LOTR Read-Along: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Ring Goes South

So now that Frodo has volunteered to take the Ring the rest of the way to Mordor, guess what we get to do?

I hate guessing games, but this one is merited. 

Just one guess.

On little teeny, tiny, guess.

Oh, yes! We get to...

WAIT!

There it it! There's the magical answer!

We get to wait.

And wait and wait and wait. They wait for for the rest of the Ringwraiths to be found and after several weeks and most have been accounted for, Elrond gives the green light to go. Originally it was going to be just Frodo and Sam. Then Gandalf said he would come, Merry and Pippin eventually weaseled their way in and Elrond chose the rest. Because all of Middle-Earth was bound to the fate of the Ring, all peoples' should take part in its journey. He chooses Gimli to represent the dwarves, Legolas for the elves, and Aragorn and Boromir for the race of men.

For Aragorn this is a personal journey. Aragorn as the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor has waited many years to wage war on Sauron. For centuries, Gondor, home to Aragorn and Boromir has been under constant attack from Mordor. Now, by taking the Ring to Mordor with hopes of destroying it, can Aragorn finally take back his rightful place as King of Gondor. He has re-forged the Shard's of Narsil, his ancestor's sword that slew Sauron. Narsil now becomes Anduril and Aragorn starts his journey to returning to his families' long awaited throne. 

The Fellowship finally sets off amid great fear, trepidation and certainly a great amount of uncertainty. Most of them knowing full well that Sauron and Sarumon's forces aren't too far in front or behind them. After being attacked by odd crow-like creatures called crebain Galdalf tries to take the company over the mountains of Caradhras. However, the mountains prove to be just as treacherous and deadly.

This was a good chapter. We get to delve into the personalities of each member of the Fellowship, some quite open, while others preferred to be closed off. Both Gimli and Legolas give some interesting histories of their people and Gandalf is forever at the forefront, making the decisions, but not unless he's had input from everybody. He clearly values Aragorn's opinions and not just as a friend, but also as a Ranger who knows the dangers of the wilds. 

Heidi's Questions:

• Personally, I actually love the idea of the storm coming from Caradhras itself, but what do you think caused it?

In the movie, the storm was caused by Sarumon which prompted a pretty epic battle between him and Gandalf, even though they are miles away from one another. At this point in the story, nothing is by coincidence. Any event that comes in the way of the Ring and its journey to Mordor somehow has either the handprint of good or evil upon it. 

• And where do you think the birds are coming from?

Once again, in the film the crabain were spies for Sarumon and seemed to have the 'flying monkeys' vibe from The Wizard of Oz.