WEBVTT 00:05.649 --> 00:07.975 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the Lord of the Rings lorecast. 00:08.877 --> 00:14.391 [SPEAKER_00]: The show that explores the background of Tolkien's amazing world, from the very beginning. 00:25.147 --> 00:36.335 [SPEAKER_00]: So if I was to ask the average Lord of the Rings fan, when was Frodo saved by the light of the stars, or by Varda herself, Elbereth? 00:37.035 --> 00:43.880 [SPEAKER_00]: They would probably think back to the movie, and they would probably think to the time that Frodo has the vial of Galadriel. 00:44.360 --> 00:52.805 [SPEAKER_00]: And it comes in handy for both him and Sam, and in the movie, they showcase it in, of course, ways that are not exactly the same as the books, but they probably think back to this moment. 00:52.825 --> 01:00.889 [SPEAKER_00]: And they'd go, oh, that was the moment because if they were paying attention, it had the light of the star of Herendell in it. 01:01.409 --> 01:06.232 [SPEAKER_00]: And that was what was shining in the darkness when they had to deal with She-Lib, right? 01:06.832 --> 01:08.614 [SPEAKER_00]: pretty simple, pretty cut and dry. 01:09.074 --> 01:26.933 [SPEAKER_00]: But what if I was to tell you that most of us, probably, those of us who have been paying more attention and reading through the books and all of that, we'll have noticed that this is not the only time that the light of a star, that the will or memory or thought, 01:27.654 --> 01:41.130 [SPEAKER_00]: of the Vala Varda became a force in the darkness, a place of safety, of sanctuary, a place of sanity when surrounded by dark and terrible things or being tempted by the ring. 01:41.471 --> 01:47.077 [SPEAKER_00]: This happens multiple times, but the first time this happens is in 01:47.818 --> 01:50.281 [SPEAKER_00]: three is company the chapter that we're in right now. 01:50.721 --> 01:51.682 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's easy to miss. 01:51.882 --> 01:53.424 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no file of Galadriel. 01:53.704 --> 01:58.129 [SPEAKER_00]: We haven't really been introduced yet to any of those concepts. 01:58.189 --> 01:59.770 [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, it's Tolkien. 01:59.831 --> 02:04.636 [SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of them are referred to with very little deeper explanation at times. 02:05.376 --> 02:06.377 [SPEAKER_00]: But in this moment, 02:07.078 --> 02:15.583 [SPEAKER_00]: The elves show up just at the right time, and they happen to be singing a song, basically in worship of Varda. 02:16.264 --> 02:23.669 [SPEAKER_00]: And not only are they singing a song, not only are they a group of elves who are traveling through the woods and they show up just at the right time. 02:24.532 --> 02:30.853 [SPEAKER_00]: but they are bathed in a glow from the stars, seemingly out of nowhere. 02:30.993 --> 02:35.374 [SPEAKER_00]: This appears like it's magic, highlighting the elves in the darkness. 02:35.934 --> 02:41.775 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's one of those little details that you probably read over and you don't think too much of, but it is absolutely important. 02:41.915 --> 02:47.037 [SPEAKER_00]: And it gives us even more of a glimpse into the way that magic seems to work in this world. 02:47.397 --> 02:48.637 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're gonna get into that stuff. 02:48.677 --> 02:51.837 [SPEAKER_00]: But first, we have to go back to where the Hobbit's were 02:54.658 --> 02:56.561 [SPEAKER_00]: encounter with the Nazgul. 03:11.987 --> 03:15.908 [SPEAKER_00]: This section starts off with some details explaining that the Sun is getting low. 03:15.988 --> 03:19.649 [SPEAKER_00]: But of course Tolkien doesn't just say that the Sun is getting low. 03:20.009 --> 03:26.390 [SPEAKER_00]: He says things like the shadows of the trees were long and thin on the grass as they started off again. 03:26.410 --> 03:33.472 [SPEAKER_00]: Now this is interesting the fact that he uses both the shadow of the trees as being long and thin. 03:34.572 --> 03:49.020 [SPEAKER_00]: This, wearing of the day, wearing out, similar to the language used when you use the ring for a long period or you have it for a long period of time, like what Bilbo said, he used the word thin, like not enough butter on too much bread. 03:49.060 --> 03:49.640 [SPEAKER_00]: That sort of thing. 03:49.920 --> 03:53.062 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is more of a tonal thing. 