Revelations and Vulnerabilities

In the chapters “Strider” and “A Knife in the Dark,” the whispers and rumors of the prior chapter bloom into bold assertions and dramatic revelations.  It is fitting that such things happen here, in Bree, which represents a kind of crossroads between the worlds of humans and hobbits.




Aragorn – going under the name of Strider – gets a double reveal.  Gandalf’s letter serves as a kind of herald for this king in exile, and contains the memorable poem that includes these lines:

             All that is gold does not glitter,

                 Not all those who wander are lost;

             The old that is strong does not wither,

                 Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Shortly after, Aragorn reveals his true name, in one of the most dramatic lines of the entire book: “I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.”  The absence of Gandalf only heightens the tension, of course – the hobbits’ fate rests largely in the skill and goodwill of this man.

By the beginning of the next chapter, the Ringwraiths are becoming more assertive and menacing.  The narrative surprisingly returns to Crickhollow, where one of the Riders pounds at the door of the “red herring” house where Fatty Bolgar is staying.  “Open, in the name of Mordor!” cries the Wraith.  It’s not clear how much Fatty knows, but many in Middle-earth would have recognized the name of that place.  The Rider might as well have said, “Open, in the name of the Devil!” 

What is fascinating about Aragorn and the Riders, at this point in the story, is that they both hover between great power and significant fragility.  Aragorn has been roaming the wilderness as a mistrusted Ranger… with a broken sword.  He and the hobbits will spend most of the “Knife” chapter essentially “on the run,” hiding from and trying to outmaneuver the wraiths.  The Ringwraiths, likewise, though clearly very dangerous, are not automatically deadly.  Merry faints in the presence, but lives.  And even Fatty Bolgar manages to escape them back at Crickhollow.

It is partly because the Ringwraiths are not all-powerful juggernauts that they are also so enigmatic and intriguing.  The blow on the house’s door is “soft but heavy.”  The voice that calls out is “thin” as well as “menacing.”  To assault crowded places openly is “not their way” for “their power is in terror.”  Likewise, Aragorn is so interesting and appealing because he is both powerful and vulnerable, confident yet (at least in his Strider guise) unassuming and vaguely mischievous.  By the end of “A Knife in the Dark,” these two forces – Aragorn and the Ringwraiths – are tested against one another.

 

Image: Arthur Rackham

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ring62.jpg