[Lalwendë]

'If only the Lady could see us or hear us, I'd say to her: "Your Ladyship, all we want is light and water: just clean water and plain daylight, better than any jewels, begging your pardon."

Sam here asks for light and water, he even specifies that he wants only the ordinary light and water, that he is not after Light or Miruvor or anything of that nature. And he gets both. But he also does get Light:

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.

This is an odd moment. It gives Sam peace and hope, but is his reaction quite what it ought to be, considering the high risk situation he and Frodo are in? Note that his 'fate' ceases to trouble him, which seems to be some kind of balm to soothe his troubled soul, but this also makes him lose his sense of caution, and he goes to sleep alongside Frodo rather than keeping watch. This seems to be reckless behaviour.

Or is the Light of the star also protecting him? Is it a 'sign' that for that moment, Sam does not need to keep watch. Sam does not need to be troubled with 'fate' at this point; it is as though fate or who/what ever deals out 'fate' is watching him benevolently and he knows it. This is an intensely spiritual moment, almost in an Eastern 'mystic' sense.



In this chapter we have yet more clues about what the Nazgul do.

'They've lost their heads, that's what it is. And some of the bosses are going to lose their skins too, I guess, if what I hear is true

Go to your filthy Shriekers, and may they freeze the flesh off you! If the enemy doesn't get them first. They've done in Number One, I've heard, and I hope it's true!

More mention of skin and flesh being removed. In fact we also have a clue as to how the skin and flesh is removed, as it may be 'frozen' off the body. And it wouldn't be much 'punishment' if the victim was not alive during and after the process, so I think this is more evidence that the Nazgul (and Sauron?) operate some kind of horrific procedure whereby the 'Fea' is left exposed. As Tolkien often does when broaching topics of horror, he skims the edges and leaves it up to the reader to decide what might or might not happen. This is something which he may have chosen to do to stop his writing being simple 'horror' fiction, but it actually has the effect of making the horror all the more vile for being 'veiled', something which we must work out for ourselves.