03:53.142 --> 03:54.843 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's something that is. 03:55.815 --> 04:08.577 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, projecting or foreshadowing something, it's not that this moment is particularly dark and scary, so much as it is descriptive, but using a lot of the same language that has been used before. 04:09.422 --> 04:10.082 [SPEAKER_00]: in other ways. 04:10.662 --> 04:23.405 [SPEAKER_00]: They go off road and this is much more difficult to travel because of course there's no road there so there's a lot of things that are in the way that hinder their progress and the sun goes down red behind the hills at their backs. 04:23.905 --> 04:33.768 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, Tolkien didn't need to point out the color of the sun and he could have said that it was a, I don't know, a sunset and many different hues or colors. 04:34.388 --> 04:38.629 [SPEAKER_00]: but instead it's simply red at their backs, which again feels kind of ominous. 04:39.169 --> 04:43.550 [SPEAKER_00]: And then in very Tolkien fashion, of course, we get a description about where they're going. 04:43.991 --> 04:47.611 [SPEAKER_00]: They eventually get back to the path because they spend some time off of it. 04:47.752 --> 04:52.893 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we're told that the path bends to the left and it goes down to the lowlands, 04:53.573 --> 04:56.275 [SPEAKER_00]: and the Yale making for stock. 04:56.355 --> 04:58.617 [SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about Yale and stock in some of the bonus episodes. 04:58.637 --> 05:02.219 [SPEAKER_00]: We went over all of the different villages and towns in the Shire. 05:02.799 --> 05:06.642 [SPEAKER_00]: But what's important here is that that's not the direction they're going. 05:07.162 --> 05:15.288 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, we're told this, a lane branched right, winding through a wood of ancient oak trees on its way to wood hall. 05:15.888 --> 05:20.892 [SPEAKER_00]: And wood hall is, of course, at the edge of this forested area, kind of in the center area of the Shire. 05:21.492 --> 05:28.714 [SPEAKER_00]: But I find it interesting that not only do we have references to another type of tree, oak trees, but these are ancient oak trees. 05:29.174 --> 05:37.857 [SPEAKER_00]: There's something important about the ancientness of things, especially because we're about to meet elves who are also ancient. 05:38.457 --> 05:42.618 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, this is just kind of a gut feeling on this. 05:42.859 --> 05:47.120 [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't quote me on any of this, but I feel like sometimes we get 05:47.940 --> 06:07.687 [SPEAKER_00]: The, I don't know, almost like it rhymes, I know that's a George Lucas thing, but you start talking about one ancient thing, which kind of leads to another ancient thing eventually or one dark thing and leads to another dark thing, there are these patterns and it's natural that they're there, but it feels very intentional then the photo says, this is the way for us. 06:08.287 --> 06:11.329 [SPEAKER_00]: And they find what is described as a huge hulk of a tree. 06:11.570 --> 06:25.861 [SPEAKER_00]: Now listen to this, it was still alive and had leaves on the small branches that it had put out round the broken stumps of its long fallen limbs, but it was hollow and could be entered by a great crack on the side away from the road. 06:26.602 --> 06:30.205 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the perfect place for them to hide where they can't be seen. 06:30.885 --> 06:33.708 [SPEAKER_00]: but also, did you notice it's a tree? 06:34.248 --> 06:35.469 [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't nature itself. 06:35.529 --> 06:37.411 [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't a hole in the ground. 06:37.771 --> 06:39.553 [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't a cave. 06:39.853 --> 06:48.161 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a tree that is ancient that is still helpful to them, which again feels like a theme. 06:48.341 --> 06:54.466 [SPEAKER_00]: How many times will the Hobbits have to rely on something or someone who is both ancient? 06:55.327 --> 06:57.369 [SPEAKER_00]: and helpful at the same time. 06:57.389 --> 06:58.971 [SPEAKER_00]: It feels like a pattern, right? 06:59.491 --> 07:06.819 [SPEAKER_00]: This next part is really interesting because it's the point in which the stars are brought up in this section for the first time. 07:07.320 --> 07:11.384 [SPEAKER_00]: After they rest for a bit and have a light meal, they decide to keep going. 