 | |
| Chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring | |
| Flight to the Ford | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Number | 12 |
| Synopsis | |
| Event | Glorfindel helps Frodo escape the Black Riders. |
| Date | 6-20 October 3018 |
| Location | Ford of Bruinen |
| Navigation | |
| Preceded by | A Knife in the Dark |
| Followed by | Many Meetings |
It is you, Frodo, and that which you bear that brings us all in peril.
Flight to the Ford is the twelfth and final chapter in the first book of The Fellowship of the Ring. The main characters are Frodo Baggins, Strider and Glorfindel, accompanied by Samwise (Sam) Gamgee, Peregrin (Pippin) Took and Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck.
The chapter tells of the severity of Frodo's wound from the fight on Weathertop, the party's urgent course for Rivendell in the hopes of curing him, their passing through the Trollshaws, meeting Glorfindel, and their encounter with Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen.
The introduction of Glorfindel, a powerful elf from Rivendell, reinforces the importance of Frodo's mission and the support that the Free Peoples are willing to provide.
Overview
The chapter begins where the preceding chapter ends.
Leaving Weathertop
Watched over by Sam, Merry and Pippin, Frodo regained consciousness, agitated and still clutching The One Ring.
What has happened? Where is the pale king?
Sam told Frodo that all they saw were shadows rushing past them, and then Frodo was suddenly gone; after which they heard him shout something as though he was far away. Once the shadows passed, the Hobbits stumbled across his body lying unconscious in the grass, and feared he was dead.
Strider returned, reporting that the Black Riders had disappeared, perplexed that they had not regrouped and attacked again. After hearing Frodo's account, he immediately ordered the Hobbits to prepare boiling water and keep Frodo warm. He explained that Frodo may have suffered a deadly wound that would subdue him to the Riders' will.
At dawn, Strider discovered a thin knife on the ground, with its tip broken off. As the party looked on the knife, it vanished like smoke. At this, Strider said that this evil weapon was the knife that pierced Frodo. He sang over the dagger's hilt in a language the others did not recognise, and produced a few leaves from his pouch, saying that he had found an Athelas plant not far away. Despite its healing powers, Strider feared the plant would barely help. He boiled the leaves and applied them to Frodo's wounds. Frodo felt some relief, but discovered that he could not move his arm at all, and was unable to walk.
Strider and the Hobbits decided to leave Weathertop as soon as possible. Once the sun was up, they loaded the immobilized Frodo onto their pony (who seemed to be strengthened) and distributed the remaining supplies between them. They struck eastwards through the wilderness in silence. Though they encountered no Black Riders, they heard two distant wails, one calling and the other answering.
After six days of marching, they reached the Last Bridge over the Hoarwell. Scouting ahead, Strider found a shiny green beryl - an Elven jewel - though he could not ascertain its meaning. Seeing no sign of a Black Rider ambush, he hurried the Hobbits across the bridge. As they climbed into the hills, they began to see ruins of walls and towers. Frodo was reminded of Bilbo's accounts of the region and his story about the Stone-trolls. They passed ruined towers, which Strider described as the ruins of ancient Mannish settlements that once belonged to the evil kingdom of Angmar; its shadow still about the land. Pippin asks how Strider knows so much lore.
The heirs of Elendil do not forget all things past, and many more things than I can tell are remembered in Rivendell.
Frodo asked whether Strider had ever been to Rivendell. Strider answered that he once lived there, returning occasionally. He said while his heart dwelt there, it was not his fate to sit in peace.
On the tenth night of their journey from Weathertop, Frodo dreamed that he was back in his garden at Bag End, but everything was faint and dim. The only thing he saw clearly were tall shadows peering at him over the hedge.
The next morning, Strider discovered that they had strayed too far north, close to the Ettenmoors. As they veered southwards, the ground became difficult to climb, and eventually Frodo collapsed in pain. Merry wondered whether Frodo could be cured in Rivendell. Sam didn't understand why Frodo was still in danger, as his wounds had practically closed. Strider explained that the weapon of the enemy contained a sinister poison that he could not drive out.
The party stopped to rest near a small quarry. In his sleep, Frodo dreamed of great, dark, winged shapes sweeping above him, ridden by all-seeing pursuers. In the morning, as they set out downhill, their pony displayed remarkable skill in finding easy routes down steep slopes. Frodo seemed a little better, though his eyesight began to fade intermittently.
Trolls remembered
Pippin spotted a path leading straight through the woods below. It appeared to have been made by large creatures, as both trees and rocks had been broken to let it through. The party followed the path into the woods, soon passing in front of a door in a rocky hillside, hanging ajar off a single hinge. Strider, Merry and Sam forced the door open, and discovered a cave full of bones and broken earthenware. Strider concluded that this was "certainly a troll-hole".
