[davem]

This is a long chapter & will probably take some unravelling. I have to say that, as I usually do, I read through the relevant section of HoMe first, & was struck by a few things, some of which seem relevant to our understanding of this chapter.

Now, before anyone accuses me of contradicting other statements I’ve made recently, about simply reading the story & entering into it without analysing it, pulling it apart, or seeking external explanations, I’ll say I’m only using these quotes because they seem to me to shed light on the story itself.

First of all, a note by Tolkien regarding Denethor’s attitude to Gondor, which seems to back up Boromir’s post:

In the margin of the page that bears this passage my father wrote:'For his wisdom did not consider Gandalf, whereas the counsels of Denethor concerned himself, or Gondor which in his thought was part of himself'. There is no indication where this was to be placed, but I think that it would follow 'Pippin perceived that Gandalf had greater power, and deeper wisdom- and a majesty that was veiled.'

Now, while this statement didn’t make it into the final text, I think it sums up Denethor’s attitude to his realm. He has come to identify himself with Gondor - indeed, he sees it as less than himself - it is merely a ‘part of himself’. I think this statement gives us an important key to the understanding of his character. Its not simply that he believes that if Gondor falls so will he (which is pretty certain) but that he believes that if he falls then so will Gondor. But ‘Gondor’ in his mind isn’t simply the land, it is also the people - including his own sons. He has become the ‘head’, the land & people his body. He rules the land as he rules himself. I can’t help feeling that this hubris is what brings about his despair in large part. He knows Sauron is winning the battle of wills fought via the Palantir, feels himself about to be overwhelmed, & he translates this as being the same thing as Sauron being about to overwhelm Gondor itself - which may or may not be true, but in Denethor’s mind there is no difference. If he himself is beaten, Gondor is beaten.

This also plays a part, I suspect, in his attitude to Aragorn, & the possibility if his claiming the Kingship. Denethor can only see this possibility as his own defeat & overthrow, & therefore as the defeat & overthrow of Gondor itself. It seems to me that Denethor’s sitting in the throneroom, armed & armoured, but refusing to go out, is not merely his attempt at self preservation; its as if he feels that while he himself is safe & secure then Gondor, by extension, will be safe & secure as well. He can even ‘spend his sons’ because, while he loves them, they are not Gondor.

Another thing I picked up from HoMe, which may or may not be applicable, was a statement from the ‘proto-Beregond’:

Many other pencilled alterations were made to this part of the mauscript, mostly to clarify the writing, which is here rather rough. Among these the following may be noted: as Beren and Pippin sat on the seat beside the battlement Beren said: 'We thought it was the whim our lord to take him a page boy', and this was changed by the addition of 'after the manner of the old kings that had dwarves in their service, if old tales be true.'

What’s interesting here is that Tolkien uses the idiosyncratic ‘dwarves’, not dwarfs, so he’s clearly referring to members of the dwarven race, not to ‘short’ humans. This is such an odd idea, because even though his concept of the dwarves evolved over the years, there was never any point in the writings where dwarves would have been concieved as serving as pages to humans. My own feeling on reading this was that Tolkien was making a double point here - first, that the lore of Gondor is in decline, & ignorance of other races is growing. The Gondorians are not simply ignorant of Hobbits, but of Dwarves as well. Second, it shows there is doubt about the veracity of ‘old tales’. Now, in this case, that doubt is correct, but later, in the case of Ioreth, we will see that it is not. In short, the Gondorians retain ‘old tales’, but have an ambiguous relationship to them. Some old tales are true, some are false, some are pure fantasy, but they don’t seem to be able to distinguish which is which anymore. In fact, for all their ‘learning’, they seem to be as ignorant of the world beyond their time & borders as the Rohirrim, & we can understand Faramir’s mourning for the past greatness of his people.