LotR -- Book 3 - Chapter 08 - The Road to Isengard

[Tuor of Gondolin]

A brief comment for now:

This is also one of my favorite chapters, along with The Shadow of the Past, The Council of Elrond, And the chapter with Theoden's speech and charge.
When reading it I have to have a plate of bacon, fried pork roll, some crusty Italian bread (nicely buttered) and a bit of beer, for when the Three Walkers meet Merry and Pippin and get some nice snacks. (One of the nice movie bits are the shots of hobbits preparing food in FOTR). Although it's always seemed a bit out of character for Strider to stay with them rather then going immediately to meet Treebeard.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by davem

WE learn a lot about Saruman in this chapter. We learn his true desire, & all his clever philosophising in his talk with Gandalf is exposed. He wants to be Sauron

This is where we finally hear the narrator's absolute word on Saruman, and he tells us that he was indeed trying to be like Sauron. Until now, we've only heard via the voices of other characters what Saruman is all about. We've heard what Gandalf has to say about him at the Council of Elrond, and we accept this because we have grown to love and trust Gandalf, both through The Hobbit and the early chapters of LotR. We also see something of Saruman's nature through the actions of Grima, and reports of his raids on Rohan. Then we see a little more of this to devastating effect at Helm's Deep. But it is not until now that the narrator steps in and tells us what he is like. And we still haven't even heard Saruman speak for himself.

This is wonderful character building, and dare I say it, Saruman comes across as far more sinister than Sauron because of this. He has met and dealt harshly with one of our most loved characters, and several other characters have had dealings with him. These are real, tangible events, unlike the dark, slightly mysterious psychological effects which Sauron has on his enemies. I also think it is testament to Tolkien's writing that he can have us invest so much in characters like Gandalf and Theoden, that we are prepared to believe that what Saruman has done to them is diabolical, even though we have never yet 'met' with this character. This all sets the scene perfectly for The Voice of Saruman, as we have heard all these tales, and now we have had the narrator himself step in and tell us just how terrible he is.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I think Davem is on to something:

There has been a battle of men against monsters, against the 'darkness' personified, but there has been another battle, a mythical battle of the trees & the forces which seek to wipe them from the earth. Its as if these two battles eched each other, or perhaps its the same battle taking place on two planes - the mundane & the supernatural - simultaneously.

Perhaps the battle of the trees is one instance of the general progression from the mundane to the mythic and supernatural that dominates the early pages of the story? I would definitely agree that the Ents and Huorn are mythic but they are not the only glimpses we get of this other plane.

We begin in the Shire, a thoroughly mundane world. Throughout the early chapters of the book, but especially in Lorien, we gain small glimpses of the Elvish connection with the mythic, as reflected in Galadriel or her Phial and its tiny sliver of a Silmaril. Yet we are still in the world of manlike beings and recorded history.

Sauron’s forces actually benefitted from the power of the “mythic” or “supernatural” long before Frodo and company did. The Barrow-wight and the Nazgul, and even more the Watcher in the Water and the Balrog, push the story back to the edge of legend. To me, creatures like the Watcher or the Balrog are more than mere "monstors". The two are as much part of myth, and are just as alien to Man, as would later be true of the Huorn. Whether these various creatures were intentional or accidental allies of Sauron is not always clear, but they all had personal reasons for supporting the cause of the dark shadow. The same (in reverse) will also hold true for the Ents and the Huorn.

By the time the group reaches Moria, all traces of the mundane world have been stripped away but the members of the fellowship have yet to tap into anything remotely as powerful or as mythic as the Balrog. Frodo carries the Phial, for example, but does not see a use for it yet. The climax of all this is the seeming end of hope with the death of Gandalf by a 'supernatural' creature.

I don’t think it’s coincidental that the return of Gandalf coincides with the emergence of the Huorn and the Ents, in effect the release of the mythic for the benefit of the ‘good guys’. What happened to Gandalf can only be described as “mythic” –certainly far beyond anything we understand of the mundane world. The transformed Gandalf is, I think, the catalyst for drawing the mythic plane into closer alignment with the natural one. This chapter, ‘The Road to Isengard’ chronicles that shift, showing how mythic creatures like the Huorn and Ents bring their strength to bear against Saruman. How ironic that Saruman should be destroyed by the very “mythic” forces that he gave such little credence to, preferring to manufacture his own modern versions of 'old' things.

