Let's Read Tolkien 49: The Road to Isengard

So it was that in the light of a fair morning King Théoden and Gandalf the White Rider met again upon the green grass beside the Deeping-stream.

After the battle, Gimli and Legolas are reunited and get to compare scores; Gimli wins by an orc. Gandalf announces he is heading to Isengard, and of course everyone wants to go with him. To get there, they ride through the new woods that showed up during the night, for which Gandalf has disclaimed responsibility. Legolas is fascinated by the forest, and Gimli wants to tell him all about the Glittering Caves in Helm's Deep, and launches into a surprisingly lyrical account of how wonderful they are. They agree that after the war, Legolas will go and see the Glittering Caves with Gimli, and the swarf will join the elf in visiting Fangorn.

On their way, they spot an ent seeing to the trees, and Théoden marvels at it, remarking on how the Rohirrim have become too inward-looking, not caring about either the putside world or their past. This turns into a very important exchange that captures the sense of pervasive sadness that resounds throughout the Lord of the Rings:

"Yet also I should be sad," said Théoden. "For however the fortune of war shall go, may it not so end that much that was fair and wonderful shall pass for ever out of Middle-earth?"

"It may," said Gandalf. "The evil of Sauron cannot be wholly cured, nor made as if it had not been. But to such days we are doomed. Let us now go on with the journey we have begun!"

As they go on, they reach the fords of the Isen, where they find the flow of the river reduced to a trickle, and a burial mound for the fallen men of Rohan created by the Ents. A long description of Saruman's fortress of Isengard follows: a tall tower, surrounded by a courtyard and a ring-wall. But when the King's company arrives, they find Isengard laid to waste, with the Isen dammed inside its walls, and the former gate guarded by two hobbits, one smoking and the other asleep: Merry and Pippin. After they've introduced themselves to Théoden and discussed pipeweed with him, the king and Gandalf set off to find Treebeard, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli stay behind to catch up with the hobbits.

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This is kind of an interval chapter after the dramatic battle of Helm's Deep, but the exchange between Gimli and Legolas, for example, is great stuff. Théoden's lament on the provincialism of Rohan is reminiscent of Tolkien's description of the Shire.

Finally, there's an odd little tidbit here. At the very end of the chapter, Gandalf says to Théoden: "For Treebeard is Fangorn, and the eldest and chief of the Ents, and when you speak with him you will hear the speech of the oldest of all living things."

Remember Tom Bombadil? This is what he had to say about himself:

"Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn." (my italics)

Most likely, this is a simple lapsus by Tolkien, but if we accept it as true, is either Gandalf or Tom lying? Unlikely. The best explanation would seem to be that Tom isn't a living being. Work that into your theories!

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Next time: a picnic.