📖👀 The ⚔️Battle of the Pelennor Fields

[m4r35n357]

Another retrospective addition: Hurin the Tall, Warden of the Keys, was there with Imrahil's horsemen.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

The alliteration is strong in this one.

Tolkien makes good use of alliteration throughout the story but it is as if he poured all his love for and knowledge of medieval epic poetry and prose into this climactic chapter. But it is not particularly near the end of the book as readers will clearly see.

First Tolkien reminds us that the witch king is no mere orc-chieftain: it isn't over till it is over. Having charged through the orcs like a knife through butter, Theoden faces the chieftain of the Haradrim with his black serpent on a red background in such contrast to Rohan's white horse on green. But in this moment of triumph, the witch king on his fell beast (like a giant vampire bat) causes beautiful Snowmane to rear up in fear and is tragically killed by a black dart (from a Southron?) and falls on Theoden becoming "Theoden's bane".

The Lord of the Nazgul lands to finish the job but does not reckon with Dernhelm who has stuck close to Theoden even though being attached to Elfhelm's force.

'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye

It's remarkable how close this is to Eowyn's stated fear of being shut up in a cage for, surprise of surprises, Dernhelm is in fact Eowyn who can defy the "no man can hinder me" prophecy. Eowyn swiftly lops off the head of the fell creature who was digging into poor Snowmane with his claws. Her mare Windfola had thrown Eowyn and Merry who was now crawling around on all fours. The witch king smashes Eowyn's shield with his mace but look behind you witch king as Merry strikes into the back of his leg using the blade of a former enemy of the Lord of the Nazgul taken from the barrow on the Barrow Downs. Eowyn finishes the job with a thrust into the gap between his crown and mantle. Thus died the witch king of Angmar, slain by Eowyn daughter of Eomund and Meriadoc Brandybuck son of Saradoc Brandybuck.

Merry hears Theoden's dying words who dies gloriously unlike a certain Steward of Gondor. Theoden has the strength to name Eomer as his successor, who has time to compose a brief poetic epitaph for his uncle. He then sees his prone sister who he presumes is dead and is fired to cry "death take us all" as he re-enters the fray. Merry is left blinking "like an owl in the daylight for tears blinded him". Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, uses his burnished vambrace (armour for the forearm) to show that Eowyn is not dead. The king and Eowyn are borne from the field but others are gathered away from their enemies and protected by spears as the battle rages on.

Horsemen from Gondor have joined the fight but all seems lost as the black sails of the Corsairs of Umbar are seen - they clearly have a fearsome reputation. Eomer rallies his forces for one last stand, but instead of Corsairs the ships hold Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, the northern Rangers and forces from rural Gondor. Arwen's banner is seen to good effect. Eomer and Aragorn meet on the battle field in great contrast to how they left each other only a few days earlier.

All or nearly all their foes are killed with only a few fleeing though Tolkien emphasises that the Southrons, the Easterlings and the Variags of Khand fought bravely. "No few had fallen, renowned or nameless, captain or soldier; for it was a great battle and the full count of it no tale has told"

The chapter ends with a poem listing the dead including Guthlaf (Theoden's banner bearer), Grimbold and even the dour-handed Ranger Halbarad. There is so much beautiful language in this chapter and my favourite is:

Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane's Howe, but ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was burned

Wow!

 

[Vardarianna]

When I read the names of those who fell in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields I get all teary-eyed.

 

[Starbrow]

While reading this chapter, I was struck by how Tolkien described the deaths in the battle. I'm used to reading about battles that focus on the main characters and what happens to them. The paragraphs and lament at the end of the chapter emphasizes that many people died in the battle, and gives them names to help make them more real. Without having to go into gory detail, he stresses the awfulness of war.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

The Iliad names many warriors who have been killed istr.

 

[Elthir]

This chat reminded me of Alice Oswald's Memorial.

I only own three copies so far: a "regular" softcover to take the brunt of most of my reading, a signed hardcover for looking at, and a signed special edition hardcover, for special reading and looking at.

"Alice Oswald’s Memorial names itself a version, an excavation, of Homer’s Iliad. In her introduction, she advises the reader: “I write through the Greek, not from it—aiming for translucence rather than translation.” In this version of the Trojan War, Oswald beams light on and through the names of 200 men killed in the war." Poetry Foundation

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