The Land of Shadow, part I – “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”

sador

sador

Half-elven
Pace
No time to introduce myself, or this chapter. Hurry!
Sam had just wits enough left to thrust the phial back into his breast. ‘Run, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘No, not that way! There’s a sheer drop over the wall. Follow me!’
Down the road from the gate they fled. In fifty paces, with a swift bend round a jutting bastion of the cliff, it took them out of sight from the Tower. They had escaped for the moment. Cowering back against the rock they drew breath, and then they clutched at their hearts. Perching now on the wall beside the ruined gate the Nazgul sent out its deadly cries. All they cliffs echoed.
In terror they stumbled on. Soon the road bent sharply eastward again and exposed them for a dreadful moment to view from the Tower. As they flitted across they glanced back and saw the great shape on the battlement; then they plunged down... they knew that the silence woul not last long. At any moment now the hunt would begin.
Lower down there is a bridge, flying from the Ephel Duath to the next ridge, the Morgai.
...With a desperate spurt Frodo and Sam dashed along the bridge; but they had hardly reached its further end when they heard the hue and cry begin... Frodo and Sam could not see ahead, but already they heard the tramp of iron-shod feet, and upon the road there rang the swift clatter of hoofs...
Apparantly, the pursuers are going towards the bridge as well! Did Frodo and Sam take the wrong direction? Frodo suggests jumping off the bridge, and Sam says good-bye.
He let go. Frodo followed. And even as they fell they heard the rush of horsemen sweeping over the bridge and the rattle of orc-feet running up behind.
Phew!
Frodo and Sam fall to a thicket of thorny bushes. While they are catching their breath (Sam is sucking his finger, but we’ll discreetly look the other way), I’ll try and catch up with the formalities.​

***
​
Welcome to this weeks discussion of ‘The Land of Shadow’! It’s my honour (and hopefully, it will be a pleasure as well) to be leading it.
But first, a round of applause and thank you to dernwyn for leading last week!
Several months ago, someone suggested an idea to have a poll of the chapter of LotR people like the least; the idea never materialised, but he dared mention ‘The Land of Shadow’ as a leading candidate to the title! I was very annoyed, as I like this chapter very much; and this week, I’ll attempt to convince you it is a great chapter, full of interesting and insightful events.
1. Any idea why people might think so of 'The Land of Shadow'?
I must point out this is more than a mere rumble – this chapter was completely wiped out of the films (at least, out of the TE), an omission which could hardly make the plot more plausible!
2. What makes this chapter so unfilmable?
In a way, this chapter is one of the chapters in which we explore with the hobbits new, unexpected lands – like ‘The Old Forest’, ‘Lothlorien’ and ‘Treebeard’, or ‘Flies and Spiders’ in The Hobbit.
3. In what is this chapter like those mentioned above? Are there any others to add to the list?
But there is a major difference – there is not much build-up to the lands we discover in those chapters (only some ominous references), and we do not know what to expect. But we would expect to know about Mordor! Also, we do not amble into this chapter – but dash right in, in the furious pace described above.
4. Does the start of this chapter build up the expectation for a rollercoaster adventure?
5. Do you feel disappointed that this doesn’t carry on?
6. What other ‘races’ are in LotR, comparable to the first couple of pages in this chapter? ​
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The Hobbits are about to start their desperate journey through Mordor; in the couple of pages following their flight from Cirith Ungol, Tolkien shows us what they will be going through – the Evil imbedded in the Land itself, even without any Enemy to harrass them.
7. Before we go into details – how do you feel about the idea of a country, or region, as inherently Evil?
To begin with, there is the topography. A complete fence of mountains, defining the boundaries on three sides. And facing Sauron’s enemies on the West side, there is another fence – the Mountains of Morgai; less high than the Ephel Duath, they still tower above the plains below. Between the two ranges there is a deep defile, and a narrow bridge over which soldiers may pass.
8. The geography of Mordor sounds incredibly suitable for the fortress of a Dark Lord. What does this description remind you of?
9. Did Sauron chose Mordor because it was so suitable, or did he prevert the country, defiled it, to this extent? Recall Galdor’s words in the Council of Elrond: “And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills”.
This also reminds me of Gandalf’s words in “The White Rider”: Faint to my ears came the gathered rumor of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone. Later, we’ll discuss the question of sustaining life in Mordor. But at the moment, tens of thousands, actually hundreds of thousands of living creatures live there, and Gollum even describes Sauron’s hubris (‘The Black Gate is Closed’) as intending all people to be there.
These descriptions seem to reinforce the image of Mordor as Hell: Evil, fenced in (see the Tower of Cirith Ungol, which guards against the damned leaving rather than against the living entering), not life-sustaining but overcrowded, overburdened, with the Dark Lord of it attempting to bring all people in.
But Tolkien has an extra twist: Mordor is not just a Hell of stone and fire, it is ‘The Land of Shadow’.
10. What is so special about shadow, and how does this apply to Mordor?
11. How does it fit in with your visions of Hell, if you have any? Or of any other visions you know of?
Next time, we shall discuss the flight of the hobbits itself.
 
