CHAPTER 26: TENN’ ENOMENTIELVA Tenn’ enomentielva Until we meet again
Tolkien calls the way to Valinor the Straight Road, and also the Straight Way (Akallabêth, The Silmarillion). I have chosen to call it the Straight Path, because of Frodo’s song, reproduced in the last chapter:
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.
(The Grey Havens, The Return of the King)
‘Do you remember my dream in the house of Tom Bombadil?’ he asked quietly.
‘A song like pale light behind a grey-rain curtain,’ said Sam. He had never understood how a song could be like a pale light, and when he had questioned this, Frodo had answered that the song shone out like moonrise through the curtain of water at Henneth Annûn.
‘And as it grew stronger, the veil turned to silver glass, shimmering and blinding me with its beauty,’ said Frodo. ‘Until it rolled back, and there was a white shore and a far green country welcoming me under a swift sunrise.’ The Fellowship of the Ring, Fog on the Barrow-downs: “...Frodo heard a sweet singing that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it drew back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise.” The Two Towers, The Forbidden Pool: “As he went by the cave mouth he saw that the curtain had now become a dazzling veil of silk and pearls and silver thread: melting icicles of moonlight.”
‘Arwen told me that I could go into the West until all my wounds and weariness were healed; she did not mention a time...’ The Return of the King, Many Partings: “‘A gift I will give you... in my stead you shall go, Ring-bearer, when the time comes and if you desire it. If your hurts grieve you still and the memory of your burden is heavy, then you may pass into the West, until all your wounds and weariness are healed.’”
‘Do you remember the story of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel?’ asked Frodo softly as they parted. His hair was lifted and blown across his face by the strengthening morning breeze that carried the smell of seaweed and guano and an ocean of water that would separate them.
‘How could I forget?’ said Sam. The Two Towers, The Stairs of Cirith Ungol: “‘No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and blacker danger than ours. But that’s a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness into grief and beyond it - and the Silmaril went on and came to Eärendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We’ve got - you’ve got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales ever end?’” The Return of the King, The Field of Cormallen: “‘What a tale we have been in, Mr. Frodo, haven’t we?’ he said. ‘I wish I could here it told! Do you think they’ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom? And then everyone will hush, like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren One-handed and the Great Jewel.’”
‘Then remember how Beren waited in the halls of Mandos for Lúthien? Even if we are deprived of a meeting in the West, we will all come eventually to those halls beyond the Western seas, and pass on together when the time of waiting is over, to take the gift of Ilúvatar.’ The Silmarillion, Valaquenta: “...and they are called most often Mandos and Lórien. Yet these are rightly the names of the places of their dwelling, and their true names are Námo and Irmo.
Námo the elder dwells in Mandos, which is westward in Valinor. He is the keeper of the Houses of the Dead, and the summoner of the spirits of the slain... He is the doomsman of the Valar; but he pronounces his dooms and his judgement only at the bidding of Manwë.”
The Silmarillion, Of Men: “But Men were more frail, more easily slain by weapon or mischance, and less easily healed; subject to sickness and many ills; and they grew old and died. What may befall their spirits after death the Elves know not. Some say they too go the halls of Mandos; but their place of waiting there is not that of the Elves, and Mandos under Ilúvatar alone save Manwë knows whither they go after the time of recollection in those silent halls beside the Outer Sea.”
The Silmarillion, Of Beren and Lúthien: “But Lúthien came to the halls of Mandos, where are the appointed places of the Eldalië, beyond the mansions of the West upon the confines of the world... [Mandos] summoned Beren, and even as Lúthien had spoken in the hour of his death, they met again beyond the Western Sea.”
The Elves envy us that journey and gift. It is not to be feared. The Silmarillion: Of the Beginning of Days: “It is one with this gift of freedom that the children of Men dwell only a short space in the world alive, and are not bound to it, but depart soon whither the Elves know not. Whereas the Elves remain until the end of days, and their love of the Earth and all the world is more single and more poignant therefore, and as the years lengthen ever more sorrowful.... But the sons of Men die indeed, and leave the world, wherefore they are called the Guests or the Strangers. Death is their fate, the gift of Ilúvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy.” The Silmarillion, Akallabêth: “‘And the Doom of Men, that they should depart, was at first a gift of Ilúvatar. It became a grief to them only because coming under the shadow of Morgoth it seemed to them they were surrounded by a great darkness, of which they were afraid.’”
