The Uruk-Hai

Great chapter, although it was distressing to watch poor Pippin and Merry so mistreated. :-(

The Orcs are pretty horrible-sounding creatures. Charly made an interesting point in his comments yesterday:


For a little of that pre-history you love so much ;-) orcs are a creation of the great evil "lord" Morgoth - who was Sauron's master. He bred orcs in mockery of elves, in fact he used captured elves that he tortured and twisted into these evil beings.


!! That's abominable!! I hope we don't see -that- bit of pre-history in the movie.

I like Pippin more and more. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I had to laugh at his recollection of the fight:


Merry and he had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight, and had tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands. Good old Merry!


Resourceful of Pippin to leave his brooch for Aragorn to find, and to try to take advantage of Grishnakh's obvious greed, and amusing that he'd imitate Gollum's trademark mutter.

I enjoyed the further insight into hobbit psychology:


They turned and walked side by side slowly along the line of the river. Behind them the light grew in the East. As they walked they compared notes, talking lightly in hobbit-fashion of the things that had happened since their capture. No listener would have guessed from their words that they had suffered cruelly, and had been in dire peril, going without hope towards torment and death; or that even now, as they knew well, they had little chance of ever finding friend or safety again.


That paragraph captures so well a truth I'm only now beginning to understand: hobbits are definitely more complex and of tougher stuff than they first appear.

Looking forward to the next chapter...

[Previous entry: "Two Towers: BOOK III - Chapter 2"] [Next entry: "Two Towers: BOOK III - Chapter 4"]

Posted by Ioreth @ 2001 May 19 08:20 AM EST

Merry and Pippin even managed to have an enjoyable meal within earshot of a battle. It's like Frodo resisting the Morgul knife for much longer than most men would have. Life in the Shire may be soft but hobbits aren't, which augers well for Frodo and Sam too.

Posted by Robert @ 2001 May 19 08:39 AM EST

regarding the hobbits:
there is this quote from the Lord of the Rings where one of the characters [i can't remember, it's been so looong since i last read the trilogy] says that (and i misquote!)help might come from those that are weak even as the wise stumble. correct me please!

anyway, my point is that for me this is exactly one of the key themes of the book- how the unimportant hobbits, disregarded by the good and the evil alike can disrupt the balances, defy the powers, and thus change the world. *sigh* call me romantic if you like but l iove that. and debbie, be sure that the hobbits will amaze you with their development. i can't wait you to reach my favourite parts of the Return of the King [and no, i'm not talking of the ending as you'd obviously expect!]

Posted by yiorgos @ 2001 May 19 09:28 AM EST

Deb agreed it would be fun to share an appropriate sound clip with the folks reading here:

Debbie and I belong to a filk group called Urban Tapestry along with our friend, Jodi Krangle (filk, for those of you who might not know, is the music of the sf/fantasy fan community). All three of us sing, I play the guitar and Debbie plays guitar, flute and percussion within the group (she also plays piano, penny whistle and harp and Jodi plays piano, too).

One of the songs we perform a lot is a song by our friend, Scott Snyder, called "Lady of the Wood". The song is about Galadriel, but since I was the only one of the three of us who had read "Fellowship of The Ring" until recently, I was the only one who could appreciate that :). We have been singing the song because we like the lyrics and music, but it makes me happy that Debbie will get more out of performing the song from now on since she has named Galadriel her favorite character in
"Fellowship".

You can listen to a verse and chorus of "Lady of The Wood" at http://www.musesmuse.com/ladyofthewood.ram . You'll need a RealPlayer audio program to hear it. That's Scott Snyder playing guitar, Jodi singing soprano, me singing alto and Debbie playing the flute.

It's the only LOTR song in our repertoire right now, though Debbie keeps insisting she's going to write more Tolkien songs eventually. I haven't decide if this is a happy or scary thought yet :). We'll see how the rest of the journey goes...

Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 19 09:47 AM EST

As others have pointed out, one of the pleasures of LOTR is that, each time you read it, different ideas or characters catch your fancy. Last time, I found myself watching Merry, a character that had seemed uninteresting to me in the past. He is the most subtly drawn of all the hobbits, seeming almost distant and remote, especially in comparison to extroverted Pippin. But still waters run deep, and his capacity for loyal devotion is very touching to me. I imagine him having had a very cool, formal relationship with his aristocratic father, which would explain developments to come. In other words, he is the one I personally relate to the most. So...keep your eye on him! He rewards close attention.

Frodo is the hardest character to warm to, because saints and martyrs are by definition beyond the understanding of normal people; and he does emerge as something very close to a saint, it seems to me.

Posted by Paul Mendenhall @ 2001 May 19 10:11 AM EST

I really enjoy reading your comments, Debbie! As so many other people have said, it's like experiencing the books again for the first time.

I'm also amused by what seems to be your most frequent comment:

"If anything happens to , I'm going to be really upset".

Posted by Andrew @ 2001 May 20 02:47 AM EST

Just wanted to say that this, for some reason, is my favorite chapter of the whole work. I don't know, I just find it really exciting, and there's something so immediate about Merry and Pippin's situation. Also, this is the first time that they actually get to prove themselves in some way, instead of merely being smart alec-y bystanders (I do love their wit and charm and good nature, 'though). Also, I find the Uruk-Hai fascinating. I love their language and am forced to read it out loud when I get to this chapter (I know, even though they are mainly using the Common Speech, they use some names and words in Orcish). I have a similar reaction to the scene much later in the Dark Tower. Somehow, it's just really thrilling to see little Merry and Pippin thrust in this dangerous situation and trying to escape.

Posted by Massive D @ 2001 Jun 01 05:40 PM EST

This is so much fun to read. You're really starting to get into it now and your enthusiasm is contagious. I am re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re(you get the idea)-reading the books and I get something new each time, but alas! Never again will I get the joy of reading it the first time. I ENVY you.

Posted by GEM @ 2001 Jul 05 03:19 AM EST