The Barrow-downs

After several days of respite Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin left the house of Tom Bombadil. They made great time across the Barrow-downs and around lunch they climbed a hill and we're excited to see a long dark line ahead that they were sure marked trees along the great Road. They ate, enjoyed the perfect day, and napped. They slept long. In fact to their dismay the Sun had nearly set when they awoke and all the Barrow-downs were covered in a thick, deep, fog. In a matter of minutes their hilltop was also covered.

They set off in single file on their ponies toward the direction of the line of trees they had saw earlier. After a long slow ride Frodo was certain he saw a break in the fog and the end of the downs. He called to his friends but there was no answer. As he passed through the darkness, thinking it a break in the fog, it became darker until he reached a standing stone that marked a grave. He continued to call for his friends and finally he heard a faint call for help. Losing his pony Frodo climbed a hill toward the voice. He found himself in front of a barrow. "'Where are you? he cried again, both angry and afraid. 'Here!' said a voice, deep and cold, that seemed to come out of the ground. 'I am waiting for you!'" (p. 151, The Fellowship of the Ring). Both intense and creepy methinks.

Frodo could not run and felt a cold grip draw him into the barrow and all went black. He awoke hours later, caught by a Barrow-wight and unsure of how in it's spell he was. He thought about Bilbo and his great adventures and a seed of courage in his heart bloomed. He began to sit up and look around in the darkness. He saw that Sam, Merry, and Pippin lay beside him, looking ashen grey, dressed in white and covered in rings and jewels. "But across their three necks lay one long naked sword" (p. 152, The Fellowship of the Ring). He then heard a frightful incantation about cold and death. He heard a scraping sound and saw something approach. "Round the corner a long arm was groping, walking on its fingers towards Sam, who was lying nearest, and towards the hilt of the sword that lay upon him" (p. 152, The Fellowship of the Ring).

Frodo's first thought was to slip on the Ring and flee but his courage was too strong to abandon his friends. Their is courage in all hobbits no matter how fat or timid they seem. "Frodo was neither very fat nor very timid; indeed, though he did not know it, Bilbo (and Gandalf) had thought him the best hobbit in the Shire" (p. 151, The Fellowship of the Ring). Frodo reached for a sword, mustered his strength, and hacked at the arm breaking off the hand. He then remembered the song Tom Bombadil had forced them to memorize before they left and began singing in a small voice that grew louder with the mention of the Master's name. And off in the distance Tom's voice sang back growing louder and louder with each note.

Frodo could hear a rumble and suddenly daylight poured in the barrow. Tom was speaking to the Barrow-wight much like he did to Old Man Willow in the Forest. Together Tom and Frodo lifted the other hobbits out of the tomb. Frodo thought he saw the hand on the floor still writhing around. "Tom went back in again, and there was a sound of much  thumping and stamping" (p. 154, The Fellowship of the Ring) and he came out with many treasures. Tom called the hobbits awake and they responded to Frodo's delight. Merry was talking about the men of Carn Dum; Sam wondered where his clothes were. Tom bounded off singing merrily over the hills and calling to their lost ponies as the hobbits drank in the warm air. A day had passed.

Tom returned with their ponies (and extra clothes) and one for himself. He decided to escort the hobbits to the Road which made them all feel better. "'Tom can't be always near to open doors and willow-cracks. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting" (p. 156, The Fellowship of the Ring). He looked over the treasures and picked out a dagger for each hobbit (a short-sword to them) and a pretty blue butterfly broach for Goldberry; the rest he bade for all to take and breaking the curse of the Barrow-wight. "'Here is a pretty toy for Tom and for his lady! Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder. Goldberry shall wear it now, and we will not forget her!'" (p. 157, The Fellowship of the Ring). Tom told the history of the daggers; they were forged by the men of Westernesse (the Dúnedain): "...'they were foes of the Dark Lord, but they were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dum in the land of Angmar. Few now remember them,' Tom murmured, 'yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil thing folks that are heedless" (p. 157, The Fellowship of the Ring). The hobbits did not understand but caught a vision of Men of renown ending with a single man with a star on his brow (Aragorn).

They set out and it was a merry journey. The line of trees they had seen the day before turned out to be bushes along a deep cut dike. "Tom said that it had once been the boundary of a kingdom, but a very long time ago. He seemed to remember something sad about it, and would not say much" (p. 158, The Fellowship of the Ring). They cut through the dike and found an opening into flat plains--the Road was much farther then the hobbits had realized. At last they reached it and Tom bid them goodbye. They were distraught: fearing the Black Riders and knowing that Tom would know what to do if they came. Tom assured them he did not think they would encounter the Riders that day (but he also noted he was not the master of the Riders) and gave them some advice. He told them to make for the city of Bree. "'There you'll find an old inn that is called The Prancing Pony. Barliman Butterbur is the worthy keeper. There you can stay the night, and afterwards morning will speed you upon your way'" (p. 159, The Fellowship of the Ring).

They rode on for several hours seeing the city lights as night drew on. Merry had some knowledge of Bree and he knew that some hobbits dwelled there. For all they had just been through this seemed as good a plan as any.

Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3018, September 28th
Today's reading comes from: The Fellowship of the Ring, pages 147-159