[davem]

Another post full of quotes I’m afraid...

Two incidents struck me, one in this chapter, one in the last. Both have to do with the Phial & its effect on those who wield it:

'Galadriel!" he said faintly, and then he heard voices far off but clear: the crying of the Elves as they walked under the stars in the beloved shadows of the Shire, and the music of the Elves as it came through his sleep in the Hall of Fire in the house of Elrond. Gilthoniel A Elbereth!
And then his tongue was loosed and his voice cried in a language which he did not know:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
o menel palan-diriel,
le nallon si di'nguruthos!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos!*
And with that he staggered to his feet and was Samwise the hobbit, Hamfast's son, again.

*O Elbereth Star-Kindler gazing afar to thee I cry here beneath-death-horror. look towards (watch over) me, Fanuilos!

Tolkien comments on Elbereth in The Road Goes Ever On:

As a "divine" or "angelic" person Varda/Elbereth could be said to be "looking afar from heaven" (as in Sam's invocation); hence the use of a present participle.'" She was often thought of, or depicted, as standing on a great height looking towards Middle-earth, with eyes that penetrated the shadows, and listening to the cries for aid of Elves (and Men) in peril or grief. Frodo (V ol. I, p. 208) and Sam both invoke her in moments of extreme peril. The Elves sing hymns to her. (These and other references to religion in The Lord of the Rings are frequently overlooked. ) .

The other I’ve mentioned in our discussion of the last chapter:

Frodo gazed in wonder at this marvellous gift that he had so long carried, not guessing its full worth and potency. Seldom had he remembered it on the road, until they came to Morgul Vale, and never had he used it for fear of its revealing light. Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima! he cried, and knew not what he had spoken; for it seemed that another voice spoke through his, clear, untroubled by the foul air of the pit.
But other potencies there are in Middle-earth, powers of night, and they are old and strong. And She that walked in the darkness had heard the Elves cry that cry far back in the deeps of time, and she had not heeded it, and it did not daunt her now.

Both Frodo & Sam spontaneously utter Elvish invocations - of Earendel & of Elbereth respectively - & neither of them know what they have spoken. So where do the words come from? Are they placed in the Hobbits’ mouth’s by Galadriel herself? It seems that in a way She is present with them in the cave & the pass & it is her power that stands against Shelob. The point is, these are specifically Elvish invocations, probably traditional ones (certainly the one Frodo utters is traditional), & the language is what we would expect Galadriel to speak. TRGEO again:

The language is Sindarin, but of a variety used by the High Elves (of which kind were most of the Elves in Rivendell), marked in high style and verse by influence of Quenya, which had been originally their normal tongue.

Sanwe or not, this seems to be more than simple ‘thought transmission’ - both Frodo & Sam seem almost ‘taken over’ by a power &/or consciousness strong enough to daunt Shelob. They have asked for help & got it, but I can’t help wondering about the implications of these events. It seems the ‘good’ side are as willing as the evil side to dominate minds & wills...

(Deliberately being a bit provocative there, but you see where I’m going, I hope....)