[davem]

I don’t know where to start with this chapter, so I may as well do what I usually do & just go with the scenes that made the strongest impression on me.

I think the first one was:

For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog.

This is odd in itself - why does Sam see Frod in that way? Is it the effect of the Ring - ie is Sam picking up on what Frodo could become if he took the Ring - ‘a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord’? or is he somehow picking up on thee deeper, spiritual changes Frodo is going through, as he becomes increasingly like a ‘clear glass shining with an inner light:

'Still that must be expected,' said Gandalf to himself. 'He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can.'

Can’t remember if anyone pointed out that that description of Frodo is virtually a description of the Phial he now carries. It is (perhaps ?) significant that at this moment Frodo bears both the Ring & the Phial of Galadriel, the source of greatest evil in Middle earth & the source of the purest Light, that of the Silmaril of Earendel.

But the other thing that struck me was the similarity of Sam’s ‘vision’ here & that of Legolas’ ‘vision’ of Aragorn:

Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for they had not seen him in this mood before. He seemed to have grown in stature while Eomer had shrunk; and in his living face they caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown.

The two great heros of the two parts of this second volume are seen by their closest companions in remarkably similar ways - both are ‘seen’ to have ‘grown’ & suddenly seem to reveal a hidden light. Of course its interesting that they are seen that way as the result of a ‘confrontation’ with another - in the case of Aragorn it is the confrontation with Eomer which ‘sparks’ Legolas’ vision, in the case of Frodo it is the confrontation with Gollum. In both cases it happens when the ‘hero’ asserts his ‘lordship’. In other words, both Aragorn & Frodo are revealing something of themselves to those with eyes to see it. Perhaps more significant in this context, both of them carry an ‘sacred’ Elvish object given them by Galadriel - Aragorn has the Elessar, Frodo the Phial. They both carry objects ‘out of the Elf country’.

Which brings me to Frodo’s ‘blindness’ :

Frodo was calling with a weak voice. He was not actually very far away. He had slid and not fallen, and had come up with a jolt to his feet on a wider ledge not many yards lower down. Fortunately the rock-face at this point leaned well back and the wind had pressed him against the cliff, so that he had not toppled over. He steadied himself a little, laying his face against the cold stone, feeling his heart pounding. But either the darkness had grown complete, or else his eyes had lost their sight. All was black about him. He wondered if he had been struck blind. He took a deep breath. 'Come back! Come back!" he heard Sam's voice out of the blackness above. "I can't," he said. "I can't see. I can't find any hold. I can't move yet."

& its ‘cure’ when Sam lowers the Elven rope to him:

The darkness seemed to lift from Frodo's eyes, or else his sight was returning. He could see the grey line as it came dangling down, and he thought it had a faint silver sheen. Now that he had some point in the darkness to fix his eyes on, he felt less giddy. Leaning his weight forward, he made the end fast round his waist, and then he grasped the line with both hands.

This rope seems more than just ‘soft, strong & very, very long’ it seems to have some kind of healing power, but of a spiritual kind. It seems Frodo’s sudden blindness was not physical but ‘psychological’ - one is reminded of the kind of hysterical blindness some of the soldiers on the front in WWI suffered. This rope seems to bring light into the darkness of Frodo’s world. It is all the more significant in this context that it has the opposite kind of effect on Gollum - ‘It burns, it freezes’. If we are to attribute the power of healing to the rope should we not also attribute to it the power to hurt? Perhaps Gollum really is harmed by the rope & the Lembas. If so, what does that tell us about the nature of things made by Elvish hands?

Finally, another occurance of ‘sanwe’?

Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another's minds. Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.

What are we seeing here - Frodo & Gollum seem in very close accord if they can do that. One can only speculate - along the lines of Lalwende’s recent thread, that there may be some effect of the Ring which increases the capacity of Osanwe between its bearers