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I think that Frodo's entire passage of the Dead Marshes is the first place I thought that Tolkien really started to masterfully create the dreary and burdensome nature of Frodo's journey to Mount Doom. Previously, all of the Frodo's and the Fellowship's encounters with danger were fraught with terror. Though danger and terror are never far away, here the fatigue and drudgery begin in earnest. The world is cold and somber.

"In a chill hour they came to the end of the water-course. The banks became moss-grown mounds. Over the last shelf of rotting stone, the stream gurgled and fell down into a brown bog and was lost. Dry reeds hissed and rattled though they could feel no wind."

Meanwhile, to the north and west, the Ents continue their Entmoot, and Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas come upon Gandalf the White in the midst of Fangorn. Their meeting is fortuitous and the careful reader learns much about what has already transpired and many insights about events yet to come.




To Aragorn...

"Where now are the Dúnedain, Elessar, Elessar?
Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar?
Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth,
And the Grey Company ride from the North.
But dark is the path appointed for thee:
The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.

To Legolas...

"Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more."

To Gimli...

"To Gimli son of Gloin give his Lady's greeting.
Lockbearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee.
But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!"

While far to the south, Faramir and his soldiers from Gondor set out in secret and in stealth for Ithilien, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas set out for Edoras. The early part of Tolkien's tale is filled with birthday celebrations and parties, yet today a very important birthday passes unnoticed. On that ride through Rohan, one wonders what silent inner thoughts came to Aragorn about ancestors, father, mother, and fate...on this his 88th birthday.