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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sat, 1:32pm
Post #26 of 27
(47 views)
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Today in Middle-earth
May 30, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf keeps the trolls arguing until dawn.
(determined from text – referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
...""No sooner did Tom see Balin come into the light than he gave an awful howl. Trolls simply detest the very sight of dwarves (uncooked)... ...before Balin, who was wondering where in all this commotion Bilbo was, knew what was happening, a sack was over his head, and he was down.
..."There's more to come yet," said Tom, "or I'm mighty mistook. Lots and none at all, it is," said he. "No burra-hobbits, but lots of these here dwarves... ...As each dwarf came up and looked at the fire, and the spilled jugs, and the gnawed mutton, in surprise, pop! went a nasty smelly sack over his head, and he was down. Soon Dwalin lay by Balin, and Fili and Kili together, and Dori and Nori and Ori all in a heap, and Oin and Gloin and Bifur and Bofur and Bombur piled uncomfortably near the fire...
......Thorin came last—and he was not caught unawares. He came expecting mischief, and didn't need to see his friends' legs sticking out of sacks to tell him that things were not all well... ...he jumped forward to the fire, before they could leap on him. He caught up a big branch all on fire at one end; and Bert got that end in his eye before he could step aside... ...Bilbo did his best. He caught hold of Tom's leg—as well as he could, it was thick as a young tree-trunk—but he was sent spinning up into the top of some bushes, when Tom kicked the sparks up in Thorin's face.
...Tom got the branch in his teeth for that, and lost one of the front ones... ...But just at that moment William came up behind and popped a sack right over Thorin's head and down to his toes. And so the fight ended. A nice pickle they were all in now: all neatly tied up in sacks, with three angry trolls (and two with burns and bashes to remember) sitting by them, arguing whether they should roast them slowly, or mince them fine and boil them, or just sit on them one by one and squash them into jelly: and Bilbo up in a bush, with his clothes and his skin torn, not daring to move for fear they should hear him....
......It was just then that Gandalf came back. But no one saw him. The trolls had just decided to roast the dwarves now and eat them later---that was Bert's idea, and after a lot of argument they had all agreed to it.
..."No good roasting 'em now, it'd take all night," said a voice. Bert thought it was William's.
..."Don't start the argument all over again, Bill," he said, "or it will take all night."
..."Who's a-arguing?" said William, who thought it was Bert that had spoken.
..."You are," said Bert.
..."You're a liar," said William; and so the argument began all over again. In the end they decided to mince them fine and boil them...
..."...No good boiling 'em! We ain't got no water, and it's a long way to the well and all," said a voice. Bert and William thought it was Tom's....
......And so the argument began all over again, and went on hotter than ever, until at last they decided to sit on the sacks one by one and squash them, and boil them next time.
..."Who shall we sit on first?" said the voice....
..."...Now stop it!" said Tom and Bert together. "The night's getting' on, and dawn comes early. Let's get on with it!"
..."Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" said a voice that sounded like William's. But it wasn't. For just at that moment the light came over the hill, and there was a mighty twitter in the branches. William never spoke for he stood turned to stone as he stooped; and Bert and Tom were stuck like rocks as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day all alone, unless the birds perch on them; for trolls... ...must be underground before dawn, or they go back to the stuff of the mountains they are made of, and never move again....
..."...Excellent!" said Gandalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo to climb down out of a thornbush. Then Bilbo understood. It was the wizard's voice that had kept the trolls bickering and quarrelling, until the light came and made an end of them....
......They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls' stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until hidden by bushes they came on a big door of stone leading to a cave.... ...among an untidy litter of plunder, of all sorts from brass buttons to pots full of gold coins standing in a corner. There were lots of clothes, too, hanging on the walls—too small for trolls, I am afraid they belonged to victims—and among them were several swords of various makes, shapes, and sizes. Two caught their eyes particularly, because of their beautiful scabbards and jewelled hilts.
...Gandalf and Thorin each took one of these; and Bilbo took a knife in a leather sheath. It would have made only a tiny pocket-knife for a troll, but it was as good as a short sword for the hobbit.
..."These look like good blades," said the wizard, half drawing them and looking at them curiously. "They were not made by any troll, nor by any smith among men in these parts and days; but when we can read the runes on them, we shall know more about them.""
We have been there and back again.
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sun, 1:10pm
Post #27 of 27
(21 views)
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Can we see the forest for the trees? Let's take a look at the Trollshaws.
...The Trollshaws are not identified by name in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, but the name and location are shown on the Map of the Trollshaws in Eriador in The Lord of the Rings drawn by Christopher Tolkien.
...The Trollshaws were along the East-West Road east of the Last Bridge and west of the Ford of Bruinen and Rivendell within the borders of Rhudaur.
..."They were the haunt of Trolls, especially after the fall of Arnor; Stone-trolls from "the mountains" came to the woodlands. This was the case of William who led Tom and Bert; having eaten a village and a half on their way, they complained about the scarcity of people in the area and instead had to make do with mutton. While they made their camp, they famously waylaid Bilbo and his companions who were on their Quest of Erebor. Thanks to the distractions of Gandalf, the Trolls were turned to stone by the Sun. Years later, Frodo and his companions traversed the woodland and found the Trolls' petrified forms on the way to Rivendell."
[From The Encyclopedia of Arda]
Etymology
... "Shaw is an archaic word meaning thicket, small wood, copse, or grove. The Trollshaws are referred to in the narrative as "the Trolls' wood. According to the Index of The Lord of the Rings the Trolls' wood is equivalent to the Trollshaws which means Trollwoods.
... The woods geographically belonged to where the ancient realm of Rhudaur used to be, and were perhaps named after it. The Sindarin name Rhudaur means Troll shaw.
[From The Encyclopedia of Arda] and [Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Index III, Persons, Places, and Things"]
Here are some Book Spoilers of other references to the Trolls' territory... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From A Short Rest: The Hobbit ... ""Let's get out of this horrible smell!" said Fili. So they carried out the pots of coins, and such food as was untouched and looked fit to eat, also one barrel of ale which was still full. By that time they felt like breakfast... ...being very hungry they did not turn their noses up at what they had got from the trolls' larder. Their own provisions were very scanty. Now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast in the embers of the fire."
... "Elrond knew all about runes of every kind... ...he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' lair, and he said: "These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. "
From Flight to the Ford: The Fellowship of the Ring ... "The hobbits were glad to leave the cheerless lands and the perilous Road behind them; but this new country seemed threatening and unfriendly... ...the hills about them steadily rose. Here and there upon heights and ridges they caught glimpses of ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look. Frodo... ...had time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo's account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Trolls' wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region, and wondered if by chance they would pass near the spot."
... "Outside the door they all halted. There was a cave or rock-chamber behind... ...in the gloom inside nothing could be seen. Strider, Sam, and Merry pushing with all their strength managed to open the door a little wider... ...then Strider and Merry went in. They did not go far, for on the floor lay many old bones, and nothing else was to be seen near the entrance except some great empty jars and broken pots.
...'Surely this is a troll-hole, if ever there was one!' said Pippin. 'Come out... ...and let us get away. Now we know who made the path--and we had better get off it quick.'
... 'There is no need, I think,' said Strider, coming out. 'It is certainly a troll-hole, but it seems to have been long forsaken. I don't think we need be afraid. But let us go down warily, and we shall see.'"
We have been there and back again.
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TIME - May 30
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