We got a later start on reading last night because we took a
long family walk right around twilight, which arrives pretty late in these
summer months. It was a beautiful walk across a nearby bridge, and we enjoyed
seeing the colors of sunlight play over the surface of the river below us. It
seemed fitting then that we should join back up with the Hobbits and Strider as
they headed for the Last
Bridge en route to the
Ford of Bruinen.
Chapter 12, “Flight to the Ford” has another title that
causes trepidation, and that feeling is evoked further in the first half of the
chapter (what we read last night) as the Hobbits and Strider travel along, road
weary and wary of seeing the Enemy around every bend. Strider is on his guard that the Enemy seems
to have fled following their attack at Weathertop. He thinks this may be
because they’re sure that Frodo’s wound was bad enough that he’s pretty much
finished, and they’re simply biding their time. The wound would not be so
serious if it hadn’t been made by a cursed and evil blade, but apparently its
poison is hard to draw out, though Strider gives it best. He forages for Athleas,
a plant with special healing properties, and sings over the evil hilt (all that
is left of the terrible blade, which literally melts before their eyes).
Although Frodo is weak and cold, Strider counsels Sam not to
give up hope. “Your Frodo is made of
sterner stuff than I had guessed,” he admits, adding that Gandalf had
thought so all along.
Two signs of light and hope carry us into the middle of the
chapter: a beautiful beryl (an elven jewel) on the bridge, and the coming
across of the old stone trolls from a story Frodo and friends…and the rest of
us…know well. Yes, they stumble across the very trolls that Gandalf turned to
stone during Bilbo’s long-ago adventure. Merry and Pippin are worried at first
that they’re live trolls, forgetting both their family history and the fact
that trolls can’t hang around in broad daylight, but they all have a good
laugh, especially when Strider points out that one of the trolls has a bird’s
nest in its ear! That gave us a chuckle too.
We finished up with Sam’s delightful, original song about
trolls. There’s so much more to Sam than meets the eye.
Sam's troll song is one of my absolute favorite moments in the trilogy. When Dad first read it to us, we made him read it to us again right away. We were so enchanted by it. Sam really does have a knack for poetry, combined with his rustic humor, which makes his poetry of a very different sort than Bilbo's eloquent writing. Still neat that the love of words is another thing these two hobbits share. I had forgotten that this came at such a dark point in the story; it really is a much-needed burst of levity in the midst of something very serious, as well as yet another indication that there is more to these hobbits than most people guess.
ReplyDeleteI love the image of three young McCartys listening enthralled to Dad McCarty read Sam's troll song. :) I don't think I did it justice -- it came near the end of our reading, and I was tired -- but it is a wonderful scene that reveals so much about Sam! I still can't shake that image of Sam at Bilbo's need, learning all about elves and such while his Gaffer plants seeds outside. I think I may need to write a poem or song about that myself!
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