[00:00:00] I am reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, and I just finished a chapter where Frodo gets stabbed at Weathertop. And I have to say, everyone should have seen it coming. The foreshadowing is right there. As well as a few other things in this chapter that I want to talk about too. But before we go any further, make sure you subscribe because this channel is all about Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and Brandon Sanderson and Star Wars and all the other nerdy stuff that we love. So like the video and subscribe.
[00:00:28] And let me say another thing too. The one person that I haven't read yet, so this comparison might get thrown out the window when I start reading his work, is George R.R. Martin. I have seen Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and the one thing that seems like an absolute standard of his work, which kind of seems like it's transformed how people make television and movies lately, is that when everything seems to be perfect and all the characters are happy, get ready, because everything is going to get thrown out the window and it's all going to crap.
[00:00:55] Tolkien doesn't do that. Tolkien does something that's a little less jarring, but perhaps a bit more realistic and creepy. He slowly descends you into trouble and into the pain. He starts to give you hints of where things are going and starts to bring you slowly down the hill, holding your hand the whole time. This chapter, chapter 11 of Fellowship of the Ring, culminates and ends in Frodo getting stabbed and taking the ring off. It's scintillating. But the whole chapter is slowly beckoning you to believe that it is going to happen.
[00:01:26] It doesn't really seem to happen suddenly at all. You almost expect it, but it's still surprising at the same time. He is a master at foreshadowing big and small things. And I want to talk about four times in this chapter where things were masterfully foreshadowed. The first is the most obvious. It's, I believe, the first time that we've really left the side of Frodo in the whole tale. At least the first time we've left him during his journey.
[00:01:52] The beginning of this chapter is all about Fatty Bulger. Poor Fatty. He's living in the house that Frodo bought in Buckland and all of a sudden, he has this terrifying feeling like something is wrong during the night. Also, I want to make a quick note of this, but the very fact that the hobbits and maybe everyone who is in the presence of the ring race immediately feel sad and depressed and scary is a pretty terrifying thing. And I could write a whole essay on that and the other creatures and other stories that have something similar to them.
[00:02:19] But Fatty is about to go to bed when the story pivots and brings us outside where there is one ring wraith who stands by the door hidden in the shadows. And then another two ring wraiths who are on the side of the house seeing if he escapes. They wait for a few minutes before breaking down the door and finding... Nothing. Fatty ran out the back minutes before they even broke down the door because he just felt like something was off. The whole town of Buckland sounds the alarm, an alarm that hasn't been sounded in a hundred years, which is ominous.
[00:02:49] And then the ring wraiths run for the exits as fast as they can. Then we shoot back to Frodo's perspective. It's a little weird story that Tolkien decided to throw in and on its surface just feels like a quick update on Fatty. Which it is, but it's also a little arrow to show the reader that the ring wraiths are getting more serious about finding the ring and finding Frodo. And they will do anything that they can to get this ring. They are so serious that they're willing to break into homes to find it, which might not sound very serious right now, but it's strange.
[00:03:17] It's almost like the creatures who are already driven into madness by the ring are now driven into madness by their desperation for the ring. They've started to show how much more dangerous they can be because before all this, all we got were some looming figures trying to follow Frodo. Now we see that they are breaking into houses and even in the previous chapter, they are releasing all the horses and ponies so they can find Frodo much easier. It's scary work.
[00:03:43] But this chapter being titled A Knife in the Dark is misleading because you kind of think that it might just be talking about this story with Fatty. But it's just a small little story that is going to lead to a larger story of Frodo being stabbed at Weathertop. The second instance of foreshadowing of Frodo getting stabbed is a joke in the text that Aragorn takes very seriously. This is what the book says. Next morning, they set out again soon after the sunrise. There was a frost in the air and the sky was a pale clear blue.
[00:04:13] The hobbits felt refreshed as if they had a night of unbroken sleep. Already, they were getting used to much walking and short commons. Shorter at any rate than one in the Shire, they would have barely thought enough to keep them on their legs. Pippin declared Frodo was looking twice the hobbit that he had been. Very odd, said Frodo, tightening his belt, considering there is actually a good deal less of me. I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith.
