[Lalwendë]

This chapter makes good use of some interesting contrasts. In the first view of the Black Gate we are told that the towers were originally built to keep Sauron out of Mordor:

In days long past they were built by the Men of Gondor in their pride and power, after the overthrow of Sauron and his flight, lest he should seek the return to his old realm. But the strength of Gondor failed, and men slept, and for long years the towers stood empty.

So it was not Sauron's pride and power which built them, but the pride and power of Men, while we might assume that such structures would be made by Sauron. This is mirrored in Orthanc, which was also made by Men and used by the enemy when it had long since laid derelict. This not only challenges our assumptions about Middle Earth but also shows us that men are not always good, that they can be incredibly complacent and blinkered.

It is fortunate for men that Sauron for some reason does not or cannot focus on more than one of the entrances to Mordor. At the Black Gate his strength and vigilance is very much evident:

...upon its battlement sentinels paced unceasingly. Beneath the hills on either side the rock was bored into a hundred caves and maggot-holes; there a host of orcs lurked, ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war.

This is an impressive display and contrasts with the initial reticence displayed by Gondorians and the Rohirrim to engage in battle. These Orcs are keen. Does this mean that Sauron is better prepared and hence the better strategist or does it show that being 'prepared' is not necessarily an advantage? Are these particular orcs keener than most, being posted at what is no doubt a prestigious site in Mordor?

I had to say that it seems Sauron does not or cannot focus on all the possible ways into Mordor, as I noticed the following passage:

Hobbits must see, must try to understand. He does not expect attack that way. His Eye is all round, but it attends more to some places than to others. He can't see everything all at once, not yet.

What does this mean? We have been led to believe that Sauron can see everything, but it turns out his perception is not perfect. He must focus on certain things and cannot focus on everything. We learn he has a weak spot, much as Bilbo learned that the seemingly unstoppable Smaug had a weak spot. This is very fortunate to the plot line, but I'm convinced that there has to be something deeper in this. And of course, I'm tempted to think again that this might refer to the Ring, and the powers of osanwe that it possesses.

One question always haunts me. What other entrances are there? Could they have got in from the North, or the East? What would have stopped them apart from the urgency of the task?

And also, there is foreshadowing of later events in the book.

Then he knew that the hope that had for one wild moment stirred in his heart was vain. The trumpets had not rung in challenge but in greeting. This was no assault upon the Dark Lord by the men of Gondor, risen like avenging ghosts from the graves of valour long passed away. These were Men of other race, out of the wide Eastlands, gathering to the summons of their Overlord; armies that had encamped before his Gate by night and now marched in to swell his mounting power.

We hear of the later march to the Black Gate after Pelennor. And also of the army of the dead. Interestingly, the image here is of ghosts of brave men, while the reality is that Aragorn called up the ghosts of traitors. Then we also hear some uncanny words from Frodo:

You will never get it back. But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back. In the last need, Smeagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Smeagol!"

Of course, we would hardly notice such passages until after we had read the books and we came back for more. Were they included deliberately? Maybe at this point Tolkien had become aware of the outcome of the story and so was able to include 'clues'; or were these passages included at a much later stage in the editing process?

Finally I want to include this quote from Gollum which is quite disturbing :

He'll eat us all, if He gets it, eat all the world.