Odds and Ends about LOTR

Here are a few of the many things that I have marked since the hobbits left the shire. Many I am not even bothering with here, but some of them I thought some of us might want to discuss.

About Glorfindel and the power of the Shire:

" 'Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes. Indeed there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while and elsewhere other powers still dwell. There is power, too, of another kind in the Shire. (Italics added) But all such places will soon become islands under siege if things go on as they are going. The Dark Lord is putting forth all his strength. "

What does he mean by "the power of the Shire?"

About Frodo, as he recovers from his encounter with the ring-wraiths in Rivendell:

Gandalf notices that there seemed to be little wrong with him, but there was just "a faint change, just a hint as it were of transparancy, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet."

Gandalf tells Frodo, "You had already become visible to them, being already on the threshold of their world."

How Celebrimbor, the Elven smith, became aware when Sauron forged the Great Ruling Ring in secret, and caused the Three (Elven Rings) to be hidden.

This little verse, which hints at so much:

Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.

I believe Frodo heard this verse in a dream. At that instant, at the counsel, Aragorn threw the broken sword on the table, and said, " 'Here is the Sword that was Broken!' "

About Gollum, when it is revealed that he has escaped from the Wood Elves:

" 'Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf. 'We have no time to seek for him again. He must do what he will. But he may
play a part yet that neither he nor Sauron have foreseen.' " (Italics added)

Just little tidbits that I marked as I read because I found them interested.

Any comments?

[This message has been edited by LTBF (edited April 18, 2001).]

The point was also made somewhere that the rangers, of which Strider (Aragorn) was one, had been keeping watch over the Shire, since the nine had been riding.

But I think the secret of the Shire is something else. You may have hit on it: the basic incorruptability of its denizens and/or its essential decency and goodness.

Is there something else? Will we learn about it further down the road?

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!

Bob, you clearly hit on an idea that I went all around but did not recognize. When I went back and read the things I had quoted, I saw it immediately.

I was especially struck by the fact, when they were in the Old Forest, some power seemed to always turn them in a certain direction, and that direction led them to Tom Bombadil.

There definitely is a very moral tone to the book, whether it is religious or not. And I agree that I see no overt references to religion. What I do see are literary allusions that are clearly Biblical in nature.

ROLL TIDE FOREVER!