LotR Book IV, ch.9&10: Shelob's Lair and The Choices of Master Samwise

[azalea]

Main events of chapters 9 & 10:

Gollum leads Sam and Frodo into a tunnel, then leaves them. Sam and Frodo are then confronted by an unknown creature, which turns out to be Shelob, an evil being in spider form. We are given her history, as well information on Sauron’s dealings with her. She has lived in the tunnel for time untold, and no being had ever escaped from her webs. We are also given the details of Gollum’s plan to use Shelob to regain the Ring.

In chapter 10, Shelob has bound Frodo and is attempting to carry him off. Sting is beside him. Sam attacks Shelob using Sting in an act of seemingly futile bravery. After a battle with her, he is victorious with the help of Sting, the Phial of Galadriel, and Shelob herself. Thinking Frodo is dead, Sam struggles with what to do next, then resolves to try to take the Ring to Mt. Doom himself, and complete the task appointed to Frodo. Orcs arrive; Sam puts on the Ring to hide himself, and overhears two orc captains talking. In doing so, he discovers that Frodo is alive. The orcs take Frodo prisoner, locking him in the tower. Sam is shut out.

Observations and points for discussion:
General:
Shelob is a great device Tolkien uses to have Sam get the Ring. Not only do we have a really cool battle with an evil creature, but of course her venom would mask signs of life in Frodo so that Sam thinks he’s dead. It is a great way to bring us from the tunnel to the next suspenseful scene at the tower.

Language:

I surmise that the word Ungol refers to Ungoliant (Shelob’s ancestor), with ungol meaning spider? Then torech would mean Lair, so that Torech Ungol means spider’s lair, hence Shelob’s (spider’s) Lair? Then Cirith Ungol means Spider’s Cleft, referring to the narrow pass through the mountains that goes by the tower. You Elvish-speaking folks can back me up on this (or correct me!).

Sam can understand the Black Speech when wearing the Ring = Tolkien’s affinity for languages + makes the story more realistic (of course orcs wouldn’t be speaking Westron in Mordor) + it helps the reader to see the Ring’s power grow in relation to its proximity to Sauron. Although the fact that he can understand them due to the Ring is just a device to neatly allow Sam and the reader to “hear” what the orcs are saying, it works because it does fit nicely within the given framework of the story – he is already wearing the ring to hide from the orcs, and we know the ring has many powers.
I forgot that orcs said Hola! Also, I like the word Lugburz.

Descriptions:

The geography of the tunnel and path is amazing, and I’m sure Tolkien had a map of it at least in his mind, knowing at what point it is blocked in relation to the other parts of the tunnel, etc.

We are described the dark black sky outside, the thick air in the tunnel, the mental effects of being in it, the dulling of the senses, and the foul smell (was it dung? Vomit? Decaying bodies? A mix of all three? What do you think?). These descriptions help the reader to “be there” and to feel the growing evil as the hobbits get nearer to the end of their road.

Great descriptions of both Sam’s and Gollum’s fighting styles as they tussle.

There is an interesting comparison of Shelob to dragons, that her hide isn’t soft in spots as theirs is.

Compare the hobbits’ mental states at the beginning of this chapter versus after they have entered Mordor. To me, it feels very different before they go in: although apprehensive, they still retain some of their “pep;” afterwards, the mood changes to extreme weariness and they are just short of despair. To me, it is an intentional difference written by Tolkien to give the reader a sense of how simply being in Mordor is crippling. It isn’t just the barren land and darkness; it is Sauron’s presence that affects the very air of the land, and also affects the very spirit of those within it. This sense in turn helps the reader to “see” the Ring’s reactions as it nears its maker. It also serves to differentiate between being outside of Mordor (forboding), and then actually entering the land (oppressive). The reader can actually imagine how it would feel.

Tolkien describes the window in this tower as being a “red eye.” Could the Eye of Sauron simply have meant his “window on the world?” Meaning both the red glow from the physical window in Barad-dur coupled with the fact that he had a palantir (seeing-stone) and also special powers (that allowed him to communicate with the Nazgul, etc.)?

References:

A reference to Tom Bombadil is dropped in, when Sam says he wishes Tom were there. We are apparently meant to compare the feeling of being in the tunnel with that of being in the Barrow Downs, or that it is the closest thing that Sam has to compare it to. Then he has a vision of Galadriel and reminds Frodo of the star-glass. Do you think this is coincidence, or was Sam’s thought of Tom the conduit for the seemingly telepathic help that comes – the remembrance of the item that is then instrumental in helping to get away from Shelob?

When Shelob’s history is given, we have a connection to both The Silm and The Hobbit (Ungoliant > Shelob > the great spiders of Mirkwood).

We have references to elf song – Sam imagines one about this part of their adventure and Frodo advancing on Shelob with his weapons, and again later on in ch.10. I think it’s a way to tie the history of Middle Earth and the Ring to that moment, that Frodo using the light of one of them is a part of the bigger story of the Silmarils. It’s also another look at Sam’s notions of these events being within the greater timeline (and his acknowledgement that what they are doing is as important as any task done in the songs he’s heard).