07:11.744 --> 07:16.649 [SPEAKER_00]: That seems like it might be a bad idea, but we get some signs here that it isn't. 07:17.450 --> 07:20.152 [SPEAKER_00]: Twilight was about them as they crept back to the lane. 07:20.613 --> 07:23.655 [SPEAKER_00]: The West Wind was sying in the branches. 07:24.136 --> 07:25.157 [SPEAKER_00]: Not just any wind. 07:25.557 --> 07:27.359 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, the West Wind. 07:27.859 --> 07:30.141 [SPEAKER_00]: West, meaning coming from the West. 07:30.221 --> 07:33.604 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what you say when you're saying where the wind is blowing. 07:33.644 --> 07:34.345 [SPEAKER_00]: It's always the direction. 07:34.385 --> 07:36.266 [SPEAKER_00]: It's coming from not where it's going to. 07:36.667 --> 07:37.688 [SPEAKER_00]: And mentions of the West. 07:37.988 --> 07:41.351 [SPEAKER_00]: Many times remind us that that is the will of the Valar. 07:41.471 --> 07:42.192 [SPEAKER_00]: That sort of thing. 07:42.652 --> 07:43.893 [SPEAKER_00]: The leaves were whispering. 07:44.033 --> 07:44.734 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not quiet. 07:45.154 --> 07:53.541 [SPEAKER_00]: Soon the road began to fall gently, but steadily into the dusk, a star came out above the trees in the darkening east before them. 07:53.962 --> 07:59.366 [SPEAKER_00]: The east is dark, and it makes sense because of the way stars and moons and 08:00.107 --> 08:08.111 [SPEAKER_00]: sun's work and all of that, but also that's where the enemy is, is to the east of them, well, southeast, but still the east. 08:08.631 --> 08:10.111 [SPEAKER_00]: They continue walking and then we get this. 08:10.332 --> 08:17.855 [SPEAKER_00]: As the stars grew thicker and brighter, the feeling of disquiet left them, and they no longer listened for the sound of hooves. 08:18.435 --> 08:19.656 [SPEAKER_00]: They become relaxed. 08:19.716 --> 08:26.359 [SPEAKER_00]: There's something about this environment and the stars coming out and the wind blowing that changes their spirits here. 08:27.139 --> 08:28.840 [SPEAKER_00]: They began to hum softly. 08:29.540 --> 08:34.608 [SPEAKER_00]: as hobbits have a way of doing as they walk along, especially when they are drawing near to home at night. 08:35.208 --> 08:44.021 [SPEAKER_00]: This is explained to us that for most hobbits as a supper song or a bed song, you know, the cozy home, homely kind of the right use of homely kind of things. 08:44.522 --> 09:01.181 [SPEAKER_00]: depends on where you're from, I guess, but that this was a walking song, and this reminds me of, I don't know, the experiences that parents would have with children when you're going on a long journey or you're trying to like get them in the mood for something, maybe you start humming a song or something like that, right? 09:01.201 --> 09:02.543 [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, the kids would come along. 09:02.923 --> 09:03.985 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what this feels like to me. 09:04.485 --> 09:10.051 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're told that Bilbo had made the words for the song, took an old tune and changed it around a little bit. 09:10.471 --> 09:11.913 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is how the song goes. 09:12.573 --> 09:16.777 [SPEAKER_00]: Upon the hearth of the fire is red, beneath the roof there is a bed. 09:17.418 --> 09:22.043 [SPEAKER_00]: But, not yet weary are our feet still, around the corner we may meet. 09:22.403 --> 09:26.908 [SPEAKER_00]: A sudden tree or standing stone that, none have seen, but we alone. 09:27.468 --> 09:34.470 [SPEAKER_00]: Tree and flower and leaf and grass, let them pass, let them pass, hill and water under sky, let them buy, let them buy. 09:35.071 --> 09:39.472 [SPEAKER_00]: Still round the corner there may wait, a new road, or a secret gate. 09:39.912 --> 09:48.615 [SPEAKER_00]: And though we pass them by today, tomorrow we may come this way, and take the hidden paths that run towards the moon, or to the sun. 09:49.015 --> 09:54.137 [SPEAKER_00]: Apple thorn and nut and slow, let them go, let them go, sand and stone and pool and del, 09:56.838 --> 10:06.065 [SPEAKER_00]: Home is behind the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through, shadows to the edge of night until these stars are all a light. 10:06.605 --> 10:20.816 [SPEAKER_00]: Then world behind and home ahead will wander back to home and bed, mist and twilight cloud and shade, a way shall fade, a way shall fade, fire and lamp and meet and bread, and then to bed, and then to bed. 10:21.847 --> 10:25.068 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, of course, there is a lot of nature in this. 10:25.168 --> 10:27.608 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of hominess in it. 10:28.068 --> 10:30.369 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very hobbitty sounding kind of thing. 