And look! Faramir! While he's not a major favorite of mine, I've always had a fondness for him just because he's Boromir's younger brother. Now that Boromir's been gone, Faramir's been promoted to leading "in all perilous ventures" (p. 645). Good for him!
And didja notice that the guys with Faramir all have grey eyes? Yup, them too. Maybe it's a Dunedain thing?
Favorite Lines:
"Know, little strangers, that Boromir son of Denethor was High Warden of the White Tower, and our Captain-General: sorely do we miss him" (p. 641).
"Wise man trusts not to chance-meeting on the road in this land" (p. 644).
"May the light shine on your swords!" (p. 644).
To his astonishment and terror, and lasting delight, Sam saw a vast shape crash out of the trees and come careering down the slope (p. 646).
Possible Discussion Questions:
Do you like potatoes?
Yes, I do like potatoes...and I loooove this chapter! Through and through, it seems to be the one that always pops to mind whenever I think of the story. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIsn't just... a balm to the reading soul after all that grey gloom and doom of the last few chapters?
DeleteExactly! Balm is an excellent word... This whole bit is like a crystal refreshment in the midst of trial and struggle. Come to think of it, kind of like the satisfaction and re-invigoration/re-orientation of the Lord's Day in the midst of our often confusing and difficult lives. :-)
DeleteYes! A day of rest -- everyone needs one.
DeleteI do like potatoes. Though being Dutch and having a culinary traditional mum, we used to eat potatoes like at least 5 times a week when I was a kid. Now I live on my own it's down to 2 times a week.
ReplyDeleteI love 'May the light shine on your swords'. I don't remember it. Who says it? Might be a nice motto for the sword fighting club I'm attending (they all love LOTR as well, so)
Frodo says it to Faramir, when Faramir leaves Frodo and Sam with two guards and goes off to fight the Southrons. That's so cool you belong to a sword-fighting club!
DeleteYes, I think so to! It's great fun to revive such an old 'art' and it's really a sport to (got muscle aches after training sometimes...). Plus, the people I train with are really cool, all a bit geeky and we can talk about our favourite books and movies a lot!
DeleteThat's really cool. I would love to do something like that some day. Or learn to fence, even.
DeleteI always quite liked the idea of it, but it wasn't until I saw an add in my library about lessons very near my home that I decided to take 'the plunge'!
DeleteThis is a section where I far prefer the book to the movie. The movie always gets a bit weird here, and Faramir and company are a lot nicer in the book than the movie. I so love that Sam gets to see his Oliphaunt.
ReplyDeleteLines I loved:
"Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness."
"Gollum coughed and retched; but the hobbits breathed deep, and suddenly Sam laughed, for heart's ease not jest."
"He shook his head, as if finding words useless, and murmured: 'I love him. He's like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no.'"
And yes, grey eyes abound! :D
Yeah, in their desire to make Aragorn more specialer by having the ring tempt Faramir, the filmmakers drastically changed this section. And stopped Sam and Frodo from eating their herbs and stewed rabbit! Grr!
DeleteI haven't seen the movie...but oh, dear dear dear. How frightful! :-)
DeleteInteresting! Is that something said in the commentary? Cuz I never got the feeling that's why this section was different. I always felt this section was changed to give the Two Towers movie a dramatic finish, since they shifted Shelob to RotK, so without something new, there wasn't a big moment. The changes in the movie allow for a lot more conflict and shows off the Nazgul, etc.
DeleteNo, I don't remember them specifically saying that anywhere. In fact, I don't remember them explaining it at all. That's my own interpretation on the changes. When I first saw the movies and read the books, I had to deal with a lot of friends who were irate over the change in Faramir, and so that's the theory I developed.
DeleteIn the books, we see the ring affecting people a lot more than in the movies -- in the movies, it affects Boromir and that's about it, until ROTK. No one else is seriously tempted. So what's so special about Gandalf, Aragorn, and Sam, that they can turn it away, if everyone we meet can do the same? This Faramir dude is the same way, so is the ring really that powerful after all? But if Faramir is a little tempted by it, then Aragorn's way cooler cuz he was never tempted at all, and also Faramir gains points for not giving in to the temptation.