LOTR Read-Along: The Fellowship of the Ring: A Knife in the Dark

A lot happens in this chapter! The evil of Sauron is beginning to seep into the once safeguarded borders of the Shire. The ever watchful and quick thinking Brandybucks (Merry's family), sound the alarm warning all the hobbits that evil is approaching. Soon all of the Shire is awake with the sound of horns and alarms and the little folk successfully banish the Black Riders from their land, if only for a little time. 

The Nazgul eventually track down the hobbits in Bree, but now having Strider with them, the hobbits escape and continue to make for Rivendell. While under Aragorn's protection, the hobbits face little to no trouble. As the chapter progresses, the hobbits get to learn more about Strider. Although he still conceals himself, he tells them that he is friends with elves and spends a great deal of time in Rivendell. He recounts the Elvish legend the love story of Beren & Luthien. The hobbits soon realize that trusting Strider with them was a gamble worth taking. 

They finally make it to Weathertop, an old abandoned fortress that is roughly the midway point to Rivendell. However, the Black Riders find them and Frodo-either out of fear or the presence of evil-slips the Ring onto his finger. Instead of Riders in black, he sees gray old men, with twisted faces and swords and knives. Out of bravery or stupidity or fear, Frodo tries to attack his enemy only to be stabbed by one of their deadly knives.

This was a great chapter. The beginning with the hobbits sounding the alarms to scare off the Nazgul was epic in every sense and I would have loved to have seen it in the film. Strider himself is a wonderful character. He's warm, protective and patient with the scared small folk. He seems to genuinely enjoys the hobbits and doesn't find them a nuisance at all. Strider tells them stories to calm their fears and to be wary of what they say, as they never know what ally of the enemy could be watching. The man just exudes Dad Energy!

The weight and power of the Ring is definitely beginning to bare down on Frodo. Why he put it on, I'm not sure, but for that small brief moment, he truly witnessed the uncovering of the enemy. They are men, now deformed and broken. With no free will and constant loyalty to this ever growing evil. Yet, even when faced with evil, Frodo still attempts to fight back. He proves to posses a courage and will that he himself may not have been aware of. 

Heidi's Questions:

• Got a bunch of links for you today! Here's one for Tolkien reading Gil-galad was an Elven-king. And the Tolkien Ensemble's version of it here. It's so sad and wistful, but that's not a bad thing and I've come to like it, especially the second half. I also just ran across this interesting version

It was so cool listening to Tolkien's reading. He has an amazing storytelling voice! And the ballad song was lovely. The music itself reminds me of The Misty Mountains Cold from The Hobbit.

• And Aragorn's Lay of Beren and Luthien from the TE (one of my favorites <3). I'd love to hear what you think. If you like it, there's a kinda sweet mix for it here. And again, the great man himself reading it here. (I'm not sure I'll include the Tolkien links every time -- there're just so many(!) -- but if you follow through to the channel and play lists etc. you can see all of them.)

I love in the beginning of the music video where how it's edited to make it look like Aragorn is reading the story/poem to the hobbits!! And of course, Tolkien's reading is mesmerizing. 

• Have you read The Silmarillion?

No. I'll probably read it afterward The Lord of the Rings, but I've heard it can be a difficult read.