10:30.789 --> 10:37.191 [SPEAKER_00]: And shows, again, how closely the hobbits live in synergy with nature around them. 10:37.711 --> 10:39.651 [SPEAKER_00]: But also, notice that this is about traveling. 10:39.951 --> 10:41.772 [SPEAKER_00]: It also mentions the moon and the sun. 10:41.832 --> 10:44.052 [SPEAKER_00]: It also mentions shadows in the night. 10:44.132 --> 10:47.013 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this is probably the most interesting bit. 10:47.373 --> 10:58.398 [SPEAKER_00]: The part that goes home is behind the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through shadows to the edge of night until the stars are all a light. 10:59.119 --> 11:03.741 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, this feels like foreshadowing for the journey as a whole. 11:03.921 --> 11:12.185 [SPEAKER_00]: They are descending into darkness, and then hopefully returning out of that, and there are many paths that lead to dark places. 11:12.565 --> 11:13.906 [SPEAKER_00]: The world is a scary place. 11:14.706 --> 11:18.688 [SPEAKER_00]: but this is also foreshadowing for what is about to happen. 11:19.228 --> 11:26.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as the song ends, and Pippin sings out in a high voice, and now to bed, and now to bed, photos as hush. 11:26.772 --> 11:27.953 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I hear hooves again. 11:28.753 --> 11:38.238 [SPEAKER_00]: All of a sudden, they went from feeling absolutely in the moment on the journey, singing their songs, feeling good, the stars are out, the wind is at their backs. 11:39.121 --> 11:43.664 [SPEAKER_00]: and then another sign that something might be after them. 11:44.184 --> 11:46.365 [SPEAKER_00]: They leave the path, head out into the oak trees. 11:46.685 --> 11:48.587 [SPEAKER_00]: Frodo says, don't let us go too far. 11:48.907 --> 11:52.309 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to be seen, but I want to see if it is another black rider. 11:52.369 --> 11:57.852 [SPEAKER_00]: So they purposely stay close enough to the path to see if they can tell what this is. 11:58.392 --> 12:05.777 [SPEAKER_00]: And then Pippin warns him, he says very well, but don't forget the sniffing, as if, to say, basically don't get close enough that he can smell you. 12:06.637 --> 12:10.278 [SPEAKER_00]: and then we get this scene and it is particularly uncomfortable. 12:10.798 --> 12:24.162 [SPEAKER_00]: We're told that the hooves draw near, they didn't have time to find a good hiding place, so they just hid in the general darkness under the trees, which doesn't feel like the best option, but that's what they've got to go on here. 12:24.782 --> 12:28.243 [SPEAKER_00]: Sam and Pippin hide between this large tree bowl 12:35.625 --> 12:36.526 [SPEAKER_00]: and we're told this. 12:37.047 --> 12:42.473 [SPEAKER_00]: In reference to the lane, it showed great and pale a line of feeding light through the wood. 12:42.913 --> 12:48.359 [SPEAKER_00]: Above it, the stars were thick in a dim sky, but there was no moon. 12:48.860 --> 12:52.424 [SPEAKER_00]: It's only stars out, no moon, so it's not particularly bright. 12:52.484 --> 12:55.767 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it's fairly dark, even though there are a lot of stars out right now. 12:56.428 --> 12:57.909 [SPEAKER_00]: the sound of hooves stopped. 12:58.410 --> 13:05.535 [SPEAKER_00]: As Frodo watched, he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees and then halt. 13:06.056 --> 13:20.467 [SPEAKER_00]: This is such a good representation of what it's like to try to see something at a distance in the dark because really what you're seeing are just differences in a little bit of light here and a little bit of shadow there trying to figure out what it all means. 13:21.308 --> 13:35.177 [SPEAKER_00]: It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow, and of course we picture that as being the writer of the horse standing beside it maybe walking it along the path slowly looking for things. 13:35.878 --> 13:42.122 [SPEAKER_00]: The black shadow stood close to the point where they had left the path and its suede from side to side. 13:42.702 --> 13:45.964 [SPEAKER_00]: Clearly telling us the reader that it knew where they were, 13:47.030 --> 13:55.677 [SPEAKER_00]: Frodo thought he heard the sound of snuffling, a shadow bent to the ground, then began to crawl towards them. 13:56.378 --> 14:03.704 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, crawl here could be literally crawling on all fours across the ground because that would be terrifying. 