Gandalf’s words to Theoden suggest that, even at this point in the story, Men have serious difficulties recognizing supernatural aid. The istar points out that young children in Rohan would probably have done a better job than the King in recognizing the Ents for what they really are :

‘You should be glad, Théoden King,’ said Gandalf. ‘For not only the little life of Men is now endangered, but the life also of those things which you have deemed the matter of legend. You are not without allies, even if you know them not.”

There is another irony here. Just at the point when Tolkien gives us our first clear glimpse of the mythic rising up against the “modern” villain Saruman, we are reminded that the realm of the supernatural is being shut off from Man, and will no longer be accessible to us. Theoden’s reply to Gandalf concerning this withdrawal is among the most poignant in the chapter, as is the King’s earlier reference to the difficulties of his old age. Both passages reinforce the reality that Man lives in the mundane world, is subject to the ravages of time, and is lucky to get even the tiniest glimpse of the mythic:

Theoden on old age: ‘My men are weary with battle,’ said the King; ‘and I am weary also. For I have ridden far and slept little. Alas! My old age is not feigned nor due only to the whisperings of Wormtongue. It is an ill that no leech can wholly cure, not even Gandalf.’

On the withdrawal of the ‘magic’: ‘Yet also I should be sad,’ said Theoden. ‘For however the fortune of war shall go, may it not so end that much that was fair and wonderful shall pass forever out of Middle-earth?’

Strange…..but the older I get, the wiser Theoden seems.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Before I turn the page to the next chapter, I would like to mention how much I enjoy the ending of this one - it's so very hobbity!

'So that is the King of Rohan!' said Pippin in an undertone. 'A fine old fellow. Very polite.'

The preceding pages also have such wonderful humour - Merry's high-falutin' language, used with tongue in cheek; Gimli's "torn between rage and joy"; Théoden's 'It cannot be doubted that we witness the meeting of dear friends" - all bring welcome yet subtle comic relief into the story. (...too subtle for the movies, apparently. )

[Lalwendë]

"For one thing," said Theoden, "I had not heard that they spouted smoke from their mouths."

"That is not surprising," answered Merry; 'for it is an art which we have not practised for more than a few generations. It was Tobold Hornblower, of Longbottom in the Southfarthing, who first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens, about the year 1070 according to our reckoning. How old Toby came by the plant ..."

'You do not know your danger, Theoden," interrupted Gandalf. "These hobbits will sit on the edge of ruin and discuss the pleasures of the table, or the small doings of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and remoter cousins to the ninth degree, if you encourage them with undue patience. Some other time would be more fitting for the history of smoking

And another favourite bit for me is the attempted discourse on the history of smoking. This was to have been much longer but eventually found its way into the foreword, but its one of those pleasant diversions that the Hobbits often provide us with, as though Tolkien had himself stopped for a smoke at this point.

[Lathriel]

So Theoden comes to promise Merry he will hear more about pipeweed later on.

I think it is sad that Merry and Theoden never get the chance to talk about it.

I always thought that they would get a chance to talk so when Theoden dies it came as a shock to me. (It still does when I re-read LOTR which is weird since I know he is going to die)

[Formendacil]

Although I argued, only a thread ago, that the denouément of Book III doesn't come until after "The Voice of Saruman," there is nonetheless something of a denouément feel to "The Road to Isengard," coming as it does after the heights of "Helm's Deep." If the plot is a series of peaks and valleys, this chapter is a valley rather than a peak.

Nonetheless, it is laden with some of the most beautiful parts of the entire book. Both Gimli's description of the Glittering Caves and his pact with Legolas could be mentioned here, or the mystery of the wood, or the description of Isengard. I would also include the passing of the wood back to Fangorn past our company--a passage I don't recall noting before.

Originally Posted by Tuor of Gondolin

Although it's always seemed a bit out of character for Strider to stay with them rather then going immediately to meet Treebeard.

I think Tuor has a point here, though I'm not going to characterise it as "out of character." Rather, I think that, left to his own devices, Aragorn probably *would* be more curious to go and meet Treebeard. The fact that he does not do so is a revelation of character. After pursuing the Hobbits across Rohan and into Fangorn, Aragorn still has a "duty" to the Fellowship (as we see in the next chapter, not necessarily an unpleasant duty). It's sort of like a father taking off time from work when something major and ambitious is being tackled to see a child's ball game: the investment of his time in a personal matter when there is something major tugging at him demonstrates the importance he places on the personal relationship.