[Formendacil]

I almost have nothing to say here-- and not just because I said it all 14 years ago in one of the earliest posts of my Downsian existence! There's something about the most important chapters that seems yo discourage rambly side-investigations, because the main meat of the chapter is so important.

I said a few chapters ago, during this reread, that this is the true climax of Book III. Saruman has been the animating antagonist since the arrival of the Uruk-hai at Parth Galen and he is here exposed and defeated in a way that he was not before, not when the Riders destroyed Ugluk's company, nor at Helm's Deep, nor even when the Ents took Isengard. It's fitting that the book with the most military action thus far is shown to be driven by an intellectual enemy--all the bloodshed, burning, and loss experienced at the hands of Saruman's forces stems from his personal faults and his non-physical powers. Saruman, as has been noted by many before me, is probably the most 20th century character in the book, a villain who could as easily have factored into World War II as the War of the Ring.