14:04.064 --> 14:14.793 [SPEAKER_00]: It would feel more animalistic and kind of otherworldly on some level, but it could also mean to move slowly and intentionally that could be the use of the word there, 14:15.113 --> 14:17.994 [SPEAKER_00]: both of them work and both of them are terrifying. 14:18.534 --> 14:24.597 [SPEAKER_00]: And at this point, Frodo can tell from the descriptions that we got that he is about to be discovered. 14:24.917 --> 14:25.497 [SPEAKER_00]: He knows it. 14:25.557 --> 14:26.318 [SPEAKER_00]: He feels it. 14:26.778 --> 14:33.160 [SPEAKER_00]: And the ring feels it too because the ring has even more strength than this moment. 14:33.641 --> 14:38.643 [SPEAKER_00]: He almost slips the ring on and then just at the right time. 14:39.573 --> 14:44.355 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a sound, the mingling of song and laughter. 14:44.915 --> 14:57.419 [SPEAKER_00]: We're told that clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air, the black shadow straightened up and retreated, climbed on the shadowy horse and seemed to vanish across the lane into the darkness on the other side. 14:57.999 --> 15:04.102 [SPEAKER_00]: So, in pretty typical Tolkien fashion, and maybe that's going to be the name of this episode, typical Tolkien fashion. 15:05.362 --> 15:10.925 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the moment where he's about to be discovered, and then something happens and saves the day. 15:11.645 --> 15:13.246 [SPEAKER_00]: This time, it's elves. 15:14.006 --> 15:19.629 [SPEAKER_00]: Sam exclaims in a horse whisper, he says Elves Elves sir, and they have to pull him back. 15:19.689 --> 15:25.492 [SPEAKER_00]: He's ready to run out there and greet them himself, and Frodo responds, he says, yes, it is Elves. 15:25.772 --> 15:28.054 [SPEAKER_00]: One can meet them sometimes in the woody end. 15:28.474 --> 15:35.097 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't live in the Shire, but they wander into it in spring and autumn out of their own lands, away beyond the tower hills. 15:35.758 --> 15:39.940 [SPEAKER_00]: So these could be Rivendel Elves, or they could just be other Elves, 15:43.602 --> 15:54.635 [SPEAKER_00]: I am thankful that they do, you did not see, but that black writer stopped just here and was actually crawling towards us when the song began, as soon as he heard the voices he slipped away. 15:55.095 --> 15:56.517 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, why would that be the case? 15:56.998 --> 15:59.140 [SPEAKER_00]: I think this is a good question to ask, because 16:00.001 --> 16:01.864 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a ring-rath after all. 16:02.044 --> 16:16.262 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a very powerful evil creature, and is on a very extremely probably most important mission that could possibly be given him to go get the ring and return it to Sauron his master. 16:17.228 --> 16:22.791 [SPEAKER_00]: but the sound of just some elves singing in the woods is enough to drive him off for the moment. 16:23.331 --> 16:24.612 [SPEAKER_00]: Why would that be the case? 16:25.293 --> 16:33.677 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think that you could probably make an argument for the fact that this is a group of elves and the elves are traveling in the wilderness. 16:34.077 --> 16:40.561 [SPEAKER_00]: So that means that they would have been armed, they would have been prepared for anything they came across in the wilderness. 16:41.061 --> 16:44.263 [SPEAKER_00]: And on top of it, we find out very shortly from now, 16:45.964 --> 16:48.285 [SPEAKER_00]: any elves, these are high elves. 16:48.845 --> 16:55.328 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them might be able to follow their lineage's back to the events of the first stage of the world. 16:55.908 --> 16:59.350 [SPEAKER_00]: And as we know, those elves were extremely capable. 16:59.430 --> 17:05.292 [SPEAKER_00]: They were the most powerful, most capable elves in all of Middle-earth history. 17:05.693 --> 17:09.354 [SPEAKER_00]: And then you add on top of that that they aren't just 17:15.757 --> 17:17.580 [SPEAKER_00]: to the Vala Varda. 17:18.080 --> 17:22.206 [SPEAKER_00]: The Vala of the Stars, the one who brings light in dark places. 17:22.747 --> 17:26.052 [SPEAKER_00]: And due to this, they seem to be beaved in her light. 17:26.172 --> 17:32.501 [SPEAKER_00]: The starlight around them, it just kind of appears on the ground and around them lighting up. 17:32.861 --> 17:47.752 [SPEAKER_00]: these elves as they walk through the darkness, you add all of that together and that's way more than a single ring-rate is willing to deal with in a situation like this, especially because the ring-rate knows that he's not out here by himself. 