[drigel]

Like HerenIstarion, this chapter isnt the easiest for me to get through. Its a transition chapter in between two action chapters for me. It does have some of my favorite lines of the work:

.....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.

Says it all really, doesnt it? Nice correlation between light and thought. Good work.

It seems that Sam has taken over as main character in the story.

For me, another main character is geography. In all of the previous story, Mordor is referenced many times as: a military base, stronghold, Empire, evil doings in general, evil extension or physical representation of Sauron. In this chapter, we get to walk through Mordor. Feel it. Taste it. Swat the flies coming from it.

Orc culture insight:

'Come on, you slugs!' he cried. 'This is no time for slouching.' He took a step towards them, and even in the gloom he recognized the devices on their shields. 'Deserting, eh?' he snarled. 'Or thinking of it? All your folk should have been inside Udun before yesterday evening. You know that. Up you get and fall in, or I'll have your numbers and report you.'

So they are assigned numbers. And at least the supervisors have some kind of education, and there is an accounting of that somewheres... hmm

'There now!' he laughed, flicking at their legs. 'Where there's a whip there's a will, my slugs. Hold up! I'd give you a nice freshener now, only you'll get as much lash as your skins will carry when you come in late to your camp. Do you good. Don't you know we're at war?'

When were they not at war?? Seriously, does this mean there was some kind of General Order, or a formal Declaration of War? When would this have happened? It does hint at the possiblity that there were times between war for them. What was that like? There is not much to go on, but it does nuance at the very least a line of communication from Barad Dur to the lives of the regular orc peoples. Couriers? Village elders? Town criers?

I'm not sure its a question of the Ring knowing what would happen at Mount Doom. It occurs to me that maybe, just as the Ring was 'intended' to be found by Bilbo , but not, as Gandalf says, by its Master, the Ring was not wholly in control of its own fate. Is it not possible that the Ring was drawn back to the Fire, by some other will - that of Eru?

Aye

But it seems to me that knowing is not something the Ring can do

Perhaps it behooves us to recall that the Ring is the servant not so much of Sauron but of the story, and that it will "know," "inspire", "intuit" what is needed for the story to reach its eucatastrophic climax and denouement rather than 'obey' any internal consistency of characterisation.

Yes and yes. If anything is implied, its that the ring (not by its own will) is growing in power as it comes closer to both it's makers: Sauron and Mt Doom, in a literal, physical sense. Of course, we cant separate power from evil when it comes to the ring. So by conjecture, the evil is growing as well. If that makes any sense at all....