![]() And when both Sam and Frodo fall asleep on guard duty he’s perfectly well-behaved. For most of the chapter he is scared and starving. He leads them rather faithfully through the Dead Marshes, something Frodo and Sam would have been unlikely to complete on their own. He opens the chapter frolicking around in a river and “greatly delighted” at the feel of running water on his feet. It’s easy to be mad at Sam for this, particularly since we know where all of this is going and we get to see Gollum at his most Sméagol-like moments. He’s operating under the assumption that Gollum will eat them at the first chance he gets (which, yikes, Sam) and at various points he glares at Gollum, pokes him, and fantasizes about murdering him. Sam spends the majority of the chapter both distrustful of and disgusted by Gollum, with a slight undercurrent of pity throughout. Fellowship was much lighter on Sam than I remembered, and I was struck in this chapter – our first fully from Sam’s perspective, if I’m remembering correctly – at how unkind he can be. I don’t think that’s necessarily a wrong interpretation, but it’s been interesting diving into Book IV and seeing him in a different light. I essentially thought of him as the protagonist of the series. Growing up, Sam Gamgee was my favorite character by far in The Lord of the Rings. And “The Passage of the Marshes” underlines both the isolation and connectivity of these characters, how internal, near-unshareable problems become buffeted about based on how these characters interact with each other. There’s an odd sensation that the hobbits are moving very slowly – first picking their way through rocks and cliffs, then picking their way through bogs and fens – but also inexorably tumbling forward to a destination that feels immutable and fixed. ![]() ![]() There are repeated moments, throughout the chapter, in which the quest is treated (explicitly or implicitly) as a suicide mission. Sméagol is flickering in and out of existence alongside Gollum. Frodo is exhausted and fraying at the edges. It’s an interesting narrative choice on Tolkien’s part. They make it out to the other side, and things only get worse. But Frodo & Company don’t fight any monsters. See some new scenery, fight some monsters, make it out to the other side and a well-deserved respite. In a lesser fantasy novel, the marshes would essentially function as a level to be beaten. Sharp stones and shallow pools get exchanged for greasy bogs, rotting moss, foreboding lights. As Frodo, Sam, and Gollum move from Emyn Muil into the Dead Marshes, the mood noticeably darkens and chills. It starts early, through one of Tolkien’s favorite techniques: the transition in landscape ( chapter 2 of Book III featured one as well). There’s a sense of motion and movement in “The Passage of the Marshes” that’s quiet, persistent, and devastating.
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