17:48.092 --> 17:54.433 [SPEAKER_00]: There are others, and they could gather together and they would have a much better chance of getting what they want. 17:54.853 --> 17:59.834 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not like the hobbits are going to go somewhere where they can get to very quickly. 17:59.874 --> 18:04.515 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they might join up with the elves, but as we see, that's not really going to be a problem. 18:04.995 --> 18:08.136 [SPEAKER_00]: These specific elves are not heading across the sea yet. 18:08.316 --> 18:13.737 [SPEAKER_00]: They probably will be in the future, but they have other things they need to go do, and the hobbits have a very 18:15.877 --> 18:38.393 [SPEAKER_00]: Sam gets so excited about the elves that he says what about the elves and he tells us that he was too excited to trouble about the writer can't we go and see them and Frodo says listen they're coming this way we only have to wait which was another piece of this if they're headed directly toward them then the ring rath wouldn't have had that much time to try to get what he was trying to get without them noticing him 18:38.893 --> 18:49.734 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we hear their song, and we're told here that Frodo knew a little bit of their language, which he would have learned from Bilbo, who would have learned some from his journey, or maybe from Gandalf, and it goes like this. 18:50.802 --> 19:11.404 [SPEAKER_00]: Snow White, Snow White, O Lady Clear, O Queen beyond the western seas, O Light to us that wander here amid the world of woven trees, Githonial, O Elbereth, Clear our thy eyes and bright thy breath, Snow White, Snow White we sing to thee in a farland beyond the sea. 19:12.045 --> 19:21.970 [SPEAKER_00]: O stars that in the sunless year, with shining hand by her were sewn, in windy fields now bright and clear we see your silver blossom blown. 19:21.990 --> 19:24.431 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, Elbereth, Guilthoniel. 19:24.871 --> 19:31.635 [SPEAKER_00]: We still remember we who dwell in this farland beneath the trees that I starlight on the western seas. 19:32.215 --> 19:34.175 [SPEAKER_00]: So why are they singing to her right now? 19:34.396 --> 19:46.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Not because they're in danger, but because they are pricing her memory, because they are worshiping her, but even more so here, because they are journeying to the Western Sea. 19:47.218 --> 19:53.860 [SPEAKER_00]: They're looking to cross the waters to head back to Valenor and to be in her company again. 19:54.600 --> 20:02.666 [SPEAKER_00]: And because these are high elves, there is either a remaining memory or a lasting cultural memory of who she is and what she's like. 20:03.166 --> 20:09.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, this moment sets a lot of the other details up for us for the rest of the story. 20:10.111 --> 20:11.873 [SPEAKER_00]: Who are these these are high elves? 20:11.893 --> 20:12.813 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not wood elves. 20:12.873 --> 20:16.536 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not like the elves that Bilbo met in Merquwood. 20:16.876 --> 20:17.797 [SPEAKER_00]: These are different. 20:18.157 --> 20:21.740 [SPEAKER_00]: They are more connected to Elrond than say Legolas. 20:22.360 --> 20:38.094 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, this is one of the things that's going to be a major theme throughout the books, the idea that the elves are leaving middle-earth, that they are on a journey to return back to their ancestral home. 20:38.134 --> 20:39.195 [SPEAKER_00]: You can think of it like that. 20:39.575 --> 20:46.001 [SPEAKER_00]: And we find out in a little bit, beyond the parts that we're going to talk about here, that gildor, their leader, is of the house of 20:47.342 --> 20:54.308 [SPEAKER_00]: Finnrod Feligund, one of the greatest elves to have ever lived, and brother to Galadriel. 20:54.849 --> 21:03.256 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you're reading this for the first time, you won't have any sense of a lot of that, and you won't understand the importance of them wanting or needing to leave Middle Earth. 