien
- Part II. Pre-Psychology Writing, Poetry, and a New Hero
- Part III. Torture, Enlightenment
- Part IV. Weather, Mushrooms, Leaders
- Part V. In the Moment, Sam the Obscure
- Part VI. Folk Songs, Master, First, Fair
- Part VII. Hiking, Curses, Noble Language
- Part VIII. The Hiker’s Extrasensory Writing
- Part IX. Torture, Elves, Endings
- Part X. Your Highness
- Part XI. Business Meetings, Dwarves
- Part XII. Horns of Wild Memory
- Part XIII. Ecstasies of the Dwarves
- Part XIV. Valaraukar, the Third Touch of God
- Part XV. Memory, Nature, Passion
- Part XVI. The Gift of Enchantment
- Part XVII. Frontier Maturity
- Part XVIII. Pity, Decisions, Endings
- Part XIX. Into the Shadow, Kings, Names, Winds
- Part XX. People of the Morning, Child Soldiers
- Part XXI. Herdsmen and High Trees
- Part XXII. The Faith of God
- Part XXIII. Theoden’s Law
- Part XXIV. Helm’s Deep, Zangra, and A Life Worthy of Song
- Part XXV. Book of Marvels, Book of Friendship
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