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...this was the passage I was assigned to read, continuing for another couple pages, at about 4 a.m. A non-Tolkienist friend came over to hear my part, and said I read it much too fast, slowing only after Frodo and Sam made their leap of faith from the bridge. (This was about a month before I joined TORN. Tom Shippey was in attendance for the opening of the reading eight hours earlier, having delivered a couple addresses over the previous two days.) So your comments on pace are well-taken. But no time for your quesitons just now! *bustles off*
 
Mordor isn't Hell, just an imitation of it. Angband is the real deal.


7. Before we go into details – how do you feel about the idea of a country, or region, as inherently Evil?

Possible in fantasy. Not possible in reality, although it is certainly possible for the people of a region to be such. Basically, it requires magic.


8. The geography of Mordor sounds incredibly suitable for the fortress of a Dark Lord. What does this description remind you of?

That's what this is, all right. I wonder what kind of castle Morgoth was building.


9. Did Sauron chose Mordor because it was so suitable, or did he prevert the country, defiled it, to this extent?

I like to imagine that it was once much nicer than it is now. Even so, there is something of a savage beauty to it, something I think that reflects the way it was before Sauron had his way with it. He couldn't make it entirely ugly!


10. What is so special about shadow, and how does this apply to Mordor?

The shadow is both literal, metaphorical, and magical, all at once. It's literally under the shadow of a volcanic ash cloud. Metaphorically, it is the land of evil, the country of the enemy. Magically, it carries a sorcerous enhancement that makes evil beings more virile and good beings weaker.


11. How does it fit in with your visions of Hell, if you have any? Or of any other visions you know of?

I think that Angband fits in much better. An endless plain of dust in front of a huge prison.
 
In Nancy Smith's index added to the 1966 edition of LotR, Tolkien included a few dozen explanatory notes. These have been retained in the much expanded index created by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, that replaces Smith's version as of 2005. There are listings for "Udûn, flame of", where Tolkien adds "hell"; and for "Udûn", where Tolkien adds "a region of Mordor".
 
At the beginning of time, Angband was just an outpost of Melkor's realm, controlled by Sauron - who seemed to do all the hard work, while Melkor and his Balrogs had a good time!

And I'm not even sure about your description of Angband as "an endless plain of dust in front of a huge prison" - it is next to the range of Thangorodrim, beyond of which were the grasses of Ard-Galen (they became the Anfauglith only after the Dagor Bragollach)!

Actually, it seems that Angband was an 'Hell of Iron' - cold and cruel, surrounded by steel and stone; while Utumno was the Hell of Fire - in which the Devil incarnated himself reigned supreme, surrounded by the demons of fire and the twisted bodies and spirits of the damned (slowly becoming orcs).

Mordor seems to be a sort of combination of the two - it is modelled on Angband (with the mountain ranges around it like Thangorodrim), but with the Mountain of Fire in its midst.
And I wonder about the land itself, which looks so much like the ideal fortress of a Dark Lord - did Sauron have the power to raise the mountains to guard his realm? Or is this another of the works of Melkor himself? Why? Is it near Hildorien, where the Atani first awoke? How long has Sauron dwelt there?
Perhaps Voronwe, or some other who knows far more than I do can answer these questions better than myself.
 