21:03.997 --> 21:10.063 [SPEAKER_00]: But it does become important later, and this is the first exposure to the idea, maybe that's the best way to say it. 21:10.403 --> 21:25.737 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's important in writing stories, as you have to kind of gently work people into themes and ideas, because when those ideas become important, or crucial to the story later on, if they just show about a nowhere, it often doesn't feel right to the reader or the viewer, 21:26.357 --> 21:33.522 [SPEAKER_00]: or the listener of the story, but in this case, we're being introduced to a large number of things all in this one passage. 21:33.942 --> 21:44.349 [SPEAKER_00]: The importance of the elves, the thing that they're all doing and are concerned about, the name Elbereth, the starlight around their feet as they walk. 21:44.869 --> 21:45.850 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is that moment. 21:46.230 --> 21:48.652 [SPEAKER_00]: The Hobbits sat in shadow by the wayside. 21:48.973 --> 21:52.376 [SPEAKER_00]: Before long, the elves came down the lane towards the valley. 21:52.756 --> 21:59.642 [SPEAKER_00]: They passed slowly, and the Hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes. 22:00.403 --> 22:07.389 [SPEAKER_00]: You can probably picture the moment in the movie when we get this roughly this moment and that does seem to be the case. 22:07.549 --> 22:11.612 [SPEAKER_00]: They kind of model that pretty well in the movie, but this part is different. 22:12.052 --> 22:24.102 [SPEAKER_00]: They bore no lights yet as they walked a shimmer like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises seem to fall about their feet. 22:25.076 --> 22:38.625 [SPEAKER_00]: We were told there was no moon in the sky, this isn't moonlight, and that is just an example for the way the shimmer appears, like it's just the edge of the light cresting over a hill because the moon is behind it. 22:39.473 --> 22:55.289 [SPEAKER_00]: That is what was falling down around them, presumably coming from the stars, which would make sense because they're singing a song to the valla of light, the one who put the stars in the sky. 22:55.930 --> 23:07.581 [SPEAKER_00]: and as a reminder, when the elves first woke up in middle-earth before they made their way to Valinore, the very first thing they noticed were the stars in the night sky. 23:08.081 --> 23:15.508 [SPEAKER_00]: So in this section, just to recap a little bit, we have the Hobbits singing a song about the things that they find comforting 23:16.589 --> 23:40.268 [SPEAKER_00]: The woods in the nature around them, and returning home from their journey, these comforting thoughts while they are going out on an adventure, and then they meet elves who are also traveling through the woods, singing a song about the things that bring them comfort, and although they're not traveling across the ocean right now, a place that they will return to that is like home to them. 23:40.928 --> 23:46.353 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, we have these themes and the repetitions of the themes right next to each other. 23:46.873 --> 23:52.038 [SPEAKER_00]: And another thing I probably should have mentioned earlier in this recording as we were going over it. 23:52.358 --> 23:57.563 [SPEAKER_00]: The elves journeying through the Shire feels very coincidental in this moment. 23:57.783 --> 24:21.071 [SPEAKER_00]: And there is some level of coincidence, give or take, depending on how much you want to believe that the Valar are somehow orchestrating some of these events, the wind behind them, the stars shining down, some of those things, or even just the idea that if good people continue to do things for the right reasons, they will end up in the will of Louvitar or something like that. 24:21.371 --> 24:22.451 [SPEAKER_00]: You could make those arguments. 24:22.812 --> 24:26.533 [SPEAKER_00]: But we also know that the elves have been watching over the Shire. 24:26.913 --> 24:29.014 [SPEAKER_00]: They have been in communication with Gandalf. 24:29.554 --> 24:32.295 [SPEAKER_00]: Elrond has a sense of what's going on. 24:32.635 --> 24:35.196 [SPEAKER_00]: They understand the importance of who Bilbo is. 24:35.676 --> 24:39.717 [SPEAKER_00]: And on top of it, some of the elves might actually know Bilbo. 24:39.857 --> 24:47.360 [SPEAKER_00]: Before Bilbo left the Shire, even after his journey ended, he would still get together in meat with the elves at times. 24:47.860 --> 24:50.020 [SPEAKER_00]: They would have known who Frodo is. 24:50.101 --> 24:54.882 [SPEAKER_00]: They would have known the importance of who Bilbo is, and what Bilbo helped accomplish. 24:55.302 --> 24:58.902 [SPEAKER_00]: Frodo would be kind of a little bit of a celebrity already. 24:59.282 --> 25:05.244 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe celebrity is not the right word, but somebody they know, that the child of a celebrity at least something like that, right? 