[Formendacil]

I have it in my memory that Tolkien wrote Merry and the journey to the muster BEFORE he wrote Aragorn and the journey through the Paths of the Dead. Even if I misremember now that I hit my senile, elder years, it is still the case that we have, yet again, a split plot and time being covered from a new perspectove that has already been seen. Wherever that's the case, the question can be asked, "why follow that story first?" and this general consideration of how Tolkien structures this part of the RotK has been on my mind.

Following Aragorn first does a couple of things. One: it means that we follow the fastest storylines first: Shadowfax on the wind to Minas Tirith, then the Grey Company racing over the plains to Edoras before a mad march through the Paths of the Dead, them finally the Rohirrim marching by mountain paths to Dunharrow. There's a logic tonit, and it means that when we go backwards AGAIN to Theoden and Merry, we have an increased sense that they are behind, a sense brutally exploited when Hirgon arrives with the Red Arrow: Minas Tirith needed help yesterday, is his basic attitude. And the next two chapters will take this sense of a race against time and build on it: "The Siege of Gondor" will show Minas Tirith trying desperately to hold out until help can come while "The Ride of the Rohirrim" shows the help in its mad dash to not arrive too late.

It also lets us see, as the reader who knows more, Eowyn's story in sequence. Since she's not a member of the Fellowship (i.e. not a point of view character), her story is told far more coyly than others, but it is one of the most important threads in Book V, tied right into one of its biggest moments, the death of the Witch-king. Her story is easier to follow, going from Aragorn leaving her behind in the previous chapter to its fallout here, since her decision to turn Dernhelm (and take Merry with her) stems directly from her being left behind by Aragorn--she won't be left behind again. Even if Merry doesn't know who she is, we might--Tolkien doesn't tell us Dernhelm is Eowyn, but he really doesn't hide it, either.