Galdor says, "And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills." I always assumed that he meant the shaping of Mordor by this, though I could be wrong.
 
1. Any idea why people might think so of 'The Land of Shadow'?
Impatience? I just skimmed the chapter to see what the fuss could be about. Let me think of an appropiate comparison...I took my son and niece to a *little* museum a couple of years ago...that one in NYC. I am wandering around, all agog, oohing and ahhing, discovering all this *stuff* I have only *heard* about before; they on the other hand are like come on, let's go, seen it, let's move on! (of all the noyve!)

2. What makes this chapter so unfilmable?
Maybe at this point (esp. film-wise), another set of *new* locations being referenced to and traveled through plus the exchange between the tracker and the orc just seem to interfere with the straight getting from point A to point B here. Plus it's dark. Plus there are quite a few descriptive passages.

3. In what is this chapter like those mentioned above? Are there any others to add to the list?
Entering territories with histories-but what's true and what's not? For the Hobbits, pretty much everyplace in a new place that's been *heard about*-Rivendell, Rohan, Gondor...

4. Does the start of this chapter build up the expectation for a rollercoaster adventure?
Not so much-you captured what the start of this chapter is all about in your next post's subject line.[:)]

5. Do you feel disappointed that this doesn’t carry on?
Nah, roller coasters are usually short rides anyhow.
 
7. Before we go into details – how do you feel about the idea of a country, or region, as inherently Evil? I'm more of the mind that land *is* but the acts committed upon it may result in it being more or less hospitable/habitable/productive...maybe even causing a bad *vibe*.
8. The geography of Mordor sounds incredibly suitable for the fortress of a Dark Lord. What does this description remind you of?
Nowhere I have been personally. But I do believe the Valar similarly isolated themselves with water rather than mountains, right?

9. Did Sauron chose Mordor because it was so suitable, or did he prevert the country, defiled it, to this extent?
From "Akallabeth"..."Already in the days of Tar-Minastir...he had fortified the land of Mordor and built there the Tower of Barad-dur...". I assume Sauron headed east and south after the Great Battle. Who lived there (prior to Elendil and Co. settling these lands) --the men *not* of the Three Houses? Maybe the area was already somewhat less hospitable than others and he made it much less so over time.

10. What is so special about shadow, and how does this apply to Mordor?
Shadow blocks sun which is needed by many living things to develop "naturally". Personally too many overcast days bring on the "blahs".
11. How does it fit in with your visions of Hell, if you have any? Or of any other visions you know of?
Certainly it's hell-ish. Socially (everyone out to get the other guy); physically (dim, hot, seems dry, no green); spiritually (doing harm promoted over doing good).

(arg, why does the font keep changing!?!)
 
Several months ago, someone suggested an idea to have a poll of the chapter of LotR people like the least; the idea never materialised, but he dared mention ‘The Land of Shadow’ as a leading candidate to the title!
1. Any idea why people might think so of 'The Land of Shadow'?
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It strikes me that this chapter is an almost perfect mirror-image of the chapter Three's Company - the minute, slow detail of hobbits walking, sleeping, eating, worrying, and even being caught up with a marching company at the end of the chapter. Only now the "green and pleasant land" of the Shire has become the "dark Satanic mills" of a ruined, industrialized landscape. This story is not just about adventure and high heroism, it's also about the small, private struggle to keep going when the adrenalin isn't flowing. That's hard to do, and it can be hard to read as well, if you're mostly looking for adventure.

I must point out this is more than a mere rumble – this chapter was completely wiped out of the films (at least, out of the TE), an omission which could hardly make the plot more plausible!
2. What makes this chapter so unfilmable?
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The same thing that made Three's Company so unfilmable - nothing happens to advance the plot. It's wonderful, slow-moving, evocative writing, but it's not "dramatic" in the most basic meaning of the word. So both these chapters are more or less condensed (in the TEs) into a couple of evocative "walking shots" - Frodo and Sam walking hopefully through the Shire in FotR, and staggering hopelessly through Mordor in RotK.

