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I saw this thing once:
A pillar dark with eyes of flame,
A pillar bright with sword of light,
And between them a fall of silver,
Of hope lost and hope reclaimed.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Urwen
Well, only two instances fit in that case: Gandalf vs MoS or Gandalf vs Denethor.
And I'll say the former is closer, so I guess the former.
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Correct,
Urwen! The relevant passages are:
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Originally Posted by The Black Gate Opens
At its head there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon a black horse, if horse it was; for it was huge and hideous, and its face was a frightful mask, more like a skull than a living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils there burned a flame. The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr he was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: ‘I am the Mouth of Sauron.’
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The Messenger put these aside, and there to the wonder and dismay of all the Captains he held up first the short sword that Sam had carried, and next a grey cloak with an elven-brooch, and last the coat of mithril-mail that Frodo had worn wrapped in his tattered garments.
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‘These we will take!’ said Gandalf suddenly. He cast aside his cloak and a white light shone forth like a sword in that black place. Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the tokens: coat, cloak, and sword. ‘These we will take in memory of our friend,’ he cried. ‘But as for your terms, we reject them utterly. Get you gone, for your embassy is over and death is near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!’
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'A pillar dark with eyes of flame' is the Mouth astride his fire-eyed horse. 'A pillar bright with sword of light' is Gandalf with his white light that 'shone forth like a sword'. The 'fall of silver' that lies between them is Frodo's mail of
mithril, true-silver, that ripples like a waterfall. And while at first it seems that even Gandalf has lost hope and been defeated when the tokens are revealed, he reclaims both them and the initiative in the end.
(With, of course, a sly reference to the various 'hope' lines throughout the story, but mostly to Gandalf's succinct version that I think is original to the films: "There is still hope.")
hS