Tolkien Calendar: The Great Years

It is said that the key to a good offence is a great defence but, I think, sometimes the key to a good offence is a great bluff.

The difference between arrogance and humility is less in the actions taken and more in the attitude and the motivations behind the actions. A humble person can seek to use his own power not for his own gain but for the benefit of a greater community that holds his love. Further, the love that the humble person feels is inclusive rather than exclusive. In contrast, the arrogant person can not conceive that a humble person thinks this way. All his actions lie in pulling power to himself for his own gain and benefit.

This is one difference between Aragorn and Gandalf, and Sauron. Knowing that Sauron will assume that they will do all that they can to cement their power, Aragorn and Gandalf gather the host and, with great fanfare, set out to assault the Black Gate of Mordor. Thus, they hope to keep Sauron's eye fixed on this false threat while the true threat creeps ever closer to mount Doom.

And what of Frodo and Sam? It is rough and tedious going for them. They are aware that Gollum is on their trail and yet they are forced to follow the road because the terrain is too rough to cross. For a while their luck with the road holds out but on this day, it fails them and they are swept up into a company of orcs going to the Black Gate. Frodo is past the end of his strength and Sam is nearing the end of his when, as is often the case with the orcs, a fight breaks out between two merging companies. Under the cover of the ensuing chaos Frodo and Sam slip away and off the road where, while trying to get even farther away, Frodo falls into a pit and lays there like one dead.