[Formendacil]

If "The Departure of Boromir" was the last gasp of Book II (and there was some considerable discussion in that thread about the placement of the chapter and the aptness of Peter Jackson's decision to make its events the conclusion of the first movie), then "The Riders of Rohan" must perforce be the real start of Book III. Looked at that way, I think it makes sense that Tolkien split the books where he did--coming after Frodo and Sam's departure, "The Departure of Boromir" would have been mere epilogue, a wrapping up of "what happened to the rest of them?" And this would have accelerated a [false] impression that The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy, by wrapping up the action a bit more neatly in the first book.

Instead, Book III opens in media res, since this is but the next block of chapters in the greater story (indeed, one could think of it as a story with but six chapters), and what was begun in "The Departure of Boromir" is continued in "The Riders of Rohan."

To turn from macro-chapters to micro-chapters, "The Riders of Rohan" really has three distinct sections: the chase of the three hunters, the actual encounter with the Riders of Rohan, and a sort of epilogue under the trees of Fangorn, where they are baffled by the Hobbits' lack of evidence, the loss of their horses, and the vision of the old man. Although many of Tolkien's chapters do have include distinct narrative chunks, this is the first time I really noticed them as such in a chapter. I think part of that must be that I don't mentally package all three of these micro-chapters together.

The chase of the Three Hunters is a bit lifeless and unrelenting--the reader sits along with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas awaiting resolution to their quest. The encounter with the eored "is" the chapter "The Riders of Rohan" if you were to pick a titular episode, and the epilogue at the edge of Fangorn belongs almost more naturally to "The White Rider" than to the events of "The Riders of Rohan." Although this is hardly the first chapter to cover a lot of territory (more than half the chapters start at Point A and spend a great deal of time covering the journey to Point B), this journey is more relentless than most--not just because of the oppressive will of Saruman looming over the Wold, but strictly because of the pace the ground is being covered at. As Éomer tells them, it was no mean feat to cover so much ground!