Enchanted Stream

[Tuor in Gondolin]

It is possible to hypothesize the stream was enchanted by
a few of the nazgul, on orders and directions from Sauron,
as part of a plan to isolate the elves (and collaterally the men
of Laketown) as part of a plan to prevent northwestern M-E collaboration
in defense. The stream to the west, giant spiders et. al. to the south,
Smaug to the east, and orcs in the mountains north of Mirkwood
would isolate the strongest single force in Rhovannion (the wood
elves of Thranduil). The stream's purpose could be seen not as an
absolute barrier but rather as akind of speed bump, together with
harassing evil creatures lurking around it. (All them eyes at night! )

[Gwathagor]

Personally, I doubt that anybody enchanted the stream at all. You might say that the presence of magical beings in the forest rubbed off on the stream, but I doubt it was anything that direct in Tolkien's mind. The Hobbit is much more of an old faerie story than LotR (which is more complex and mythological), and in faerie stories things frequently do not have any clear reason for the way they are.

Tolkien's thought process probably went something like this: Elves and other magical creatures live in the forest. Therefore, it is a magical forest. Therefore, the stream in the forest is magical.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

Personally, I doubt that anybody enchanted the stream at all. You might say that the presence of magical beings in the forest rubbed off on the stream, but I doubt it was anything that direct in Tolkien's mind. The Hobbit is much more of an old faerie story than LotR (which is more complex and mythological), and in faerie stories things frequently do not have any clear reason for the way they are.

Tolkien's thought process probably went something like this: Elves and other magical creatures live in the forest. Therefore, it is a magical forest. Therefore, the stream in the forest is magical.

I'm slowly coming around to a course parallel with Gwathagor's.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Basically, I would agree with Gwath as well. At least I am strongly opposing any idea that there was any evil being behind the forest river's enchantment. The magic just seems more "elvish" (not in the sense that it would necessarily have to be made by Elves, but as the type of good or light-and-shade magic of Middle-Earth). It has obviously all the qualities Tolkien ascribes to Faërie, and to the Elves (see On Fairy-Stories), this kind of enchantment which is dangerous to mortals and stuff like that, also similar to what happened to Thingol when he met Melian and stuff like that. So, in other words, I believe that if the Stream was enchanted by anybody in particular, it had to be the Elves, or some local not-directly-evil power, like some local Bombadil or even better some local River's Daughter (how fitting indeed! After all, we don't know about the hidden corners of Middle-Earth, do we, and somebody like that would fit here really well!!! And you may try to disagree!!!).

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

I believe that if the Stream was enchanted by anybody in particular, it had to be the Elves, or some local not-directly-evil power, like some local Bombadil or even better some local River's Daughter (how fitting indeed! After all, we don't know about the hidden corners of Middle-Earth, do we, and somebody like that would fit here really well!!! And you may try to disagree!!!).

The enchantment could also have been there for quite a long time, and who's to say Bombadil or Goldberry themselves didn't live in that part of Mirkwood at one point? Gandalf said Bombadil had 'withdrawn' into the Old Forest, indicating he once could have lived elsewhere.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

The enchantment could also have been there for quite a long time, and who's to say Bombadil or Goldberry themselves didn't live in that part of Mirkwood at one point? Gandalf said Bombadil had 'withdrawn' into the Old Forest, indicating he once could have lived elsewhere.

Of course it's possible, but really, why are we always limiting ourselves so much? I mean, of course we are not supposed to make it a Dungeons&Dragons setting and fill the map with spiders' lairs in every forest and dragons in every cave from Lindon to Rhun (let us leave that for the creators of LotR computer RPG games who actually need to do that in order to cope with the expectations of their genre), but why to think of Bombadil - or Goldberry, which seems a bit more illogical by itself, as she seems to be one of the many River's Daughters, and she seems to be this River's Daughter - and especially if the enchantment has been there for a long time, who knows how many Melians have traveled Middle-Earth in its early days, and how many other spirits unknown wandered there in these immesureable halls of Arda! That's nothing against you, Inziladun, but I feel like I should say this - in opposition to all the raving fanfiction-madness, there is the opposite extreme of making Middle-Earth a mechanised world which is cathegorised and there is basically nothing unknown for us inside it. While the opposite should be true! Why not to give our imagination the space, here, where it is appropriate and not forced at all (in contrary to, in my opinion, forcing for example Bombadil or another known creature there and filling it with "the known" just for the sake of filling it)? "And the world being after all full of strange creatures beyond count" (LotR Prologue).

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

I feel like I should say this - in opposition to all the raving fanfiction-madness, there is the opposite extreme of making Middle-Earth a mechanised world which is cathegorised and there is basically nothing unknown for us inside it. While the opposite should be true! Why not to give our imagination the space, here, where it is appropriate and not forced at all (in contrary to, in my opinion, forcing for example Bombadil or another known creature there and filling it with "the known" just for the sake of filling it)? "And the world being after all full of strange creatures beyond count" (LotR Prologue).

Well, certainly in this case (and in many cases while discussing these works) nearly anything is possible. However, the rather distinct nature of my makeup forces me to focus on the likeliest explanations first, even though they may not be correct . In any case, I think Gwathagor probably has the right of it here.
But if you're going to speculate on other possibilities, what is there to work with but the known quantities in the books? Imagination can't be allowed too free of a rein. Otherwise, we might say Hobbit-legend was correct about the Tooks, that one had indeed 'taken a fairy wife', and that one of them had enchanted the stream back when Hobbits lived near the Anduin.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

It is possible to hypothesize the stream was enchanted by
a few of the nazgul, on orders and directions from Sauron,
as part of a plan to isolate the elves (and collaterally the men
of Laketown) as part of a plan to prevent northwestern M-E collaboration
in defense. The stream to the west, giant spiders et. al. to the south,
Smaug to the east, and orcs in the mountains north of Mirkwood
would isolate the strongest single force in Rhovannion (the wood
elves of Thranduil). The stream's purpose could be seen not as an
absolute barrier but rather as akind of speed bump, together with
harassing evil creatures lurking around it. (All them eyes at night! )

The stream emanating from the Mountains of Mirkwood, the Necromancer might have been behind it, but what of the pleasant dreams of Bombur, as noted by the earlier posters? Would 'magic' which had its source in Sauron have been able to foster any good feeling in its victims? Maybe earlier on Sauron's incarnations, but by the Third Age I would doubt it.
Maybe the stream had something to do with the spiders? Being the (probable) offspring of Shelob, herself the child of Ungoliant, a likely Maia, they might have had the power to enact something like that. It would make for an easy meal, and maybe the boat was placed by the Necromancer's servants to enable them to cross when necessary. Maybe Orcs from Mt. Gundabad? That still wouldn't explain Bombur's nice dreams though.

x/d with Gwath, who may well be right. But then again, it is fun to conjecture about things like this.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Very interesting idea about the spiders. But the pleasant
dreams could be a deliberate ploy by the spiders to lure
the victim into nonresistance and a disinclination to wake up.