LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 02 - The Council of Elrond

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Very interesting thoughts on the nature of fragmentation and unity at the council – but an interesting point in response is that there are no women at the council, and yet by the end of it, the talk comes round to unanimity amongst the men: some may not be very happy with the decision to throw the Ring into the fire (Boromir), but all agree that this is the course of action to undertake.

I read this chapter as an exercise in comparison between Frodo and Boromir. Both of them have had long journeys to Rivendell, and both have been “called” by the same event – Isildur’s Bane has been discovered. No other person is there for this precise reason (the hobbits have come for love of Frodo, Aragorn to protect Frodo and achieve his own success thereby): only Frodo and Boromir have come in direct response to the Ring’s re-emergence in history (even Gandalf is there to explain Saruman and the threat that he poses). This is only apt insofar as the Fellowship will be broken when Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, of course.

Boromir’s and Frodo’s manner and tone at the council could not be more different. Boromir boasts about the greatness of his land, and of his own prowess as a warrior and leader. Frodo feels how small his land is – if still precious to him – and how weak he is. Boromir brags about the difficulties he came through (a lost horse and getting wet…poor dear). Frodo lets others praise him for his heroic effort in surviving the Black Riders, and is even a little embarrassed by their praise. Boromir wants to keep the Ring, Frodo wants to give it up. Most importantly, however, Boromir is sure of what should be done, Frodo is not. It’s with this relationship that the role and nature of “counsel” is really brought out in this chapter. As has already been noted, this whole chapter is one long discussion about what to do, but this is far from the only example of such events in Middle-Earth. The heroes all “take counsel” before any important decision – it’s the evil characters who do not “take counsel” and decide for themselves (and others) what will be done. In this, Boromir’s reluctant acceptance of the council’s decision is telling: he has within him the same high-regard for his own opinion as does Sauron and Saruman, but he is sufficiently aware of his duty to accept the decision of the council.

Frodo is an interesting mirror of this. He accepts the decision of the counsel, but he is – like Boromir – unsure of that decision. Not that it isn’t the right one, but he has (understandably) great reservations about the decision with regards to himself. Like Boromir, he is forced into a position in which he undertakes a journey that is not the one he wants to undertake. Of course, the crucial distinction between these two is in their sense of which way to go: Boromir is certain of the path they should take – to Minas Tirith. Frodo, famously, “does not know the way.”

It’s in this “taking counsel” that I think Tolkien demonstrates a mode of heroic action and even of wisdom that is rare, even in his imitators. The decision to undertake the quest to Mount Doom is not one that a single person comes up with and then convinces the others is best. It is a decision jointly achieved by the group. This is far more than a ‘consensus building exercise’ by a committee, though. Instead, it is a group of divided peoples who through discussion, dialogue and disagreement manage to find their way to wisdom – this is the precise opposite of Sauron who decides for himself (and others) what wisdom will be. Saruman too.