As they continued on the path, Pippin scouted ahead with Merry. They soon came running back, reporting that they'd seen trolls. Strider picked up a stick and they slowly advanced. In a clearing, they found three huge Trolls, standing completely still. Strider walked up and commanded them to wake, then broke his stick against one of them. The Trolls did not react, which astonished the Hobbits. Frodo laughed, realizing that these were the Stone-trolls from Bilbo's story, which Pippin had never really believed before this moment.
You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls. It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls waiting for us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird's nest behind his ear.
They ate a meal near the foot of one of the troll statues, and Merry suggested that someone sing. Sam eventually relented and sang them a song about a troll who stole a shinbone from a grave. After the song was done, Frodo revealed that Sam had made it up on the spot.
The party followed a road that they speculated had been used by Bilbo, Gandalf and thirteen dwarves. Indeed, they soon found a stone covered in Dwarven runes, marking the spot where the Company buried the Trolls' treasure. When Merry asked Frodo whether anything was left of Bilbo's share of that treasure, Frodo secretly wished that Bilbo had brought home no treasure at all, alluding to The One Ring. He told Merry that Bilbo had given all of the treasure away, since it came from robber Trolls.
Glorfindel's aid
At sundown, the party suddenly heard hoof-beats coming from behind, and took cover. A figure with flowing golden hair, riding a white horse, appeared on the road behind them. Strider leapt out with joy, and the rider dismounted.
Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen!
Strider introduced the figure as Glorfindel, an Elf who lived at Rivendell. Glorfindel greeted Frodo, saying he was sent out to look for him. He had set out from Rivendell nine days earlier, after receiving news that "the Nine" (the Black Riders) were in the area and that Frodo was without Gandalf's protection. Gandalf had still not arrived in Rivendell by the time Glorfindel left. Seven days ago he crossed the Last Bridge, where he left the green beryl. He encountered three Black Riders and chased them away from the bridge. Two days ago he found the Hobbits' trail and followed it here. He warned that five Black Riders were behind them, but did not know where the other four were.
Frodo collapsed and Strider told Glorfindel of Frodo's wound, showing him the hilt of the evil dagger. Glorfindel laid his hands on Frodo's wound, which helped Frodo feel a little better, though Glorfindel did not seem hopeful. Glorfindel lifted Frodo onto his horse, saying that in case of emergency it would bear him forward with greater speed than any Black Rider could match. Frodo objected, not wanting to leave his friends behind to face the peril alone. Glorfindel reassured him that the Black Riders were only after him, not his friends.
The party redistributed the weight of their supplies and made haste onward through the night until they collapse from exhaustion. Glorfindel gave each of them a sip of a clear liquid he was carrying, which reinvigorated them. Later, the road turned directly toward the Bruinen far ahead. They saw no sign of the Black Riders. Glorfindel speaks to Strider in Elvish.
The next morning, the party continued on with ever-greater exhaustion. Passing through a cutting, they began hearing footsteps echoing around them, following them. At the other end, still some distance from the Ford, the footfalls intensified and a strong wind suddenly blew around them.
Fly! Fly! The enemy is upon us!
Glorfindel's horse lept forward, with the others doing the same. Four Black Riders appeared behind them on the path, but did not charge. Glorfindel ordered Frodo to ride forward, but Frodo stopped and looked back towards the motionless Black Riders, realizing they were commanding him to wait. Feeling a sudden rush of intense fear and hatred, he drew his sword, which glowed red. Glorfindel called to his horse in Elvish.
Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!
The horse immediately broke into a full gallop, speeding onward faster than the Black Riders could follow. A horrifying cry pierced the air, and the party was dismayed to see more Black Riders emerging from ambush, galloping ahead to cut Frodo off. Though he left the pursuers far behind, the two flankers stopped ahead of him, and he saw their true forms, robed in white and grey. Asfaloth showed fear, breezing right past the Black Riders at full gallop. Frodo faded in and out of consciousness, but soon felt the horse wading across the Bruinen.
Asfaloth stopped on the far side of the Ford as the nine Riders appeared at the edge of the water. Frodo raises his sword, commanding them to stop their pursuit and go back to Mordor. The Riders laughed at his command and called him to come back to Mordor with them.
In a last act of defiance, Frodo called to Elbereth and Lúthien. The lead Rider, halfway across the Ford, raised his hand, causing Frodo to become unable to speak and his sword to shatter.
Just before the Black Riders finished crossing the ford, the river began to swell and roar. A great deluge of water came down from the mountainside, and Frodo could almost see within the great waves, white riders upon white horses with flowing manes. The three Black Riders that were in the river were washed away.
Behind the remaining Black Riders on the other side of the ford, Frodo saw a shining white figure, followed by small forms waving red flames. The black horses madly ran into the river, drowning their riders' cries as they were carried away by the water. At this, Frodo passed out.