Boromir and his search for Rivendell - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

William Cloud Hicklin · 05-17-2009, 01:02 PM

The problem with the Palantir is that you have to know where to look

Try this: my house is in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. Now, find it in Google Earth.

Elmo · 05-17-2009, 01:16 PM

My gosh, you live in hovel

The Mouth of Sauron · 05-17-2009, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

The problem with the Palantir is that you have to know where to look

Try this: my house is in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. Now, find it in Google Earth.

Is that the house with the 9 horsemen peering at it from across the river ?

Inziladun · 05-23-2009, 05:29 PM

I don't think the Last Homely House or even the valley in which it lay were in sight of the Ford of Bruinen.

Quote:

(Frodo) knew of nothing that would prevent (the Black Riders) from crossing as easily as he had done; and he felt that it was useless to try to escape over the long uncertain path from the Ford to the edge of Rivendell.

FOTR Flight To the Ford (emphasis added)

If Rivendell had been that near and in sight, surely Frodo would have made an effort to ride there on the horse, and why would not Elrond or Gandalf have sent more Elves to assist, or even come themselves?

Kuruharan · 05-24-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

and why would not Elrond or Gandalf have sent more Elves to assist, or even come themselves?

We don't know exactly what the process of commanding the ford or adding white horses to the flood entailed so it may have been they were required to be elsewhere...but I think you are right that Rivendell wasn't close to the ford.

William Cloud Hicklin · 05-25-2009, 01:02 PM

I would point out that when Boromir left MT, months before, there weren't any Black Riders peering over the Ford!

The Mouth of Sauron · 03-31-2014, 07:57 AM

Come to think of it, once Boromir lost his horse at Tharbad, if he'd followed the road (the Greenway) he'd have arrived at either Sarn Ford or Bree, and from either of those places got a fresh horse and proceeded to Rivendell. Surely he would have bumped into Rangers or travelling Elves to direct him?

Inziladun · 03-31-2014, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Mouth of Sauron

Come to think of it, once Boromir lost his horse at Tharbad, if he'd followed the road (the Greenway) he'd have arrived at either Sarn Ford or Bree, and from either of those places got a fresh horse and proceeded to Rivendell. Surely he would have bumped into Rangers or travelling Elves to direct him?

He doesn't seem to have made it to Bree, because at Rivendell the sight of Hobbits Frodo and Bilbo surprised him. Bree would have introduced him to "Halflings" already.

Also, I think he only knew that Rivendell was near the western side of the Misty Mountains, north of Moria. Since it was obviously in existence before the founding of Gondor and Arnor, that much at least was probably still known to some there. With that knowledge, there would have been no reason for him to have continued up the old road to Bree, even if he had known about the little town. And on his road in the wilderness between Tharbad and Rivendell, there was very little chance of meeting Elves or Dúnedain.

William Cloud Hicklin · 03-31-2014, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

We don't know exactly what the process of commanding the ford or adding white horses to the flood entailed so it may have been they were required to be elsewhere...but I think you are right that Rivendell wasn't close to the ford.

Which is made clear in The Hobbit, Chapter 3. It also wasn't easy to find.

According to Tolkien's notes it was "28 miles (by road 30)" from the Ford to Rivendell.

Pervinca Took · 03-31-2014, 01:58 PM

30 miles! I didn't realise it was that far. I suppose Glorfindel must have galloped the rest of the way with Frodo on Asfaloth, then ... a few more hours and he would have been beyond their aid, Gandalf said.

William Cloud Hicklin · 04-01-2014, 08:35 AM

You don't gallop a horse for thirty miles- at least not a real-world one. Just the mile-long sprint to the ford would have blown him!

G in fact tells Frodo that "Elrond's folk met [Aragorn and Glorfindel], carrying you slowly towards Rivendell."

05-17-2009, 01:02 PM	#1
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	The problem with the Palantir is that you have to know where to look Try this: my house is in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. Now, find it in Google Earth. __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

05-17-2009, 01:16 PM	#2
Elmo Pittodrie Poltergeist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: trying to find that warm and winding lane again Posts: 633	My gosh, you live in hovel __________________ As Beren looked into her eyes within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies he saw there mirrored shimmering.

05-25-2009, 01:02 PM	#6
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	I would point out that when Boromir left MT, months before, there weren't any Black Riders peering over the Ford! __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

03-31-2014, 01:58 PM	#10
Pervinca Took Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Treetops, C/O Great Smials Posts: 5,035	30 miles! I didn't realise it was that far. I suppose Glorfindel must have galloped the rest of the way with Frodo on Asfaloth, then ... a few more hours and he would have been beyond their aid, Gandalf said. __________________ "Sit by the firelight's glow; tell us an old tale we know. Tell of adventures strange and rare; never to change, ever to share! Stories we tell will cast their spell, now and for always."

04-01-2014, 08:35 AM	#11
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	You don't gallop a horse for thirty miles- at least not a real-world one. Just the mile-long sprint to the ford would have blown him! G in fact tells Frodo that "Elrond's folk met [Aragorn and Glorfindel], carrying you slowly towards Rivendell." __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

03-31-2014, 07:57 AM	#7
The Mouth of Sauron Wight Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Barad-Dur Posts: 196	Come to think of it, once Boromir lost his horse at Tharbad, if he'd followed the road (the Greenway) he'd have arrived at either Sarn Ford or Bree, and from either of those places got a fresh horse and proceeded to Rivendell. Surely he would have bumped into Rangers or travelling Elves to direct him?