Elizabeth
Gondolin
Oct 16 2008, 6:47am
Views: 1305
|
|
Denethor and Tolkien are nothing if not subtle.
|
|
|
The night he was using the Palantir, desperate for news and frantic with grief over Faramir's condition, *was* the night Frodo was in captivity. Tolkien carefully arranged it that way, making (according to HoME) several adjustments in the timeline to achieve this. Every one of Denethor's despairing remarks is consistent with knowing that Frodo (and, it's only natural to presume, the Ring) are captured -- falling just short of actually saying so.
Denethor is 'round the bend, and hates Gandalf anyway. He has no motivation to pass along important intelligence. He's just taking personal satisfaction in gloating.
You're quite right, Gandalf would indeed have been knocked for a loop if Denethor had spelled it out. I wonder what would have changed.
The Rohirrim, by Peter Xavier Price
Elizabeth is the TORnsib formerly known as 'erather'
(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Oct 16 2008, 6:49am)
|