25:05.964 --> 25:10.585 [SPEAKER_00]: And this plays directly into the moment that is just about to happen. 25:11.405 --> 25:18.510 [SPEAKER_00]: They were now silent and as the last elf passed, he turned and looked towards the Hobbits and laughed. 25:18.970 --> 25:37.783 [SPEAKER_00]: Side note, real quick, the elves are always laughing, they're merry, they're singing songs, this is something that was established in the Hobbit, in parts of their representation, although that seems to change depending on the importance of the situation and the dire nature of what they're discussing and all of that, but there is tonally 25:38.583 --> 25:53.671 [SPEAKER_00]: already a precedent in the Hobbit of elves being a little bit joyful and silly and that their demeanor is generally positive and uplifting and happy and laughing and things like that. 25:53.971 --> 25:57.973 [SPEAKER_00]: So it makes sense here that this elf would turn and laugh. 25:58.593 --> 26:00.334 [SPEAKER_00]: as they notice the hobbits. 26:00.854 --> 26:11.861 [SPEAKER_00]: Then we get something that feels like a surprise if you aren't aware of how connected Bilbo was to the elves and how much they would have already known about Bilbo and Frodo. 26:12.701 --> 26:17.464 [SPEAKER_00]: Hail Frodo, he cried, you are a broadlead, or are you perhaps lost? 26:18.245 --> 26:18.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Then he called 26:29.593 --> 26:30.355 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 26:39.551 --> 26:43.013 [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you're all staying cool this summer, at least if you're on the northern hemisphere. 26:43.033 --> 26:49.217 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're on the southern hemisphere, hope you're staying warm, weird how globes work, but it is a hot summer. 26:49.237 --> 27:04.746 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure for everybody, but thanks for continuing to be here and thank you if you are helping out with spreading word about the show, getting people aware of it, telling your friends and family, commenting, leaving five star reviews, any of that stuff is all extremely helpful. 27:05.166 --> 27:07.707 [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you to our patrons for your continued support. 27:07.747 --> 27:20.113 [SPEAKER_00]: If you would like to join us on a patron chat, get ad free episodes, get episodes earlier, or get the bonus episodes and on this week's bonus episode, I think I'm going to dig a little bit more into. 27:20.613 --> 27:27.519 [SPEAKER_00]: Elberath or Varda and the Elves appreciation of her, especially during the third age and what more we can find out about that. 27:27.579 --> 27:32.102 [SPEAKER_00]: So that'll be the bonus episode this week, at least as I'm planning it right now, could change. 27:32.763 --> 27:33.984 [SPEAKER_00]: But that's the plan. 27:34.184 --> 27:37.987 [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you to our newest members, GB, Bob J. 27:38.247 --> 27:39.288 [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope I'm pronouncing this one. 27:39.348 --> 27:41.610 [SPEAKER_00]: Shea or Shea, Shea, maybe. 27:42.171 --> 27:42.691 [SPEAKER_00]: Shea, see? 27:43.131 --> 27:46.294 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for your support and for being here and keeping the show going. 27:46.354 --> 27:47.475 [SPEAKER_00]: I really do appreciate it. 27:47.655 --> 27:52.889 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm gonna go figure out the other details about the bonus episode this week and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week. 27:53.270 --> 27:53.992 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll see you next time. 27:56.872 --> 27:58.974 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to the Lord of the Rings lorecast. 27:59.594 --> 28:03.177 [SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to learn more about other fantasy worlds, check out my other podcasts. 28:03.617 --> 28:07.961 [SPEAKER_00]: The Elder Scrolls lorecast, the Witcher lorecast, and more have robotsradio.net. 28:08.421 --> 28:10.263 [SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to reach out, I'd love to hear from you. 28:10.783 --> 28:17.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Send me a note on Twitter at robots underscore radio, or join our amazing community on the robots radio discord. 28:17.849 --> 28:23.593 [SPEAKER_00]: There are links in the show notes, or just search robotsradio discord, or find the link on robotsradio.net. 28:23.853 --> 28:24.574 [SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you next time.