![]() ![]() Sam: Why haven't you spoken of this before?!įrodo: Are you saying there's another way into Mordor? And the Precious is wanting to go back to him, but we musn't let him have it.įrodo tries to go, but Gollum prevents him. Gollum: No! No! No master! They catch you! They catch you. It also lightens his oppressed mind and heart, freeing him to act.įilm scene, continued: Gollum says there is another way. Whether it's because Sam helped Frodo see the humour in something again, or because the rhyme reminded him of the Shire-or both-hearing the rhyme seems to ground Frodo, reminding him where he's come from and why he's there. Well, Sméagol, the third turn may turn the best. But we’ve not just our own tired legs, that’s all. ‘Then we’d break a way into this evil land, perhaps. ‘I wish we a had a thousand oliphaunt with Gandalf on a white one at their head,’ he said. He laughed in the midst of all his cares when Sam trotted out the old fireside rhyme of Oliphaunt, and the laugh had released him from hesitation. Poor Frodo! But how perfect that the burden should finally lift when he sees Sam reciting the old Shire rhyme about the Oliphaunt.įrodo stood up. Which way should he choose? And if both led to terror and death, what good lay in choice? But he had taken it on himself in his own sitting-room in the far-off spring of another year, so remote now that it was like a chapter in a story of the world’s youth, when the Trees of Silver and Gold were still in bloom. But for this choice he could recall no counsel….Īnd here he was a little Halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. He sat upon the ground for a long while, silent, his head bowed, striving to recall all that Gandalf had said to him. Maybe Frodo felt it, not knowing it, as he had upon Amon Hen, even though he believed that Gandalf was gone, gone for ever in to the shadow in Moria far away. This excerpt begins with the observation that Gandalf is at that moment standing amid the ruins of Isengard. In this passage, too, the reader is shown that deep in his heart Frodo had always known what his acceptance of Gandalf's commission would mean, as far back as Bag End. His head bowed on his knees, long he sits, desperate for advice, trying to think of everything Gandalf has ever said. How long and arduous is Frodo's decision making process, even after he has extracted a renewal of Gollum's promise and heard all about their intended route! However in need of haste, Frodo won't act until his mind is clear. Then comes a section that would be very difficult to dramatise, but which I love for the glimpse it gives into Frodo's thinking. Sam learns here that showing pity is not the same as being a fool or a push-over. I love, too, that it is made explicit that Sam, however wise he thought Frodo to be, thought Frodo blinded by his pity: "too soft-hearted". Again, I think this scene would have made great cinema. The intensity of Frodo's admonitions in this scene show how much it matters. It is a scenario to be avoided at all costs. Disaster for Frodo and for the Quest-not just for Gollum. What if it really should come to pass-the scenario Frodo presents to Gollum-Frodo putting on the Ring in the spirit of command, desperate to subdue Gollum? It would be disaster. ![]() This is Frodo speaking out of his mercy for Gollum. Gollum is being "twisted", Frodo points out to him, twisted at that very moment. Frodo here uses every argument to impress upon Gollum how close he is to being betrayed by the Ring into perfidy. He knows now what Gollum will be facing and how easy it would be for Gollum to slip as they get closer to the source of the Ring's power. This is Frodo grave and stern, but motivated by mercy. This scene is not like the one in the Emyn Muil in which Frodo, trying to extract a promise from Gollum for good behaviour, is perceived by Sam as like "a mighty lord" when he commands Gollum into submission, like a master standing over a whining dog. From his own visceral experience-the migraine-like beating of the Eye upon his mind and the intense downward pull of the Ring-Frodo knows how very slender is the thread of Gollum's accountability to his promise. In the journey over the Marshes it has become clearer than ever to Frodo what possessing and being possessed by the Ring might have been for Gollum. I love how wise and stern Frodo is with Gollum, and full of pity. More about the book scene (from The Black Gate is Closed).Īs I said in the previous post, the book scene for this section is very strong. In this scene, Frodo hears and follows Gollum's plea that they seek another way into Mordor, rather than attempt the Black Gate. ![]()
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