4. Does the start of this chapter build up the expectation for a rollercoaster adventure?
5. Do you feel disappointed that this doesn’t carry on?
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The opening of the chapter turns out to be the end of the excitement from the last chapter. I like the change of tone back to slow slogging, in that it makes you feel what the hobbits are going through - after the adrenalin rush, there are long, slow days of forcing oneself to go on. It's how I imagine life on the trenches. Although I've read plenty of histories of WWI, it's the story of Frodo and Sam that makes me feel most strongly what those soldiers went through.

7. Before we go into details – how do you feel about the idea of a country, or region, as inherently Evil?
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It's all in the perception, of course. Evil has no meaning separate from an intelligence. But an intelligence can ruin a country or region to reflect his own malevolence, and make it unfit for natural life.

11. How does it fit in with your visions of Hell, if you have any? Or of any other visions you know of?
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It doesn't remind me of hell so much as of a blighted industrial landcape, or the site of industrialized warfare. It's too dead and bereft of organic life to remind me of the depictions of Hell that I've seen - usually they are full of leering demons and wailing people being tortured in various imaginative ways, depending on what sins they committed! Hell is noisy and full of life, even if it's horrible life. This is dead and sterile.[/b][/b]
 
You're right, this is a "Three's Company", but in the opposite kind of landscape! Gollum could be the "third" member of the company (since he is following them). It even has the Nazgul encounter. What would be the Fox - those two orcs on their scent?
 
Aaand...they're off and running! And you've made a point, with that beginning, as to why many might not care for this chapter: after this rollicking start, it gets as dreary as the landscape! Unless, of course, one sees all the "little things" that happen along the way. (Such as an event coming up, which does endear this chapter to some. [;)])

The geography of Mordor reminds me a bit of Gondolin, hidden within a ring of hills, with the difference that this land is "open" at the southern end. During the creation of Arda, was it a huge volcano which exploded, then collapsed within the rim, and began to slowly build once more?

It's shape also reminds me of a bloated tick, with the vale of Udun as the head...[:P]
 
Maybe Gollum's the fox, since he only comes sniffing around when Frodo is sleeping...

I decided they didn't need a "third", because this time two's company - before, Sam was the naive servant, apart Frodo and Pippin. Now Sam has taken his place beside Frodo.

There's also a neat light/dark parallel in the way the chapters end, after the hobbits unexpectedly meet a travelling company and are taken along with them:

"Frodo felt sleep coming upon him, even as Gildor finished speaking. "I will sleep now," he said; and the Elf led him to a bower beside Pippin, and he threw himself upon a bed and fell at once into a dreamless slumber."​
and

With a last despairing effort Frodo raised himself on his hands, and struggled on for maybe twenty yards. Then he pitched down into a shallow pit that opened unexpectedly before them, and there he lay like a dead thing."​
 
Several months ago, someone suggested an idea to have a poll of the chapter of LotR people like the least; the idea never materialised, but he dared mention ‘The Land of Shadow’ as a leading candidate to the title! I was very annoyed, as I like this chapter very much; and this week, I’ll attempt to convince you it is a great chapter, full of interesting and insightful events.
1. Any idea why people might think so of 'The Land of Shadow'?

We have done such a poll, and "The Land of Shadow" was second to "In the House of Tom Bombadil" (which I won't discuss in this post). Of course few fans of LotR really dislike any chapter, but these were the chapters they liked the least. My thinking at the time, and I don't think anyone contradicted me, is that "The Land of Shadow" is deliberately unpleasant. We are not meant to like it, but it still plays a vital part in the story, and the story would not work as well without it. I don't think anyone would suggest revising it.

I must point out this is more than a mere rumble – this chapter was completely wiped out of the films (at least, out of the TE), an omission which could hardly make the plot more plausible!
2. What makes this chapter so unfilmable?

It is quite filmable, but it drags, and deliberately so. Jackson simply did not have the time to let things drag; instead he sped up the pace of the story throughout, leaving the viewer breathless. Some films deliberately drag, thus building up the suspense -- look at Sergio Leone's westerns, for example, like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Once Upon a Time in the West. But Jackson had too much story to tell, so he chose to change the pace entirely. He could no more film this chapter than he could have filmed "The Council of Elrond" as it appears in the book.