Sam couldn’t help wondering if Círdan was indeed an Elf: he looked more like Gandalf. He had never heard of an Elf with a beard, and never before seen one that carried his years in the greyness of his hair, or the lines of his face. The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “As they came to the gates Círdan the shipwright cam forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars.”
‘I welcome you both,’ said Círdan standing. He looked gravely down at Sam. ‘All is now ready,’ he said, ‘and I feel your sadness, but if you tread this path in later life, the time to me will seem short indeed; less than half a year, as it is reckoned by my people, until I am welcoming you here again...’ The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “And [Círdan] looked at them and bowed, and said: ‘All is now ready.’” The Return of the King, Appendix D: “It is clear that the Eldar in Middle-earth, who had, as Samwise remarked, more time at their disposal, reckoned in long periods, and the Quenya word yén , often translated ‘year’, really means 144 of our years.”
Galadriel bent down to Sam and laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Elrond has already blessed you with unfailing memory, little gardener,’ she said. ‘But I will give you the ease to be less troubled by time.’ The History of Middle-earth, vol. 9, Sauron Defeated, The Epilogue: “‘I think maybe we haven’t said farewell for good. But I can wait. I have learnt that much from the Elves at any rate. They are not so troubled about time...’”
The parting would be bitter, and grievous would be the long ride home alone... Two ponies were slithering down the slope in haste, their riders urging them on. Merry and Pippin were dismounting even as their ponies came to a halt. Pippin laughed amidst his tears as Merry clung to Frodo.
‘You tried to give us the slip once before and failed, Frodo,’ he said. ‘This time it was Gandalf who gave you away.’
Frodo smiled at him. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘I’m so glad you’re here!’
‘And it will be better to ride back three together than one alone,’ said Gandalf, looking at Sam.
...Gandalf leaned on his staff and sighed. ‘Well, here at last, my dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil, and only through grief can you come to joy.’ The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “But Sam was now sorrowful at heart, and it seemed to him that if the parting would be bitter, more grievous still would be the long road home alone. But even as they stood there, and the Elves were going aboard, and all was being made ready to depart, up rode Merry and Pippin in great haste. And amid his tears Pippin laughed.
‘You tried to give us the slip once before and failed, Frodo,’ he said. ‘This time you have succeeded, but you have failed again. It was not Sam, though, that gave you away this time, but Gandalf himself!’
‘Yes,’ said Gandalf; ‘for it will be better to ride back three together than one alone. Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea, comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.’”
As he watched, a great light shone forth, mingling with the low sunlight, and he realised Frodo was holding the star-glass aloft in a token of farewell. The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “And the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost.”
The sun was setting as the ship passed from the firth into the open sea, and the light from the ship shone out the brighter, a bright light receding as the evening deepened to darkness. Sam strained his eyes as the light became indistinct, until he could only imagine that he saw a shadow on the water, and then that was gone, lost in the West.
There still he stood, far into the night, hearing only the murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart. He was aware of Merry and Pippin beside him, and was grateful for their silence, grateful that they did not call him away. The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood Merry and Pippin, and they were silent.”
They rode from the Havens, leading Strider, and none of them looked back.
Most of the day was spent in silence. Sam seemed wrapped in his thoughts, and they did not like to intrude, but as they camped that night they spoke quietly of Frodo, and sometimes Sam would join in. It became the pattern of their journey home, but even in their silence they took comfort from each other’s presence. The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “At last the three companions turned away, and never again looking back they rode slowly homewards; and they spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire, but each had great comfort in his friends on the long grey road.”
Hmm. They didn’t speak at all? For six days they “spoke no word”? Really???? Sorry, Tolkien. It’s a nice sound bite, but I just don’t believe it. I can believe they didn’t talk very much.
At last, they came riding over the Downs and onto the East Road. When they reached the Bywater Road, they milled around debating their way. Merry and Pippin wanted to ride on with Sam, but Sam refused their company. The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went.”
Sorry, I don’t believe that one either. Even with a non-slash reading of the book, Sam is “torn in two.” Merry and Pippin are his friends; I can’t imagine them riding off singing.
Best not to let him think too much, she decided, and rushed to draw him in and set him in his chair. She kissed him and placed Elanor in his lap.
‘Well,’ he said dully, looking at her with eyes that lacked expression. ‘I’m back.’ The Return of the King, The Grey Havens: “And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.
He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”