LotR -- Book 5 - Chapter 05 - The Ride of the Rohirrim

[Lhunardawen]

Firefoot: You're most probably right. This chapter is just so beautifully poignant that over-analysis can ruin its magic.

And you've just done an over-analysis of the text, kiddo.



The first thing that struck me here is Merry's selflessness.

Poor Pippin, shut up in the great city of stone, lonely and afraid. Merry wished he was a tall Rider like Éomer and could blow a horn or something and go galloping to his rescue.

I'm quite sure a lot of kids have wished they could be something, but mostly for their own benefit. Merry here mirrors the sentiment of a child who wishes to be like someone else - someone he obviously admires though not explicitly stated - not so he could have renown and glory, but to save his friend. How swoon-worthy is that? Not again...

I have to admit I have never exactly been a fan of the Wild Men. Sure, I appreciated all their help, but I did not find them very much worthy of attention. After reading the chapter again, I finally found why you people hold them in such high esteem. But I noted a difference between them ('fauna') and the Ents ('flora'). The Ents had a direct participation in the War by attacking Isengard, while the Wild Men refused to do any such thing. Is this due to a certain degree of bitterness they felt towards the Men? (I would say that this same feeling of bitterness had a part in driving the Ents to fight Saruman.) Or does it have something to do with the nature of their people?

Again, the Wild Men are also a bit reminiscent of the Dead. It was Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, who summoned the Dead - who themselves were once Men, but now bereft of restful peace and dignity. They were recalled on oath, and unless they fulfill it the peace they desire would continually elude them, which is possibly why they finally came when Aragorn summoned them.

The Wild Men, on the other hand, were under no oath; in a sense, they are a free people, having no imposed ties with anyone else. How they came to meet with Theoden and the Rohirrim I haven't found in the book, but they seem to be creatures feared yet hunted. The Rohirrim asked for their help, which they have freely given (though not in the way the Horsemen requested), and were willing to be killed if they failed. (Does this constitute an oath?) They expressed intense hatred towards Orcs, a reason for them to agree to help. But in one sense they also have this similarity with the Dead:

'Then you will kill gorgûn and drive away bad dark with bright iron, and Wild Men can go back to sleep in the wild woods.' (Ghân-buri-Ghân) (italics mine)

Finally, this chapter (in some way) foretells the manner of Sauron's downfall:

'Even in this gloom hope gleams again. Our Enemy's devices oft serve us in his despite. The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us.' (Éomer)

And later:

But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw.

Like unto the master is the servant, eh? (Many thanks to Nilp for that. )