In a way, this chapter is one of the chapters in which we explore with the hobbits new, unexpected lands – like ‘The Old Forest’, ‘Lothlorien’ and ‘Treebeard’, or ‘Flies and Spiders’ in The Hobbit.
3. In what is this chapter like those mentioned above? Are there any others to add to the list?

LotR is filled with chapters in which we explore new lands. But Mordor is not just any new land. There's a sense of suspense because this is Sauron's homeland, and we are approaching the moment of truth. By dragging out the journey, Tolkien deliberately frustrates our desire to get to the big moment -- and increases the suspense.

But there is a major difference – there is not much build-up to the lands we discover in those chapters (only some ominous references), and we do not know what to expect. But we would expect to know about Mordor! Also, we do not amble into this chapter – but dash right in, in the furious pace described above.
4. Does the start of this chapter build up the expectation for a rollercoaster adventure?

Not for me, no. And I'm not sure why we would expect to know about Mordor, when even Gandalf and Aragorn had not been here since the Sauron returned.

5. Do you feel disappointed that this doesn’t carry on?

No, because I didn't expect it. Frodo and Sam's adventure is not one long rollercoaster adventure, but a long journey paced deliberately, punctuated with rollercoaster moments. Sticking with the rollercoaster analogy, it's as if Tolkien gives us the rollercoaster ride, but also gives us the hour in line waiting with sweaty palms, and the break for lunch, and the walk to the parking lot, and the conversations with friends, and everything else that goes into a full day at the amusement park.

The pace does pick up for the rest of the Fellowship involved in the war with Saruman and Sauron, especially as the members of the Fellowship split up and we follow three different stories at once. Perhaps that is why some readers expect that pace to continue when we return to Sam and Frodo -- but it doesn't. There's some excitement at the beginning, and then Tolkien deliberately slows things down, so that we find ourselves waiting for the other shoe to drop.

6. What other ‘races’ are in LotR, comparable to the first couple of pages in this chapter?

For Frodo and Sam, primarily the race to the Ford and the race out of Moria in FotR. For the rest of the Fellowship, there's a great deal of racing around west of the Anduin when war breaks out.

The Hobbits are about to start their desperate journey through Mordor; in the couple of pages following their flight from Cirith Ungol, Tolkien shows us what they will be going through – the Evil imbedded in the Land itself, even without any Enemy to harrass them.
7. Before we go into details – how do you feel about the idea of a country, or region, as inherently Evil?

It's appropriate within the Secondary World Tolkien has created, where other lands are inherently good. And I'm not sure this land is inherently evil -- instead Sauron has made it so, and perhaps Morgoth before him (for how did Mount Doom become evil?).

To begin with, there is the topography. A complete fence of mountains, defining the boundaries on three sides. And facing Sauron’s enemies on the West side, there is another fence – the Mountains of Morgai; less high than the Ephel Duath, they still tower above the plains below. Between the two ranges there is a deep defile, and a narrow bridge over which soldiers may pass.
8. The geography of Mordor sounds incredibly suitable for the fortress of a Dark Lord. What does this description remind you of?

It reminds me of the mountain walls that protect the Undying Lands or Angband or Gondolin in the Silmarillion -- in other words, it seems artificial, as if some Higher Power had put it there. Along with the power of Mount Doom, the mountain walls are another reason I suspect Melkor made this land, for Melkor had the power to raise mountain ranges as walls.

9. Did Sauron chose Mordor because it was so suitable, or did he prevert the country, defiled it, to this extent?

I don't think Sauron ever had the power to raise mountain ranges or evil volcanoes. I don't even think Morgoth did. But Melkor did, in his original incarnation. This strikes me as an ancient creation of Melkor. Since then, of course, Sauron has done much to make it his home. I love the biting flies sporting the sign of the Red Eye.