[00:04:40] Do not speak of such things, said Shryder quickly, and with surprising earnestness. It's a small little line, but it just puts something in the mind of the reader about Frodo becoming a wraith. So that when he gets stabbed by the Morgul blade, you look back at that line and think Frodo as just kind of like an accidental prophet. But it's masterful work by Tolkien here too in just giving a reader a small hint or image in our brain of Frodo becoming a wraith.
[00:05:05] I have to admit too, because I don't really know the rest, this Morgul blade might not actually transform into a wraith. So I kind of just assumed that from the movies. It might do something else. Not sure, but those are the two bits of brilliant foreshadowing that I saw on this chapter for Frodo being stabbed. Now, there are two more that I want to talk about that are good lines mixed with good foreshadowing. The first, or I mean the third, I guess, is the story of Aragorn. And the story that he tells about Tenuvial and Beren.
[00:05:33] It's a story about an elf woman who gives up her mortality because she loves a man. And the whole story is amazing. There's actually a moment when Tenuvial goes into the dungeons of Sauron and frees Beren. It's crazy. I want to know more about this story. So much more. So please let me know in the comments all the details about this story. If it's not spoilers, obviously.
[00:05:54] But I love the extra tidbits of lore that Tolkien has and that he's been giving here because it's really kind of feeling like he's putting in a lot of the work and he's already built this realm out so much before he even got started writing Fellowship of the Ring. It seems like everyone has a backstory or a history to them, which makes it very fun reading for all the little rabbit trails you can go on.
[00:06:14] And also, and I was thinking about writing an essay on this initially, but Aragorn is performing a masterclass in keeping the hobbits' minds busy so that they don't dwell on misery and the fear of the race. I could talk about this for a while, but as someone who has brought groups and friends into the woods for backpacking trips, what he is doing is absolutely essential to keep the morale up and to not have them in the throes of despair. But back to Beren and Tenuvial.
[00:06:40] Still, this is obvious foreshadowing because I'm guessing, and we haven't seen Arwen in the books yet, but it's between Arwen and Aragorn. I think it's a larger story and a legend and I love, love that Aragorn sings it here for the Hobbits because you can just tell that Aragorn lives by this legend. He tells them that it's less beautiful in the common tongue than it was when it was written, but still, Aragorn seems to have this longing and desire already. And it's shown in the songs that he sings.
[00:07:09] And the final bit of foreshadowing is less of foreshadowing and more of a wake-up call for Frodo. It's such sage and brilliant advice from Aragorn, but it's also so simple too. It's in the moment when Frodo is freaking out that the ringwraiths are coming when they see them from a distance.
[00:07:54] The book says, This is so good. I love this line so much because Frodo, in a moment of panic like this, needs an emotional slap in the face and a calming message. And Aragorn recognizes something in Frodo which is evident in the beginning of the book, but Frodo tends to move toward being a martyr. In that, he tends to want to save his friends from trouble and pain, therefore he goes off on his own and into isolation. This question of Frodo seems like that as well.
[00:08:22] Where he is telling the group that he is going to go away because then at least his friends might be saved. But Frodo is also scared and seems to lose all hope. The two things Aragorn say to him are perfect. He needed to hear that. He needed to hear that there was always hope and that Frodo is not alone. Ugh. I am just loving Fellowship here.
[00:08:47] I mean, we're not even at the point where they build a Fellowship, but already this feels like a close and tight-knit crew. Like these friends are helping each other exactly where they need help. It's a group of friends that knows each other better than the individuals know themselves. And I am loving this story so much right now. It is such a masterpiece of literature and just life. And Tolkien employs not only a mastery in writing and world-building, but wisdom too.
[00:09:15] Which is a very rare combination for an author to have. Anyway, make sure you subscribe and like the video too as I'm reading through Lord of the Rings and publishing my thoughts on every chapter. So subscribe and I'll see you in the next one.