Re-reading the Lord of the Rings, Chapter 45
At the center of this chapter are of course the oathbreakers, but before I consider them, I shall clarify something.
Éowyn's (in)famous words are to be spoken like this (full length, half length)
The final parting then finds her with the humbleness of a child.
But now on to the oathbreakers. Tolkien made a very peculiar choice here, for he could have simply let Aragorn rally all the people from Gondor's coast, who stayed to defend their land from the Corsairs, instead of coming to Minas Tirith' help, making use of the Palantír, striking where it counts.
Instead all this symbolism. The Stone of Erech, like a bigger Palantír, and the Dead as those only the King can rally.
It is of course possible that even Tolkien had pacing issues here and didn't want to include a real campaign in the south and everything that goes with it and thus substituted the Dead for the rural reserve. But if we take the story at face value, what does it tell?
Cursing people isn't benign, forcing them into servitude isn't either, so for the first time we see a likeness of methods between Gondor and Mordor. But these are probably not just any people. Númenor had colonies in the east and these colonists, like the majority in Númenor itself, started to worship Sauron. The Corsairs of Umbar seem to be of that sort, and the Dead as well. Why else would the Stone of Erech have been brought there?
It must be a reminder of some sort of what had happened in Númenor. Now, the Valar themselves stroke Númenor down for that and it would have to be considered an act of mercy not to include the colonists in the punishment - an act of mercy that the Dead betrayed.
The issue might be framed in terms of passage of seniority. The Dead hold on to an older regime than that of the Kings of Gondor, whose house has risen in rebellion as well, like all the institutions of a mortal race that is prone to decay. Winning over the Dead thus seals an ancient breach of authority and elevates Aragorn in seniority over Isildur himself and in particular over his local rival Denethor, the idea being that every new era must reshape the divisions of mankind.
Éowyn's (in)famous words are to be spoken like this (full length, half length)
Neither have those others who go with thee. They go only because they would not be parted from thee – because they love thee.at very high speed and not like in the film
because they love theeadagio paced - no, it's presto furioso.
The final parting then finds her with the humbleness of a child.
But now on to the oathbreakers. Tolkien made a very peculiar choice here, for he could have simply let Aragorn rally all the people from Gondor's coast, who stayed to defend their land from the Corsairs, instead of coming to Minas Tirith' help, making use of the Palantír, striking where it counts.
Instead all this symbolism. The Stone of Erech, like a bigger Palantír, and the Dead as those only the King can rally.
It is of course possible that even Tolkien had pacing issues here and didn't want to include a real campaign in the south and everything that goes with it and thus substituted the Dead for the rural reserve. But if we take the story at face value, what does it tell?
Cursing people isn't benign, forcing them into servitude isn't either, so for the first time we see a likeness of methods between Gondor and Mordor. But these are probably not just any people. Númenor had colonies in the east and these colonists, like the majority in Númenor itself, started to worship Sauron. The Corsairs of Umbar seem to be of that sort, and the Dead as well. Why else would the Stone of Erech have been brought there?
It must be a reminder of some sort of what had happened in Númenor. Now, the Valar themselves stroke Númenor down for that and it would have to be considered an act of mercy not to include the colonists in the punishment - an act of mercy that the Dead betrayed.
The issue might be framed in terms of passage of seniority. The Dead hold on to an older regime than that of the Kings of Gondor, whose house has risen in rebellion as well, like all the institutions of a mortal race that is prone to decay. Winning over the Dead thus seals an ancient breach of authority and elevates Aragorn in seniority over Isildur himself and in particular over his local rival Denethor, the idea being that every new era must reshape the divisions of mankind.
Eingetragen Am/um
11:09
