With the attention of the Dark Lord turned to outside his borders, Sam and Frodo make their way across the treacherous terrain of the Gorgoroth. Here, at the end of their journey and with no hope of return, the two hobbits resolve themselves for the final steps to Mt. Doom. [More] …Spoilers
Day: September 12, 2003
“Here at the end of all things….”
With the attention of the Dark Lord turned outside his borders, Sam and Frodo make their way across the treacherous terrain of the Gorgoroth. Here, at the end of their journey and with no hope of return, the two hobbits resolve themselves for the final steps to Mt. Doom. Now is Sam’s finest hour, forsaking food and water for his master, while determinedly making way for a destination he has no idea how to find. [More]
“Here at the end of all things….”
With the attention of the Dark Lord turned outside his borders, Sam and Frodo make their way across the treacherous terrain of the Gorgoroth. Here, at the end of their journey and with no hope of return, the two hobbits resolve themselves for the final steps to Mt. Doom. Now is Sam’s finest hour, forsaking food and water for his master, while determinedly making way for a destination he has no idea how to find.
With each step, the growing weight of the Ring becomes a burden and a torment to Frodo, until he loses strength for anything beyond mere endurance. Sam now carries Frodo part of the time, and the hobbits cast aside all but the most necessary gear in an effort to lighten their load.
Some way up the mountainside the hobbits are waylaid by a desperate and dangerous Gollum. Sam strikes Gollum to the ground, but in pity spares his life. Continuing on their way, at long last the Ringbearer enters the forges of Sauron. There, upon the edges of the pit, Frodo stunningly renounces his goal: succumbing to the power of the One Ring and declaring himself Ringlord in the heart of Sauron’s realm.
As Sauron becomes instantly aware of the threat within Mordor, from the shadows Gollum attacks again. Biting Frodo’s ringfinger off, Gollum dances around in brief triumph before stumbling into the fires of Orodruin, still clutching the Ring.
How does this chapter reveal Sam’s growth since setting out from Rivendell? How does pity and mercy ensure the success of the quest? Did Frodo fail the quest? And finally, what do you think about the tragedy of Smeagol?
Join us in #thehalloffire as we debate RoTK Book 6, Ch 3: Mount Doom.
Upcoming Topics:
September 20-21: The relevancy of Tolkien to the 21st century.
September 27-28: RoTK Book 6, Ch 4: The Field of Cormallen
October 4-5: Leaf by Niggle
Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net.
Athelas writes: The Friday NY Times, “The Annual Fall Preview” has a special “Spotlight on the Lord of the Rings.” Not only are the recent articles on Viggo & ROTK reprinted, you’ll also find the original NY Times book reviews of The Hobbit (1938), and each successive book of the trilogy. WH Auden reviewed FOTR in 1954 and ROTK in 1956, his reviews are incredibly insightful and moving. [More]
Publisher says The Lord of the Rings game wasn’t shaping up as strongly as anticipated. Vivendi Universal Games today confirmed it was ceasing development of Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard for Xbox and PlayStation 2. The title was in development at Surreal Software, the studio currently at work on the action horror game, The Suffering. [More] [Gaming Havens]
The world has Loch Ness, The Yeti, UFO’s, Bigfoot and more. But LOTR fans and aficionados alike have ‘Bush’s Ring’, ‘That Hobbit Trailer’, ‘The Aragorn Question’ and more! Check out this little feature we like to call ‘LOTR Urban Legends’ [More]
Update: What about the “Tehanu is really Orlando Bloom” urban legend? I must be getting a dozen “Dear Orlando you are the best elf” emails a week! Nobody’s explained that one yet. – Tehanu