10. What is so special about shadow, and how does this apply to Mordor?

Shadow has many metaphorical meanings, and in LotR Tolkien blurs the line between metaphorical and literal. Shadow is the absence of light, and in Tolkien's mythos evil is the absence of good. Shadows are also ghostly, another word for wraiths like the Nazgul, and Sauron is the Necromancer. And Shadow also stands for ignorance, confusion, and lies. Mordor is literally a land of shadow because Mount Doom creates a constant cloud of darkness, but it also metaphorically lies under a shadow that is attempting to swallow Gondor and lands beyond Gondor.

But as a counterpoint, Aragorn is also associated with darkness and shadow. Not all shadows are evil.

11. How does it fit in with your visions of Hell, if you have any? Or of any other visions you know of?

This is Hell with the locks on the inside, and the damned as successful rebels, damning themselves, really.

If we must find Hell on earth, a volcanic wasteland isn't a bad place to start. But ironically, as people inhabit every square foot of the world, the uninhabitable wastelands are becoming our refuge in the wilderness. Swamps and deserts and rocky mountains and frozen wastelands have all become tourist destinations, because they are the only wilderness we have left. Perhaps we should look elsewhere for Hell in the Primary World, as opposed to Tolkien's Secondary World. Tolkien himself might have chosen the slag heaps of Birmingham, or the worst slums of London.
 
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I don't think Sauron ever had the power to raise mountain ranges or evil volcanoes. I don't even think Morgoth did. But Melkor did, in his original incarnation. This strikes me as an ancient creation of Melkor. Since then, of course, Sauron has done much to make it his home. I love the biting flies sporting the sign of the Red Eye.
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I thought Melkor and Morgoth were one and the same.
 

I thought Melkor and Morgoth were one and the same.
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According to the cheat's guide to all things Tolkien (aka Encyclopedia of Arda) it was Feanor who renamed Melkor as Morgoth, following the theft of the Silmarils.

Curious, do you think Melkor had greater strength originally, and grew weaker after expending his energies in damaging Arda?
 
Loved this sentence!

Just two notes to your reply:

"The Land of Shadow" is deliberately unpleasant. We are not meant to like it, but it still plays a vital part in the story.
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Yeah, that's right. But I was wondering why so? There were enough Men, Orcs etc. in Mordor to make it a rollercoaster of narrow escapes. I don't clearly remember, but I think I was surprised when I picked up RotK for the first time, and found out the journey through Mordor proper was only two chapters!
On the other hand, I suspect this chapter is one of the reasons I keep retrning to this book. It's not a cheap fantastic thriller. And I feel there is a meaning to this portrayal of Mordor, which gives this book its power.

For Frodo and Sam, primarily the race to the Ford and the race out of Moria in FotR.
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That's another thing I'm wondering about. And both 'Lothlorien' and 'Treebeard' follow upon two heart-thumping sequences, and the end of the preceding chapters. Here we have the 'thrill' and the 'bore' together.
 
During the Viet Nam war, sales of "The Lord of the Rings" really took off among soldiers. Tolkien gets it, in a way that most fantasy writers before him did not. Regardless of sorcery and monsters, he portrays war as it really is--including long stretches of trudging and misery, where you need a different kind of courage from the adrenalin-rush of battle. This story doesn't just regale us with knights in shining armor, but shows us a couple of weary footsoldiers behind enemy lines, bereft of their officers, who have one crucial covert operation to complete before they die, and no expectation of return. And somehow Tolkien pulls off what the propagandists of war feared to show us--how all of the grime, weariness, moments of madness, despair or fear, can in the end add up to something closer to "glorious" than anything shiny and proud could ever do, that real beauty is what happens when you don't let ugliness stop you.

Yes, I agree that it drags on purpose. We feel the drag of gravity on every bare footstep of these struggling hobbits. Shoulder to shoulder we push forward with them, vicariously share everything with them, so that when we lay down the book, we face the grind of daily life, all the drudgery of it, ennobled by partaking in the courage of Frodo and Sam.
This curious "escapism", this gritty magic reality, does not so much enable the reader to escape the tedium of responsibility, so much as escape the idea that there can be anything ignoble about anything done for good purpose, so that even tedium itself discloses a grace not seen before.
 
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